Ghost of Yotei: Difficulty Setting Differences

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Ghost of Yotei lets players choose how challenging the game is right from the beginning, so they can enjoy Atsu’s story in a way that suits them. You’ll be asked to select a difficulty when you start, but you can adjust it whenever you want during gameplay.

If you’re curious about how the difficulty levels affect your gameplay, it’s helpful to understand what each setting does, particularly if you’re new to the series and haven’t played Ghost of Tsushima before starting Ghost of Yotei. To choose the best option for you, it’s important to know what changes each difficulty level brings. Here’s a detailed explanation.

Looking for everything Ezo has to offer? Check out our complete Ghost of Yotei Interactive Map!

All Difficulty Settings in Ghost of Yotei

There are five main difficulty settings in Ghost of Yotei.

Difficulty In-Game Description Effect
Casual Enjoy Atsu’s story and explore Ezo with the lowest combat challenge. Atsu takes very little damage and deals a lot of damage. Enemy aggression is lowered to the minimum level, which means there is a lot of downtime between attacks, even when surrounded by a group. They very rarely block or parry attacks or use special moves. Stagger threshold is lowered, allowing even regular attacks to break the enemy’s poise meter in one hit.
Easy Experience Atsu’s story and explore Ezo with minimal challenge. Enemies occasionally use blue glint and red glint attacks, have increased stagger, and are more aggressive. The damage Atsu receives is slightly increased as well. Parry and dodge timing is very generous. Perfect for beginners to Ghost of Yotei.
Medium A well-rounded gameplay experience with moderate challenge. The most balanced game mode. Atsu deals and receives roughly the same amount of damage. Enemy aggression is moderate, and they use all special moves at their disposal. Parries require precise timing.
Hard For those unafraid of death and brave enough to face considerable challenge. Enemies hit much harder, dealing roughly half of Atsu’s health on regular attacks and nearly 90% on special moves. Enemy aggression is very high, and parry timings are unforgiving.
Lethal Death is always close at hand. A single sword strike is lethal. Damage is massively increased across the board, making it so that one or two attacks are all it takes to face defeat. This holds true for both Atsu and her enemies, meaning combat encounters are decided very quickly. Works the same way as Ghost of Tsushima‘s Lethal mode.

Even though the description for Lethal mode suggests otherwise, getting hit with a sword once won’t instantly kill you in this game. It simply means the damage you take is greatly increased. You can survive more attacks by increasing Atsu’s health, which you can do by visiting the Hot Springs.

Custom Difficulty Setting Options in Ghost of Yotei

Ghost of Yotei lets players create their own difficulty level by mixing and matching features from Easy, Medium, Hard, and Lethal modes, so they can play exactly how they like. There are a total of five settings you can adjust:

  • Enemy Aggression: Modifies the frequency and speed of enemy attacks.
  • Timing Windows: Modifies the timing required for parries and dodges.
  • Enemy Damage: Scales the amount of damage inflicted by enemies.
  • Stealth: Scales detection time, enemy vision, and pursuit behaviors.
  • Hero Bonus Perks: Modifies Spirit gain rates and bonus perks from specific difficulties.

Atsu’s increased damage, as seen in Lethal difficulty, is dictated by Hero Bonus Perks.

Let’s say a player enjoys the high damage output for both Atsu and her opponents in Lethal mode, but would like more forgiving parry timings, less aggressive enemies, and simpler Stealth mechanics. They would select these settings:

  • Enemy Aggression: Medium
  • Timing Windows: Medium/Hard
  • Enemy Damage: Lethal
  • Stealth: Easy
  • Hero Bonus Perks: Lethal

Players can adjust these settings in any way they like, letting them customize the difficulty to perfectly match their preferred level of challenge and maximize their enjoyment.

How to Change Difficulty in Ghost of Yotei

Difficulty can be changed at any time from the main menu of Ghost of Yotei.

  • Pause the game by pressing the “Options” button on the PS5 controller.
  • Select Gameplay > Difficulty, and choose your preferred option.
    • Custom difficulty option will be added below the Difficulty toggle if it is selected.

Any adjustments you make will take effect right away, and you won’t need to restart or refresh the game for them to be applied.

Should You Choose Lethal Difficulty in Ghost of Yotei?

Lethal mode enhances immersion and allows you to fully embody a traditional samurai warrior in Ghost of Yotei. Battles are swift and feel more like action movie scenes. However, it’s also quite challenging, demanding precise timing for parries and dodges, and heavily penalizing any errors.

Fortunately, the frequent auto-saves in Ghost of Yotei mean you won’t lose much progress if Atsu falls in battle. Also, Lethal mode doesn’t simply make the game more difficult. In reality, players who master the timing will actually find Lethal mode easier than Hard mode. Because Atsu’s attacks are more powerful, enemies are defeated quickly, reducing the risk of being overrun by large groups of durable foes.

This rule has one exception: boss battles. Even if you’re playing on Lethal difficulty, you can’t beat a boss with just one or two attacks. You’ll need to reliably parry, dodge, or stagger them to win.

Is There a Difficulty-Related Trophy in Ghost of Yotei?

No, that’s incorrect. Sucker Punch did not include any trophies that require a specific difficulty level for Ghost of Yotei when the game launched. Players who want to earn the platinum trophy can do so even if they play on the easiest difficulty setting.

In Ghost of Yotei, players can collect a total of 54 trophies. The majority of these are unlocked by progressing through the story and exploring the game world, but a few require players to complete specific tasks with Atsu.

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2025-10-02 15:08