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[Myuni]

Game is good, but has anyone else pointed out how absolutely god awful the water is in this game? I thought they worked out how to make pretty water and terrain interactions with it nice years ago

Agreed, they didn't put in too much love in regard to water, sadly (the coastline ).
Though there is one well-done mountain lake, I think.
It has a shoal of fish that responds to your movements and disperses on approach, which looks nice.

 

[Gonzito]

Game is good, but has anyone else pointed out how absolutely god awful the water is in this game? I thought they worked out how to make pretty water and terrain interactions with it nice years ago

It's awful. They didn't improve it in the slightest coming from GOT

 

[nowhat]

Just got to the end of the main story. Overall, I think it's an improvement over Tsushima, but not a radical departure. If you didn't like Tsushima, this is probably a pass as well. Some of the changes seem at first more cosmetic, like juggling between different weapons instead of stances, but the new weapons also give variation to the moves (and some offer nice range). And throwing a weapon at an enemy is awesome every time. Also there's a charm that autotargets the heavy bow up to three enemies simultaneously - ridiculously OP, but very much fun. Will deplete your heavy arrows very quickly though (it always fires three arrows, even if not having so many targets).

Visually, it's really stunning at times. Perhaps not in terms of raw polygon count or whatnot, but the art direction is top notch. My main complaint is a minor one - still no IK for feet and terrain. It's a minor thing, but one of those "can't unsee" things once you notice it. In many scenes feet are hardly visible though, perhaps intentionally.

Also shoutout to the soundtrack - nothing in there was anything that I'd be humming later on, no "catchy" tunes as such. But it's more of an ambient affair often, which works great in the game. All in all, liked it very much thus far. GoT is one of the few games I've bothered to platinum, this may very well be another. There's still a ton of stuff to explore/clear on my map.

 

[GooseMan69]

Holy fuck The Oni gave me all I could handle on lethal difficulty. I had to switch to a dodging playstyle to beat him. Parrying all his different attacks was just too much, even with bounty hunter armor.

 

[Slothbeingg]

Holy fuck The Oni gave me all I could handle on lethal difficulty. I had to switch to a dodging playstyle to beat him. Parrying all his different attacks was just too much, even with bounty hunter armor.

I think the bounty hunter armor actually make fighting boss on Lethal mode harder. You need to perfect parry every attack or you will get 1 shot.

 

[Astray]

I feel like it's an improvement in pretty much every way from GoT. If you liked Tsushima you'll probably like this.


In GoY I find myself playing a lot more straight on fighting rather than going all in on stealth like I did with GoT. The swordplay in Yotei feels a lot more satisfying to me in a way I can't fully articulate. I don't think it would be the type of thing that would make Tsushima unplayable though. They're just different.

It's much improved, but not mechanically. You are more or less playing with very similar mechanics

But the gameplay scenarios are much more varied and as a result, memorable. Boss fights rarely feel same-y. The moves they have are quite varied too. Most "checklist" missions, like camps/hideouts, come with little twists. Even had a completely unexpected and delightful boss fight in one of them. All other open world activities are interesting and varied as well. Especially if you don't have GoT as a frame of reference to compare, you would enjoy it even more. The open world in general is wayyy more organic, letting you explore in your own style and pace. NPC interactions (animations notwithstanding) rival some of the best open worlds out there. Still quite a step behind in terms of systems, complexity and consequences, but you just keep discovering new things and side stories that still somehow connect to the main arc. So over time you really get a sense of a living world. I'm at 16% story completion after 33 hours. That would literally be the time it takes to 100% GoT and have nothing new to see or do.

But if you start breaking down camera angles, how every duel begins, and raw mechanics, they aren't that different.

If you play Yotei first, Tsushima would feel a step backwards. No doubt about that. You would definitely find stances more restrictive than weapons and every boss and location would feel very repetitious. Side missions would be unbearable in comparison (from a gameplay perspective). It will still be fun if you like this style of combat. And the story is entirely different. Much more "Epic" versus "low-key and personal". But there is nothing in GoY in terms of gameplay that GoT does better.

So after GoY, if you want to play GoT, your incentive should be something else, like for science, enjoying the beauty of Tsushima or experiencing the story. It's a far simpler game on all aspects. And for those reasons, some may even prefer that. Not me, for sure.

Foundational it's the same kind of system, but the difference is there are more weapons. In the first you have to change stances with the katana to fight different enemies, in the second you have to switch to different weapons. I think the biggest thing though that will be tough to go back to is the open world. It's vastly superior in the second. Tons of unique content and much more streamlined ways to find new things. Playing the first later you may find issue with the repetition and may just want to b line the main quest:

Definitely an improvement in many aspects.

