Ghost of Tsushima Directors Cut – Iki Island

I’ve been making my way through Ghost of Tsushima on the PlayStation 5, although my time with the game was interrupted by an unfortunately placed week long camping trip! Still, from start to finish, the Directors Cut of Ghost of Tsushima has been one of my favourite gaming adventures in 2021 – not only does the game look and feel phenomenal on Sony’s next generation console, but all the additional DLC, including Iki Island, blew me away.

Ghost resonates a lot with me, seeing as I have an infatuation with Samurai culture, and love the film, The Last Samurai. But this game is more than that – it’s absolutely gorgeous, and so much fun to explore, and while I had a hard time with the using the wind to find my next locations, the mechanic did force me to enjoy more of the game than perhaps a mini-map would have, and for that I’m thankful. But we have a full review of Ghost of Tsushima on the website that you can read, so let’s dive into the new DLC, Iki Island.

If you enjoyed Ghost a lot, Iki Island is just more of the same, and that’s is the greatest compliment I can give it. The development team knew the mechanics and world worked well together, so it was simply putting together another fantastic story and adding to an already magnificent experience. And Iki Island delivers on that story. