Ghost of Yōtei gameplay deep dive 10th July (2pm PT // 5pm ET // 10pm UK)

My favourite thing is the merchants etc being available at every camp site that you set up, that is so so so much better, I hated having to randomly find them in the first game.
 
Looks great, more or less like Tsushima. I just don't really know what to think about the story, being pretty much the same as AC Shadows, but we'll see.
The revenge plot of going after the killers of your family, family member, lover is a well trodden path, LOADS of Samurai movies follow a similar plot. In this instance it will be purely coincidental, they would have been working on Yotei almost as soon as they finished Tsushima.
 
The revenge plot of going after the killers of your family, family member, lover is a well trodden path, LOADS of Samurai movies follow a similar plot. In this instance it will be purely coincidental, they would have been working on Yotei almost as soon as they finished Tsushima.
Yeah but it's like Armagedon and Deep Impact, two movies with almost identical plot released almost at the same time, what were the odds ?
 
100%. I think there was some shit like this with the bows in the first game iirc. I find it jarring when they've gone to the trouble of a largely diegetic UI; like the game design decisions are at odds with each other.

That they decided that rope clipping through the hat in the grappling section was acceptable for a gameplay trailer triggers me too.
Just standard game design, they want certain weapons/outfits in the game they cant have it realistic or she would never be able to carry all that amount of gear just like tens of thousands of games before it.
 
I thought the draw distance and overall look was great.

I can see the generational jump, although more subtle its definitely there. I guess this is what Shu was talking about.

From reading thoughts on the trailer it looks like this will not perform as well as the original. Personally, I'm sold though.
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Yea, I really don't get how people can enjoy games with that kind of main characters. I guess it can work if you identify as an ugly non-binary entity, but otherwise? Even in a wonderfully crafted environment, that's an instant immersion killer. It's like having a barrel full of sweet honey. If someone drops a little pile of shit in there, you won't be able to enjoy it.

If you can't understand something so simple then don't call others five-year-olds.

The very idea that accepting a rough-looking female figure from the 1600s requires having a "non-binary" mindset is so fucking stupid that all i can do is admire your courage in expressing it.
 
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Bad ideas are bad ideas irrespective of how much power the people who believe in them have right now.
I don't disagree. Call out bad ideas where you see them; ya never know when the pendulum will swing. It would be foolish to turn a blind eye to any "side".

The point is that to say a few people shouting online rabidly is somehow MORE annoying than the bullshit we've dealt with over the last decade from the other rabidly preachy group is ridiculous. Bad ideas are bad ideas, but it's a hell of a lot more annoying when they have the power to invade your daily life and not just some YouTube video that you can turn off.
 
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My favourite thing is the merchants etc being available at every camp site that you set up, that is so so so much better, I hated having to randomly find them in the first game.

Yeah, more games need that QoL. Even games like Diablo 4. Press a button to make camp, have access to all vendors and crafters instead of running all over town you're in where they are all set up differently.
 
This obviously lacks the production value ghost of Tsushima had , story and character looks boring , I am afraid this gonna end up like AC shadows , just go from point A to point B.
Sony first party has absolutely became a dog shit.
 
Yeah, more games need that QoL. Even games like Diablo 4. Press a button to make camp, have access to all vendors and crafters instead of running all over town you're in where they are all set up differently.
Like global trade terminals you can add to your base in No Man's Sky, very convenient when you have to sell your stuff often.
But then they need to have another reason why you should go into a town if you can sleep and access all the merchants from your camp out in the woods. Can't just be npc quests.
Needs to have some specific services for towns, weapons smiths, making potions, and they can have special unique gear only accessed in specific stores.
 
Rewatched the trailer. Few things I noticed:

1. They are going for a bigger contrast this time. The characters, rocks and plain ground are even more muted, so much so that they are making it appears less detailed at a glance( the increase in details becomes far more visible when you pause and compare to the first game). Whereas, the leaves and flowers are even more present and even more vibrant. Providing far greater contrast and even a sense of it being a painting.

2. There is a big improvement in voice acting, based on the snippets available so far.

3. Player freedom has been vastly improved. They seem to be going for a almost sandbox style game this time. I think they have been influenced by rdr2 and botw. You are even more free to explore and build your character this time. Side missions and activities also seems to have more rewards, with each side missions chain and activity corresponding to different things( new weapons, character stat improvements, etc). Seems like there is more rewards for things you do this time.

3. Pausing at few moments, there does seem to be bigger settlements as compared to the first game. Although how lived in they are and whether they contain anything of interest or are just enemies bases remain to be seen( especially since they are at a distance background).

