Ghost of Tsushima Catch All

For a Father's day gift, my family got me The Art of Ghost of Tsushima. Not surprisingly, it is a beautiful book. It even includes a chapter on the DLC.

I may try playing this again on the PS5.

Ghost Of Tsushima Standalone Expansion Ghost Of Ikishima Leaked

Rumors states that it is set to launch this fall.

I managed to grab a copy of Ghosts off Sony Direct for $10 in the 2 min before they sold out a few days ago, so I'll finally be getting to this soon.

A smaller Ghost of Tsushima sounds like a nice time.

"Expandalone," it doesn't top "Funformative," but it's close.

I wonder if they'll add more 'other stuff' to the game this time. I really enjoyed the game to begin with, but then I began to tire of the combat. Even the standoffs.

For me, Ghosts of Tsushima was just very one note. With one or two exceptions, most quests and missions were just 'Go-Somewhere-Fight-A-Bunch-Of-Dues'. Or, search for clues, follow footprints... then fight a bunch of dudes. I might have noticed this less had there been more varied activities to do in the world. It all felt a bit too empty.

Of course, I understand that much of this was deliberate, and consistent with the story being told. But that doesn't make it fun to play for 30 hours.

By the second island, I couldn't wait to get to the end. It reminded me of Far Cry 3's second island. It made the game longer, but without really adding anything new.

And, of course, the elephant in the room is GoT is pretty much pre-'Black Flag' Assassins' Creed in Japanese frock. I hope that this (now) franchise doesn't suffer the same fate as Assassins' Creed, with ever-more disappointing sequels being turned out every year.

And yet, I don't hold out much hope for Sucker Punch escaping this dismal fate. In the face of Microsoft's Game Pass, and a slew of potentially great Xbox exclusives coming up (such as Starfield), Sony is going to be forced to lean more heavily on its own exclusives. I'm not sure that they can take the weight.

ESRB leaked a "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut", further confirming Sony's desperate desire to be seen with the same "legitimacy" as Hollywood.

Coupled with the recent Death Stranding Director's Cut, which we know is by a guy that desperately wants to be Hollywood and is additional baffling since he had full creative control of the game (and if we're really pedantic "cut" in games makes no sense unless we mean removed because you don't "cut" a game like a film is "cut" together in a physical editing process), it makes me wonder if the base versions of these games will be able to get any additional content or if the Director's Cuts will be holding content hostage. We can already see with FFVII Remake that Sony's not afraid to at least hold DLC hostage to a current platform. Are they expecting people to purchase the game a second time for exclusive new content or will everyone receive a free upgrade that already owns it?

I’ll be interested to hear how/if they change the main game other than graphically. I haven’t played it yet but a few reviewers mentioned that the stealth was pretty busted. It’d be fantastic if they improved the enemy A.I. in that respect but I, and likely everyone who isn’t Sucker Punch, don’t know if that kind of change falls within the remit of a ‘Director’s cut.’ Which, I agree, is pretty nonsensical when it comes to games and, for that matter, games where the director or directors seemed to have complete control of the project the first time round.

ccesarano wrote:

ESRB leaked a "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut", further confirming Sony's desperate desire to be seen with the same "legitimacy" as Hollywood.

What's the difference between saying Director's Cut and Extended/Enhanced/etc? In my opinion it's just a pedantic argument in general and I don't see how saying Director's Cut suddenly confirms anything about anyone trying to be "legit"?

ccesarano wrote:

We can already see with FFVII Remake that Sony's not afraid to at least hold DLC hostage to a current platform. Are they expecting people to purchase the game a second time for exclusive new content or will everyone receive a free upgrade that already owns it?

They...aren't? FF7R EPISODE INTERmission is a $20 standalone thing. Intergrade and the new DLC will be exclusive to the PS5 for at least six months, so it's just kind of following the standard current practice of timed exclusives.

