Ghost of Yotei State of Play reveals new mechanics, bigger open world

Sony's State of Play returned last night with a new deep-dive into this year's big PS5 exclusive, Ghost of Yotei. The game looks promising so far, but it is noticeably different to the structure of the previous game, Ghost of Tsushima. 

While Ghost of Tsushima had flashbacks to Jin Sakai's backstory sprinkled throughout the main campaign, Ghost of Yotei will handle things differently. The game will have a new system that allows players to explore the past of new protagonist, Atsu. You can jump into past memories at any time to get a deeper insight into Atsu's emotions and motivation as you slash your way across Hokkaido in search of those responsible for killing her family. This being a separate mechanic means that the game's main campaign is going to be heavily focused on present events, with minimal flashback scenes.

The gameplay deep-dive also revealed some changes to exploration. This one had me a little concerned, as Ghost of Tsushima largely succeeds due to its open world design. However, not much is changing on that front in Ghost of Yotei, but the names of certain things have changed.

In Ghost of Tsushima, you had a few different kinds of collectibles sprinkled throughout the map, including Hot Springs, Shrines, Fox Dens and more. In Ghost of Yotei, players will be finding Altars of Reflection, instead of Shrines, to obtain extra skill points. Players will also have access to a Spy Glass that can be used to pinpoint new areas of the map to explore. Atsu can also set up camps, cook and play music.

Combat has also seen some changes. While Jin Sakai was a Samurai who had to learn Ninjutsu skills to survive the Mongolian invasion, Atsu is neither a Ninja or a Samurai. As a result, you get a whole new playbook of combat moves and access to a wider range of weapons, including dual-swords, spears and more.

Ghost of Yotei is releasing on October 2nd for PS5. a PC version has not yet been announced.

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KitGuru Says: I'm looking forward to Ghost of Yotei, but one of the things I loved about Tsushima was the streamlined open world. I hope that isn't lost in the sequel, as Yotei looks to be going for a much bigger scale of world. 

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