4. They seem to have focused a lot on sense of scale and distance. It makes the world feels larger and imo looks great.


5. You can pick up and throw enemy weapons( maybe even your own)!!!


Currently based on the trailers, it seems to be an improvement in almost every way. If the quality from this trailer ends up being true, I wouldn't be suprised if this scores for higher than the original.
 
3. Player freedom has been vastly improved. They seem to be going for a almost sandbox style game this time. I think they have been influenced by rdr2 and botw. You are even more free to explore and build your character this time. Side missions and activities also seems to have more rewards, with each side missions chain and activity corresponding to different things( new weapons, character stat improvements, etc). Seems like there is more rewards for things you do this time.

I don't understand what you mean. The first game had an open world as well, and it also had a system where you were free to do whatever you wanted. You could explore and choose to hunt for skills and unlocks. Pray at altars, hunt down shrines, choose which side quest line to follow, it was all in the first one as well.

There seem to be some new additions like bounties but overall the general structure of how the game plays seems incredibly similar to the first.

Which is not a bad thing per se, the first one played great, but I don't see there being any "vast improvement" at all.
 
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Just standard game design, they want certain weapons/outfits in the game they cant have it realistic or she would never be able to carry all that amount of gear just like tens of thousands of games before it.
Yeah and I think it's a fine decision in a lot of those games. Here I think it's at odds with other design decisions, and while that contradiction still partially existed in GoT, I think they were more mindful of it.

There are also other options for having lots of weapons available in the game without invisibly carrying them all at once and having them appear from thin air as required.
 
Mostly tepid criticism or enthusiasm and we have to listen to the same "geez if you can't lose your mind over this you probably don't even play gamesss."

I think it looks like something I'll play on sale. Said the same thing about AC Japan. This just looks like any rough edge that could possibly make it interesting has been smoothed away. It is why it will get 90 and why I will find it boring after 20 hours before the end.
I think what HeisenbergFX4 HeisenbergFX4 is saying is certainly true with regard to shitting on games for being on the wrong platform. Because every time a game is announced or there's some update there's a tidal wave of people shitting on it, and it's usually people who go to bat for a different platform. You made an accusation of media bias earlier by saying it'll get a 90+ meta because it's a Sony game. Tell me that's not routed in some platform war bullshit?
 
Yeah and I think it's a fine decision in a lot of those games. Here I think it's at odds with other design decisions, and while that contradiction still partially existed in GoT, I think they were more mindful of it.

There are also other options for having lots of weapons available in the game without invisibly carrying them all at once and having them appear from thin air as required.
meh, dont really care personally, the only way around it would to not have spears in the game (she does seem to carry all of the swords on her) or only available in say, towns or camps from weapons racks, but so much of the game is just played in the wilderness that you'd hardly get to use them, I'd rather them be there than not at all or rarely used. The weapons system is an enhancement on the stance system from the first game sand I love the idea of it, using different weapons against different enemy types/weapons they use.
 
That's more to do with badly made character than just being female.

If it's done well I fucking love angry female characters…

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A beautiful, angry woman is a different story, because there is a gap between what you expect her to behave like and what she actually is like, that makes it fun. Asian studios understand very well how to make such characters.

It's western studios whose idea of a character like that is an ugly woman that makes ugly grimaces and screams at everyone, as Sucker Punch demonstrates.
 
I really love that instead of stances you switch weapons. Way more fresh to me. I can see some missing the stance feature, I wonder if that is still in somehow or if they will just have unlockable special moves that will make up for that loss.
 


I think it's pretty obvious with a direct side by side, instead of relying on your memory, that there is indeed a decent graphical jump. Not as significant as some would have wanted, but GoT was targeting 30fps while this is 60fps.
 
I don't understand what you mean. The first game had an open world as well, and it also had a system where you were free to do whatever you wanted. You could explore and choose to hunt for skills and unlocks. Pray at altars, hunt down shrines, choose which side quest line to follow, it was all in the first one as well.

There seem to be some new additions like bounties but overall the general structure of how the game plays seems incredibly similar to the first.

Which is not a bad thing per se, the first one played great, but I don't see there being any "vast improvement" at all.
Side missions and progression in them was locked behind main story missions if I remember correctly, in GoT. You could only progress a certain amount in side missions chains, until the game basically forced you to reach certain points in the main story.

Not to mention how the map was divided into three parts, with each part locked behind main story progression.

In Yotei, it seems that you can now more freely explore and do side missions without artificial locks. Not to mention even main story being more flexible in what seems to be having a choice in missions you can select.

