Ghost of Tsushima didn’t exactly impress me when it first released in 2020. I wasn’t all that enthralled by Jin Sakai as a protagonist and I was experiencing a bit of Japan fatigue, though I did come away impressed by the wind navigation mechanic and how pretty everything looked. That wasn’t enough to pique my interest for Ghost of Yotei when that got announced, though. And so, the Ghost came and went in 2025.
As it turns out, maybe I should’ve paid a bit more attention to Ghost of Yotei after all, because man, I’ve just burned through my entire weekend playing through this game and I am hooked.
PlayStation offered me a code for Ghost of Yotei: Complete Edition ahead of the DLC releases for its Most Wanted mode and Echoes of Sekigahara. While I’m still working through Echoes of Sekigahara at the moment, I did sink plenty of time into the base game for the first time and also dabble in Most Wanted. If you’re new to Ghost of Yotei, the story setup is simple: protagonist Atsu loses her entire family at a very young age and sets out on a revenge journey against the Yotei Six, the gang of mercenaries responsible for killing her family.
But honestly, the story isn’t the point. The vibes are the point. And the vibes in Ghost of Yotei are immaculate. You see, there are two types of weebs (read: a person who is nerdy about all things Japan, usually anime and manga). There’s the anime/manga weeb. Those are a dime a dozen. Then there’s the “Nippon steel is the best kind of steel” weeb. The weeb who’s invested in Japanese culture itself and appreciates how romantic it can be. Ghost of Yotei absolutely romanticizes Japanese culture (complementary), and it does so in incredibly thoughtful and detailed ways.
Never mind the fact that it’s only vaguely unrealistic for a girl to carry around a shamisen while she’s on her revenge journey; there’s a bounty early on in the game where she’s tasked with hunting down a serial killer in possession of a cursed flute that lets him play beautiful music but demands a sacrifice every now and then. I’m not sure if there’s actually anything supernatural or magical in Ghost of Yotei, but I’ll go with it. When Atsu attempts to confront this killer, she must first find a way past a locked door. The only way to progress, of course, is to whip out the shamisen and play the same tune that the killer is playing in his cavern. The door mysteriously opens, and you engage in a fun swordfight before killing him.
Right before he dies, however, the killer makes one final request. He wants to play one more song. Somehow, some way, Atsu and the critically wounded killer make it out of the cavern hideout to a beautiful cliffside overlooking the region of Ezo. They sit down and the killer teaches Atsu the song verse by verse. Then, they play together. When the song is done, Atsu comments that it was beautiful, but the killer does not respond because he passes away after playing his final note. It’s all so unrealistic and melodramatic and overly romanticized, but I’m absolutely here for it.
Ghost of Yotei is a game that encourages you to bow to the grand mountain before taking a dip in the hot springs. This is a game that lets you whip out the shamisen whenever you’re in the mood for a song. Aside from one particular song that leads you to upgrade spots, there are no other in-game rewards for doing so. Just vibes.
If the writing was any less thoughtful, I might criticize Ghost of Yotei for being overly navel gazey. But the fact is that most of its main story and side quests are so well-written that I find myself utterly enthralled by its immersive world. I find myself invested in Isaburo the Cartographer and I wonder whether he’ll ever get a job placement in the mainland, I think about Hanbei from time to time and wonder if he’s watching over me from atop Mount Yotei. Somehow, I’ve grown to care about these NPCs despite how straight-faced Ghost of Yotei is all the time, and that’s kind of a big deal for me as someone who’s usually so quick to poke fun at games that take themselves way too seriously.
I’ll have more thoughts on the new DLC as a complete package in a few days once I’ve actually seen everything, but for now, I have a few thoughts on the new Most Wanted roguelike mode. First off, I’m a fan of how these first-party PlayStation exclusive games have been trying to incorporate roguelike modes outside of the single-player story stuff. God of War did it, The Last of Us Part II did it, the whole of Saros is a roguelike in and of itself… I love the genre, and I hope PlayStation keeps working at it. Maybe one day we’ll even see a first-party exclusive roguelike game? One can hope.
The game recommends that you beat the story first before attempting Most Wanted, but I suspect this is mostly for story spoiler reasons. You’ll be hunting the Yotei Six after all, and I guess it’d be better to face off against them in the story first before hunting them for sport. I mostly played with Atsu as I’m a fan of her dual katana technique. Her ultimate ability also lets her summon wolves to her aid, which is just badass.
I found that the difficulty level ramped up very quickly and so far, I’ve only been able to make it past the first boss before dying. Most Wanted is pretty generous with your carry-over resources, though, which lets you give your character a permanent upgrade for future runs. I believe the primary incentive for completing this mode (aside from the combat challenge, of course) is being able to unlock cool cosmetics that carry over to the base game. As someone who also cares a lot about in-game fashion, I could see myself spending hours in Most Wanted to unlock everything before going back to the main story. I’ll do my best not to dawdle, though.
As a newcomer to Ghost of Yotei, I’ve been very pleased with my experience so far and I only wish I’d actually started this game sooner so I could’ve maybe considered it for Game of the Year 2025. It likely still wouldn’t have dethroned Silent Hill f, but it probably would’ve been in the running at the very least. Well, better late than never. Now back to shamisen practice.
A review code for the game was provided by the publisher.
