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In 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, protagonist Jin Sakai is a samurai, part of Japan’s ruling class during the Kamakura period in which the game is set. When Khotun Khan and his Mongolian army attack Jin’s home island of Tsushima, the samurai is unable to repel the invading force as the noble warrior he was forged to be, and must instead sever his honor by becoming the fearsome “Ghost.” Yet adopting underhanded tactics to gain the edge comes at a cost, as Jin is forced to grapple with sacrificing his relationships, his moral code, and everything he once stood for in an effort to defeat an unconventional foe.

In Ghost of Yotei, protagonist Atsu doesn’t have to make such choices. She’s not a samurai, but a wandering mercenary from an ignoble family–a family that was slaughtered at the hands of a gang of violent outlaws known as the Yotei Six. With everything taken from her, Atsu’s gender and lowly status mean she has no fixed standing in Japanese society during the early 1600s.

Alone and consumed by revenge, she carves her own path forward, adopting the mantle of the onryo, a vengeful spirit from Japanese folklore that’s able to inflict harm in the world of the living. Like Jin, Atsu becomes a symbol–one that strikes fear into the hearts of her enemies as her legend grows. But while this parallel is notable, it’s the differences between Jin and Atsu that stand out the most.

Though the game’s foundation remains largely unchanged from its predecessor, the shift from samurai to roaming sellsword introduces a number of interesting changes and fresh ideas in what is a marked improvement on Ghost of Tsushima. Exploring the natural beauty of Sucker Punch’s romanticized depiction of Feudal Japan is enjoyable in and of itself, but the activities you’ll discover are also much more meaningful than before–tying together Atsu, her home, and her family–while the precise brutality of its highly stylized combat has been expanded upon with a diverse arsenal of tools and melee weapons, resulting in tense and thrilling battles ingrained with cinematic flair.

Like its predecessor, Ghost of Yotei is a classic tale of revenge, inspired by samurai cinema. You can see the influence of legendary filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kenji Misumi in facets of its cinematography, melee combat, and storytelling, but it’s Toshiya Fujita’s Lady Snowblood that comes to mind as the most thematically similar. After Atsu’s family is massacred and she’s left for dead, the young orphan spends the next 16 years away from home, honing her skills on the Japanese mainland by fighting in peasant armies as the country raged war with itself. After the famous Battle of Sekigahara, Atsu returns home to the northern island of Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), prepared to enact her revenge on the Yotei Six by any means necessary.

At the beginning of the game, Atsu doesn’t care whether she lives or dies, so long as the Yotei Six meet their end. But while she spent the past 16 years transforming into a fearsome warrior, the targets of her ire grew stronger too. Now, the Yotei Six have legions of soldiers to call on, with the group’s leader–the antagonistic Saito–proclaiming himself the Shogun of the north.

Although Atsu is comfortable being alone and knows how to fend for herself, it becomes clear that she’s an underdog and must learn to rely on others if she hopes to defeat the Yotei Six. While the world at large might perceive her as a terrifying ghost, she’s also someone who’s gradually shaped by the brutal cost of revenge and the influence of the people she meets. Atsu’s character arc is compelling and offers an interesting juxtaposition to Ghost of Tsushima’s story. It’s still a fairly conventional revenge tale, but one that’s well told, with memorable characters, excellent performances from its optional Japanese voice cast (at least to my non-speaker ears), and a plethora of stunning moments and unexpected twists.

One of the more effective aspects of the narrative is Atsu’s relationship with her family. Almost everything she does is influenced by them in some way. By visiting her home and specific locations around Ezo, you can step into the past and revisit fond memories from her childhood, such as practicing sword fighting with her brother and working with her weaponsmith father in the family’s forge. These windows into the past create further empathy for a character who eventually goes on to inflict brutal violence. You can feel the weight of her loss in each moment, and this persists throughout the game as you explore more and more of Ezo.

Bamboo strikes, fox dens, hot springs, and Shinto shrines return, though they’re fewer in number than before. Crucially, there are also new activities that further Atsu’s characterization and relationship with her family. It’s easy to note the differences with Jin here once again. While he was a scholarly samurai–taking contemplative moments to express himself through haikus–Atsu’s interests are shaped by her upbringing. Her father taught her the art of Sumi-e, which literally translates to “black ink painting,” and her love of the craft is reflected in moments when you are asked to use the DualSense’s touchpad to paint the various animals and landscapes you encounter throughout your journey.