There's no reason it couldn't be DLC on PS4, even if it might be eventually (remember, stickers on FF7R box art claimed the exclusivity to Sony ended this April, only for Sony to go and extend that to Integrade). Hence, holding hostage in a bid to get people to buy PS5's.

ccesarano wrote:

ESRB leaked a "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut", further confirming Sony's desperate desire to be seen with the same "legitimacy" as Hollywood.

Coupled with the recent Death Stranding Director's Cut, which we know is by a guy that desperately wants to be Hollywood and is additional baffling since he had full creative control of the game (and if we're really pedantic "cut" in games makes no sense unless we mean removed because you don't "cut" a game like a film is "cut" together in a physical editing process), it makes me wonder if the base versions of these games will be able to get any additional content or if the Director's Cuts will be holding content hostage. We can already see with FFVII Remake that Sony's not afraid to at least hold DLC hostage to a current platform. Are they expecting people to purchase the game a second time for exclusive new content or will everyone receive a free upgrade that already owns it?

You raise lots of interesting points here, ccesarano.

I agree with you that 'Director's Cut' is an odd term to use from a technical point of view, but I think it's being used in the commonly understood sense which is "with stuff that didn't make it into the game for a variety of reasons."

And one of those reason could be that Hideo Kojima initially decided to remove some material and then regretted it later. (For what it's worth, I always raise an eyebrow at the notion that full creative control being given to the person definitely not paying the bills.)

This whole Director's Cut business feels to me like a naked cash grab... (perhaps because sales of both games may have been below expectations?. But I don't think it is fair to accuse Sony of holding DLC hostage. 'Death Stranding' was released in 2019. It's not immediately obvious to me that someone who bought the game should be entitled to a free upgrade.

I heard similar arguments on the Giant Bombcast when the Control special edition was released, and I was genuinely baffled by it. What exactly is the injustice that has been done to the person who bought the original version of the game, played it and enjoyed it (or didn't), and then put it down? How are they being harmed - 18 months later - by another version being released? What have they been deprived of?

I struggle to think of any other product where consumers could/would argue this. Indeed, in some industries knocking out special editions shortly after release is a way of life. The consumer electronics and car industries for example.

ccesarano wrote:

There's no reason it couldn't be DLC on PS4...

Except you don't know how they developed Integrade and what resources they had available. Keep in mind the DLC is an add-on to the PS5 version of the game. The whole reason Integrade even exists is that it was supposed to take advantage of the PS5 graphic capabilities. So if they put the limited time and resources into developing the, maybe they weren't able to double their work for a different version. Again, it seems like you're making assumptions that there is ill intent on Square's part when the reality might just be bad management. There's plenty of evidence of that in Square's--and specifically Final Fantasy--history.

ccesarano wrote:

Hence, holding hostage in a bid to get people to buy PS5's.

PS5s that have been notoriously hard to come by since they were released? And even ignoring that, why wouldn't Sony try a strategy to get people trying to purchase their latest hardware? That's the point of having a new console isn't it? I mean at some point a company needs to pivot from their old tech to their new tech, right?

Keep in mind my reference to Death Stranding was more towards Hideo Kojima himself. While Sony got platform exclusivity, I don't know how much control Sony actually has. The PC port of Death Stranding was handled by Kojima Productions themselves and when Sony discusses bringing their properties to PC, they reference Horizon and Days Gone rather than Death Stranding (and I think both of those games were outsourced. I know Horizon was, don't know about Days Gone). I don't consider that as part of the "hostage" situation, unless Sony is making a deal for PS5 exclusive content, even if timed.

Ghost of Tsushima was pretty successful, so it's not a "below expectations" in regards to that one. This is also me considering alarm bells ringing because of the implications of "Director's Cut". We don't yet know what content is in it, nor if the content will be exclusive to that package deal or not. But given Sony's behavior lately, I wouldn't be surprised.

What exactly is the injustice that has been done to the person who bought the original version of the game, played it and enjoyed it (or didn't), and then put it down? How are they being harmed - 18 months later - by another version being released? What have they been deprived of?