According to what was said in the trailer, it seems you can also focus on which side mission to unlock and progress in, with no limits on how much you can progress in the side missions( unlike GoT).

It seems they made the game more open, in a sense
 
You made an accusation of media bias earlier by saying it'll get a 90+ meta because it's a Sony game. Tell me that's not routed in some platform war bullshit?
No, thats a fact.

PS / Nintendo both get inflated scores.

Nothing wrong with that mind you. Targeting demographic that highly values metascore makes business sense. Both industries push each other up.
 
With regard to the 'the game comes to you' design philosophy: it isn't cost free to prioritise convenience over all else.

By having a lonely campfire in the wilderness now magically be a trading hub, you risk diminishing both the experience of being out in the wilderness and the experience of visiting the trading hub. Having one merchant provide all services and be always available from the menu would be even more convenient, so why not do that? It's always a trade off.

More broadly speaking I would argue that a design philosophy of 'the game comes to you' is antithetical to the basic concept of an open world game
 


I think it's pretty obvious with a direct side by side, instead of relying on your memory, that there is indeed a decent graphical jump. Not as significant as some would have wanted, but GoT was targeting 30fps while this is 60fps.

"Decent" is not what people want out of a generation leap
 
No, thats a fact.

PS / Nintendo both get inflated scores.

Nothing wrong with that mind you. Targeting demographic that highly values metascore makes business sense. Both industries push each other up.
The original GOT received 83 on MC. Nothing inflated about that score. I expect the sequel to go a little higher - maybe 85.
Quit it with the conspiracy theory.
 
The weapons system is an enhancement on the stance system from the first game sand I love the idea of it, using different weapons against different enemy types/weapons they use.
I think it pretty much mimics the stance system, except in a format which will be impossible to implement as elegantly as the stance system.
 
"Decent" is not what people want out of a generation leap
The PS5 is only about 2.5x-3x times as powerful as the PS4 Pro which ran GoT at 1800p/30fps with checkerboarding. Since the new game is targeting 60fps they are basically left with ~50% more GPU power at best and more RAM. "Decent" is all you are really going to get.
 
The PS5 is only about 2.5x-3x times as powerful as the PS4 Pro which ran GoT at 1800p/30fps with checkerboarding. Since the new game is targeting 60fps they are basically left with ~50% more GPU power at best and more RAM. "Decent" is all you are really going to get.

Next-gen visual uplifts don't just scale with more shader power, there's more smarter rendering techniques you can use to achieve better results and in some cases requires less render time, a great example are Mesh Shaders. SP didn't bother with any of that it seems.

As for "decent" uplift, then I disagree, it looks like a remaster/DLC to the first game.
 
I think it pretty much mimics the stance system, except in a format which will be impossible to implement as elegantly as the stance system.
I dont see why not? I love the idea of multiple weapons, can't see it being much different other than more potential for stuff which is show in the footage (various ranges of the weapons mainly), you switch on the fly so I cant see it being all that much different when playing, and if anything, because she isn't some honourable Samurai it makes more sense from a story perspective as well as giving a little more variety to the game.

Oh, one thing that I forgot to mention above, she does find spears and other weapons across the world by the way, ones from fallen enemies (and friendlies I'd presume) which you pick up and throw (the thrown spear was picked up before throwing for example).
 


I think it's pretty obvious with a direct side by side, instead of relying on your memory, that there is indeed a decent graphical jump. Not as significant as some would have wanted, but GoT was targeting 30fps while this is 60fps.


The move to 60 fps is a huge improvement, especially for gameplay.
And the increase in draw distance is probably due to the Zen2 CPU vs Jaguar.
But texture work seems very dated. It looks very muddy and low res for a current title.
Also, the TAA they are using looks very blurry, making the game seem like it's running at a low resolution. Maybe with FSR4 on the Pro, this might improve.
 
Next-gen visual uplifts don't just scale with more shader power, there's more smarter rendering techniques you can use to achieve better results and in some cases requires less re time, a great example are Mesh Shaders. SP didn't bother with any of that it seems.

As for "decent" uplift, then I disagree, it looks like a remaster/DLC to the first game.
The geometry detail has increased quite a bit, it has a far more impressive particle and fire system, foliage is more detailed and has a far longer draw range, weather and dynamic cloud system have seen quite the improvement, character models and armor are all more detailed. The only thing that hasn't seen a decent upgrade are some of the texture work, but even then it is still better than GoT which had some truly dreadful textures. It seems more impressive to me compared to Spider-Man 2 as a sequel.
 
never, ever have I more desired a facepalm reaction emoji than after reading this thread

between the woke claims because the protagonist is a woman, and the bu-bu-but uncharted on ps3 looks better I just makes me feel to close the browser and never visit again

I get it, we are all older folks here and the hype train is something we've become immune to, but this? this level of cinicism and grandstanding?
 
