BENGALURU: The word ‘update’ is repeated so frequently in videogames that it has lost all meaning. A new buyable skin in a random FPS game is an update. A necessary bug fix is an update. Even an announcement about a teaser, for a game that will release five years later, is an update.
Most of the process of figuring out which game to review every week requires me sifting through the less important news on the ‘update’ scale. Fortunately, this time, the release of ‘Ghost of Tsushima’s Director’s Cut’ made this easy.
My time exploring the daunting combat in Legends seems to have helped me a lot because the story missions seemed quite friendly this time. This suited me well, as the aim of the Iki island expansion was to focus on the story, which provides an insight into Jin Sakai’s past. In the missions, we frequently encounter bursts of Jin’s past, as he stood side-by-side with his father, fighting bandits in Iki. We are re-acquainted with Jin’s childhood guilt due to his helplessness, as Kazamusa fell to the ploy of the bandits.
We find Jin ally himself with the same enemies that caused so much hurt in his past. He overcomes his inner turmoil through the acceptance that the greatest danger to his country was the Mongols. With Khotun Khan long gone, the new main villain introduced seems just as dangerous — a mysterious woman nicknamed ‘The Eagle’. Eagle prides herself through her psychological tricks and we watch Jin struggle to prevent his hallucinations from taking over his moral compass.
Aside the main story, the game provides even more spectacular scenery in Iki island. We can now pet new animals including monkeys, cats, and deer. Kaze, the horse, learnt a few new tricks too! It almost makes up for the lack of a fishing mini-game.
Ever since this iconic PlayStation exclusive released last year, I have taken every in-game improvement as an opportunity to re-review it. The tale of Jin Sakai and his struggle against the Mongol forces in Tsushima is a story that is worth not just being re-told, but re-experienced first-hand, ever so often. The Iki island expansion takes rank ichi in my rating scale.
Anusha Ganapathi
@quofles
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)