It's time to pack up your smoke bombs, dust off your katana and prepare your best haikus. The Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is here, with next-gen updates for PS5 players and a massive new island to explore no matter what console you're playing on. If you played the original version last year, it's frankly the same thing. But when is that "same" being a badass samurai in one of the most beautiful game worlds ever represented by silicon? Well, domo arigato to the developers of Sucker Punch, we agree. First of all, what has changed for the PS5 edition? Well, not much if you've ever tried the original PS4 game on a PS5, which received a very impressive 60fps patch shortly after the PS5 launched. The PS5 version maintains the 60fps frame rate (with improved and sharper dynamic resolution scaling), adds haptic feedback from the DualSense controller, provides 3D spatial sound, and speeds up recording times. The next-gen changes are subtle, but not entirely unexpected: Ghost of Tsushima was already a mind-blowing game, and those expecting a graphically intense transformation were going too far.
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(Image credit: Sony) In addition to the full original game and new DLC content, Director's Cut also adds a free tech point, a new charm, and a new set of skins, just to download the updated version of the game, as well as the addition of A highly requested Japanese lip sync option for voiceovers. There's also a "Legends" multiplayer co-op mode, though it wasn't available for pre-launch testing at the time of writing.
A completely new island
But the real addition for returning fans is the massive Iki Island campaign. We will not go into details of the main content of the game included here; you can check out our original Ghost of Tsushima review for that. But suffice to say, we loved it, letting you live out your samurai fantasies in a gorgeous, blood-soaked game. Accessible from the second act of the main game (but probably best played once you've completed the main campaign), the Director's Cut Iki Island content is around five hours long (and much longer for finishers) and weaves a great story in the established history of Tshushima. After encountering villagers driven mad by a new wave of Mongol invaders, protagonist Jin Sakai is shipwrecked on the South Island, now ruled by the shamanic invader Eagle and his army. By drugging Jin and inducing hallucinatory experiences, Jin will have to face the dark truths about his parents and expel this new threat from Japan.
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(Image credit: Sony) Shamans are the biggest new combat in Ghost of Tsushima. It's like upgrading your enemies' characters, increasing their aggression and determination, and really boring. You'll either want to kick these guys out of a group first, or worry about being overwhelmed by much tougher grunts. While there are new sets of armor to find and your basic abilities can be further enhanced with the return of Bamboo Strike's minigames, there's really only one new technique to add to the game: Jin's arsenal this time around. It's the Horse's Charge: Hold L1 and your trusty steed will gallop through columns of enemies, damaging them and scaring their terrified compatriots. It's a powerful tool and a lot of fun to activate, but a bit underused. Lots of open-space fighting against larger enemy groups is to be expected, but that doesn't really happen, and the heavily fortified camps that are the main lynchpin of Jin bloodshed are unsuited for combat on horseback. Still, it comes in handy when chasing down a dastardly troop fleeing your blade.
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(Image credit: Sony) Some new mini-games are also included. Gone are the friendly foxes of Tsushima, replaced in Iki by colonies of monkeys, cats and deer, which are captured and tormented by the Mongol invaders. Release them and you'll enter a mini-game to gain his trust, in which Jin will have to play a tune on his flute to calm them down. You will use the movement controls of your gamepad to guide a marker along a melodic line; do it successfully and you will befriend the animal and get a skill charm boost. And a cute little animation to boot: yes, you can pet the monkey. And the deer. And cats. Archers will also be able to test their skills with a series of archery challenges spread across the map. These are rock hard unless you have the armor, charm, and abilities to match, but they can reward patient and skilled marksmen with enhanced aiming abilities that slow down time.
Beauty amid spilled blood
As with the main game, the Director's Cut's strengths and weaknesses remain largely unchanged. Mythic Quest's side quests are a highlight, mixing exploration with challenging combat, engaging support characters, and uniquely designed locations. As with the main game, Jin remains a bit of a wet firecracker, too sober and stubbornly honorable to be emotionally connected, while the Eagle and his mind-blowing abilities are underused.
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(Image credit: Sony) But the island of Iki. Oh, the island of Iki! From its storm-swept beaches littered with giant whale bones and shipwrecks, to its sakura-blossom deer glades and icy peaks, it's as beautiful as game in the world. Ghost of Tsushima has never been a wildly inventive game - it's essentially an Assassin's Creed game in samurai skin with a great combat system attached to it. But his pictorial landscapes remain incomparable. Another rich spot to enjoy is Iki Island, a diverse and wonderful environment for swimming (at least when you're not swimming in the blood of your enemies). Like returning to a favorite vacation spot, traveling to Iki Island is comfortably familiar and wonderfully enjoyable.