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Many enjoying Aragami 2 probably feel that the Ghost style of mission completion is the most canon way to progress through this title, as its ruthless yet stealthy approach to gameplay suits one's shadowy character. However, one can consider a Ghost playthrough to be somewhat of a hybrid between the Spirit and Demon styles of gameplay.
RELATED: Aragami 2: How To Get S Rank In Missions (Spirit)
In Aragami 2, Spirit playthroughs require non-lethal stealth tactics and Demon playthroughs involve the opposite in that one needs to slay all foes in open combat, however, players will need to dive down the middle to be the best Ghost. The easiest way to get S-rank while pursuing every mission's Ghost achievement is to take note of the criteria players see at the mission complete screen, as this will give one some excellent hints.
S-Rank Ghost Criteria Breakdown
Time Elapsed
Finishing a level quickly is always helpful in getting a higher rank, regardless of one's chosen playstyle. Unfortunately, the game does not give players any feedback on how much Time Elapsed affects ranking, however, a good marker to aim for is to try and complete a mission under 5 minutes for the best results. After this point, one's ranking will likely drop down to A rank and further if one does not complete the level soon.
Hostiles Killed
Players will want this number as high as possible due to it increasing one's ranking for Ghost playthroughs. It can be time-consuming to kill every possible enemy on the map, however, killing foes is crucial for not accidentally getting a Spirit ranking instead of a Ghost one.
Hostiles Unconscious
It is best to minimize this criterion's value, as the higher it is, the more likely one will be to achieving a Spirit ranking instead of a Ghost one, and, as such, Hostiles Unconcious acts like the inverse of Hostiles Killed. If one accidentally knocks out an enemy instead of killing them, players can finish the job on the unconscious target with their sword or simply toss them into a river to alleviate the issue of them still breathing.
Hostiles Alive
This acts similarly to the Hostiles Unconcious criterion, though is less significant due to knocking a foe out being seen as a non-lethal act whereas simply not interacting with an enemy will mean nothing. Players won't get as many ranking points for leaving foes alive, but it is not needed to kill everyone on a level to get S-rank for Ghost playthroughs; just most.
Bodies Found
Players should always try to keep this value at 0, as bodies being found will drop ranking score for a Ghost playthrough (as well as Spirit ones). The most foolproof way of making sure the body of a slain foe is not found is to literally throw it off of the map via a cliff or into a body of water. If such disposable methods are too far to be convenient, it is recommended to hide bodies in tall grass, as living adversaries will never set foot in the tall grass unless the player draws their attention.
Player Discovered
Much like the Bodies Found criterion, Play Discovered will drop one's ranking score for Ghost playthroughs in a similar manner. Being seen, understandably, is the last thing one wants if stealth is their main goal. Using the cover of walls and other objects as well as hiding in the tall grass can be great methods for staying unseen. Additionally, dashing between hiding spots can both decrease mission completion time and give foes fewer chances to spot the player.
Player Respawns
As opposed to many other stealth games that will force players to restart a mission upon death, Aragami 2 will simply respawn players at the beginning of the map, though will not undo any of their progress. However, this massively decreases ranking points for all kinds of playthroughs and should be avoided as much as possible.
Others
All of the other criteria (Mission Reward, Gold Found, and Collectibles Found) do not factor into a mission's ranking and only appear on the mission completion screen to help the player gauge how much wealth they have gained. As such, these criteria should not be considered heavily unless one wants to gather riches in order to purchase goods from merchants.
Aragami 2 is available on for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.