This is going to depend on person to person. I don't even recall what content was in Control. However, I am the sort of person that likes to go back and replay games, and if the only way I can get new content on a replay is to purchase a new physical edition of a game (or, potentially, a new, physical console), then I feel pretty darn robbed. We're also talking about a different sort of time investment compared to films, where it doesn't take much to go back in and see new content. For others, it's probably more that they don't plan on replaying a game, and now gripe that they missed their opportunity. I don't get into that mindset so well because I think the eat-and-poop nature of that style of consumerism is part of the issue with all industries today.

Speaking of, planned obsolescence and other matters are something I do tend to discuss as a problem with modern consumerism and consumerist culture, but usually that's outside of the scope of the discussions here that I take part in. Regardless, if "Director's Cut" just ends up being their name for "Game of the Year Edition" and all the packaged content can still be purchased elsewhere on all platforms the base game is available on, then I'm down with that. If it's locked, however, then you're basically taking a cheap and lazy route to try and coax extra money out of people, and that's cheap. I think it's worth calling someone out on that.

CptDomano wrote:

Except you don't know how they developed Integrade and what resources they had available. Keep in mind the DLC is an add-on to the PS5 version of the game. The whole reason Integrade even exists is that it was supposed to take advantage of the PS5 graphic capabilities. So if they put the limited time and resources into developing the, maybe they weren't able to double their work for a different version. Again, it seems like you're making assumptions that there is ill intent on Square's part when the reality might just be bad management. There's plenty of evidence of that in Square's--and specifically Final Fantasy--history.

My assumptions aren't regarding Square's ill intent. They're capitalizing on someone willing to give them bags full of cash.

PS5s that have been notoriously hard to come by since they were released? And even ignoring that, why wouldn't Sony try a strategy to get people trying to purchase their latest hardware? That's the point of having a new console isn't it? I mean at some point a company needs to pivot from their old tech to their new tech, right?

Sony doesn't care if their system is hard to come by outside of wanting to sell more. They still want to give people reason to buy the system. Keep in mind I have no problem with first-party exclusivity as a method to try and bring people into your ecosystem. Ratchet & Clank only on PS5? Returnal only on PS5? That's fine, and Microsoft just swallowed a bunch of studios up in hopes of competing similarly. Buying third parties out so people can only buy that game on your system? Even if it's temporary, that's old-fashioned and scummy, especially compared to Microsoft's third party strategy. Game Pass doesn't lock third parties into the Xbox or Windows Store ecosystem, but it certainly incentivizes it. Actual value is offered rather than outright denial.

Exclusives are, I think, a necessity to get people onto your platform, but the days of buying out third parties should now be behind us. And given that it came out in the Epic vs. Apple court case that Sony only allows cross-play if the developer gives them money – quite a cruel move to smaller independent devs trying to add cross-play to their multiplayer games – I'm finding it easier and easier to believe Sony's intent certainly is ill on their part. That's precisely why I look at this announcement of a Director's Cut with suspicion.

Pardon me for being skeptical, but sometimes skepticism is warranted.

ccesarano wrote:

A smaller Ghost of Tsushima sounds like a nice time.

I am excited for the opportunity to play a bit more of the world.

CptDomano wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

ESRB leaked a "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut", further confirming Sony's desperate desire to be seen with the same "legitimacy" as Hollywood.

What's the difference between saying Director's Cut and Extended/Enhanced/etc? In my opinion it's just a pedantic argument in general and I don't see how saying Director's Cut suddenly confirms anything about anyone trying to be "legit"?

There isn't a practical difference, so yeah it might be pedantic, but choice of words does communicate an artistic intent. Saying "Director's Cut" is intentionally inviting comparison to film.

Which shouldn't be a surprise or anything. Ghost of Tsushima wants to be compared to a Kurosawa film.

ccesarano wrote:

There's no reason [FFVII Remake DLC] couldn't be DLC on PS4

This is a digression here, but... As a programmer, I've got to concur that I can very easily see why they might need to limit it to the PS5.

