Game Review: Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut

Updated: Aug 8, 2023

Written by Grady Fiorio

Original Publishing Date: July 27nd, 2022

Rating 4/5

Presentation, presentation, presentation...

I think if there's one thing the gaming industry is desperately suffering from, it's bloat. 50-hour-long games telling 10-hour-long stories. Mission objectives that feel like crossing off a list of chores rather than engrossing the player in a new world of fantasy and wonder. But once in a blue moon, the ven diagram does cross and a game finds a way to throw everything on the table while spanning tens if not hundreds of hours. Red Dead Redemption 2 is certainly one that comes to mind for me. The story is engrossing and the game never feels like it's pressuring you to eat your vegetables before you can have dessert. I'm happy to say that Ghost of Tsushima gets to join in on this rare club of gaming experiences. Focusing on cutting the fat and getting to the meat, Ghost of Tsushima tells a compelling moral tale of familial and dynasty struggle, while also refining what has been a well-worn gaming experience.

Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of Jin Sakai. The son of a samurai, who is forced to save his island after a hostile takeover by Mongol invaders. Jin must decide whether to honor the samurai code or embrace the way of the ghost, a method that dishonors his family lineage but may be the only key to saving his homeland. This struggle is what drives the narrative. It feels so real because you eventually learn that the Mongols really aren't the antagonist of the story, but rather the narrative's MacGuffin. The true antagonist is Jin's own family struggle, where they must decide to pledge their loyalty to their family or their state. Ideologies clash as the old world tries to adapt to the modern age. While you've probably never had to save an island, you've probably come to a crossroads with a loved one and didn't know if it was even possible to move forward. This is what makes Ghost of Tsushima's story so compelling. It's the tragedy of trying to do the right thing when you know that it may hurt the ones you love. Ultimately culminating in one of my favorite endings to a video game. A tragedy that is so beautifully presented in the style of Akira Kurosawa.

While I may be late to the party, this is an experience that was well worth the wait. I'm glad that when I finally sat down to play Ghost of Tsushima, I got to experience it in its 4k, 60fps, director's cut glory. What makes this game stand out beyond the rest is that even though it still has many of the Ubisoft-style open-world mechanics, it cuts much of the bloat and creates a purposeful sense of presentation and direction. Instead of throwing endless tasks at your feet, Ghost of Tsushima gentles pushes you along a path unguided by minimaps, instead opting for visual and audio cues for points of interest. It flows together beautifully, creating a sense of symmetry with its visual style. It's more guided than Breath of the Wild but it doesn't consistently hold your hand when you want to explore. It's a nice happy medium that helps to keep a brisk pace. When exploring the world you're greeted by gorgeous visuals as the island of Tsushima is consistently presented in a colorful and cinematic style, accompanied by a beautiful score composed by Ilan Eshkeri and Shigeru Umebayashi. This visual style is consistently enhanced by one of the best photo modes I've used in a game before. I've never taken more pictures in a video game. My inner filmmaker constantly wanted to get new screengrabs after meticulously crafting various shots and scenes of my own gameplay stories. There are a few basic features the photo mode is missing, but thankfully it adds many more features that other games should adopt, such as controlling the weather, time of day, and even particle effects. I loved the photo mode so much that I included some of my favorite screencaps in this review.

While exploring the island of Tsushima, you can expect to raid Mongol forces, fight in fierce battles, and go head to head in tense samurai duels. While these activities at their core have been done before, Ghost of Tsushima focuses on a tight sword combat experience that utilizes varying fighting styles and satisfying stealth mechanics. It's not as deep as Metal Gear but is nevertheless exhilarating to jump from shadowy heights to slit the necks and stab the spines of unsuspecting enemies below. Keeping the combat focused allows the game to once again shed the fat that plagues so many other games that try to be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Ghost of Tsushima is able to keep the party going by populating the world with meaningful sidequests that expand the story and strengthen bonds with characters that will fight by your side during the main quest. By the end, I truly cared and felt connected with characters like Sensei Ishikawa and sibling duo Yuna and Taka. This is also helped by the director's cut Iki Island DLC. While the experience is short and more of the same, it helps to deepen the character of Jin Sakai while expanding on his motivations as he processes the death of his father which prelude the events of the main game.

While Ghost of Tsushima presents a tight single-player package it also offers Legends, a free multiplayer mode Sucker Punch launched as a surprise shortly after that game’s initial release during the summer of 2020. While at a glance it may seem like a slim package, for a free add-on with zero microtransactions, it’s quite a breath of fresh air. Legends consists of three core modes, a wave-based survival mode, an indirect PVP mode, and a thinly veiled set of story missions. While the multiplayer mechanics are fun, the lack of community cohesion hurts the overall experience. Players would often charge into battle without regard for other classes or strategies. It’s similar to hopping into a GTA Online Heist with randoms. Playing the game as a stealth class becomes an issue when all the other plays want to charge into battle, blowing stuff up with particle effects rather than working as a team. This is especially true of the survival mode which can quickly become a cacophony of random sword slashes and power-ups. It starts to lose the crafted touch that makes the single player so special. Some of Legends modes can be solo’d but after trying this, it becomes very clear that this is not how the game is meant to be played. Which is fair given that it is a multiplayer game. While playing solo did remedy some of the issues I had playing with others, it created a whole new host of issues that weren’t worth the trade-off. I imagine playing with friends would mostly eliminate this, but currently, I’m the only one of my friends that own the game. It’s clearly a game mode designed and meant to be played with friends. Players like myself won’t find it much of a selling point, but there is still plenty of content to keep you happy. And if you were coming to Ghost of Tsushima it probably wasn’t for the multiplayer.

Ghost of Tsushima has well earned its place among the roster of Playstation's first-class lineup of first-party games. By trimming the fat and focusing on a prestige cinematic presentation Ghost of Tsushima becomes a much more streamlined and focused game than the standard Ubisoft-style affair. Sucker Punch has been able to deliver the Assassin's Creed game fans always wanted but never got. The story, direction, music, and sound design all come together to enhance a gameplay package that players have been waiting a long time for. Cinematic, tragic, and engaging, we can only hope that other studios follow suit and embrace the power of storytelling and presentation.