The world of Ghost of Yotei can be harsh and unforgiving for travellers. Atsu’s quest is one of vengeance and darkness, filled with all sorts of challenges – emotional, physical, spiritual. You’ll want to pay attention to the game’s story as it unravels, to learn more about how best to harness Atsu’s skills, in sword swings, arrow fires, and flinging dust.
To that end, you might also want to absorb wisdom and knowledge about the titular hero ahead of your own journey into Ghost of Yotei. After many hours with the game, the ScreenHub team has learned a great many lessons, some of which we’ll impart in this handy guide.
To kick off your adventures in Ghost of Yotei on the right foot, follow along with these tips and tricks for survival.
Ghost of Yotei: Our survival guide
1. Swipe up to summon guiding wind
This is an obvious one, but only if you’re paying attention in the opening moments of the game. If you ever get lost, you should look to the winds to guide your path. As long as you have a quest selected, they will flow in the direction of your target, leading you along pathways until you get where you’re supposed to be. If the wind isn’t blowing strongly, or you’re in a space without a breeze, you can swipe up on your PS5 controller to force the winds to gust, and lead you on.
2. Stop to investigate everything – even the smallest moments
As you travel in Ghost of Yotei, you’ll encounter all sorts of people wandering around. While you might be on a mission, and therefore you’ll be tempted to breeze past everyone and focus on what’s ahead – don’t do this. Stop to speak to everyone. Many of them will reveal new clues about your overarching quest, or give you a new bounty, or a map piece that reveals an altar or wolf den.
3. Build your abilities by praying at altars
Speaking of altars, it’s worth noting Ghost of Yotei has a unique levelling up system. Rather than being RPG-like, you actually level up and learn new skills by praying at altars, which can be found across the map (by exploring or talking to the right people). To level up abilities in the Onryō, Melee, and Revenge categories, make time to explore any nearby altars.
4. Make time to camp, to earn ability bonuses
Whether you get tired or hurt in the wild, or not, it’s a good idea to make time to camp as you travel. You can usually do this anywhere on an open plain (as long as there’s no danger present), and it’s well worth the effort. Most of the time, camping lets you replenish your health and gives bonuses to other stats for your next adventure. Some of the time, you’ll also be approached by strangers at your campsite, with these characters giving you new tasks or advice.
5. Discover wolf dens to improve wolf abilities
Beyond altars, the second most-important locations to discover are wolf dens. Atsu has a companion wolf who will occasionally aid battles, and if you want to improve the wolf’s abilities and strength, you’ll need to venture into wolf dens to complete quests.
You’ll be rewarded for taking the time, with special wolf techniques available on a skill tree. The more they improve, the more likely you’ll have sturdy backup in your future battles.
6. Plan your way through bigger battles, and seek nearby swords
Before you leap into an enemy base or overtaken village in Ghost of Yotei, you should take the time to plan your moves. If you go slowly, you can usually figure out lines of enemy sight, stay out of the way, and dispatch each enemy without raising the alarm. Even if there’s no clear path to this outcome, you can still find other means to make your battle easier – for example, picking up nearby swords or javelins (there are occasionally spares hiding on stands and shelves), and firing them at your nearest enemy. For the weaker ones, a single blow will be enough to take them out, increasing your odds.
7. Bathe in hot springs to increase your maximum health
On the map (or by completing villager requests), you’ll discover a range of hot springs locations. While they do appear to be simple locales for a short rest and a reflection on Atsu’s journey, they actually serve a deeper purpose: bathing in a hot spring will permanently increase your maximum health. They’re certainly worth visiting when you can.
8. Treat each boss fight as a standalone chapter in a storybook
Ghost of Yotei is the story of protagonist Atsu’s revenge against the Yōtei Six – a group of villains with a horrific legacy. In your quest, you get to pick and chose which story threads to follow, guided by the clues you discover, the people you meet, and where your road winds. While you can follow these threads at random, you’ll find that each vendetta leads you in a certain direction, to new locations that are relatively siloed from the rest.
It makes the most sense to follow each of these threads as they appear, and to treat each Yōtei Six member as the main villain of a new storybook chapter. You can shake up the plot, of course, but if you want a coherent, dramatic story, it’s best to go with the flow of the action, and try not to hop around too much in your goals.
9. Be patient with levelling up, and make time to go home
As mentioned, Ghost of Yotei has a different sort of levelling system, relying on you to discover various locations to boost your abilities and combat options. The same goes for your weapons and tools. You can purchase new weapons from various vendors littered around Yōtei (marked within individual villages), and you can also improve your current lot of weapons. To do so, you’ll actually need to make time to travel back to your childhood home, and use the forge there to buff anything you can, using found materials.
If you’re not already aware, there’s a great Fast Travel system in this game, so when you need to return home, you can simply zip to this location, then zip back to your nearest quest. Make time to do this as soon as you get material notifications, and you’ll always have the sharpest tools at your disposal.
Ghost of Yotei launches for Playstation 5 on 2 October 2025.