I don't know if it's the FOV though but I'm not a huge fan of the lock on target system. I guess I'm used to the camera moving automatically for me when I concentrate on an enemy, but it seems I have to move it around myself just to make sure I can see an attack coming off screen.

That's my only real gripe with the game so far. Otherwise I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Thanks a lot guys, very useful feedback.

I think I might play Yotei first then do Tsushima for the plot of it.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Getting dangerously close to "I think I'm done with this game for now" territory.

Did the starter area, then explored the Oni area, then the Kitsune area and I think I'm kinda done. Story is nowhere near interesting enough to keep the show going. Probably doesn't help that the Kitsune area is the most videogame-y so far with the lame "puzzles" and "riddles". I fucking hate stuff like "turn the statues in a specific order to unlock a door", it's the most immersion breaking shit ever because my brain starts going "don't dozens, if not hundreds of people move through here every day? Who resets these things? How does the mechanism work?".


There are four statues, three with a 'death' symbol and one with a 'move forward' symbol.. Atsu mumbles that we need to stay away from the death symbols. hmmmm I wonder which statue I need to move to unlock the door.

Man fuck off.

Autism is fucked up, get help.

 

[mdkirby]

Then don't drink it

I don't drink water
I exclusively drink black coffee, 100% pure watermelon juice, and when that runs out, coke.

 

[mdkirby]

Agreed, they didn't put in too much love in regard to water, sadly (the coastline ).
Though there is one well-done mountain lake, I think.
It has a shoal of fish that responds to your movements and disperses on approach, which looks nice.

Yah, it's wherever the water should make contact with anything, terrain etc, which is the biggest offender, there's literally zero interaction. I've seen cheap indies do this better. All the water is just like one plane with a looping texture moving over it, and that's it. Crazy from a AAA first party in 2025, my memory is shit, but I'm pretty certain this wasn't the case in Tsushima.

 

[GooseMan69]

I think the bounty hunter armor actually make fighting boss on Lethal mode harder. You need to perfect parry every attack or you will get 1 shot.

I think you're right. Switched back to the starting armor set. Just kicked the shit out of a dueling tree guy on the first try.

 

[GymWolf]

So for those who are playing this and finished Tsushima, is the gameplay so much improved from Tsushima that I can't go back to it?

Tsushima is on my backlog, but the shots and videos I'm seeing make me hyped to go for this while the watercooler discussion is going.

No, tsushima is gonna feel a bit older for the open world structure but combat haven't changed dramatically, just slight refines here and there.

If you like yotei you are gonna like tsushi aswell, they both have some unique pro and cons.

 

[GymWolf]

I wonder what's on Atsu's mind.

If you reach the shamisen master he teach you how to tickle the strings aswell for maximum pleasure.

 

[Trilobit]

There are four statues, three with a 'death' symbol and one with a 'move forward' symbol.. Atsu mumbles that we need to stay away from the death symbols. hmmmm I wonder which statue I need to move to unlock the door.

Man fuck off.

Horizon: Forbidden West was absolutely dreadful with that stuff. I'd come to any puzzle area and Aloy would pipe up with "hmm, that box up there could probably be used to solve this challenge." Every single time. She didn't even give you ten seconds to think about something for yourself. I desperately tried to turn that off, but there was nothing in the options. The devs had zero trust in both their puzzle designers and players.

 

[Toots]

I've seen this online. Is this really in the ending of GoY?

Spoiler

"You know Wolfie, we really are the ghosts of Yotei"

 

[Toots]

Probably doesn't help that the Kitsune area is the most videogame-y so far with the lame "puzzles" and "riddles". I fucking hate stuff like "turn the statues in a specific order to unlock a door", it's the most immersion breaking shit ever because my brain starts going "don't dozens, if not hundreds of people move through here every day? Who resets these things? How does the mechanism work?"

Well a ninja clan would certainly do shenanigans like this.
I came across a strange house at one point, with lights you had to turn on to open an invisible door. Two nine tails where in the bushes standing guard. I thought to myself, first time in a video game i see a villain secret warehouse guarded.
On the other hand I agree the braindead puzzles are very gimmicky (i remember the one where a woman tells you she comes everyday to a shrine but has never found out the shrine secret and the riddle is the most easy one ever, you have to turn fox statues toward a certain unmistakable direction), and the puzzle boxes (only found three) are so stupid that i actually spend more time trying to find a solution i already had because i could not believe how simple it really was...

 

[GymWolf]

They should have done more with the climbing sections, they are as mindless and easy as tsushima, you can only fail those if yotei is the first videogame you played in your life...

