Sucker Punch Studios’ Ghost of Yotei is finally out and players from all over the world have already made their initial journey through the lands of Ezo. Like Ghost of Tsushima before it, Yotei continues the minimalistic approach in which players find little to no objective markers plastered on screen, leading to a fresh sense of discovery that doesn't feel like a check list marathon.
As someone who’s played Ghost of Tsushima at length since its release five years ago, this diegetic exploration mechanic has been one of my favorite things in the franchise. It’s not entirely revolutionary, per se, but it’s such a neat little way of creating a sense of immersion that doesn’t feel too forced, making open-world exploration less of a chore and more of an adventure.
Discourse around bloated open-world games has been at an all-time high, and that’s partly because of Ubisoft’s design choices, especially in its modern Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry titles. Many players have grown hesitant to the overwhelming sense of progression since the moment they open their world maps, plenty of icons and markers populate the screen, and some of them aren’t even worth the hassle. Assassin’s Creed Shadows tried to remedy this feeling by removing traces of these markers until they synchronized from the nearest view point. However, it still didn’t help the feeling of being “just a chore” that merely acts as a band-aid fix to its bigger problems.
The Ghost series have mastered this level of exploration. From the game’s first few hours, you aren’t being bombarded by question marks and a laundry list of objectives just to get the story done. Rather, you’re left to your own devices and let the game’s divine wind lead you to whatever it is you find interesting.
Looking for smoke billowing across the distance guarantees that there’s a camp nearby with NPCs or enemies to encounter, and seeking the local fauna like foxes and birds take us to places of interest containing upgrades and shrines. It’s these little things that make the adventure worthwhile in the Ghost games, as I can just wander aimlessly across its gorgeous open world without having to worry about a massive compass leading me to the next objective.
There are other games that tried this kind of diegetic systems, especially Rogue Factor’s Hell is Us where objective markers and UI are almost nonexistent. Despite the game’s best efforts to try something completely different, it resulted into being a frustrating experience as the game clearly needed more time to cook in the oven.
Ghost of Yotei had years to master this kind of feature after Tsushima, and they clearly didn’t spare any unnecessary fodder here. The wind still takes us to where we want to go with a simple flick of the DualSense’s touchpad, and Atsu’s shamisen will lead us to specific collectables found in the lands of Ezo. All that doesn’t require opening the world map and having to worry about which Bandit Camp or Watchtower to unlock.
This level of seamless exploration remains a standout feature for me when it comes to Sucker Punch’s Ghost series and I wouldn’t want it any other way. No game has ever mastered this kind of immersion without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.
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