For a couple of months now, Ghost of Tsushima has been all the rage on the Playstation side of console gaming. In a blogpost direct from Playstation’s website, it was announced in early July that the breakout game was set to receive an expansion dubbed the Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut. An odd choice for a name given it is a game, but aptly named nonetheless if one is familiar with the game’s remarkable story and visuals. The new edition of the Ghost of Tsushima features a new chapter in the main character, Jin Sakai’s, story as well as “some new updates that are a direct response to some of the community’s most-requested features” (Playstation, 2021). For a quick and digestible overview of what the Director’s Cut entails, we’ll be referencing articles from Gamespot, IGN, and The Verge to get you up to speed.
What’s Different About the Director’s Cut?
As previously mentioned, Ghosts of Tsushima: Director’s Cut does more than simply add a new chapter of the story to the game. The new chapter adds a new area to explore, Iki Island, and updates and features fans have requested of Sucker Punch, the developer of the game. For one, Jason Connell, the creative and art director for the game, has stated that Jin Sakai will be getting more abilities in addition to the plethora he already possesses, as per Gamespot’s coverage of the topic. Additionally, according to comments made in the same article, Connell explains that the PS5 version of the game boasts a more immersive experience. The game takes full advantage of the PS5’s features, including utilizing the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers “to create a greater ‘spatial feeling’ in the environments around the player” (Gamespot, 2021). Essentially, the 3D audio coming from the controller will be able to simulate pretty believable sound effects that add to the experience.
Where the story is concerned, Jin Sakai will be pitted against the remaining Mongol forces on Iki Island, “gathered under the banner of the shaman Ankhsar Khatun” (Gamespot, 2021). The new villain is particularly interesting, as Khatun is not only a female antagonist, but may very well be impactful in different ways. According to an IGN article which details an interview with Jason Connell and the game’s Senior Writer Patrick Downs, Khatun’s goals may be different, as well as “‘her style of leadership [and] what she’s trying to accomplish…’” Patrick Downs also raises an equally interesting question, which asks whether or not this new style will “affect Jin in ways that maybe he hasn’t been challenged [in] before…’” (IGN, 2021). Jin looks like he’s going to be in for a tough time on Iki Island suffice it to say.
The expansion will also include the addition of horse armor as well as a brand new horse skill, which allows the horse to charge ahead as a battering ram of sorts to tackle and disperse nearby enemies. In their blog, Playstation also mentions that there will be new techniques, new enemy types, new mini-games, lip-sync for the japanese dub of the game, game save transfers from the Playstation 4 (PS4) to the Playstation 5 (PS5), and other utility updates such as alternate controller layouts. Finally, an article by The Verge tells of a kind of “petting” expansion. Where players could only pet foxes, then dogs a few months after the game first released, the new expansion will allow players to also pet cats, deer, and monkeys (The Verge, 2021). Ghosts of Tsushima: Director’s Cut releases for the PS4 and the PS5 on August 20th, 2021.