Product test
«Cult of the Lamb» review: The most devilish game of the year
by Philipp Rüegg
Is the pricey Ghost of Yōtei Collector’s Edition worth it?
13/10/2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Domagoj Belancic
I had a close look at the Collector’s Edition for Ghost of Yōtei. Is this rare set worth its steep price of almost 300 francs or euros?
Note: at the end of this article, you’ll have a chance to win the Collector’s Edition of Ghost of Yōtei I tested here.
Collector’s Editions are strange. Objectively speaking, all those often overpriced luxury items are absolutely unnecessary – especially in times of rising game and hardware prices. And yet, these collector’s items are still fascinating to me and millions of other gamers.
Regardless of purpose, there’s always the question of quality. Publishers know how to advertise their boxes beautifully. But what looks like a high-quality collectible in official images often turns out to be cheap plastic junk in reality. I’m looking at you, Fallout 76.
It’s why I took a close look at the Collector’s Edition for Ghost of Yōtei. At 280 francs or euros, the box is definitely on the expensive end for its kind – my expectations were correspondingly high.
Does the Collector’s Edition deliver what it promises? Well, mostly. However, one thing massively disappointed me.
This article is exclusively about the contents of the Collector’s Edition for Ghost of Yōtei. You can read a detailed review of the game in this article by Simon:
Packaging and unboxing: classy and annoying
I like the artwork on the outer cardboard packaging. It’s the same image that adorns the physical edition of the game, only bigger. Here, Mount Yōtei stands out particularly well.
The actual goods wait for me inside the cardboard sleeve, smartly packaged in a fake wooden box. But removing it from the cardboard sleeve is a real challenge. It’s almost impossible to free the contents without damaging the sleeve itself. Ugh, annoying.
To whoever wins the Collector’s Edition, know I did my best and apologise for the rips.
But after these initial difficulties, everything goes according to plan. The rest of the Collector’s Edition can be unboxed easily. All individual elements are well packaged and padded without wasted space. Opening each individual box is fun since they all feel weighty and valuable.
Now that’s how you do it.
What’s inside: from awesome to meh
Now, to the actual content. The first thing that greets me is the tsuba of Atsu’s katana. A tsuba is the crossguard, located between the handle and the blade.
It feels high-quality and is excellently made. I’m not sure what it’s made of, however. It’s also surprisingly heavy, and you can place it on a small stand. A neat idea, but not really an eye-catcher to me. It wouldn’t earn a spot in my gaming cabinet.
Next, I unpack the Zeni Hajiki coins. Gambling is present in Ghost of Yōtei as a mini-game in pubs. It’s pretty simple: you have to flick a coin onto a flat surface so that it hits another one. If you hit several coins or one falls down, it’s your opponent’s turn.
I always love content like this in collector’s boxes. The coins reference a game mechanic, allowing you to try it out for yourself. These coins are also surprisingly heavy and decorated in great detail. You can store them in a small bag when you don’t need them.
There’s also Atsu’s sash from the game, about 175 cm in length. It lists the names of the Yōtei Six, a gang of criminals who killed her family. The cotton fabric is deliberately frayed and damaged in some places, and the Japanese script is printed wonderfully.
All in all, a successful inclusion, but one that does little to justify the box’s high price. I wouldn’t really know what to do with it either, or how to use it as a decorative element in my gamer den.
My highlight for this box is the miniature paper ginkgo tree. It’s housed in a small book and opens when unfolded.
A fun idea that creatively honours a central motif of the game.
Those four cards I open after the paper tree are far less creative. The wolf reminds me of ugly, cheesy airbrush art. And come on, I already own an IRL sash and mask anyway. I’ll get to the latter in a moment. Believe me, the game artwork is bigger and looks better on the cardboard sleeve too.
What’s the point of these?
So, now we come to the biggest selling point of the box: Atsu’s spirit mask. This much in advance: it’s not cheap scrap plastic, yay! Quite the opposite in fact. It’s made of a synthetic resin and is surprisingly heavy.
No idea what exact material it’s made of, but the mask feels really robust and solid when held.
It’s approximately 15 cm tall and 17 cm wide. All those painted details are impressive too. Small cracks, golden veins and a rough texture adorn the demonic visage. Awesome.
Just a shame that the stand supplied, which displays the mask like a museum piece, is pretty disappointing.
It’s made of a hollow lightweight plastic. Apart from the fact it doesn’t look very nice and feels cheap, I’m also concerned about its stability. Will the mask fall off if I accidentally knock it?
By the way, you can’t even wear the mask – there’s no elastic band or anything similar. It’d also be far too heavy when worn. And that’s on top of the awful stench.
A Collector’s Edition without a physical game – why?
Naturally, the Collector’s Edition also includes the game itself – as a Digital Deluxe version. It grants you the following in-game items:
- The Snake armour donned by the first member of the Yōtei Six to kill Atsu
- A special armour dye
- A special horse and saddle
- A special sword kit
- Several maps that reveal hidden locations in the open world
- A few talismans that give you special bonuses
None of this deluxe content really thrills me. They’re limited to cosmetics and things that’ll give you a small boost at the start of your adventure.
What disappoints me is that there’s no physical copy of the game in the Collector’s Edition. All you get is a download code on a piece of paper. Sony is by no means the only publisher to take part in this questionable trend. And for the life of me, I don’t understand why.
Collector’s boxes are for players who want to experience their games virtually, but also hold and look at them in real life. Any such product should logically be very enticing to fans of physical media. Just imagine if the Collector’s Edition also had an elegant faux-wood game case with a disc inside. Or at least a fancy cover for the download code.
Please, please, dear publishers – bring back physical media in these expensive collector’s boxes.
The Collector’s Edition for Ghost of Yōtei was provided to me by Sony for testing purposes. You can find a review of the game here:
In a nutshell
High-quality content, no physical game
The Ghost of Yōtei Collector’s Edition impressed me with its stylish packaging (which unfortunately does break easily) and high-quality items. The paper tree, the coins and the mask are particularly cool. The sash and tsuba are nice, but a bit underwhelming – one or two larger highlights would’ve done the expensive box some good. However, I’m still baffled by how a high-quality Collector’s Edition can come without a physical game.
Pro
- High-quality manufacturing
- Great concepts for collector’s items
- Dazzling spirit mask
Contra
- Cardboard sleeve will suffer during unboxing
- No physical game included
- One or two more big ticket items would’ve improved its rating
Header image: Domagoj Belancic
Domagoj Belancic
Senior Editor
Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.chMy love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
