Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut: The Biggest Differences Confirmed So Far

Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch Productions has revealed that the previously rumored Director’s Cut version of the game will be released for PS4 and PS5 on August 20.

“We’ve thought a lot about how to expand Jin’s story, and we’ve also spent the last year poring over all of your feedback about how we could improve the experience of playing Ghost of Tsushima,” says Sucker Punch Productions communication manager Andrew Goldfarb in a recent PlayStation Blog post. “We’ve been hard at work on a brand new edition of the game, which not only includes a new chapter in Jin’s journey, but also some new updates that are a direct response to some of the community’s most-requested features.”

Based on everything we know so far, here are the major differences you can expect to see in Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut when it releases later this year:

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut – Iki Island Expansion Details

The biggest difference between Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut and the “base” version of the game is that the former will feature a new explorable area, Iki Island, that will play host to an entirely new chapter in the Ghost of Tsushima story.

“If you’re a history buff, you may know that in addition to Tsushima, the neighboring island of Iki was also invaded during this time period,” says developer Sucker Punch. “Today we’re excited to reveal that a whole new chapter in Jin’s journey is coming and will take place on Iki. 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.”

Sucker Punch notes that they’ll have “more to share” about Iki Island soon, but they have already confirmed that this area will feature a new story, new missions, new characters, new armor, a new horse, new minigames, new enemies, new techniques, and yes, “new animals to pet.” It will even unlock new trophies to earn.

One thing that’s not clear at this time is how the Iki Island content will be incorporated into the base story. While it’s easy to assume that it will be presented as “end game” content meant for those who have finished the main game, there’s always a possibility that first-time players will be able to access it earlier than that. We’re also curious to see just how big this expansion really is.

Thankfully, unlike some of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut‘s other new features, you’ll eventually be able to access all of the new Iki Island expansion content in both the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut – PS5 Upgrades and Changes

Aside from the Iki Island expansion, most of the new and “changed” content in Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut will be exclusive to PS5 owners. Here’s a brief list of every PS5 exclusive upgrade Sucker Punch has confirmed for the game so far:

• Cinematic lip-sync animations for Japanese voice-over settings
• Haptic feedback
• Adaptive triggers
• 3D Audio support
• Faster load times
• Dynamic 4K resolution targeting 60 FPS

The addition of lip-syncing animations for the game’s Japanese voiceover setting is especially interesting as that was absolutely one of the original game’s biggest missing presentation features. Sucker Punch says that “the PS5’s ability to render cinematics in real-time” allowed them to add lip-syncing for the Japanese audio, but it’s not entirely clear if they’re saying that it wouldn’t have been possible for them to offer that feature on the PS4 or that the PS5’s technology makes it easier to add that feature after the fact. It’s likely the latter, but it would be interesting to learn a little more about the technical details of that process.

It’s also worth noting that a previously released Ghost of Tsushima patch already added 4K/60 FPS support to the updated PS5 version of the game, so we’re eager to see how the PS5 version of the Director’s Cut improves upon the “boosted” version of those visual features that next-gen console owners are currently enjoying.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut – PS4 and PS5 Patch Changes

Sucker Punch has also confirmed that they will be releasing a substantial patch for Ghost of Tsushima that will debut alongside the release of Director’s Cut but be available for all Ghost of Tsushima players regardless of their chosen platform and version. Here are some of the new features you can expect to find in that update:

• Alternate controller layout options
• Optional lock-on feature
• New Ghost of Tsushima: Legends mode
• The ability to hide your arrow quiver during gameplay

It sounds like the upcoming patch will actually include even more changes than that (and Sucker Punch has said that many more details regarding that new Legends mode are on the way), but for the moment, those seem to be the “marquee” updates.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut – PS4 to PS5 Upgrade Costs

The good news is that it is possible to upgrade your “base” PS4 copy of Ghost of Tsushima to the PS5 Director’s Cut version of the game. The bad news is that the upgrade will cost you and, just as it was for the PS5 release of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the upgrade system itself is surprisingly confusing.

In the interest of trying to make things as simple as possible, here’s what you need to know about how much every version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut costs:

• The PS4 version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut will cost $59.99
• The PS5 version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut will cost $69.99
• You can upgrade your base PS4 copy of Ghost of Tsushima to the PS4 Director’s Cut edition of the game for $19.99
• If you buy the PS4 version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, you can upgrade to the PS5 version of the Director’s Cut edition for $9.99
• You can also upgrade the base PS4 version of Ghost of Tsushima to the PS5 version of Director’s Cut for $29.99
• You can currently upgrade the base PS4 version of Ghost of Tsushima to an upgraded (or “patched”) PS5 version of the base game at no extra cost. However, that version of the game does will include access to any Director’s Cut exclusive features

Will Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut Change the Base Game in Any Other Ways?

At this time, there’s no indication that Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut will make any significant changes to the base game beyond the addition of the Iki Island expansion, the PS5 improvements noted above, and whatever new features are unlocked by the upcoming patch. This seems to be one of those instances of the phrase “Director’s Cut” being used to describe a significant update rather than as an indication that the original experience is going to be significantly altered in other ways.