I’ve earned the Platinum Trophy in Ghost of Tsushima (bow before me etc), so I’d like to think I have a solid understanding of what the open-world adventure does right, alongside all of the ways in which it falls short of its full potential. Sucker Punch is like a weeaboo buying samurai swords at Comic-Con, it loves to preach about honour, cherry blossoms, and how it could easily bring down several warriors with a single swing of its blade.
Perhaps that’s a little harsh, but the game is an unusual fetishization of Japanese imagery while also claiming to be a historical glimpse into a real conflict. It’s anything but, regardless of how much it loves to flaunt Kurosawa-eque camera angles and a protagonist so dry he belongs in the Sahara desert. Like I said earlier, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Tsushima island, but I struggle to accept that the upcoming director’s cut on PS5 will do much to improve some of its biggest problems.
If you aren’t familiar with the upcoming director’s cut for Ghost of Tsushima, it is essentially a next-gen port with improved visuals, performance, and plenty of additional bells and whistles not found in the PS4 experience. The last-gen version has already been patched to support the PS5, so this new release is likely for hardcore fans or those who want to jump into proceedings for a second time with a few extra helpings of content to dig into.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
The main attraction is Iki Island, which historically was also invaded during a similar time period to Tsushima. While it can be accessed as part of the campaign, this new island will seemingly feature a standalone narrative that has Jin Sakai murdering Mongols while delving further into his own mysterious past. Given how the main story plays out, we can likely expect vague allusions to the cost of sacrificing one’s honour while also touching on our hero’s family in a more significant way.
Taking liberties with Japanese history only to tell a story from a firmly Western perspective was one of the game’s biggest weaknesses, and it’s an inescapable vice that will haunt the series forever. For that reason, I’d like to see it question the unethical aspects of the samurai era and delve into a genuine piece of history instead of taking a controversial conflict and stretching things into little more than a comical homage to the samurai code.
While they operated under the pretense of honour, these people were often seen as militant oppressors. In Kurosawa’s own Seven Samurai, the victorious samurai are still chased out of the village they helped save, because they were held in such a fearful regard. Tsushima however seems content to label them as peerless heroes and little else. Even when Jin decides to abandon the code for his own survival, this journey of self discovery is lacking any meaningful nuance. It’s a black-and-white tale of morality that feels woefully outdated. Fundamental flaws like this won’t be remedied with an enhanced version - if anything they’ll only be highlighted further.
Now, I don’t think the story and characters in Ghost of Tsushima are entirely without merit. Some of its side characters are excellent, and there’s genuine sympathy drawn from Jin Sakai’s harrowing betrayal of the samurai code as he abandons a life of wealth in favour of one that exists alongside the lower classes, fighting for freedom amidst oppression even if it plays fast and loose with actual history.
I’m not looking for a documentary, but that doesn’t mean games inspired by such things shouldn't be expected to show a notable level of respect. Tsushima is clearly a labour of love, but one dictated by comparisons to cinema rather than the island it stretches into a laughable pastiche of its real life counterpart. I’m still not over katana not being invented at the time Tsushima was set, but the rule of cool wins out I suppose.
The director’s cut is also holding back key elements such as Japanese lip-sync behind a paywall, due to how the PS5 is able to render cutscenes in real-time and adjust the movement of character model’s lips on the fly. It’s an understandable technical hurdle to overcome, but also feels like a weak excuse for a game that is so obsessed with its prestigious status as a virtual love letter to Japan.
I don’t mind paying for a director’s cut - Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade has already showcased the value of expansions exclusive to next-gen consoles with Episode Intermission, and there’s likely a decent amount of value to be found in the upgrade, but it’s also hiding important features behind a paywall that hold cultural significance when combined with the overall experience.
I tried to play Ghost of Tsushima in Japanese, but the lip-sync threw me off. This can finally be addressed with the director’s cut, but only for those who are privileged enough to own a PS5 right now. Everyone else is out of luck, and that shouldn’t be the way. It will look better, play better, and offer more content than ever before, but in terms of lasting substance, Ghost of Tsushima’s fancy new edition will be as hollow as ever.