In the past week we’ve heard many rumours and seen many leaks but finally Sony has revealed Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut that will launch on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 come 20th August where it will cost $59.99 and $69.99 respectively.
Firstly, some good news for all owners of the game, even the original, is that a patch is coming with several small fixes and additions to the game. There’s alternate controller layouts for better accessibility, the option to make the quiver invisible for those who find it unsightly, and target lock-on in combat.
The Ghost of Tsushima: Legends multiplayer will also receive an as yet unannounced update which has not been revealed. This, as with the other small updates, will be free for all versions of the game on both consoles.
Now let’s get to the good stuff. The Director’s Cut adds a whole new island to the game called Iki. On the neighbouring island of Iki players can engage in a new story which will also unlocks additional trophies.
“In this new story, Jin travels to the island to investigate rumors of a Mongol presence. But soon, he finds himself caught up in events with deeply personal stakes that will force him to relive some traumatic moments from his past,” writes Andrew Goldfarb, Communications Manager at developer Sucker Punch Productions.
As expected some Director’s Cut content will only be available on the newer PlayStation 5, but one of them is unexpected.
Playing the game with Japanese audio and subtitles has always been the recommended way to play the game, but the characters were not synched up for them.
In the Director’s Cut – and only on PS5 – there will be lip synching for Japanese audio.
“Thanks to the PS5’s ability to render cinematics in real time, cutscenes in Ghost of Tsushima and on Iki Island on PS5 will now offer lip sync for Japanese voice over,” Goldfarb writes.
We’re not calling Goldfarb a liar but this really seems like something that should have also been on the PS4 too. We’re just not buying that the PS4 has the power to do lip synching for English but not Japanese.
Let’s assume this is miraculously true. If it is why not have the cutscenes then play as a video instead of rendered in real time? Make it an optional extra download for those who want the extra Japanese immersion and everyone is happy. Oh well, gotta justify that extra $10 price.
Also for the PS5 only is 3D audio, 4K targeted at 60FPS, better load times and haptic feedback using the adaptive triggers on the PS5 controller.
Going back to the topic of price the $59.99 on PS4 and $69.99 on PS5 gets a bit more complex for owners of the game –
If you already own Ghost of Tsushima on PS4:You can pre-order an upgrade to Director’s Cut on PS4 for $19.99 USD. This upgrade will become available starting on August 20.
Starting on August 20:If you bought Director’s Cut PS4, you’ll be able to upgrade to Director’s Cut PS5 at any time for $9.99 USD. You can also upgrade directly (from original Ghost of Tsushima PS4) to Director’s Cut on PS5 for $29.99 USD
We’re not judging the Director’s Cut before release but those prices sure do seem high. We think the Iki Island addition will need to be close in size and scope to a proper $30 expansion to make all of this worth it.
The last Director’s Cut for a game burned into our minds is for Borderlands 3, which was received poorly to say the least. Right now on Steam it only has 143 reviews with a shockingly low 30 percent of them being positive. This leaves it with the Mostly Negative review rating for Steam.
Most of the reviews for the Borderlands 3: Director’s Cut say that it’s overprices and should have been included in the base game. Hopefully the same won’t be said for Ghost of Tsushima next month.
