Simple and Clean
A year after the swords-and-samurai epic arrived on the Playstation 4, Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima is back with a new Director’s Cut.
This revision includes the original game (our glowing Ghost of Tsushima review here), several quality-of-life updates, as well as unique content and new gameplay mechanics.
Most exciting of all is an entirely new locale to explore – Iki Island – which continues Jin Sakai’s story of defending his homeland against Mongol rule in 13th Century Japan.
Despite the game getting a free patch improving performance on PS5 at the console’s launch in November, this Director’s Cut builds on this with a suite of new features including 3D audio, reduced load times and full use of haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers of the new Dualsense controller.
Even more impressive is true lip-synching for the Japanese audio track (rendered in real-time as opposed to the video clips in the original), making all your Kurosawa dreams come true.
(Upgrade) Paths To Glory
This is all geared to make your new hardware sing, bringing the definitive experience to your Playstation 5…for a fee.
Owners of the original on PS4 have a few (slightly convoluted) upgrade paths, including upgrading to the Director’s Cut on the same generation of console for £15.99, or opting for the bells and whistles of the PS5 edition for £24.99.
Those owning the Director’s Cut on PS4, can then upgrade for £9 in the UK.
It’s a bit of a shame, differing markedly from the “it just works” Smart Delivery strategy adopted by Microsoft with its Xbox Series next-gen consoles.
However, given the additional content and add-ons, there’s a case to be made for charging those consumers making the leap with Ghost.
And the lion’s share of that – especially for those that have completed the original – is Iki Island, a wealth of new content (available after Act 2) which sees Jin pitted against a new, shamanic foe in ‘The Eagle’.
Fight With Honour
Without spoiling things, this additional storyline certainly puts Jin through the emotional ringer mentally and spiritually, as well as giving fans of the original more items to find, beautiful vistas to discover and foes to standoff against.
The additional horsepower of the Playstation 5 does iterate on an already great game, the 60fps combat giving a swiftness and brutality to the action which is incredibly responsive.
Equally, the resolution bump to a dynamic 4K makes the sumptuous visuals and vibrant countryside even more immersive in this new iteration – albeit some of those changes already arrived with the free patch.
What is new is that force feedback on the new controller, with the tension of pulling back the bow being incredibly effective, and feeling every clash of steel with greater impact on the Dualsense controller.
Fans of Ghost of Tsushima will love following foxes at 60 frames per second, whilst new converts will find the immersive story and sumptuous gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima even more compelling than its original July 2020 launch.
Walk the path of the Ghost, and forever be changed…
