I don’t really care how many versions of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut Sony Interactive Entertainment publishes on another platform because I’m still going to play the hell out of it before reviewing it. Every single time. Let me clarify, the main reason for doing that repeatedly is that GoT is a fantastic, replayable game that features a compelling story and set of well-developed characters. That reasoning is the same as watching Paddington 2 multiple times – it’s a repeated reminder of perfection.
Now, outside of that reason, wanting to know what a PC version of an already gorgeous game looked like was also a logical push to dive into this version. It does make sense to see if we were getting the same game just pushed to PC, or if effort was spent making it the best of the best version. Can you guess which way that went?
Playing the PC version also helps to identify any glitches that may or may not occur during the translation of the title. As has been pointed out before, Last of Us had its share of glitches and game-breaks. I’m sure that SIE and its family of developers have learned a lot since then, and let me just say, that it shows with Ghost of Tsushima on PC.
Now, seeing GoT on PC has truly opened my eyes to the fact that the PC elitist out there in the world actually might be right. Featuring stunning graphics, outstanding audio, and a hefty amount of ray tracing, plus everything else that made it beautiful, it will be tough to go back to the PlayStation 5 knowing that there is a superior version of this game available via Steam.
While this review won’t go too in-depth with the title, as it has been reviewed many times, it will certainly remind gamers what to expect with the PC translation of this title.
So, sit back, be a samurai, and certainly don’t become a thief, as we delve into the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut.
Still a great story
There is a firm reason why they are making this a movie – it acts like a movie, but not just a straightforward film, but rather a choose-your-own-adventure film. It’s wonderful having a main story, dozens of side stories, and reasons to keep finding new ways to play it all.
Anyway, our introduction to Jin is through his home island of Tsushima’s invasion by the Mongol Empire. The invasion is led by Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis. The Mongol Empire arrives on land to meet with Jin and his makeshift father/uncle, Lord Shimura, who is leading the charge to strike first and hard against the invaders. The story soon finds Jin and Shimura, and the entire samurai army of Tsushima, immediately outnumbered and out-sworded.
Shortly after the invasion begins, it ends. Lord Shimura is captured, Jin is perceived as mortally wounded, and the island is lost to the Mongols…or so it seems. Thanks to the help of an assassin thief named Yuna, Jin pulls through, and once well enough to do so, begins to search for people to join him in taking back the island.
This is just a helluva story. It’s a revenge story at worst, but also a story that Akira Kurosawa would probably have been thrilled to see. It’s a journey of redemption and also changes, mainly with Jin’s belief system and how he feels traveling a rigid road of being an honorable samurai. It doesn’t waste a moment with its powerful characters and meaningful storyline. It’s a journey of epic proportions and every single time I play it, I still feel anger at the Mongols, bad for the residents of Tsushima, and hope that Jin will take down every invader in his path.
There is nothing quite like playing a game with such a compelling story that connects with the gamer and resonates long after the gamer has completed Jin’s revenge. It is one of the better narrative-driven games to come from SIE and Sucker Punch and one that is worthy of consistent repeating.
Anyway, come for the story, but extend the experience with the gameplay.
The second meal in this three-course dinner of a game
The gameplay in Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut takes the road structure of many open-world games like it. You slowly but surely improve your main character through a skills tree, upgrade their weapons and armor when it’s possible, and dive into what feels like an endless landscape with equally endless quests. There is a lot going on here that fits the bill of a good open-world title, and none of it is wasted fodder that is thrown in just for the sake of having more content.
Just to briefly run through a few elements of the gameplay, let’s start with the backend skills. The system is a more complicated version of Horizon Zero Dawn on a base level. As you work through the chaotic island of Tsushima, you build up Jin and improve his skills. The XP you gain offers technique points that can be used to sharpen Jin’s defense and offense. This improvement could be going into a stand-off, where you challenge a Mongol (or other enemy) to a fight, and gain the ability to take three people out in the same flowing swing of your stand-off sword-ing, or it could be as simple as blocking and then countering immediately. Regardless, the improvements are noticeable in the gameplay. Small improvements like this help to build up Jin and make getting into a fight more of a want rather than a dread.
