3.5/5 ★ – SP33R's review of Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut.

As far as what this game sets out to be, it exceeds for the most part. A near visual masterpiece. If you are looking for a world to get lost in, this is the game for you. The Director's Cut is my first time playing this game. With a really big world and tons of open landscapes to ride through this game is really easy on the eyes. I do think this is fun at first but I will admit I was starting to get wore out with just how open it is. Mostly due to the completionist in me. Exploring is fun, but you will find yourself traveling a long time for even 1 collectible. If you are not a completionist I wouldn't worry about this at all as you're probably going to have a perfect balance in gameplay. The combat system is a unique one for me as i haven't played anything like it before (I'm sure there's something like it) but it is very simple and can feel mundane after running into yet another group of traveling Mongols. The standoffs feel cool and offer a quick way through these encounters, but without much variance it does start to feel pretty dry. To the point where I start to get annoyed and end up avoiding these enemies, which defeats the characters purpose in my opinion. The stance system is very cool and can be learned somewhat easily. Once you get the hang of it, combat becomes mostly a breeze. The only hiccups being that you will sometimes attack an enemy that you didn't mean to and it can become annoying in large group fights. The story is where this game shines the most, as it is very cinematic. The camera angles and mouth gameplay just make you so immersed in this world and I really felt like this would never need a movie adaptation because it already is one. All of the characters are great and they each offer they're own conflict both in themselves and of course the Mongol issue. I think this game definitely helps set the standard for how stories can be written for games and that it should not be glossed over when creating a game like this. The Dualsense absolutely rocks in this game. I think so far of what I've played with Dualsense compatible games, this is the best haptic feedback offered. There's a list of games I haven't tried yet, but the heralded Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was a great experience with the adaptive triggers, GoT absolutely nails the haptic feedback. It makes every tense cinematic even more tense. It really immersed me into every legendary tale before you set out to find and duel said legend. (Probably my favorite parts in the whole game). Even just feeling the mission title dissolve away was cool. As far as technical issues, I'm not that keen of an eye, nor do I understand the intricacies of creating graphics. However there is a TON of clipping that occurs within Jin's (main character) clothing/armor. I know the sizes vary greatly depending on what you wear so I'm sure it was simply unavoidable, though I can't lie it was distracting at some points just seeing his katana constantly clip through his clothing while standing in some wind. This is just likely to happen I'd assume given the sheer size of the library of different armors and vanity gear you can acquire and wear. All in all, an unforgettable story, probably some forgettable gameplay here and there but you definitely won't forget the world that was built. It's a great game, I think if you are into open worlds definitely give it a shot. There is a lot of time you can spend on it but you ultimately don't have to spend that long to finish it either. Bottom line: It's a fun ride.