We can only conjecture without proof, but there's no indication Sony paid them to arbitrarily limit it. It would seem self-sabotaging by both Sony and Square-Enix to leave (PS4 owners') money on the table. Yes, Sony wants you to upgrade, but they've stated publicly in shareholder reports that they expect demand to outstrip supply for months or even a year longer. They know that they don't need to create incentives to upgrade.

It's easy to be angry at Sony when you're frustrated about PS5 scalpers. I wouldn't attribute goodwill and generosity to them, or even that they always make smart or competent decisions. But paying off a company to make a decision that will cause them to lose their cut of sales, just to create more demand for a product they know they can't make fast enough?... that seems exceptionally stupid and incompetent, even by Sony standards.

...

Now, all of that said, I do have SOME FEELS about how many places handle DLC, remakes, and the combination of them. I could start a pretty hefty rant full of callouts here. But at the moment, we're just making guesses. Personally, even assuming no goodwill on the part of Sucker Punch... I'm going to assume that if they can sell something as an add-on instead of requiring repurchasing the full game, they will. Because we in this forum are crazy video game nerds who pick this stuff apart. The typical consumer is not going to re-buy the game, and the shrinking-but-still-alive used market means that locking away potential DLC is leaving money on the table.

It's easy to be angry at Sony when you're frustrated about PS5 scalpers.

I'm pretty much done with the topic but just wanted to address this: I have zero interest in purchasing a next console at this moment. I'm more interested in waiting for graphics cards to be reasonably priced so I can get a 3080 rather than a PS5 or Xbox Series.

There's a lot of reasons I don't trust Sony right now, but being able to get a PS5 is not one of them. Granted, I don't trust Microsoft either. Heck, you can't even trust Nintendo, what with locking fast-travel behind an Amiibo in Skyward Sword. But for me, Sony is the least trustworthy and therefore the company I wish to support the least.

Evidently, however, my attitude towards these companies is bound to irritate fans of either one, so I'll probably keep any criticism of either to myself from now on.

ccesarano wrote:

There's a lot of reasons I don't trust Sony right now, but being able to get a PS5 is not one of them.

I'm sorry if I made you feel attacked, but please note if I did not emphasize this enough: I don't trust Sony either, e.g.,

beeporama wrote:

I wouldn't attribute goodwill and generosity to [Sony], or even that they always make smart or competent decisions.

It is Sony's selfishness that makes me believe they wouldn't leave money on the table. If every decision they make is entirely a self-interested "screw the customer" move, they still want to take money from as many customers as possible.

If the PS5 was widely available, yes, I totally believe they'd do whatever they could to force upgrades. I'm not saying I trust them any more than you. I'm not saying you should support them. I'm just saying we should assume they'll do the obvious selfish thing, which coincidentally in this case happens to be good for us.

So the only thing being "held hostage" (they claim it's taking advantage of PS5 features, meh) is the Japanese lip sync and controller-rumble features. Otherwise, PS4 players actually get to pay less for the upgrade.

Director's Cut out on August 20th, including Iki Island expansion.

Shame I no longer have a PS4 to try out the expansion.

So is the PS5 upgrade worth it for my PS4 disc? I thought my PS4 disc already runs at 60 fps?

Worth $30 to upgrade to "PS5 version"?

Balthezor wrote:

So is the PS5 upgrade worth it for my PS4 disc? I thought my PS4 disc already runs at 60 fps?

Worth $30 to upgrade to "PS5 version"?

It's $20 for the expansion and another $10 for the PS5 upgrade.

The PS5 upgrade includes: Dynamic 4K (currently 1800p), 3D audio, Japanese lip sync, haptic feedback, & adaptive trigger support.

They are nice upgrades to be sure, but it is unfortunate to see that they're charging for it. I am very interested in the Japanese lip sync and controller features, so I'll be waiting to upgrade.

