Ghost Of Yotei Is Hiding A Game-Changing Setting, Players Say

Ghost of Yōtei fans are loving a mode that many of us may have missed.

Set roughly 300 years after its predecessor, Ghost of Yōtei is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima that was originally released on the PlayStation 4 in 2020, before being ported to PS5 and PC.

Rather than being a tale of the samurai moral code being brought into question, in Ghost of Yōtei, it’s a tale of revenge. Well, at least, that’s how the story begins, before it develops into something more.

“Ghost of Yōtei is pure cinematic brilliance, and Sucker Punch Productions deserves to be commended once more for knocking it out of the park and, in some ways, topping its predecessor,” I said in my review.

Aside from the various difficulty options, Ghost of Yōtei has several modes, offering different ways in which players can experience the game. For example, ‘Kurosawa’ mode, which returns from Ghost of Tsushima, replicates classic samurai movies of yesteryear.

Then we have ‘Miike’ mode, which restricts the camera freedom but increases blood and mud splatter, in honour of acclaimed Japanese film director Takashi Miike.

The third mode is called ‘Watanabe’, and it’s inspired by the chill music genre known as ‘lo-fi’ and the anime series Samurai Champloo, in collaboration with its creator Shinichirō Watanabe.

Out of all three modes, many might assume that ‘Watanabe’ mode is a mismatch for Ghost of Yōtei, and that might be true. But ironically, despite its imperfection, it might be the perfect way to experience this game.

“Do not sleep on Ghost of Yōtei's lo-fi (Watanabe) mode,” recommended Redditor B-Bog, as brought to our attention by ComicBook. “Tucked away in GoY's display settings for some reason is the ‘Watanabe’ mode, the game's very own lo-fi soundtrack.”

“The combination of a game set in 1600s Japan and modern lo-fi style music initially sounded like a pretty weird proposition to me, but, after trying it out, they really go together like peanut butter and jelly, and I'm not going back anytime soon. It's an immensely relaxing experience to ride around the gorgeous scenery with the chillest of soundtracks in the background.”

“Lo-fi mode is great, but it needs more tracks. They get old after an hour or so. I ended up turning it off,” replied YeeHawWyattDerp.

The lack of tracks looks to be a widespread concern on the Reddit thread. As fun as ‘Watanabe’ mode is, it’s probably something that won’t be used for the entirety of the campaign run. Hopefully, developer Sucker Punch Productions will add more tracks soon.

Ghost of Yōtei is out now on PlayStation 5.