Dial in your camera, lock‑on, motion blur, and HUD so the blade feels honest and the shadows stay readable.
Whether you’re stepping into a formal duel on a windswept ridge or ghosting through a snow‑dusted fort, how your camera and HUD behave matters as much as your build. This guide shows exactly which camera speed, lock‑on options, motion/visual toggles, and HUD tweaks produce clean 1v1s and reliable stealth in Ghost of Yōtei—with rationale and a few alternative profiles if you prefer more cinematic flair.
Quick Setup (TL;DR)Duels: Camera Speed Fast; Lock‑On Enabled (toggle as needed); Camera Wobble 0–20; Motion Blur Off; HUD Expert (after you’re comfortable) + Enemy meters Off.Stealth: Camera Speed Default; Lock‑On Disabled; Camera Wobble 0–10; Motion Blur Off; Offscreen Detection Indicator: Minimal; Projectile Indicator On; Enhanced Wind Visibility On; Wind Gust Camera On.
Find the right menus fast
- Open the settings: Press Options → tab to Settings (R1) → relevant submenus like Gameplay, Controls, Display, and Accessibility.
- Where things live (at a glance):
- Lock‑On lives under Gameplay (Target Lock).
- Camera Speed / Wobble are in Controls.
- Motion Blur is under Display/Graphics.
- HUD & readability aids (Offscreen Detection Indicator, Enhanced Wind, Projectile Indicator, Persistent Center Dot) are under Accessibility.
Camera speed & wobble: responsiveness vs. comfort
Ghost of Yōtei offers four Camera Speed presets—Cinematic (slowest), Slow, Default, and Fast—and a Camera Wobble Intensity slider. Use these as your foundation before touching anything else.
- Duels: Set Camera Speed: Fast so you can keep the opponent framed during dodges and angle changes. Drop Camera Wobble to 0–20 for a stable blade‑to‑blade read (shake looks great in trailers but obscures telegraphs in practice).
- Stealth: Set Camera Speed: Default for deliberate scanning of sightlines, windows, and patrol routes. Keep Wobble even lower—0–10—to reduce micro‑shake during peeking or head‑glance checks.
- Cinematic preference: If you love the “documentary” feel, you can push wobble higher (the default is 100), but understand your parry/readability will suffer in both duels and infiltration.
Tip: If the camera drifts when your stick is neutral, toggle Stick Drift Compensation to increase the deadzone and kill phantom movement. It’s a quality‑of‑life fix if your controller has wear.
Lock‑on: when it helps, when it hurts
Yōtei’s lock‑on is opt‑in. In Gameplay → Target Lock you’ll find three modes:
- Disabled: No lock‑on.
- Enabled: Press Up on the D‑pad to toggle; flick the right stick toward a new enemy to switch.
- Swap on Defeat: As above, but auto‑retargets the next enemy when your target dies.
Duels (1v1, bosses):
- Start with Enabled and toggle on as the duel opens. Lock‑on keeps the opponent centered so you can parse footwork and shoulder tells. If the arena has hazards or adds spawn mid‑fight, toggle off temporarily to widen your view.
Crowd fights:
- Many veteran players stay Disabled for freer camera control and better peripheral awareness; the series’ combat is built to flow that way. If you do prefer assistance, Swap on Defeat is convenient—but be mindful it can grab the wrong target off‑screen after a kill.
Stealth:
- Keep Disabled. You don’t want sticky camera behavior when angles and line‑of‑sight matter more than centering an enemy. If you get spotted and the skirmish reduces to a quick 1v1, you can always tap Up to lock in for a finish.
Motion blur, “cinematic modes,” and visual clarity
Motion Blur: Turn it Off. It’s gorgeous in reels but adds smear that masks micro‑animations (wrist snaps, hip rotations) that cue attacks. Most performance‑minded guides recommend disabling blur for clarity in fights and infiltration.
Cinematic Modes (Kurosawa / Miike / Watanabe):
- Kurosawa (B&W + vintage audio + extra wind) is beautiful but can obscure stealth readability; consider disabling during infiltrations.
- Miike pushes the camera closer and adds more grit/gore—amazing for visceral duels, but your field of view narrows, which increases difficulty in multi‑enemy fights.
- Watanabe swaps in lo‑fi tracks during exploration (not story missions); vibe‑perfect for free‑roam but neutral in combat.
Bottom line: If you’re practicing parry timings or ghosting a fortress, prioritize clarity first (blur off, standard visuals). Save the filmic filters for victory laps.
HUD: show just enough information
Yōtei gives you meaningful control over HUD and readability aids. Tune these by context.
For clean duels
- HUD Style: Expert (after you’re comfortable). This minimizes UI elements and lets animations do the talking, which heightens the discipline of duels. If you’re still learning timings, keep the standard HUD for a bit longer.
- Enemy Status Meters: Off. Removing stagger/health bars reduces tunnel vision and forces you to read the opponent.
- Projectile Indicator: Off (duels rarely involve hidden archers—re‑enable for open‑world skirmishes).
For confident stealth
- Offscreen Detection Indicator: Minimal. Keeps the screen clean while still surfacing crucial “someone’s spotting you” flashes from outside the frame.
- Projectile Indicator: On. Bow shots and thrown weapons from off‑screen are exactly what breaks a silent run—get the cue.
- Enhanced Wind Visibility: On and Wind Gust Camera: On to reach infiltration points without opening the map.