If you don't care about those features, I don't see why you couldn't just pay $20 for the PS4 version. That still includes the free 60 FPS upgrade patch that they released previously.

Balthezor wrote:

So is the PS5 upgrade worth it for my PS4 disc? I thought my PS4 disc already runs at 60 fps?

Worth $30 to upgrade to "PS5 version"?

Technically only $10 since $20 of that is the cost of the expansion content.

Can I just buy the expansion for $20 if I have my PS4 launch edition and a PS5?

I just want to play more of the world.

From Sony:
---
If you already own Ghost of Tsushima on PS4:

You can pre-order an upgrade to Director’s Cut on PS4 for $19.99 USD. This upgrade will become available starting on August 20.

Starting on August 20:

If you bought Director’s Cut PS4, you’ll be able to upgrade to Director’s Cut PS5 at any time for $9.99 USD
You can also upgrade directly (from original Ghost of Tsushima PS4) to Director’s Cut on PS5 for $29.99 USD

---
It looks like you can pay $20 and play the PS4 version on the PS (which runs at 60 fps).

It will be worth $20 for a new island even if it is short (probably)

Dyni wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

So is the PS5 upgrade worth it for my PS4 disc? I thought my PS4 disc already runs at 60 fps?

Worth $30 to upgrade to "PS5 version"?

It's $20 for the expansion and another $10 for the PS5 upgrade.

The PS5 upgrade includes: Dynamic 4K (currently 1800p), 3D audio, Japanese lip sync, haptic feedback, & adaptive trigger support.

They are nice upgrades to be sure, but it is unfortunate to see that they're charging for it. I am very interested in the Japanese lip sync and controller features, so I'll be waiting to upgrade.

If you don't care about those features, I don't see why you couldn't just pay $20 for the PS4 version. That still includes the free 60 FPS upgrade patch that they released previously.

Shallow as it may be, the Japanese lip sync kind of does it for me. I got the PS4 game on discount so I guess this will just bring me back to paying full retail.

As someone who never got around to playing it, I guess I'll wait for the PS5 Director's Cut, since now I'm busy playing the upgraded version of Jedi Fallen Order.

Never have I felt so rewarded for having a backlog of console games and not getting to things at release. It almost makes me wary of playing any native PS5 games knowing that if I put it off I'll probably get to play the smoother, crisper version on the PS6.

Having never bought or played the game I was waiting to play it on the PS5, I’ll presumably eventually own, for the improved frame rate. Now I’m waiting for the Director’s Cut (I guess they are running out of new ways to say, ’This is a really fancy version that’s worth paying for a second time.’) From the reviews I read, it sounded like the Kurosawa version was only let down by the lip sync issue so I’ll be excited to play that way.

Higgledy wrote:

...From the reviews I read, it sounded like the Kurosawa version was only let down by the lip sync issue so I’ll be excited to play that way.

Yes, I tried with the Japanese-language version but it was so incredibly obvious the mouths were speaking English that I had to give up on it. Also, while I like the idea of the "Kurosawa version" in black & white and with added film artifacts, it's such a spectacularly gorgeous and colorful game it feels like you're dogmatically shooting yourself in the foot to play the game with the color leached out of it.

Prior to this announcement the rumor was that Ghost of Iki Island was a stand-alone expansion, rather than additional content in an upgraded version of the original game, à la Miles Morales, and I was prepared to pay something like full price for that. As far as I can see, that stand-alone part was wrong - the expansion is an add-on to the original game, and can't be played if you don't own Ghost of Tsushima. But it's considerably cheaper than a full-price game, and all the PS5 bells-and-whistles are a separate $10 cost, which seems like a more-than-reasonable cost and keeps those without a PS4 from paying for features they can't access.

I'll pay the upgrade and play again. Lost my saves after I sold my PS4.

But man, Xbox Smart delivery is genius compared to this mess. 4 different prices for 4 different things.

Like FF7 Remake. Wasn't sure if I had the PS5 version installed or not.