Topic: Ghost of Yōtei

@Pizzamorg "I've basically been smiling from ear to ear"

And this ladies and gentlemen is why we play video games. Happy to see you are tearing it up around Ezo after it clicking (I was the same way). I'm 9 hours in and haven't killed a second Yotei 6 yet 😅

@Oram77 Lol same actually, about 10ish hours in, I've done a couple of the missions that introduce you to new zones, but then as I start thinking about pushing ahead into them, a bunch of stuff will unlock in the starting area. And at least so far, every single activity, or side mission, has unlocked something meaningful and tangible, so I kinda don't want to skip anything. I do worry a little about the burnout, but for now, I'm happy just vibing.

It's great to see everyone's enjoying the game, I love seeing all your screenshots😀. Like everyone else I haven't done much of the story, I'm currently in the far north clearing farmsteads.

Just noticed it got an update/patch. (Anyone know what it was for?) Was going to just mess around on photomode before getting some lunch. Can't wait to get stuck in to a full on session of this game 👏

@Ravix Probably just stuff they missed in the day 1 patch, I know there was a bug in the Zeni Hajiki mini-game that made the coins dissappear under the table.

@Elfuggingjefe @Hapless Seems they are keeping on top of things. Good to know 🙌

Not had any ideas for photomode yet, but exploring the features ready for when I do get to some cool locations. It looks like atsu has a cool, photogenic resting pose, however (Pic 2) And I can't wait to experiment with forcing animations to capture interesting shots. Tsushima was one of my favourite games for bending the game and photomode to my will.

Okay, yep. The game really is very good. I've been getting my Witcher on, instead of going to the yellow quests, when I loaded in I was greeted by the Bowyer, and then a bounty agent, and I took a bunch of bounty posters and set off into the world. I spent ages exploring little areas while making my way loosely to the first target, which gave me plenty of combat to get used to the game and lots to look at, before eventually taking down my quarry. Found some random side quests on the way to turning in the bounty, and then made my way to my second target, which was rather explosive.

Overall a nice upgrade on GoT. Map clearing doesn't feel like a chore here. Obviously it isn't on the same level as a KCD2 or RDR2 in terms of natural world design and quest placement within coming together in a way that makes map clearing feel like a thing of the past, but it is a good few steps above the regular AC type map clearing, which I definitely became bored of part way in to Shadows, and I do still believe that studios' should strive to move away from that as much as possible when making open world games, as it should be more complex than plopping things randomly into a world for the sake of having something for the player to do in each location. And the two games I mentioned both use NPC routines, as a way to make the world feel more alive, as quest givers are not just there to give a quest and then dissappear. At least GoY is shrouding these elements a bit better than GoT. But it is still the same framework that 90% of open worlds employ.

Few little tips I picked up from playing:

Tapping R3 on the horse puts it in to cinematic format. Really nice for travelling.

Some bounties offer rewards more than pure Mon. I already found an incredibly useful combat action that will potentially be my favourite utility (tiny spoiler if you don't want specifics)

For a melee combat heavy run, this is the perfect little item to give you a second to reset when an enemy is overwhelming you.

Obviously tapping R2 and letting go to set up weapon throws is important and was easy to miss (for me)

And then then the standard open world tip... follow your nose, rather than objectives on the map. That is where the game is at its best.

Tell you what though, those golden birds have put on a bit of weight! 😂

Right, two of the Yotei 6 down, the sequence leading up to the fight did feel it came straight from Tsushima, is that a bad? No, but they could of shook it up a bit more, the fight itself was incredible though, the lighting, music, so it makes up for what lead up to it. Also been doing a lot of side quests (shocker I know), the duelling trees being a high light so far, how I just stumbled upon one (such a good feeling finding this stuff organically), but man after completing it, I really think Sucker Punch could make a really good horror game, that's all I will say on that. Can we also all agree that the writing (was meant to be a worry point for some) is actually extremely well put together, yet another step up from Tsushima in my honest opinion. I would up load some of my screen shots but I'm too lazy 🫠

I'm like 15 hours in and still haven't killed a second of the six yet 😂

@Pizzamorg Same here lol, I keep getting side tracked everytime I go to do the main quest.

Wolves are cool. Bears did not get the memo 😭

Twice i've been absolutely blindsided after taking out a group of enemies and going about my business. I'm starting to think they are conspiring with the Yotei 6!

The bears create some really fun emergent story though, I was being chased by one and ended up in one of Saito's camps and it ended up killing most of the camp while I ran away and hid 😂

@Pizzamorg this is more what I would hope for 😂 i've only seen two bears, both first spotted as i'm being torn to shreds while not previously aware of any bear threats in the area. I will have to watch for the telltale sign of Atsu turning to face off screen randomly as if she is still in combat, but as both times were directly after finishing combat, my main thoughts were to relax and either put the sword away and look cool, or in this case, reposition for a stealth excursion.

I'll try to hammer right dpad if it happens again to capture the moment up close. And I do kind of hope it happens as i'm nonchalantly sheathing my katana for a photo op after a slaughter too. Photo bombing bear I can deal with more than horror bear.

@Oram77 Yeah, I think you and I were mentioning the concern about the writing and story, so I’m glad it’s holding up. I don’t know when I’ll get to the game but I love seeing the positive impressions

Oh yeah, even with mostly doing just side content for these first 15 odd hours, I am really liking the Yotei story so far. It is pure Spaghetti Western style storytelling. Lots of deceptively badass dudes, dramatically staged showdowns and strangers rolling into town. Maybe a little more vibes based than GOT was, but they are vibes I really resonate with.

In terms of Atsu herself, the contrast of the Atsu locked in during battle, to her softer, quieter moments, outside of it are really well handled and made me really charmed by Atsu super early on. I like how this is reflected in the gameplay as well, that mission where you play music and lead the bear cub back to the village or even like the beginning of the wolf missions, and that feeling of joy as you both race across the landscape together and the music swells. Oh man!, like I am sure there were quiet non combat missions like this in GOT too, but I don't remember them at all. Yet this might end up being one of the most memorable missions in the game for me.

@Pizzamorg yeah, I think the duels were some of the best parts of Tsushima, along with some pivotal set pieces and shocking/dramatic cutscenes, and the odd charming side quest, but there wasn't enough of those stylised cinematic gameplay events happening vs the fox chasing and repetitive travelling mongol bands. Bounties alone have addressed that aspect, for me, I feel. But the whole game feels like it fits together a little better overall, too.

Yeah the bounties are especially impressive to me, cause we are so used to the "go there and kill the dude" missions in games, but Yotei manages to squeeze a surprising amount of story and character into these bounty targets organically as you hunt them, without feeling like it drags or bloats the pacing. There is just a lot of elegance to the execution in Yotei. Less of a true evolution over GOT, and more of like a graceful refinement.

I've done a lot of bounties so far, I really like the lore behind them and how the world reacts to their downfall. I can't wait to jump back in but I won't be playing today as it's Sunday and that's a manga day 😄.

I love it when games have reversible cases, this one looks awesome.

I have only played a few hours but can already tell I will love this game. The fighting is fun, throwing fallen swords, changing weapons, the different colors to parry/dodge add a fun element as well.

The story is simple but to me that makes it fun. I like getting into the mindset of just wanting revenge, compared to GoT where you tried battling between being a traditional samurai or giving up your beliefs.

@ShireGamer I really like the combat, I thought I'd miss the stances from tsushima but this is much improved imo.