Sony’s acclaimed action title Ghost of Tsushima is back with brand new content and an updated port to satisfy players old and new. In addition to the base game, the Director’s Cut includes a brand new era know as Iki Island. Which takes the player to an entirely new region to explore with new missions, a new story, and new gear to unlock.

Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 action-adventure game, it is developed by Sucker Punch and published by Playstation Studios, it is available exclusively on Playstation 4 with a Director’s Cut available on PS4 & Playstation 5.

Editor’s Note: Near complete to complete spoilers for Ghost of Tsushima as well as Tales of Iki Island will be present within this review. This was a first run playthrough and the review will be written as such.

Become the ghost of a dying samurai era in Ghost of Tsushima.

Confession time, I actually bought Ghost of Tsushima on launch nearly a year ago. I only played so little of it because mental health issues of which I’ve been suffering roughly three or so years of is an absolute bitch to deal with. It’s moments like these that make me thankful for things like Sony’s Director’s Cut initiative. What better way to get back into a game than a brand new story expansion? That being said I think Sony needs to do a bit better with their approach to the Director’s Cut with pricing and such. But for what it is it’s a fine reason to get people back into these games be it the PS5 upgrade or the bonus additional content. And because of this I was able to sit down and properly enjoy what I missed out on while catching up to other players with the new story.

Defeat the Mongolian threat in Ghost of Tsushima.

THE GOOD: In the year of 1274 Japan, Jin Sakai heir to his uncle Lord Shimura who is jito of Tsushima follows the ways of the samurai. Sakai holds great respect for his uncle and follows his ways without question following the death of his mother to illness and his father in battle. Sakai has immense guilt over his father’s death as he had the opportunity to save him, but failed to do so. One evening Tsushima is invaded by a Mongol fleet who quickly over take it. Lord Shimura, Sakai, and their forces prepare for war as Mongol leader Khotun Khan has taken over Castle Kaneda. Khan’s forces easily decimate the underprepared samurai and their forces. Sakai challenges Khan to battle, but is quickly defeated and tossed off of the castle bridge.

Nearly drowned in a river he is found by Yuna an archer and thief who recruits Sakai to help her find her brother a blacksmith named Tana. She teaches him tactics that go against his hardened samurai code in return. As time goes on Sakai becomes aware that traditional samurai tactics won’t be enough to defeat the brute force of the Mongolian threat and leans more in favor of his survival tactics. He meets up with master archer Sadanobu Ishikawa who helps him master archery. He also encounters a reliable con man named Kenji, female samurai Masako Adachi who looks for revenge for her murdered family, and Ryuzo his childhood best friend who is now a mercenary and leader of the Straw Hat Ronin. Sakai defeats several of Khan’s forces and he and his allies invade Castle Kaneda where his uncle is held captive. Ryuzo being places in a desperate situation betrays Sakai who defeats Ryuzo upon learning if his joining with the Mongols. Sakai and his allies successfully reclaim Castle Kaneda and rescue Lord Shimura.

As Lord Shimura was captive Khan informed him of Sakai straying from the path of the samurai. Lord Shimura begs Sakai to keep his honor before he is changed forever. Sakai and Shimura spend time rebuilding their relationship as Sakai continues to ensure his allies of their allegiance to Lord Shimura. Namely Yuna who questions Sakai returning to his samurai code. Khan has since taken control of Castle Shimura with Ryuzo with Sakai & Lord Shimura planning a counter attack. Sakai gains the Yarikawa clan and Norio a warrior monk as new allies. While invading a Mongol HQ, Sakai alongside Taka are captured. Khan kills Taka to make an example and the next day Sakai and Yuna kill several Mongols. Sakai and his allies storm Castle Shimura and are nearly overrun with Mongol forces who blow up the bridge. Sakai becomes impatient with the samurai code and sneaks into the castle poisoning the Mongols, Straw Hats, and he kills Ryuzo. Shocked, Lord Shimura begs Sakai to turn in Yuna as someone who turned him against the way of the samurai but he refuses fully embracing his identity of the Ghost.

Lord Shimura has Sakai arrested who escapes with the help of Kenji and Yuna. Sakai and Yuma work together to take out Mongol forces who are inching closer to the mainland. He and Lord Shimura reach a momentary truce and successfully reclaim Castle Kaneda. As Khan attempts to flee on his ship Sakai invades it and faces him in battle. Sakai defeats and kills Khan with most of the Mongol invaders killed or driven from Tsushima. Lord Shimura informs Sakai that he has become an enemy of the Shogun and that he himself has been tasked with killing Sakai. Sakai defeats him and the player is given the choice of killing or sparing him. Now as the Ghost, Sakai eliminated the last of the Mongol forces from Tsushima. He hears rumblings of people being turned mad by Mongol Shaman and investigates.

Explore the beauty of circa 1274 Tsushima and Iki Island.

