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[Toots]

The senseis sidequests were better in Tsushima, I agree (I only remember the old lady and bow old man tho). They arent as elaborate in Yotei with multiple quests, but they are enjoyable enough and each one of them teaching you a new weapon is good design, imo.

Every other sidequest is better tho (maybe the reason why you've only mentioned the senseis). The immortal samurai, the dude who has a bear as pet and so on. Even bounties have unique cutscenes and storytelling. I cant remember of one memorable Tsushima sidequest.



The beginning alone of Yotei has better production values than Tsushima and its not even close

Watching your family getting killed, writting the names of the Yotei Six and fighting Snake (with flashbacks during fight) was so much better paced and directed than fighting few mongols on a beach (and losing forcibly) than having some boring forced stealth section right after.

The fight with Khan you've mentioned lasted 2 minutes and you're forced to lose.
In Yotei you have an identical fight while the camp is being attacked and its just as cinematic, if not more.

Escaping Oni's camp, defending the bridge and reaching Kitsune's region were already more memorable than 90% of Tsushima, and Im not even finished with it.

Well if the intro to the game or tracing on your gamepad are set pieces to you i understand where you come from a bit more.

Funny how yotei devs were so confident with this type of presentation that you need like 15 strokes to write the first two names and then you 3 strokes for the others. They knew it was getting old already at the beginning.

The fight with the khan doesn't exist in vacuum. What are you doing just before and just after those two minutes of fight ?
Escaping oni camp is just running while fireworks blow next to you. Plus you get your ass handed to you by the oni the same way the khan destroys you and your honor as a samurai in tsushi. Except while it pushes jin to change entirely, it doesn't do anything for atsu, simply a few more missions and you'll be ready to beat the oni without breaking a sweat.

I don't even remember what you defending the bridge set piece but if it is the mission where you need to get to a bridge to protect your brother and then the bridge is destroyed and there is a cinematic ending the mission, it is so forgettable i don't even count it as a set piece.

The same for reaching the kitsune region, is riding your horse for a minute, having a fight and then walking aimlessly for 2 minutes in a blizzard memorable to you ? I mean good for you to enjoy the game (i did too by the way), but you seem more eager to convince yourself yotei is a masterpiece than trying to objectively see the strength and flaws of both games.

 

[Toots]

for the people who have completed the game. how does it stack up vs the first. I found the middle of the first game to be quite slow and a touch of a slog to complete. Overall I enjoyed the game and I was glad I played it but i'd like to know the pacing and rinse repeat content is better in Yotei.

What do you guys think?

Yotei has a more concise story, one of the good points compared to tsushima.
You will start to get bored when you arrive at the third and last region, have seen every gameplay and story telling mechanics, and understood it is good but shallow.

 

[DenchDeckard]

In my opinion, Yotei is much better than Ghost of Tsushima since the exploration can feel a lot more organic rather than just dropping points on your map. You either have to find them yourself or buy maps from the cartographer and place them yourself which is actually a fun mini game for me personally.

The revenge story against 6 massive wankers is way more my thing than Tsushima.

There's still quite a lot of side quest stuff to play, but the story missions themselves do not feel like a slog and I imagine I'm about 1/3 through Act 2.

Lots of bounties to go and collect, hot springs, puzzles, paintings etc. it's a good time, but only engage with the content you want to go through.

Sounds good to me! I'll be picking it up. I think a straight up revenge story is more up my street too.

Yotei has a more concise story, one of the good points compared to tsushima.
You will start to get bored when you arrive at the third and last region, have seen every gameplay and story telling mechanics, and understood it is good but shallow.

Yeah. I'll probs put it down for a little while if that happens. I find having a break from a game can be good if you are burnt out. Then when you com back it can feel fresher and also enjoyable as you settle back into the mechanics you enjoyed.

 

[semiconscious]

Yotei has a more concise story, one of the good points compared to tsushima.
You will start to get bored when you arrive at the third and last region, have seen every gameplay and story telling mechanics, and understood it is good but shallow.

good take...

just completed the oni, & am already starting to feel the drain, particularly with the combat, which's pretty relentless at times, tho, just as was the case with tsushima, the whole 'gorgeous environment' effect is also beginning to wear itself out. being reminded why stellar blade's likely my favorite game this gen - a fun game that doesn't overstay its welcome...

yotei is a good game, just a too long for its own good one. as was tsushima. really hope sucker punch's has gotten the samurai out've its system & is ready to move on, because i know i am...

