Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Yōtei has showcased several new features thus far, including its new clue system, camping and the Wolf Pack. By far the most intriguing is the usage of multiple different weapons, which replaces the stances from Ghost of Tsushima. While Atsu wields a katana just like Jin Sakai (who sadly won’t appear in the sequel), she can also use a yari, dual swords, kusarigama and odachi.
Each weapon type has advantages against different enemies, and while swapping is the “most efficient way to play,” co-director Nate Fox says you won’t be forced to. “The game definitely would like players to learn how to switch weapons when it is appropriate. It is the most efficient way to play,” he told IGN.
“Let’s face it, people sometimes want to play in the way that makes them feel the coolest and the game will not hurt you if you do that. If you want to play with just two swords in each hand because it looks cool, you can play through the whole game that way. It’s A-okay.”
Implementing multiple weapons is essentially expanding on Tsushima’s stances, per Fox. “Instead of four stances, there are now five. Instead of stances with one weapon, we took that same system and said, okay, instead of stances, it’s new melee weapons. Functionally, it’s the same as stances, but it’s more.
“For instance, if you use a spear, you can use that weapon to knock enemies backwards in space. So if you’re standing near a cliff fighting them, you can knock them off the cliff into the abyss. Works just like stances, but there are extra abilities attached to each of these weapons to give the player more options.” So while fans of the first game can seamlessly transition to the new system, there will be more nuance involved with each weapon.
Ghost of Yōtei launches on October 2nd for PS5. It’s posed to be the same length as Ghost of Tsushima (depending on how you play) and offers a similar scope and scale. Check out our feature for even more details.