Atsu also travels with a shamisen–a three-stringed instrument played with a large plectrum called a bachi–which was passed down from her grandmother to her mother, then from her mother to her, along with the wisdom that music can still reach those who have passed. Yet playing and learning new songs on the shamisen doesn’t merely serve as a way to connect Atsu with her mother and lineage–it connects her to her homeland and its people, too.

Ghost of Yotei is set over 300 years after the events of Ghost of Tsushima, right at the beginning of Japan’s Edo period. After winning the aforementioned Battle of Sekigahara, the renowned warrior Tokugawa Ieyasu hunted down and executed anyone who opposed him, folding those who accepted into his shogunate. With so many daimyo losing their domains, around 150,000 samurai became ronin around this time, with many of those fleeing to Ezo as a place to live free from the oppressive rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. With the Yotei Six already causing disruption, Ezo feels a lot like the Wild West. As Atsu’s fame grows, so does the number of ronin hoping to cash in her bounty. But as a sellsword, Atsu can also take on a variety of bounty contracts herself, hunting down the island’s most fearsome warriors.

Many of these targets are distinct; there’s one involving a murderous musician that’s actually quite touching, and another about a killer who drowns his victims, akin to a kappa. Sometimes you need to use clues to figure out where they’re hiding; other times they’ll come to you, like a particular serial killer who preys on weary travellers making camp for the night. Most of these encounters conclude with an exciting one-on-one duel, but there are some unexpected outcomes, too. Like much of Ghost of Yotei’s side content, these bounty missions are relatively brief but engaging. It’s just a shame that a few of them are rather generic, asking you to defeat a regular enemy within an occupied camp, for instance. For a game that often avoids this pitfall, these missteps are more obvious.

However, picking up bounties is just one of the ways you’ll interact with Ghost of Yotei’s world. The Guiding Wind mechanic returns from the first game, directing you to your chosen objective with gusts of wind, flying leaves, and bending grass. Five years on, it’s still the best way to navigate an open world, ensuring that you’re fully absorbed in the space you’re inhabiting rather than constantly staring at a mini-map or objective marker. You’re also more likely to spot points of interest this way, such as smoke from a campfire or an alluring building on the horizon. Atsu even has a Breath of the Wild-style spyglass, which automatically adds locations to the in-game map once you’ve spotted them through the telescopic lens. It’s a great way to make you pay attention to your surroundings and internalize key landmarks.

Like Jin, Atsu becomes a symbol–one that strikes fear into the hearts of her enemies as her legend grows. But while this parallel is notable, it’s the differences between Jin and Atsu that stand out the most

The people of Ezo are eager to share information, too. Upon arriving in a new village, a merchant might tell you about an onsen that’s not too far away. You can set up camp to eat food and craft ammo, and a passerby may join you and mention a fox den, while interrogating an enemy could reveal a nearby camp. Your exploration is gently guided, but it feels very natural. Instead of looking at a map filled with markers, you’re left to discover things on your own, even if you’re sometimes nudged in the right direction. You’re peering into the world rather than staring at a UI, so there’s an inherent sense of discovery that persists throughout the game and is very rewarding.

It’s incredibly easy to get sidetracked, even when you have a specific objective in mind. Exploring and engaging with whatever you find is just as fulfilling as playing through the main story, mainly because Ezo feels so alive and lived-in–from a village where people are fishing, conversing around a campfire, and playing music, to the diverse natural landscapes and wildlife of Japan’s northernmost island. Hokkaido is renowned for its natural beauty, and Sucker Punch has certainly captured that with Ghost of Yotei’s open world, further enhancing the distinct visual identity introduced in Ghost of Tsushima. It’s grandiose and almost fantastical at times, but it’s a constant treat for the eyes, full of bold, saturated colors and an abundance of flying particles that make each and every frame feel full of life.

Great plains stretch as far as the eye can see, lakes and streams in the wetlands reflect the glistening moon, and the sea violently clashes against the jagged cliffs on the coast. Vibrant red and auburn trees sit atop rolling green hills, cherry blossom trees paint the south of the island pink, while the north is blanketed in freezing ice and snow. Duels are frequently framed against a backdrop of picturesque mountains, turgid waterfalls, and centuries-old trees–their branches twisting outward like undulating rivers. Colorful butterflies, dragonflies, and flower petals swirl as steel clashes, caught in the howling wind, and each purposeful step forward kicks up fallen leaves and splashes of water. As blood hits the pristine snow, Lady Snowblood springs to mind once again. If nothing else, Ezo is a land of striking contrasts.

