Ghost of Yotei Has a Boss Fight That’s So Difficult, I Asked Sony If It Was a Glitch

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Ghost of Yotei features a remarkably challenging boss battle – I initially thought my game was malfunctioning when I first tried the related side quest! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Ghost of Yotei. It’s a fantastic new single-player adventure game with a stunning open world that’s a joy to explore. Simply wandering around and taking in the vibrant scenery is a pleasure, and the game also offers some excellent side quests. These quests range from lighthearted and humorous to more serious and emotionally impactful.

This article contains spoilers for the Takezo the Unrivaled side quest in Ghost of Yotei.

One of the things I really enjoyed in Ghost of Yotei is a side quest you can find right at the beginning of the game. I spent about 10 to 15 hours just exploring that first area before moving the main story forward, so I didn’t have a lot of good equipment yet. Still, I felt pretty confident because I was able to easily complete bounties. Finally, I discovered a side quest featuring a character named Takezo the Unrivaled. He’s an incredibly skilled swordsman and duelist who is looking for someone worthy to fight.

Ghost of Yotei‘s Takezo the Unrivaled Is One of the Hardest Boss Fights of the Year

Therefore, you’ll need to defeat several of his students, all of whom are also trying to claim his title. After you’ve beaten them, you’ll finally get a chance to fight Takezo himself. He’ll begin by showing you one of his techniques, which you can then use against him. When he believes you’re a strong enough opponent to potentially defeat him, he’ll instruct you to climb Mount Yotei and bring five particular charms with you.

I already owned these charms and had visited Mount Yotei previously, so I quickly traveled there to meet him, expecting another tough, but manageable, boss fight. He immediately launched a rapid series of attacks, which I mostly dodged and blocked, but one strike connected… and instantly defeated me, emptying my entire health bar. A single swing of his sword was all it took. I attempted the fight for around 15 minutes, taking damage each time, before restarting and trying again for another 20 minutes. I managed to land a few hits, but they barely made a dent in his health. His attacks are also hard to deal with, because he frequently uses attacks that can’t be blocked, and the timing for dodging them is incredibly tight, making it difficult to counter him.

I was really surprised to find this side quest so early in the game. It seemed unusually difficult, and I wondered if it was intended to be so challenging. I was playing on the normal difficulty setting, and nothing else had been remotely this hard up to that point. In fact, even a boss fight from the main story had been much easier.

I reached out to PlayStation’s public relations team to inquire about a potential issue with this particular side quest. After speaking with the developers at Sucker Punch, the representative informed me that the battle was deliberately made to be one of the most challenging encounters in the game. They also shared some strategies for succeeding, which all centered around returning later with a significantly upgraded Atsu.

Basically, it all came down to the classic gaming advice: “get good.” I was aware of the stereotype that gaming journalists aren’t very skilled at games, so I absolutely refused to admit defeat to Takezo the Unrivaled. Therefore, I started playing relentlessly, much like a scene from an Rocky training montage. I mostly paused the game’s story and focused on maximizing my character. I found every hot spring to increase my health, completed as many bamboo training sessions as possible to improve my focus – which lets you heal or use special attacks in battle – and collected every melee weapon in the game.

I felt like Bruce Wayne recovering after his tough fight with Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. I was slowly getting better, bit by bit, after being hurt repeatedly. I took my weapons to my workshop and worked on them, making them stronger and more effective. I carefully upgraded every single weapon, determined to become as powerful as I could. At this point, I didn’t care about the reward for finishing the quest; I just desperately wanted to win and succeed.

I was feeling really prepared, so I headed back to Mount Yotei, ready to put everything I’d learned to the test. There I was, facing Takezo the Unrivaled for our final battle! I rushed him, using the momentum from Atsu’s form to overwhelm his defense and land a quick series of attacks. I then unleashed a huge, unstoppable combo, and followed it up with a smoke grenade to briefly stun him and get in a few more hits. After that, I managed to disarm him, knocking his weapon from his grasp for a moment.

This momentarily humbled him, but not by much. As the battle continued, a blizzard suddenly appeared. In Ghost of Yotei, being in extreme cold causes your health to decrease over time. This doesn’t just reduce your health, it also makes it harder to recover health by drinking sake or using your focus ability. This ultimately led to my defeat, forcing me to start the fight over. But after dying a few more times, I remembered that I had already unlocked and upgraded an armor piece that offered significant protection against cold damage. It still affected me somewhat, but it gave me the advantage I needed to succeed.

As our fight continued, Takezo consistently surprised me with his tactics. He ultimately defeated me by taking away my katanas. While I still had other close-combat weapons, they weren’t as useful. Takezo would practically stand guard over my swords sticking out of the snow, forcing me to think outside the box and resort to throwing empty sake bottles at him to retrieve them safely.

The main difficulty with this boss fight is that Takezo hits very hard and very fast. He attacks quickly, combining attacks you can deflect with unavoidable ones to disrupt your rhythm. This battle went on for hours. I was really struggling with this fight, but I was happy with how I was learning and determined to keep trying. I experimented with different tactics, like using fire bombs to damage Takezo from a safe distance. This helped me make progress, even though it was a long and challenging encounter. It was a true test of skill.

I eventually discovered I could revive myself during a fight. It took some concentration, but it also completely restored my health. Rather than trying to heal during our duel, I decided it was smarter to let Takezo defeat me, then bring myself back to full strength. This, along with my other tactics, ultimately allowed me to strike a fatal blow, driving my blade through Takezo’s heart and ending the fight for good.

So, would I suggest tackling the Takezo the Unrivaled quest right away in Ghost of Yotei? Definitely not. It’s best saved for near the end of the game, or even after you’ve seen the credits. That way, you’ll have all the weapons, upgrades, and resources you need. Looking back, unlocking that pistol would have been a huge advantage during that fight. But, having to carefully plan every action during the duel actually made me appreciate Ghost of Yotei‘s combat system even more. Plus, it created a really unique and memorable story for me.

It’s likely someone will eventually defeat Takezo the Unrivaled easily, and the fight will likely be quite intense. However, as Sucker Punch stated, this battle was intentionally made to be one of the most challenging boss fights in the game. Having completed Ghost of Yotei, I can confidently say it’s probably the hardest battle so far.

Ghost of Yotei is out on October 2nd for PS5.

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2025-10-02 00:42