The game looks amazing, day 1 for me, i love the Japanese setting impossible to skip for me…. But the Toxicity and Negativity of the Playstation community is on another level, is like they are having trouble to enjoy things, from the YouTube comments, Instagram, twitter and here…
 
Honestly, I just don't know what some people are expecting these days. Actually, I don't know think they know what they actually want when the truly lovely visuals on show in a trailer like this aren't apparently "good enough".

As if, beyond a certain point there really are significant benefits to gameplay or experience to be had from slathering layer upon layer of gpu effects to the same imagery!
 
I think what HeisenbergFX4 HeisenbergFX4 is saying is certainly true with regard to shitting on games for being on the wrong platform. Because every time a game is announced or there's some update there's a tidal wave of people shitting on it, and it's usually people who go to bat for a different platform. You made an accusation of media bias earlier by saying it'll get a 90+ meta because it's a Sony game. Tell me that's not routed in some platform war bullshit?
I really didn't say anything more negative than what people say in any review score prediction thread. I think Sony makes the types of games that appeal to a mainstream gamer very well, including journalists. Cinematic but with deep enough gameplay to keep you engaged. Not too much difficulty or rough edges. If my post was the extent of negative posting around here then this place would be a game discussion utopia. I literally said I think the game will review very well, that it will be on GOTY lists, and that I will buy it on sale. Think about that lol. I literally said that and still have to deal with crap like your post.
 
"Decent" is not what people want out of a generation leap

Generational "leaps" don't exist anymore. More like a bunny hop especially given that we had the Pro and Xbox One X. I can't even think of a game that had a leap from the same franchise between PS4 and 5. From Forza, Doom, Monster Hunter, etc, barely look better than their last gen counterparts. I bet Intergalactic won't look much better the TLOU2 as well.
 
The game looks amazing, day 1 for me, i love the Japanese setting impossible to skip for me…. But the Toxicity and Negativity of the Playstation community is on another level, is like they are having trouble to enjoy things, from the YouTube comments, Instagram, twitter and here…
The eventual gran turismo 8 is going to be fun times. Gt car models are already better looking than real life and I don't they can improve upon them. Besides scenery, the game will visually look identical to gt 7, with the main differences being amount of content, better AI, physics, etc. All things not noticeable from trailers.

And just like this thread, the gameplay thread of it is going to be fun times.
 
I really didn't say anything more negative than what people say in any review score prediction thread. I think Sony makes the types of games that appeal to a mainstream gamer very well, including journalists. Cinematic but with deep enough gameplay to keep you engaged. Not too much difficulty or rough edges. If my post was the extent of negative posting around here then this place would be a game discussion utopia. I literally said I think the game will review very well, that it will be on GOTY lists, and that I will buy it on sale. Think about that lol. I literally said that and still have to deal with crap like your post.
Then my post wasn't directed at comments like yours, actual constructive criticism

I am in the camp I thought the game was beautiful even if there were reused assets and the game wont suffer imo from rocks not having great geometry

Not sure why people are shocked it looks so much like GoT, I don't know what they were hoping for as its pretty much exactly what I expected

Its a wait for PC to purchase type of game for me but I look forward to playing it
 
Generational "leaps" don't exist anymore. More like a bunny hop especially given that we had the Pro and Xbox One X. I can't even think of a game that had a leap from the same franchise between PS4 and 5. From Forza, Doom, Monster Hunter, etc, barely look better than their last gen counterparts. I bet Intergalactic won't look much better the TLOU2 as well.
I agree for the most part, but as for ND, they tend to raise the bar each generation. It'll be tougher this time, only because TLOU has had a next-gen makeover.
 
The PS5 is only about 2.5x-3x times as powerful as the PS4 Pro which ran GoT at 1800p/30fps with checkerboarding. Since the new game is targeting 60fps they are basically left with ~50% more GPU power at best and more RAM. "Decent" is all you are really going to get.
You were also able to pay GOT at 60fps on PS5

If the PS4 Pro never came out and we were comparing this game to the 1080p/30fps base PS4 version this would be a HUGE leap. But it's not because two hardware releases upgraded this game.

Still not playing this and not interested in it but the reason why these leaps feel smaller is becausecompanies are releasing hardware they didn't before and patching in features they never did before.
 
I dont see why not?
Because the 'multiple weapon' format of what is essentially the same gameplay mechanic creates the issue which did not exist with the stance format, namely the weapons having to appear out of thin air as required. The stance format is elegant and harmonious with the other design decisions promoting immersion, while the multiple weapon format (or rather the issue created by it) opposes immersion.

