Overview

• The PS5 exclusive releases on October 2 with regional midnight rollouts, with U.S. access tied to midnight Eastern time per the PlayStation Store listing.
• Art director Joanna Wang says the sequel can load millions of assets with tens of thousands visible at once and hundreds of thousands of particles, plus interactive terrain such as kicking snow off trees.
• Reviewers note four visual modes including a PS5 Pro–only Ray Tracing Pro option and near-instant loading that allows fast travel in roughly one second.
• Set in Ezo with Atsu hunting the Yōtei Six, the game shifts from stance-based combat to multiple weapons in a rock–paper–scissors system for more varied fights.
• Critics report broadly positive reception with an aggregated Metacritic score around 87, often praising visuals and performance while questioning originality versus Ghost of Tsushima and other open worlds.