- Persistent Center Dot: Off unless you’re sensitive to motion; it’s an optional aid for motion sickness, not a stealth aid.
Note: The Expert HUD option is meant to minimize on‑screen elements for immersion. Great once muscle memory sets in; rough on day one.
Ranged aim & DualSense options that help both styles
- Motion Sensor Aim: Default/On. Gyro micro‑corrections make bow headshots and coin‑flick tools snappier than stick‑only aim without overshooting.
- Vibration / Trigger Effect Intensity: Preference. If you find heavy haptics distracting in duels, reduce intensity; if you struggle to “feel” bow draw, bump it back up.
Two proven profiles (copy them, then personalize)
1) The Duelist — crisp reads, honest steel
- Camera Speed: Fast
- Camera Wobble: 0–20
- Target Lock: Enabled (toggle on for boss/duel; off to reposition)
- Motion Blur: Off
- HUD: Expert after you’re comfortable; Enemy meters Off
- Offscreen Detection Indicator: None (switch to Minimal if outdoor duel has archers)
- Projectile Indicator: Off
- Cinematic Modes: Optional—Miike complements intimate duels; be ready for tighter framing.
Why it works: “Fast” keeps your opponent centered through dodge strings, low wobble clarifies attack telegraphs, and a reduced HUD removes clutter so reads—not UI—decide the outcome.
2) The Ghost — information‑light stealth with vital warnings
- Camera Speed: Default
- Camera Wobble: 0–10
- Target Lock: Disabled
- Motion Blur: Off
- HUD: Standard, but switch Offscreen Detection: Minimal, Projectile Indicator: On
- Enhanced Wind Visibility: On; Wind Gust Camera: On
- Cinematic Modes: Avoid Kurosawa during stealth; return to standard color for visibility.
Why it works: You’re removing stickiness from the camera, keeping shake near zero, and surfacing only the alerts that matter so you can track cones of vision without drowning in UI.
Advanced notes, edge cases, and troubleshooting
“My camera still feels floaty.”
- Verify Stick Drift Compensation is On if your controller has drift; otherwise try Off to reduce deadzone lag. Confirm Camera Speed isn’t on Slow/Cinematic.
“Kurosawa/Miike looks amazing, but stealth and crowds feel harder.”
- That’s expected. Kurosawa’s B&W can flatten depth/contrast in low light (harder to spot patrols). Miike’s tight framing heightens intensity but narrows peripheral awareness. Reserve these for exploration or duels you already know well.
“Do I need lock‑on for bosses?”
- No, but it helps with camera discipline. Toggle it on for single‑opponent set pieces; toggle off to reposition or bait attacks near geometry. If Swap on Defeat occasionally grabs the wrong target, go back to Enabled and switch manually.
“Expert HUD is too spartan.”
- That’s by design—Expert is “less descriptive,” aimed at experienced players. If you miss cues, step back to the standard HUD and remove only what you don’t need (enemy meters, extra indicators).
“Where are those stealth‑helping indicators again?”
- Accessibility → Offscreen Detection Indicator / Projectile Indicator / Enhanced Wind Visibility / Wind Gust Camera / Persistent Center Dot. These aren’t cheats; they’re readability tools.
“How exactly do I toggle lock‑on mid‑fight?”
- After enabling Target Lock in Gameplay, press Up on the D‑pad to toggle and nudge Right Stick to switch targets.
Why these settings align with Yōtei’s design
Sucker Punch built Yōtei to support both filmic immersion and clear, mechanical readability. The camera presets and lock‑on being opt‑in reflect a combat model that flows freely by default; you add stickiness only when it serves precision (duels, boss tells). The accessibility suite’s Offscreen Detection and Wind options exist so you can keep the HUD minimal while still catching crucial hidden information—exactly what stealth play needs. And the new cinematic modes are deliberately optional because, as the developers acknowledge, they can conflict with moment‑to‑moment clarity in certain scenarios—so you curate them by context.
Suggested starter settings (copy/paste checklist)
Duels
- Camera: Fast / Wobble 0–20
- Target Lock: Enabled (toggle on)
- Motion Blur: Off
- HUD: Expert (later), Enemy meters Off, Projectile Indicator Off
- Cinematic Mode: Miike (optional)
Stealth
- Camera: Default / Wobble 0–10
- Target Lock: Disabled
- Motion Blur: Off
- HUD/Accessibility: Offscreen Detection Minimal, Projectile Indicator On, Enhanced Wind Visibility On, Wind Gust Camera On
- Cinematic Mode: Standard color (avoid B&W)
3 alternate profiles (if you want to experiment)
- Hybrid Duelist: Camera Default, Wobble 10–15, Lock‑On Enabled, HUD Standard, Blur Off. A touch more cinematic sway with enough stability to read feints.
- Tracker Ghost: Camera Default, Wobble 0–5, Offscreen Detection Default with HUD indicators for max awareness in dense outposts, Projectile Indicator On.
- Cine‑Fencer: Miike mode for boutique duels, Wobble 20–30 for feel, Lock‑On Enabled, Blur Off (retain clarity), HUD Expert. Be ready to reposition often due to the pushed‑in view.
Final thought
Practice a dozen parries and you’ll feel the difference these tweaks make. The camera becomes a sparring partner, not a fight, and the HUD turns into a whisper—only telling you what you need when you need it.