Btw i think it's time to finally do something from the main story, i think i'm gonna go against the kitsune to get the listening ability.

 

[Embearded]

They should have done more with the climbing sections, they are as mindless and easy as tsushima, you can only fail those if yotei is the first videogame you played in your life...

Btw i think it's time to finally do something from the main story, i think i'm gonna go against the kitsune to get the listening ability.

I am also at the point where i need to leave the grasslands and i chose to go after Kitsune, but as soon as you step into that part of the map, sidequests and bounties start. I love it!

 

[GymWolf]

I am also at the point where i need to leave the grasslands and i chose to go after Kitsune, but as soon as you step into that part of the map, sidequests and bounties start. I love it!

Tbh i already have a shitload of stuff to do but i risk of getting burn out by only doing side stuff.

 

[midnightAI]

Holy fuck The Oni gave me all I could handle on lethal difficulty. I had to switch to a dodging playstyle to beat him. Parrying all his different attacks was just too much, even with bounty hunter armor.

He can be a bit of a pain at first, the timing for the parries and dodges can be a little bit tricky with that guy, he has some long ranged lengthy attacks that are tricky to work out the exact time you are supposed to parry or dodge. Didn't take long for me to figure it out though with the BH armour on

 

[Hugare]

I'm going to be honest: this might be my favorite open world ever.

Everything is rewarding. There's no "you've reached 1 out of 10 shrines, 9 more and you can upgrade one skill". Every sidequest rewards you with something. A location, a charm, point of skill, information about your target, storyline, something. And the variety is nuts.

This is important to me 'cause I need to feel rewarded in order to explore a world. TW 3 and RDR 2 had great writting, Elden Ring had unique dungeons and bosses. But every other open world game fails in this regard. Hell, even Tsushima has failed. BOTW being applauded for its exploration when you are only rewarded with korok seeds and shrines is just nuts.

The world design is just genius. It not only looks amazing, but it feels alive, and you are always influenced by the white flowers to reach a new point of interest. Sometimes its even hard to focus on main missions, cause you are always getting distracted.

As someone who never felt like Tsushima sidequests or world mattered, this is such a huge upgrade. Best open world game Sony has ever made, hands down.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I'm only 20 hours in but my screenshot folder is lapping around 350 images.

I'm going to be honest: this might be my favorite open world ever.

The gameplay and discovery flow is just unmatched, the amount of playtesting that was clearly undertaken here is insane. It is impossible to return to marker-based openworlds like Shadows after Yotei, yeah.

 

[Markio128]

I'm going to be honest: this might be my favorite open world ever.

Everything is rewarding. There's no "you've reached 1 out of 10 shrines, 9 more and you can upgrade one skill". Every sidequest rewards you with something. A location, a charm, point of skill, information about your target, storyline, something. And the variety is nuts.

This is important to me 'cause I need to feel rewarded in order to explore a world. TW 3 and RDR 2 had great writting, Elden Ring had unique dungeons and bosses. But every other open world game fails in this regard. Hell, even Tsushima has failed. BOTW being applauded for its exploration when you are only rewarded with korok seeds and shrines is just nuts.

The world design is just genius. It not only looks amazing, but it feels alive, and you are always influenced by the white flowers to reach a new point of interest. Sometimes its even hard to focus on main missions, cause you are always getting distracted.

As someone who never felt like Tsushima sidequests or world mattered, this is such a huge upgrade. Best open world game Sony has ever made, hands down.

There's always a nice surprise to keep things fresh too. I've completed a couple of side quests that are a far cry from anything GOT had in the game. Even the fox dens (which are now few and far between) tend to come with a little twist. I especially like the wolf dens - chasing the wolf on horseback through a bit of an obstacle course before a fight. A bear joined in for one of them, which was hilarious.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

I think you're right. Switched back to the starting armor set. Just kicked the shit out of a dueling tree guy on the first try.

The armor the kid merchant sells is decent for bosses, with increased health for buffer and if you've eaten, increases to spirit gained.

 

[winjer]

 

[SJRB]

Based Ralph basically echoing the thoughts I posted a bit earlier.

 

[Topher]

Wish there was a way to bring up a compass in the UI. Bounties will say "last seen west of" wherever so wind doesn't help and I have to keep bringing up the map to see which direction I'm pointing. Minor annoyance

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Wish there was a way to bring up a compass in the UI. Bounties will say "last seen west of" wherever so wind doesn't help and I have to keep bringing up the map to see which direction I'm pointing. Minor annoyance

The game will allow you to set a marker for the location, read the description and move the cursor in the map around where the description leads, when it changes shape that's when it'll allow you to mark it as an objective (you'll still have to look around to investigate tho).