I don't think this would matter in games which don't care about immersion to begin with, but it seems contradictory to me for a game to seek to eg. minimise HUD and make use of diegetic UI, to then not care about weapons appearing out of nowhere.

Oh, one thing that I forgot to mention above, she does find spears and other weapons across the world by the way, ones from fallen enemies (and friendlies I'd presume) which you pick up and throw (the thrown spear was picked up before throwing for example).
I think that's one of the good ways of doing it. Limit how many main weapons you can equip to an amount which doesn't require them to appear from nowhere, and then be able to make use of weapons lying around / taken from enemies on a temporary basis.

The difficulty is if they've chosen to make it so you really should be using a specific weapon type against a specific enemy, they may feel like the player has to always be able to carry all of those types.
 
I really love that instead of stances you switch weapons. Way more fresh to me. I can see some missing the stance feature, I wonder if that is still in somehow or if they will just have unlockable special moves that will make up for that loss.
The fact that the weapons works exactly like the stances from the first is not a good sign of more developed gameplay.
It was not a great idea to "force" players to use certain stances against certain ennemies in the first, it won't be a great idea to force players to use certain weapons against certains ennemies in this one...
Only hope is there are stances for each weapons.
 
Because the 'multiple weapon' format of what is essentially the same gameplay mechanic creates the issue which did not exist with the stance format, namely the weapons having to appear out of thin air as required. The stance format is elegant and harmonious with the other design decisions promoting immersion, while the multiple weapon format (or rather the issue created by it) opposes immersion.

I don't think this would matter in games which don't care about immersion to begin with, but it seems contradictory to me for a game to seek to eg. minimise HUD and make use of diegetic UI, to then not care about weapons appearing out of nowhere.


I think that's one of the good ways of doing it. Limit how many main weapons you can equip to an amount which doesn't require them to appear from nowhere, and then be able to make use of weapons lying around / taken from enemies on a temporary basis.

The difficulty is if they've chosen to make it so you really should be using a specific weapon type against a specific enemy, they may feel like the player has to always be able to carry all of those types.
You are not always carrying all of these weapons though. You can be disarmed and can also diarm enemies. You can lose weapons and pick up enemy weapons to compensate, etc. you can even throw your weapons, losing access to them until you pick them back up.

Having different weapons instead of stances also have tons of positives. You can have bigger differences in range, speed and damage. You can now throw weapons( I can't understate how fun that can be, especially if it is similarly to old ac games). You can have more unique upgrade paths and even different weapons for the same purpose( there are 5 weapons already confirmed, and 4 slots) and they can even expand on that in future releases( with each weapon having tradeoff even if they have the same "stance" slot). There are more variety and variations you can have with weapons as compared to stances.
 
The fact that the weapons works exactly like the stances from the first is not a good sign of more developed gameplay.
It was not a great idea to "force" players to use certain stances against certain ennemies in the first, it won't be a great idea to force players to use certain weapons against certains ennemies in this one...
Only hope is there are stances for each weapons.
You arent forced though, they are just more effective, which was similar to the first game. The benefit of these new weapons was shown, kusarigama has a long range, ōdachi has slightly more range plus deals more damage to bigger enemies, dual swords are small and fast which is good against spear wielding enemies, but you can use ōdachi against spear enemies or use dual swords against large enemies it will just take longer.
 
The fact that the weapons works exactly like the stances from the first is not a good sign of more developed gameplay.
It was not a great idea to "force" players to use certain stances against certain ennemies in the first, it won't be a great idea to force players to use certain weapons against certains ennemies in this one...
Only hope is there are stances for each weapons.
Personally, I prefer the idea that I can play the game with multiple weapon types. And I'm not sure you're forced to use specific weapons, only that some work better against others.

More importantly, I think playing the game first might help.
 
You are not always carrying all of these weapons though. You can be disarmed and can also diarm enemies. You can lose weapons and pick up enemy weapons to compensate, etc. you can even throw your weapons, losing access to them until you pick them back up.

Having different weapons instead of stances also have tons of positives. You can have bigger differences in range, speed and damage. You can now throw weapons( I can't understate how fun that can be, especially if it is similarly to old ac games). You can have more unique upgrade paths and even different weapons for the same purpose( there are 5 weapons already confirmed, and 4 slots) and they can even expand on that in future releases( with each weapon having tradeoff even if they have the same "stance" slot). There are more variety and variations you can have with weapons as compared to stances.
hmmm, not sure that is in the game
 
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