These skills are laid out in multiple categories that trail downward and split off into other actions, just like HZD. Improving those skills opens other skills, such as sword stances and throwing objects, and the once simple base-level skills tree starts to spread out and become incredibly complicated – but in a good way. At the very least, having a bevy of skills at your disposal to build up will motivate you to keep playing the game, completing more side quests, and just trying to complete as much as possible. You’ll want to build up Jin and actively seek out trouble, which directly connects to the open-world aspect the game is built on. The connection between skills and wanting to play the game more is thick in its substance and too good not to dive into repeatedly.
The same goes for customization of the game, as it goes deep in its intentions and executes just as brilliantly. You can customize Jin’s looks, style, and armor/sword, and the latter of the bunch improves Jin’s performance, while the former just adds customization to the game. It’s not necessary to customize Jin with different colored armor and sword handles, but it’s fun. It keeps the game interesting and connects the player to the character even more. Customization is a big deal to gamers nowadays, so having that available and having many options to make a unique Jin of your own is a positive for the game’s longevity.
Building up skills and discovering customized items is a nice way to pass the time, but the game gives you more. There are quests out the keister. There are quests to help residents, legend quests to discover sword skills and goodies, plus learn some cool history along the way, and there are quests to find important Tsushima-related pitstops, such as Fox Shrines, baths, and play QTE mini-games (slice that bamboo). All of these play into building up Jin’s skills, so none of them are wasted objects of interest that mean nothing in the long run. Seriously, the game is not short on content and with the director’s cut including an entirely new adventure on a different island (with CATS!), you’re going to be playing and perfecting the adventure for a long time. Open-world games, when done right, like this one, seem like they last forever – but in a good way.
The only gameplay knock I still have with the Ghost of Tsushima, and it isn’t anything that ruins the experience, is that the player camera is still all over the place. One big improvement in this area was including a see-through peephole when the camera gets behind an object that is between Jin and his enemy. That is a big plus, but you’ll still find yourself moving the camera constantly to see where enemies are coming from and who exactly is attacking Jin at any given point. It has its tedious moments, especially when you’re starting early on in the game and trying to survive the best way you can.
Anyhoo, that’s my only knock and it’s not a big deal, as you will quickly get used to how that camera works. I mean, it’s going to be a little frustrating, but there is so much solid gameplay that you will forgive it a little bit and work through it.
Now, and I’m not sure of this because I don’t have any official questions submitted to anyone at SIE or Sucker Punch, but this version of the game seems to have made the fighting scenarios a lot more accurate and balanced. This is my fourth time around with the game and I have found far more success with stand-offs (one-on-one) and multiple enemies attacking at once. The attack controls and defense respond quicker, and they feel a bit more spot-on than in previous versions of the game. Maybe I’ve become better as time has rolled on, but I think that gameplay movement has been tightened up a bit and is far more accurate.
Anyway, the game still delivers deep, rich gameplay that will have you hungering for more after about 50+ hours of meaningful play.
The PC version
This is where the game parts way with previous versions. The graphical output that you get with Ghost of Tsushima at its very high level is nuts. The best graphical mode brings a far superior frame rate than the console version, additional elements adding ambiance to the environment, such as smog and gorgeous lighting effects (reflections, shadows, etc.), and creates a realism that engages and pulls believability to Jin’s situation. It’s positively the most gorgeous game that Sony has brought to the PC, and I reviewed God of War on PC, which was amazing but didn’t excel to this level.
Now, having gushed in this paragraph over the game’s visuals, what’s the catch? Well, you’re going to have to bring some power with your PC to see this top-tier benefit. I started the game on my gaming laptop and brought with it an honest-to-God 3060 card. That should have pushed me to a solid visual level of gaming. It struggled at the very high setting, as frames dropped and effects were stuttering at times, and some little pop-ups began happening here and there (nothing terrible but not as smooth as it could have been). When I moved to a 40 series card, that’s when the gravy hit the biscuit.
While the 40 series isn’t a requirement to see the high level of Ghost of Tsushima, it is a huge benefit to see the best vision of this game. Just to come full circle here, the 3060 worked fine at the high level setting. That still brought the goods. But you can’t unsee the 40 series performance once you get a taste of it, and the very high graphical setting was simply unrivaled in what it delivered.
So, in short, come prepared with a powerful GPU. It will benefit you in the end but isn’t a requirement to still get an above-console version of the game.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut on the PC is a top-tier gaming experience. It brings everything that the console has to offer and then turns the entire visual experience up to 11.