 

[Topher]

The game will allow you to set a marker for the location, read the description and move the cursor in the map around where the description leads, when it changes shape that's when it'll allow you to mark it as an objective (you'll still have to look around to investigate tho).

True....and you can pop a pin down anywhere you want as well and let the wind guide you. I think I just go so used to a compass in E33 that I keep looking for it. lol

 

[GooseMan69]

I'm going to be honest: this might be my favorite open world ever.

Everything is rewarding. There's no "you've reached 1 out of 10 shrines, 9 more and you can upgrade one skill". Every sidequest rewards you with something. A location, a charm, point of skill, information about your target, storyline, something. And the variety is nuts.

This is important to me 'cause I need to feel rewarded in order to explore a world. TW 3 and RDR 2 had great writting, Elden Ring had unique dungeons and bosses. But every other open world game fails in this regard. Hell, even Tsushima has failed. BOTW being applauded for its exploration when you are only rewarded with korok seeds and shrines is just nuts.

The world design is just genius. It not only looks amazing, but it feels alive, and you are always influenced by the white flowers to reach a new point of interest. Sometimes its even hard to focus on main missions, cause you are always getting distracted.

As someone who never felt like Tsushima sidequests or world mattered, this is such a huge upgrade. Best open world game Sony has ever made, hands down.

The distinct landmarks spread throughout the world also make it easy to get around without markers and opening the map. For example Mount Yotei or the big castle in Ishikari Plain. I said it earlier in the thread but you just get on your horse and go. And then things happen. I'm not looking at a quest log deciding what to do next. You COULD play it that way but I think the devs took special care to make it not feel like I'm checking off items in a grocery store.

Red Dead 2 is still my favorite open world but Yotei is damn good.

 

[GooseMan69]

I love Skill Up reviews but there are a few times where I feel like we played a different game. Saying the open world structure hasn't evolved in Yotei or that TLOU II combat is the same as the first are two of those instances.

 

[SJRB]

Wish there was a way to bring up a compass in the UI. Bounties will say "last seen west of" wherever so wind doesn't help and I have to keep bringing up the map to see which direction I'm pointing. Minor annoyance

The spyglass has a compass, it's slightly less immersion breaking than opening the map and looking at the arrow.

 

[Nocty]

christ, Lethal difficulty is no joke. Like I actually might have to git gud, GAF.

Haven't felt solid difficulty like this since some of the Souls games. The combat is chefs kiss, surprised at the vocal minority that don't like it.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I love Skill Up reviews but there are a few times where I feel like we played a different game. Saying the open world structure hasn't evolved in Yotei or that TLOU II combat is the same as the first are two of those instances.

Since YouTube algorithm is a mess a lot of YouTubers are creating click-driven narratives because numbers for game-related channels are falling rapidly.

Just look how many people were baited with fake Yotei ending lol.

 

[Hideous Snake]

Absolutely enjoying the game. Been doing nothing but the side stuff. Enjoying it more than Tsushima so far and that's a big statement coming from since I LOVED Tsushima

Only two things I dislike are the close FOV and everything with R2. Also the tuning seems a bit off. Playing on normal but some fights are easy and other feels like I cranked the difficulty out of nowhere.

Great OT cormack12

 

[corgiix3]

I actually think this is one of his worst reviews ever. He spent half of it talking about how he is burned out on this kind of game. Most people dont consume games like he does so thats not a good barometer to base your opinion with

 

[GooseMan69]

Since YouTube algorithm is a mess a lot of YouTubers are creating click-driven narratives because numbers for game-related channels are falling rapidly.

Just look how many people were baited with fake Yotei ending lol.

I generally agree but I don't think Skill Up is one of those guys. The way he talks about games is typically pretty thoughtful and eloquent. But every once in a while he has a take that is just wild to me. Like saying there are hundreds of games in the genre with combat better than TLOU II.

 

[corgiix3]

I love Skill Up reviews but there are a few times where I feel like we played a different game. Saying the open world structure hasn't evolved in Yotei or that TLOU II combat is the same as the first are two of those instances.

Him critiquing last of us 2 combat blew my mind back then. I couldn't believe that shit lol

 

[RainyNguyen]

I love Skill Up reviews but there are a few times where I feel like we played a different game. Saying the open world structure hasn't evolved in Yotei or that TLOU II combat is the same as the first are two of those instances.

Ever since I watched this guy's review of TLOU2, I've put him on my blacklist.

