If you’ve spent any time scrolling PS game forums or watching playthroughs lately, you’ve almost certainly seen hype around PS Ghost of Yotei, the long-awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima. Set on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido during the Edo period, the game trades Tsushima’s lush bamboo forests and coastal cliffs for snow-capped peaks, frozen lakes, and tight-knit Ainu communities that play a central role in its story. Even if you mastered every combat encounter and collectible in the first game, Yotei’s new mechanics, harsh weather systems, and expanded stealth options mean you’ll have plenty of new skills to learn before you can call yourself a true ghost of the north.
Core PS Ghost of Yotei Combat Changes You Need to Know
The first thing you’ll notice when you jump into your first fight is that combat feels heavier and more tactical than it did in Tsushima. Cold stamina drain is the biggest change to the core loop: if you’re fighting in a blizzard without proper cold resistance gear, your stamina will drop 30% faster, so you can’t chain heavy attacks like you could in the first game. You’ll need to time your dodges and parries more carefully, and pick your moments to attack instead of spamming combos.
Dual wield toggle is another game-changing addition: you can swap between a katana and a traditional Ainu hunting knife mid-combo to break enemy shields faster, or land quick bleeding damage that wears down tanky opponents over time. If you mained the stone stance in Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll be happy to know it’s still viable, but there are two new stances to unlock: the frost stance, which lets you freeze enemies for 2 seconds with a perfect parry, and the hunter stance, which is optimized for long-range bow shots and quick knife takedowns. You also get access to animal companion assists: you can tame local foxes and hawks to distract guards or retrieve loot mid-fight, which opens up a ton of new stealth options that weren’t available in the first game.
How to Navigate Harsh Winter Terrain Without Wasting Resources
Yotei’s open world is roughly 1.5 times bigger than Tsushima’s, and most of it is covered in deep snow and icy slopes that slow your movement down significantly if you don’t have the right gear. Walking through unbroken deep snow slows you down by 50% unless you have snowshoes, which you unlock after completing the first 3 main story missions in the starting Ainu village. Don’t try to climb the highest mountain peaks before you get these, you’ll just end up wasting stamina and possibly freezing to death before you reach the top.
Many players look for quick shortcuts to unlock rare gear early to make traversal easier, and a lot of casual fans share gameplay clips and hidden location guides on user-run gaming hubs. For example, Hindi777 has a great breakdown of the fastest route to unlock the mountain glider, which lets you skip hours of climbing steep icy slopes if you get it in the first 10 hours of play. The glider also lets you pull off air takedowns from much higher altitudes than you could in Tsushima, so you can clear entire guard outposts from above without ever being spotted if you plan your route right.
Make sure you always carry at least 3 warmth tonics when you head into the higher mountain zones, as sudden blizzards can pop up without warning and drain your health if you don’t find shelter fast. You can craft warmth tonics at any campfire using pine resin and wild berries, which are abundant in the lower forest zones, so stock up whenever you pass a patch of berries.
Side Content Prioritization to Unlock the Best Rewards Early
Yotei has four main types of side content, and not all of it is worth grinding for early in your playthrough. Focus on the highest reward content first to get the most out of your first 10 hours, and save the lower priority tasks for after you beat the main story when you have better gear and fast travel unlocked. Here’s a quick breakdown of what to prioritize:
- Ainu community quests: These are the highest priority, as they unlock exclusive crafting recipes, cold resistance gear, and permanent combat buffs you can’t get anywhere else. Many of these quests also expand on the game’s core story, so you won’t want to skip them anyway.
- Ice cave exploration: Most ice caves hold rare crafting materials for the best endgame weapons, but you’ll need a fire charm to melt blocked entrances, which you get after completing the 5th main story mission. Wait until you have that charm before you go exploring these, otherwise you’ll just waste time trying to get into locked caves.
- Bandit camp clears: These are fine to do when you pass them, but they only give generic gold and resources, so you don’t need to go out of your way to clear all of them in the first 10 hours of play. You’ll get way better rewards from community quests in the same amount of time.
If you’re a completionist, you can go back and clear all the bandit camps and collect all the shrines after you beat the main story, when you have better gear and fast travel points unlocked to make the process faster. A lot of the endgame side content also unlocks alternate outfits and new game plus exclusive perks, so it’s worth saving the lower priority content for later.
Common Mistakes New Players Make (And How to Avoid Them)
The most common mistake new players make is treating the weather like a cosmetic feature. The cold and blizzards aren’t just for atmosphere, they’re core mechanics that can kill you faster than any enemy if you’re not prepared. Always check the weather forecast on your map before you head out on a long trek, and pack extra warmth tonics if there’s a blizzard predicted in the area you’re traveling to.
Another big mistake is wasting rare upgrade materials on low-level gear. The first set of armor and weapons you get are obsolete after 5 hours of play, so save your rare iron and animal hide materials for the Ainu crafted gear you unlock from community quests, that’s the gear you’ll use for most of the game. You can sell low-level gear for extra gold if you need to, but don’t waste rare materials upgrading it.
Many players also skip stealth entirely and try to fight every enemy head on, but Yotei’s enemies are a lot smarter than Tsushima’s. They’ll call for backup faster and use ranged weapons that can take off half your health in one hit if you’re not wearing heavy armor. Stealth takedowns are still the fastest way to clear most camps, especially if you use your animal companions to distract guards first. Don’t forget to use the new snow camouflage mechanic either: if you wear white armor and lie down in deep snow, enemies won’t spot you from more than 10 meters away, even if they’re looking right at you.
You also don’t need to craft ammo every time you rest, but keeping a stack of 20 fire arrows in your inventory at all times will save you a lot of frustration when you run into ice shield wielding enemies in the mountain zones. Fire arrows melt these shields in one hit, so you won’t have to waste time parrying or switching stances to break through their defenses.
At the end of the day, PS Ghost of Yotei works so well because it builds on everything players loved about the first game while adding enough new mechanics and challenges to feel fresh and exciting. Don’t stress about getting every collectible on your first playthrough, take your time exploring the world, talking to NPCs, and experimenting with different combat and stealth builds to find what works best for you. Whether you’re playing for the story, the open world exploration, or the challenging combat, there’s something for every type of player to enjoy.