Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review: ‘A rocky first step for “Director’s Cut” editions’

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut review for PS5 and PS4.

It’s just over a year since the launch of Ghost of Tsushima for PS4. In my review, I described it as a “worthy addition to the roster of must-play PS4 exclusives that have kept players loyal to the console.” It’s only a year later, but we’ve now advanced a generation, with the PS5 blowing users away with higher-quality visuals, smoother performance, faster loading times, and other improvements to the gaming experience. Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is a last-gen game trying to make it on a next-gen system. Does its content arsenal make it a must-play for PS5, too? This is the GameRevolution review.

It isn’t free

Let me make it clear from the outset: Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is a paid expansion. Whereas other last-gen games have received next-gen upgrades at no additional cost, these “Director’s Cut” releases come at a premium. To get the PS5 version, it’ll cost either $29.99 for existing GoT owners or $69.99 for newcomers.

The Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut adds the new Iki Island story expansion, some skins and a charm for a unique look and added survivability, a Technique Point, Director’s commentary, and a digital artbook. The Legends online co-op mode is obviously also available to those purchasing this edition of the game. It might seem like a lot of content, but it’s really only the Iki Island expansion that most players will care about, if I’m being frank.

Once players begin Act 2, the opportunity to visit Iki Island arises. (Those who have already passed this point will find the expansion available in the map menu.) As you might surmise from the name, this DLC expansion takes Jin to an island separate from Tsushima. Sadly, it’s also under invasion from the Mongols, this time led by The Eagle. This mysterious woman drives her enemies to madness and, soon after his arrival, Jin finds himself under her influence.

Reliving the past

Without spoiling anything, Jin is made to relive his traumatic past and these sequences work well to expand on the protagonist’s backstory and what has shaped him into the Samurai he is today. There aren’t too many big revelations to speak of, and the psychic link The Eagle and Jin share has unfulfilled potential, but it’s a solid tangent that’s ultimately worth exploring.

One of my criticisms of the main game was the lack of mission variety and, disappointingly, the same can be said of Iki Island. Main missions don’t push the envelope in any significant way. Players pick stealth or brute force and then lay waste to groups of enemies. There’s a big reliance on combat and little else. Thankfully, though, the combat is still fantastic and has actually been improved since release.

On Iki Island, Jin faces off against a new enemy type, the shamans. These chanting dancers give boosts to fellow enemies, which can lead to all sorts of headaches, especially in the larger fights. Players must prioritize this new enemy before taking down others, which makes for an interesting challenge.

What’s more, enemies will now switch weapons mid-fight, forcing players to adopt a different stance to take them down. It’s a small change but it works really well to encourage the utilization of previously ignored skills.

Further aiding combat is the lock-on system, which now lets Jin target specific enemies. However, this comes included in the free update, so the expansion isn’t required.

No, you’re breathtaking

The big highlight of the Iki Island expansion is the island setting itself. Ghost of Tsushima was one of the most beautiful games I had ever seen and the Director’s Cut on PS5 is just as gorgeous. If there was ever a game to make you stop and take screenshots, this is it.

The island beauty is part of what encouraged me to explore for collectibles and minor side activities. Much of it is the same as what players will find in the main game, but there are some exclusive distractions. I’m especially fond of anything and everything to do with the local wildlife. Screenshotting Jin petting the many fluffy creatures is my kind of zen.

The two Mythic Tales available on Iki Island also deserve a shout-out. Like in the main game, these are very much the highlights of the side missions. No spoilers here, but they are awesome!

After six hours, I felt pretty happy with my progress on Iki Island. If I were to 100% complete it, it’d probably take me 10 hours in total. That isn’t bad for an expansion and, combined with the 20+ hours of the main campaign, the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is a formidable package for newcomers.

Performance gains, or lack thereof

For those who have already played Ghost of Tsushima, however, the price tag becomes more difficult to justify. I’d normally look to performance improvements for the PS5 version to help argue for the price tag, but this point is curiously compromised by the fact that a free update had already been released to bump GoT up to 60 FPS.

In fact, both of the graphical options available in the menu result in a perceptibly perfect 60 FPS presentation. I’d advise all PS5 users to set it to “Favor Resolution” without the worry of frame-rate dips. It’s smooth as butter no matter what you pick, so opting for native 4K (or close to) is the way to go.

Visual quality, aside from the actual output resolution, doesn’t seem to have changed much, if at all. To my eye, everything on the PS5 version looks the same as on the PS4 version (both running on PS5 hardware). There are some new animations, but when it comes to graphical fidelity, I don’t see any clear differences.

What isn’t available on the PS4 version, however, even when playing on PS5 via backwards compatibility, is the speedy loading times. Though they were never offensively long to begin with, the rapid fast travel is definitely appreciated. Oh, and the Adaptive Triggers are cool, too, assuming you didn’t disable that feature a week after the PS5’s launch.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut Review: The final verdict

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is unsurprisingly the best version of the game. For newcomers, it’s an easy recommendation, as this one-year-old experience still holds up. For those looking to revisit the game on a shiny new system, however, the $29.99 asking price may be a little too steep for the Iki Island experience and other minor fluff.

Honestly, it’s a rocky first step for these “Director’s Cut” editions that Sony is presumably planning to pump out, with Death Stranding next up on the roster. Sucker Punch sort of shot itself in the foot by giving so much away for free ahead of the DC release, and Kojima Productions has also been pretty generous with its free post-launch offering.

While the value proposition is up for debate, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Ghost of Tsushima has evolved beyond anything we had expected. From the post-launch patches that included improvements based on community feedback, to the full-fledged online co-op mode that was released at no extra cost and with free updates, Ghost of Tsushima is a prime example of how video games should be launched and supported after release. It launched in an already superb state and now it is even better and bolder.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut was reviewed on PS5 with code provided by the publisher.