Tilt the controller to guide a note along a musical stave and play a mournful lament on the flute. ![]() The update makes elegant use of the PlayStation 5’s controller’s quasi-magical properties. While the island is geographically small, it is rich and densely packed with missions and distractions: archery ranges to master, animal sanctuaries to establish and ancient riddles to solve. Here, you’re an important cog in a more complex, multifaceted drama. And despite the tasteful rendering of the world – all whispering reeds and cherry blossom sunsets – you played as a sort of samurai Rambo, single-bladedly repelling the invader army. I thought the high-res mode offered a better tradeoff, but the better framerate shines during intense, chaotic combat sections.Last year’s epic was exquisitely rendered but repetitive and somewhat limited in its range of interactive possibility. You can select between a high-resolution mode, which sacrifices frame rate for 4K visuals, or a better framerate mode, which sacrifices UHD resolution for faster frame rates. The vibrant colors pop as you explore the forests, beaches and towns of Iki Island, particularly the gorgeous blue skies and striking green foliage. On the PS5, however, Ghost of Tsushima looks like a true next-gen game. On the PS4, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut looks about the same as before. Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut: Visuals and sound The 10 best games to play after Ghost of Tsushima.Iki Island’s design reminded me why I loved Ghost of Tsushima - and also why I got a little tired of it after long play sessions. Otherwise, though, you’ll spend a lot of time riding from waypoint to waypoint on horseback, uncovering more of the map and mopping up Mongol outposts as you go. Your horse gains an upgradeable “charge” ability that can plow through the enemy ranks. There are also archery challenges to complete and cat sanctuaries to find, both of which put slightly different spins on last year’s side activities. A new type of Mongol - a chanting shaman - can empower every enemy on a battlefield, and finding him in the heat of battle can be a real challenge. That’s helpful, since the combat on Iki Island is considerably tougher than on the mainland. There are a few new hot springs and bamboo strikes to find, which will increase your health and resolve a bit. Gameplay-wise, Iki Island is more of the same. ![]() This alone gives the Iki Island story arc some gravitas, and watching Jin confront the ghosts of his past is, for the most part, just as interesting as watching him confront the external Mongol threat. Those who played the original game will remember that Jin’s father died on Iki Island many years ago, as Jin watched in fear instead of intervening. A Mongol warlord called the Eagle feeds Jin a drug that makes him relive his worst memories in trippy asides that crop up organically as you explore the island. However, this time, there’s more of a focus on introspection and backstory. The overall story on Iki Island - Jin fights the Mongols through both open combat and subterfuge - is not radically different from the story in the main game. ![]() In this side story, Jin travels to the nearby Iki Island, where the Mongols have also attempted to gain a foothold. The most substantial addition to Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is the Iki Island expansion. Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut: Iki Island expansion If you loved Ghost of Tsushima, $30 is probably a fair price if you liked Ghost of Tsushima, you may want to wait for a sale. And while Iki Island offers plenty of new areas to explore and story quests to complete, it doesn’t add many substantial gameplay enhancements. While rehashing the “PS5 enhancements should be free” argument is beyond the scope of this review, $30 is admittedly a lot of money for a Director’s Cut. That’s $90 altogether, compared to $60 for the PS4 Director’s Cut, or $70 for the PS5 Director’s Cut. In other words, if you bought Ghost of Tsushima at launch, it costs $30 to upgrade to the PS5 Director’s Cut. If you want the PS5 graphical enhancements too, however, that’ll cost you an extra $10. That’s admittedly expensive for a DLC pack, but Iki Island is a lengthy addition, so it’s arguably worthwhile. If you bought Ghost of Tsushima last year on PS4 and simply want the Iki Island expansion on PS4, it costs $20. (Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
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