Sakai’s investigation leads him to Iki Island where the Mongols have taken base and control Fort Sakai. This is the island where Sakai and his father invaded leading to the latter’s death at the hands of bandits and raiders. Following a short separation from his horse Sakai taking on a fake identity as a Yarikawa clansman meets raider Tenzo who was present during his & his father’s invasion and later reveals he knows the truth of his identity. Tenzo and Sakai work together to liberate Iki from the Mongols and their leader The Eagle a seemingly mystic woman. Sakai earns enough of Tenzo’s trust to be introduced to raider leader Fune; an influential female warrior native to Iki. While driving Mongols from Fort Sakai, Jin hears a familiar phrase he heard from his father’s killer being spoken by Tenzo deducing that Tenzo is his father’s killer. After a brief fight the two keep their truce, Sakai had been poisoned by The Eagle earlier with the poison effecting his mental state throughout.

After gaining the trust of Fune, she along with Sakai and Tenzo work together to call out the remaining forced of The Eagle. Tenzo is injured in battle, but survives and Sakai overcomes the poison and kills The Eagle. As Tenzo & the raiders celebrate Fune asks Sakai to help her find her captured daughter whom she sent away after her drug addiction. When some of Fune’s men finds out they challenge her due to Fune’s daughter costing the lives of several raiders. Sakai and Fune kill the few traitors (with many refusing to join the betrayers) and Fune thanks Sakai for his help.

Enjoy Ghost of Tsushima’s multiplayer focused Legends mode.

Ghost of Tsushima is a top to bottom passion project from the team of Sucked Punch. The game has so much love poured into it that Japanese developers were actually jealous they got beaten to the punch. As a fan of Japanese history and such the game was an especially personal ride for me. It’s story (at least from what I gathered) appears to be an allegory about personal convictions & the expectations others have placed on us. Just how far are we willing to follow our or someone else’s code when it’s not working in a severe situation. What if there are lives on the line and our code prevents us from saving those lives? What if we know what to do, but are too afraid to act against those codes if it means others, namely family judging us for our actions. This are the type of questions lead character Jin Sakai struggles with even more so when his tight nit circle of friends and allies increases vs the strict samurai ways of his uncle Lord Shimura.

Gameplay for it’s action sequences comes into three different types: sword, archery, and projectile. The first has you as a samurai taking on big or small enemy hordes in four different sword styles which deal with respective enemy types. These enemy types are spear, sword & shield, brute, and dual-blade/long sword. Each sword style has different effects, weaknesses, and advantages between the four types of enemies which help stagger them for big damage and the final killing blow. Archery is bow & arrow play, weaker enemies (usually archers) tend to be one hit killed with archery and you can use a bullet time like mechanic for greater focus and damage. You can also unlock bonuses such as explosive & fire arrows for even more damage and advantages in ambushes. With projectiles you can throw weapons such as kunai, smoke bombs, and other items for long ranged attacks. You can also poison enemies or turn them against their allies with the blow gun.

As the progresses the player will come across world legends which grant them unique & powerful weapons, armor sets, and abilities. Giving players buffs such unblockable moves, extra health, etc. There are opportunities in battle to survive a death with resolve which acts as health regeneration. This can be increased by completing bamboo cutting tests. You explore much of the open world on horse back and can track foxes and yellow birds which leads the player to areas that will increase Sakai’s health or give him new slots for charms which further increases his stats. Going back to the sword play it can be rather challenging to get a hold of. In fact you’ll probably find yourself dying more than you care to admit with the game asking if ya just wanna call it a day and go to easy mode. You find new side quests throughout the world by helping save people from the Mongols and liberating Mongol strongholds.

The Iki Island expansion for the most part is pretty much what it is. An expansion of the base game’s story content with more info on Sakai’s past. While much doesn’t change from the gameplay front there are new activities such as archery challenges, opportunities to see Sakai’s memories of the past, and animal sanctuaries which provide a fun flute mini game that utilizes motion controls with the Dual Shock 4. There’s also a multiplayer mode known as Legends Mode in which you create a character in a new story detailing the antics of other samurai. Though the intent is to play with others it is possible to solo the story if you’d like. Admittedly, I didn’t really spend much time in this mode as it wasn’t for me, but it’s there for people looking to socialize and have fun with their friends in game.

Ghost of Tsushima is abundant with grand storytelling, an excellent script, and beautifully designed world.

THE BAD: I honestly think Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest caveat is the open world itself. I’m a huge advocate for open world games, but there are times when these maps just seem like a whole lot of empty space. Ghost of Tsushima feels just like one of such times. Granted, the world is beautiful as all hell it’s just a bit too much at times and can really effect the immersion as a player. That’s becoming much more of an issue as game development cost increases nearly every year. People always will expect more and bigger from these types of games, but for the sake of the developers and the enjoyment of the players is that really even necessary? Cost will always go up as technology improves, but adding unnecessary amounts of data that virtually amounts to a lot of empty space within the game world just feels redundant.

Ghost of Tsushima’s beautiful open world may be it’s biggest issue.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Thanks to a passionate development team with a labor of love for ancient Japan Ghost of Tsushima will be remembered as one of the greatest games ever and certainly of its era. Already boasting a fantastic script with great dialogue and voice acting the fun, but challenging gameplay feels rewarding as hell when done right. In addition to the base game, the multiplayer mode Legends and Iki Island refresh the game in unique, but satisfying ways that will absolutely keep people coming back for more.