As seen in the latest State of Play, Ghost of Yōtei is changing things up when it comes to combat, opting to give protagonist Atsu far more tools and weapons than Ghost of Tsushima‘s Jin.
The State of Play gameplay deep dive describes Atsu as “no samurai or ninja” but a “lone wolf mercenary.” The way she fights reflects this. Unlike Jin–who only relied on a few weapons to engage enemies in announced duels or assassinate foes from the shadows–Atsu can easily wade into open combat armed with a katana, spear, kusarigama, ōdachi, and dual swords, and then also wield a half bow, longbow, teppo, kunai, bombs, and blinding powder.
The gameplay revealed a rock-paper-scissors system to Atsu’s arsenal, describing certain weapons as hard counters to specific threats–the ōdachi is especially useful for dealing with large enemies, for example, and the dual swords trump spear-wielders. Tsushima had a similar system, but it centered around stances, not weapons. Jin could change his stance and how he held his katana in a fight, with different stances being more adept for handling certain foes.
It’s still unclear whether Yōtei’s new weapon system is a complete replacement for Tsushima’s stance system, but they do seem to embody similar roles in gameplay, so it seems likely.
Along with all the new weapons, Atsu can also disarm foes and ally with other characters, including a mysterious wolf that accompanies her on her mission of revenge. We didn’t see much of this in action, so it’s not immediately clear how inviting allies along affects gameplay.
Presumably, we’ll get another showcase that dives into Atsu’s skills and tools when it comes to stealth, as well as what gameplay with allies looks like. But even if we don’t, we don’t have to wait all that long to see the full game in action. Ghost of Yōtei is set to launch for PlayStation 5 on October 2.