 

[GateofD]

saw this at walmart.
fuck, not paying $70 for this.
tag me when its on sale for 30

 

[viveks86]

I generally agree but I don't think Skill Up is one of those guys. The way he talks about games is typically pretty thoughtful and eloquent. But every once in a while he has a take that is just wild to me. Like saying there are hundreds of games in the genre with combat better than TLOU II.

Him critiquing last of us 2 combat blew my mind back then. I couldn't believe that shit lol

My thumb rule with Skill Up is to take him seriously only when his review is absolutely glowing or totally scathing. Like Silent Hill f was a fantastic review. Same with Veilguard on the other end.

When it's neither extreme, he meanders into armchair designer territory, where he compares the game to what he wanted it to be or how the industry should move forward to push new frontiers or "not groundbreaking enough" or something totally inconclusive like "if you really loved the previous one, then you might like this too. But if you didn't, then may be not". Not much useful to glean from it.

In this case, it appears the story didn't connect with him and the puzzles sucked. That's about all I could gather from it. I agree with the puzzles, but the story's impact is really subjective anyway. For someone who has experienced violence to themselves or their loved ones, or blaming themselves for events they couldn't control, all of the subject material would hit VERY differently.

"Kill Bill was better because Tarantino didn't attempt to humanize the villains". Just... LOL. He's too busy smelling his own farts to actually engage with the world or empathize with the characters.

It's so inappropriate to be talking about genre burnout in a professional review. I've not played a single Samurai/Ronin/Ninja game since Tsushima. I am as fresh as I can be towards the genre. So that makes the review totally meaningless to me.

It's like reviewing a Japanese restaurant and complaining that "there are too many Japanese restaurants these days. Do something different". If that's how you feel, don't review it in the first place and get someone else who still enjoys Japanese food to do it. Otherwise your negative personal bias would make the review useless to anyone coming in fresh. Others with the same burnout will relate to it, but that can't be the goal of a professional review. A professional review is to talk about what is, not what should be. You get paid for that shit.

 

[Raven117]

As someone who never felt like Tsushima sidequests or world mattered, this is such a huge upgrade. Best open world game Sony has ever made, hands down.

I agree, actually. There is something about the cadence of exploration that is really good. Just cruising around feels awesome.

 

[Strategize]

This must be an instance of simultaneously misremembering Tsushima and being burnt out on open world games. Because how on earth has he come to the conclusion that Yotei's open world design is the same as Tsushima? Just because there's some overlap in activities? Tsushima literally still had question marks in telling you where the content is before the player has even acquired the information themselves.

 

[viveks86]

This must be an instance of simultaneously misremembering Tsushima and being burnt out on open world games. Because how on earth has he come to the conclusion that Yotei's open world design is the same as Tsushima? Just because there's some overlap in activities? Tsushima literally still had question marks in telling you where the content is before the player has even acquired the information themselves.

It's basically a copy-paste of Eurogamer's review. Just jaded through and through, for understandable reasons. The thing is, if you have an issue with the genre, get someone else to do the review for your channel, if you are feeling compelled to monetize on a popular game. Don't need any of the "people grow and tastes change" BS. It has only been 5 years!

 

[GymWolf]

I love Skill Up reviews but there are a few times where I feel like we played a different game. Saying the open world structure hasn't evolved in Yotei or that TLOU II combat is the same as the first are two of those instances.

Dude MUST have at least one absolute shit take in every one of his videos, stopped caring about him long time ago.

 

[Bojji]

Yes. Bojji almost made a career out of it. Almost!

Yep.

Looks like DF was wrong about resolutions, RT mode on Pro is close to ~1440p average. Or maybe it was patched since their analysis (high chance for that) OR tools of BrazilPixel are wrong (but he was ok so far I think).

 

[viveks86]

Yep.

Looks like DF was wrong about resolutions, RT mode on Pro is close to ~1440p average. Or maybe it was patched since their analysis (high chance for that) OR tools of BrazilPixel are wrong (but he was ok so far I think).

Interesting. How can something as scientific as pixel counting be 2x off? May be I should learn to pixel count to understand this.

Man, if they were running at 1440p 60 with single bounce RTGI, they could have easily attempted multi-bounce for the 30 fps mode instead of brute-forcing resolution. Would have been a noticeable upgrade for NPCs, tree covers and caves.

 

[Bojji]

Interesting. How can something as scientific as pixel counting be 2x off? May be I should learn to pixel count to understand this.

Man, if they were running at 1440p 60 with single bounce RTGI, they could have easily attempted multi-bounce for the 30 fps mode instead of brute-forcing resolution. Would have been a noticeable upgrade for NPCs, tree covers and caves.

DF had access to pre day one patch version. Maybe that explains it or maybe they fucked up really bad.