Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut Review: Adds Great New Features

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut adds plenty of new features for PlayStation 5 players with its latest Ikii island expansion. We review the PS5 exclusive to find out if it’s worth the upgrade.
Ghost of Tsushima was the ideal way to end the PlayStation 4 generation and the Director’s Cut version could be the best way to start the PS5 generation. Sucker Punch Productions already offered a great game in the PS4 version of the Ghost of Tsushima, but bringing new next-generation features and expansion with the Director’s Cut makes the title feel new all over again. For new players, it’s a chance to experience the entire game with exclusive PlayStation 5 features, fast loading times and next-gen graphics. After playing the Director’s Cut version, I feel this is the only way to play the Samurai epic in 2021.  © SIEGhost of Tsushima was already a technical marvel but the PlayStation 5 version of the game takes it to the next level. For starters, loading times have now been reduced to 1-2 seconds whether you are fast-travelling or loading in a save file. Loading times on the PS4 version were already impressive, however on the Director’s Cut version you see the real power of the PS5's internal SSD. It doesn’t end there though, Sucker Punch has also introduced exclusive DualSense features that make the overall experience even more immersive. You can feel the haptic feedback each time your horse walks or runs on rough terrain. When using a bow, you also feel resistance and haptic feedback on the triggers which make the gameplay a whole lot more enjoyable. With the DualSense controller, swinging swords never felt better and it adds a new layer of immersion that I thought wasn’t possible.  © SIEGhost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is not only about upgrading the game for the PlayStation 5 though. The new expansion introduced plenty of new mechanics as well that caught me by surprise. Much like the base game, you can now interact with Cats but Sucker Punch made sure they added something extra here as well. In order to interact with Cats, you must now play the flute and match the pitch by tilting the DualSense controller. It’s an interesting new mechanic that doesn’t get old even after you interact with several cats. While exploring, you can now charge at enemies on horseback which is a much-appreciated addition. You can charge at incoming enemies holding the ‘L1’ button to deal devastating damage on bigger foes. This mechanic comes most handy in random encounters and helps in speeding up the gameplay loop which can get a bit taxing after a while. Story Expansion: Is The Director’s Cut Worth It?What makes upgrading or purchasing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut worthy of your wallet is the latest story expansion that takes you to Iki Island. For players who wanted to know more about Jin Sakai and his clan’s backstory, this expansion is for you. As Jin, you go to Iki island to investigate the Mongol Eagle clan, which has been terrorising the local people and its resources in order to install a garrison.  © SIEHowever, the Sakai clan and the Iki island have a history as Kazumasa Sakai (Jin’s father) conquered the island. However, due to Jin and his clan’s history with the island, Jin must now hide his family name and keep it a secret to avoid any form of reprisal. You get to experience Jin’s past link with the island in the form of flashbacks and memory callbacks that eventually have an astounding effect on him. You get more context on Jin and his family’s past which I feel is a great direction to take for an expansion. We didn’t really get to experience Jin’s backstory in the base game which was still a mystery until now. © SIEIn my opinion, the story adds more lore to a story we already loved and I highly recommend playing this expansion after completing the base game. The Iki island expansion is about the same length as the first Act of the game which is quite impressive considering expansions are not known to be that large. Players can access the new island by completing the base game to at least the second ACT. You can set sail to the island anytime you want, however if you’ve already completed the base game, you can simply import your PS4 save file from the cloud and start the Iki expansion right away. Graphics Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut adds all of the upgrades you would want from the game. For starters, it looks absolutely stunning in resolution mode and far more detailed than the PS4 version. Much like the base game, there are lush valleys, lavender fields and hills to explore. The world feels like an extension of the main island with new biomes such as caves and picturesque beaches.  © SIEIn terms of gameplay, while running in frame rate mode, the game targets 60FPS most of the time, however I did notice FPS drops during battles. It’s still a higher frame rate than the PS4 version which ultimately results in a much smoother experience. Overall, the game does a great job at pushing frames and making it a worthy upgrade for PS5 owners. Gameplay Many people were concerned that the new Iki island is going to be “more of the same.” However, that is not the case as there are new undiscovered locations to explore that aren’t onsens or fox temples. Sucker Punch also mixed up a few things when it comes to combat. There are new types of enemies to battle and some can even switch the type of weapon they are carrying. For example, an enemy might be using a spear, however he can now switch to a sword/shield forcing you to switch your stance as well.  © SIEEnemies are more dynamic now which poses a new challenge for players. The game also adds new skills, armour and charms to unlock which directly affects the combat and gameplay as well. For what it’s worth, the Iki expansion has plenty of new experiences for players that warrant the upgrade. However, I do have to point out that the Japanese lip sync isn’t as accurate as I thought it would be. There are still instances where when a person is speaking, the lip movement doesn’t match with what’s being said. The game also tries to hide this as much as possible with wide shots during conversations while closeups are only reserved for cutscenes. The Final Say Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on the PlayStation 5 is one of my favourite releases for the new console so far. There are enough new experiences in the form of higher frame rates, new and immersive DualSense features, a compelling story expansion and near-instant loading times to warrant an upgrade for existing players. If you are a new player, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut may just be the best exclusive to experience on the console right now. 

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