One of the last major PlayStation 4 exclusive games released before the PS5 launch was Sucker Punch’sGhost of Tsushima, an open world samurai game that debuted to rave reviews in 2020. Sucker Punch has capitalized onGhost of Tsushima’s popularity by bringing it to Sony’s next-generation console in the form ofGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, which is by far the best way to experience the game.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutis also available on PS4, but those who want the truly definitive experience will want to play the PS5 version of the game.Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cuton PS5 makes an already beautiful game that much more stunning, maintaining 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The game runs incredibliy smooth on the PS5, and while it’s still a top-tier experience on PS4, those who have a chance to play the game on PS5 will definitely find it difficult to go back.
Not only doesGhost of Tsushimarun and look better on PlayStation 5, but it also has other enhancements as well, taking great advantage of the console’s unique features. A lot has been said about the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, but they really are a game-changer in the right hands. Sucker Punch leverages haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to great effect inGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cuton PS5, using haptic feedback to let players feel their sword tearing through enemy Mongols and drastically improving the immersion of bows with the adaptive triggers.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut’s PS5 improvementsare fantastic across the board, elevating an already-great game to the next level. ReturningGhost of Tsushimaplayers will love the DualSense features, virtually nonexistent load times, and performance upgrade. Next to games likeAstro Bot: Rescue MissionandReturnal,Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cuton PS5 is one of the best examples of how developers can use the console’s unique features to truly enhance gameplay experiences.
While these PS5 improvements are significant, at its core,Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutis still the same game as the PS4 version. This means that players are in for a sprawling, epic, open world samurai adventure that will see them cut down countless Mongol enemies, expand Jin’s abilities through leveling up and spending skill points, liberate sections of the map, collect resources for crafting, and complete various other tasks that are typical of the genre.
Ghost of Tsushima’s adherence to established open world game tropeshas always been its weak spot, and it really wouldn’t have been possible for Sucker Punch to rectify that problem with theDirector’s Cut. This means that a lot of the activities players will be participating in will become overly familiar before they spend all that much time withGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, with repetitive open world tasks that quickly lose their luster.
A lot of these repetitive activities return forGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutmain draw, the Iki Island expansion. Players will find themselves doing a lot of familiar tasks while exploring Iki Island, though that’s not to say that the expansion is a disappointment. While a lot of the mission objectives and activities don’t really break new ground, Iki Island is still a lot of fun to explore and for returning players, the substantial new story content is a major selling point.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutintroduces the Iki Island expansion and new antagonist, The Eagle. It’s a lot more of the same kind of experience that the baseGhost of Tsushimagame offers (though a new enemy type does shake up combat a bit), so while there is some repetition, it lets players experience more intense samurai action and take in even more jaw-dropping sights.Iki Island is full of Easter eggsand other interesting secrets to discover, and it’s definitely worth the price of admission for anyone that’s a fan of the base game. It’s more of the same, but that’s exactly whatGhost of Tsushimafans are looking for in an expansion, anyway.
Ghost of Tsushimaplayers can access the Iki Island expansion upon reaching Act 2 of the game.Ghost of TsushimaPS4 saves transfer to the PS5, so anyone that’s already played through the base game on PS4 can immediately jump into the new content. Iki Island has new sights to see, stories to experience, challenges to overcome, and trophies to unlock, and should keep fans busy for at least another 10 to 15 hours or so if they want to do absolutely everything it has to offer.
With the baseGhost of Tsushimagame taking around 60 hours to fully complete on average, Iki Island makes an already large game even bigger. But the single-player story content isn’t the only thing thatGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cuthas to offer. TheGhost of Tsushima: Legendsmultiplayer experienceis back as well, though it is missing one of its major new additions at the time of this writing.
Come September 3,Ghost of Tsushima: Legendswill be adding the Rivals game mode. InGhost of Tsushima: Legends' Rivals mode, two teams compete to wipe out hordes of enemies and are able to spend Magatama to make their opponents' lives harder. This mode isn’t available to play inGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutat launch, but its arrival on September 3 should go a long way in giving the game that much more value.
As it stands,Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutis the comprehensive, definitiveGhost of Tsushimaexperience. Its new multiplayer mode isn’t in the game yet but will be coming soon, and in the meantime, fans still have the currentGhost of Tsushima: Legendsexperience to check out, the base game’s story mode with PS5 features, and the substantial Iki Island expansion. Newcomers and returning fans alike have reason to check outGhost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, with it hopefully keeping fans satisfied until they can get their hands on Sucker Punch’s first game built exclusively with the PlayStation 5 in mind.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cutis out now on PS4 and PS5. Game Rant was provided with a PS5 code for this review.
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut
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In the late 13th century, the Mongol empire has laid waste to entire nations along their campaign to conquer the East. Tsushima Island is all that stands between mainland Japan and a massive Mongol invasion fleet led by the ruthless and cunning general, Khotun Khan.As the island burns in the wake of the first wave of the Mongol assault, courageous samurai warrior Jin Sakai stands resolute. As one of the last surviving members of his clan, Jin is resolved to do whatever it takes, at any cost, to protect his people and reclaim his home. He must set aside the traditions that have shaped him as a warrior to forge a new path, the path of the Ghost, and wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Tsushima.