Technically, it’s as impressive as Sony’s first-party titles often are. Ezo’s map is divided into sections, with new locations splintering off from a large starting area. When you climb aboard your horse’s saddle, black bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen, reducing the picture size but framing the environment to really show off the superb art direction. There aren’t any noticeable frame drops using the game’s performance mode on a base PS5. Outside of cutscenes, which are locked at 30fps, it runs at a stable 60fps throughout.

It’s the hunt for the Yotei Six that brings you to almost every corner of the island, where you’ll also discover more about each member of the gang as you plot out their demise. The Oni, for instance, resides in a hilltop castle overlooking the entire Ishhikari Plain. He’s a mountain of a man with an army behind him, so the burned villages and widows left in their wake reveal his abject cruelty. The Kitsune, on the other hand, works in the shadows. As the head of a clan of shinobi, their methods are more clandestine, forcing you to solve puzzles to uncover secret hideouts. Their foot soldiers emerge from beneath the snow, and the terror they inflict on the people of Teshio Ridge isn’t as obvious as the Oni’s fire and brimstone approach, with millers and blacksmiths simply disappearing in the night.

Ghost of Yotei’s mission design is similarly varied, whether you’re posing as an anonymous bounty hunter to infiltrate a fortress or pursuing a target through a mountain range as they pepper you with gunfire–and that’s just the main story missions. Side quests take you on a few unexpected adventures involving rumors of terrifying yokai, a brush with a near-indestructible bear, and some enlightening platforming with Ezo’s indigenous Ainu people. The end result is often the same: You’ll typically utilize stealth or combat to solve most problems. But there’s much more flavor than before, making for a more interesting game from one moment to the next, as it ditches the rigidity that frequently plagued Ghost of Tsushima’s mission design.

Combat is also improved, and molded, once again, by Atsu’s singular nature. She fights to win by any means necessary, even if that means picking up a fallen enemy’s weapon and throwing it through another’s chest, chucking dirt into her opponent’s eyes, or lighting her weapon on fire to break through a staunch defense. She’s also not averse to using a variety of different melee weapons, trading Jin’s four katana stances for five distinct armaments. You begin with a katana, and then, by visiting various teachers, gradually unlock an odachi, a kusarigama, dual katanas, and a yari spear.

There’s a rock, paper, scissors dynamic in play where certain weapons are better suited against particular enemies and their chosen equipment. The kusarigama, for instance, can destroy shields with consecutive blows from its heavy attack, while the relentless speed of the dual katanas is ideal for dealing with opponents wielding yari. As one of your teachers puts it, every weapon can kill but won’t necessarily always shine. A single katana can still best a yari user, but you won’t deal as much damage, and breaking through their guard is much tougher. Using the wrong weapon feels inefficient, so you’ll want to frequently cycle through your arsenal depending on who you’re facing to cleave through enemies with style and precision. Throw in new ranged weapons like the slow-loading Tanegashima rifle and a flintlock pistol that’s useful for interrupting enemy attacks, and there are quite a few considerations to make when engaged in combat.

Whichever weapon you’re wielding can fell opponents in a few quick slices, but the same is also true of Atsu. Whether you’re dueling a single opponent or dealing with a one-versus-many situation, you’ll want to master blocking, parrying, and dodging to survive and create openings for your own deadly offense. This manifests in a terrific ebb and flow as you alternate between being active and reactive. Atsu’s fragility creates tension, but she also feels decidedly deadly. It’s a satisfying combination, especially when you factor in a suite of fluid animations and the terrific sound design that accompanies the clashing of weapons and splitting of flesh.

Combat isn’t without its flaws, however. Like the first game, Ghost of Yotei there are a few instances where enemies will slip out of view, forcing you to awkwardly pull your fingers away from the face buttons to manually adjust the camera with the right stick. This isn’t ideal when you need to react quickly to unblockable attacks and incoming projectiles, but it’s rare enough that it isn’t a significant problem.

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Of course, you can also avoid combat entirely in some situations. Ghost of Yotei’s stealth is played fast and loose; it’s more about taking out everybody as quickly and violently as possible rather than slipping by unnoticed. Chaining together assassinations never tires, and using the kusarigama to yank enemies out of sight is particularly gratifying. The stealthy route might be relatively uncomplicated for the most part, but that doesn’t prevent how enjoyable it is to sweep through an enemy camp as a silent assassin.

Ghost of Yotei builds and improves upon its predecessor with a gripping story, rewarding exploration, and fantastic combat, with each aspect emphasizing the characteristics of a new protagonist. As a sequel, familiarity is baked in, but every alteration is in service of Atsu and her profound differences, making for a game that manages to feel distinct even when what you’re doing is so recognizable. The Ghost is just a mask; what matters is who’s behind it.

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