 

[Kvally]

Just about done! It's a pretty good game. Better than GoT.

being reminded why stellar blade's likely my favorite game this gen

 

[semiconscious]

hey, I never said that was the only reason...

 

[Gorgon]

This is my main problem with the game. Some cutscenes look great, others look so bad with robotic animations and characters moving like mannequins. It hurts a lot the immersion

Speaking of immersion: how are NPCs in small towns handled? Is it like the first game, in which everyone was just posing around and brain dead?

 

[Gonzito]

Speaking of immersion: how are NPCs in small towns handled? Is it like the first game, in which everyone was just posing around and brain dead?

Its similar but one good thing is that npcs seem to be more alive. They speak more and say more things. Npc interaction is definitely better

 

[Gorgon]

Its similar but one good thing is that npcs seem to be more alive. They speak more and say more things. Npc interaction is definitely better

Nice. Thanks.

 

[mayham2199]

I started it this weekend. I planned on just slowly making my way through it as sort of a soft break from games after trails in the sky remake. I got hooked immediately. Saying this game is just a better GOT is correct but it kind of undersells it a bit or at least it did to me. I liked GOT I thought it was a good game but this one is a good bit better IMO.

My only complaint so far is that I have one bounty that just says "They are in this area" which is a huge area and I have no idea where to go from there. Another thing is when you're talking to people the person you are talking to looks like shit most of the time. Like graphically it looks so bad compared to the rest of the game. Other than that huge improvement here.

I wanted Sucker Punch to move on from this series after this game but now I'm thinking they should just do whatever they want because they clearly know what they are doing.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Just about done! It's a pretty good game. Better than GoT.

 

[Sticks]

Just about done! It's a pretty good game. Better than GoT.

 

[GooseMan69]

Finished it on lethal. Loved it. Probably my second favorite game of the year behind E33. I will say it slightly ran out of steam toward the end. I just felt like the game had shown its hand and the open world lost some of its magic. Still a super enjoyable ride from beginning to end. Combat genuinely never gets old for me.

8/10

 

[sncvsrtoip]

Beat Yotei. Similar to Ragnarok and Forbidden West, it's a sequel that improves many aspects but definitely plays it safe. The biggest surprise for me was that I actually liked Atsu more than Jin. She just feels more human and less boring. Graphically it's definitely improved with better draw distance, cutscenes, and lighting, especially in Pro mode. PSSR works well here, the internal resolution is quite low but the image stays sharp. Artifacts exist but are rare. Unfortunately there are still low-geometry rocks and underwhelming water. I get that animations aren't top-tier considering the budget, but I don't understand why they went with such low geometry assets. I spent around 50 hours clearing most of the map without feeling bored, even though I'm not a fan of repeating the same gameplay loop in new areas. I probably enjoy gameplay more than in any other game this year. 8/10

 

[GymWolf]

Speaking of immersion: how are NPCs in small towns handled? Is it like the first game, in which everyone was just posing around and brain dead?

Still lifeless bots with prerecorded lines, most of them.

 

[PurePlatinum]

Lol the game is super boring most of the time, but it's a 7... I will never understand why people will play a game they think is boring, let alone give it a good score.

It's hard to say that anything is particularly bad, when you break down the individual pieces. It's not like FFXVI (a game I think is actually actively bad), but I do find myself fairly disengaged with it.

I think my core issue is that outside of the swordplay, the moment-to-moment gameplay is just so soft. When you stop and take inventory of all the other systems, they're all pretty much braindead.

 

[Nocty]

just finished the game, doesn't break new ground but it is almost everything I wanted for a sequel somehow the most enjoyable open world game I have played even though a lot of missions are kind of doing the same thing. They somehow managed to stretch it far enough and not feeling like going through a checklist. If they do make a sequel to this, hopefully choices and branching path is the main focus.

I just wrapped it too and agree. I felt a bit burned out near the end but the combat is good enough to make the repetitive missions still feel fun to complete.