*DISCLAIMER: As I've already reviewed "Ghost of Tsushima" in its original form on PlayStation 4, this review will focus largely on the merits and faults of the "Director's Cut" version for PlayStation 5. The quality of the game is taken into account at least slightly, but not entirely. That said, I will discuss the new "Iki Island" content as part of this review, as I feel it's too nondescript to earn a separate review. Thus, this will simply encompass the "Director's Cut" itself along with the "Iki Island."*
I never thought I'd get here. I didn't think I'd be the one writing out a review of this. In the past, I've very loudly, publicly, and frequently decried Sony's 2021 "Director's Cut" re-release of "Ghost of Tsushima." And not because of my feelings about the game: while I didn't quite love it in the same way that everyone else did (it didn't even crack my Top 10 list in 2020), I do think it's a great time. The reason I decried it was because of its pricing model; in an industry where developers and publishers have been nicer about offering free next-gen upgrades to games, Sony went through the act of charging $30 for this next-gen upgrade, while creating a new proper PlayStation 5 SKU retailing at $70. I know that Sony has been playing "the floor is lava" when it comes to free next-gen upgrades, but a $30 upgrade reeked of greed to me. Never was that more clear than when "Death Stranding: Director's Cut" was announced as a $10 next-gen upgrade with a more palatable $50 PS5 SKU. I know these two games vary wildly in quality, but it was clear to me that Sony knew that fans would buy into "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut" off of the name alone, and therefore decided to price gouge. So with this extremely long intro and rant in mind, I know what you're thinking: "so why the hell did you get it?" Well...having the new PlayStation Plus Premium service that the game is included in is a bit of a blessing. As a result, I decided to try it out just because months of ranting about it had me curious. And honestly...well, if people didn't agree with me before, they'll agree with me even less now.
The good news is that the original "Ghost of Tsushima" remains just as you remember with this "Director's Cut." If you enjoyed it so much before, that enjoyment is still very much here. I know that's kinda praising the game for the bare minimum given that it's a port released a year after the original, but...sometimes, you need a reminder. And while I'll have more to say on all of this and more later, the new features are at least nice additions. 60 FPS is a blessing as you'd expect, and it's pretty cool that it runs at such a framerate in both Resolution and Performance mode. To be real, I spent a lot of my playthrough in Resolution mode and hadn't realized I didn't have Performance enabled until much later. And while the DualSense features are pretty subtle, I did appreciate feeling every step my horse took while riding, or getting a bit more resistance when charging a bow and arrow. Japanese lip-syncing feels like something that I'm shocked wasn't there from the very beginning, but it's nice that it was finally added. As for the "Iki Island"...expansion? (it feels like the game just kinda treats it as its own new set of missions which, as someone who doesn't play many expansions, is that normal?)...it does at least offer up an interesting new story in the "Ghost of Tsushima" universe. I loved the even darker, more emotional tone of it, and how it was able to build Jin as a character even further by diving into his past trauma.
However, this is where we get to Part 2 of my disdain. For starters, I want to get what I have to say about the "Iki Island" out of the way now because it applies to the game as a whole; as I said earlier, "Ghost of Tsushima" is exactly as you remembered it...for better and for worse. I know, that's par for the course with expansions because they aren't inherently meant to change the gameplay much, but it's just something to point out. If you were not as in love with "Ghost of Tsushima" when it came out and you had issues with the game (like I did), they persist here. Namely, if you were like me and found the open world to be lackluster, Iki Island is not *that* much better in that regard so it probably won't change your mind much. And as for the "Director's Cut" as a whole? Yeah, I'm sticking to my guns here: the upgrade price was totally unnecessary. While 60 FPS is a great addition, the PlayStation 5 was already able to play the original version at 60 FPS thanks to Game Boost, so I fail to see why this was a "major" new feature. And as cool as it is that DualSense features and Japanese lip-syncing were added...do either of those necessarily mandate the upcharge when so many games that add similar features get free upgrades? I know, the reason that it's $30 is because of the "Iki Island," but to be honest, the "Iki Island" feels so light that even THAT doesn't feel like it needs to be priced that high. Content-wise, I kinda see it in a way not too dissimilar to the "Isle of BIGSnax" expansion that recently came to "Bugsnax"...and that was free...and made by a self-publishing indie dev that could've reasonably charged money for it. Yeah, sorry, I think if Sony was really "for the players," they wouldn't have cheaped out on this. I genuinely think it could've been a free upgrade.
Overall, this review went on a lot longer than I expected it to, but I guess I got a lot more passionate about this one than I expected. As it is, "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut" still ends up with a solid score from me, largely because it's carried by the fact that the original game is still an enjoyable ride. As for the "Director's Cut" itself...well, it hardly feels like a "Director's Cut," and it's a pretty insubstantial upgrade made even worse by the distracting elephant in the room that is its upgrade price. I don't want to knock the developers that I know put a massive amount of effort into this game and its extra content, but given the minuscule "upgrades," the small amount of content in the "Iki Island" expansion, and other comparable examples, I think this could've been a free upgrade without significantly hurting Sony or Sucker Punch. To try and close this exceedingly long review, I'm glad I got this as part of a $15/month subscription service on top of 700+ games as opposed to buying the upgrade itself for $30. If you're a first-timer and you've never played "Ghost of Tsushima" before, this is a no-brainer. If you already own the original version...I don't think you're missing much by not purchasing it.
Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"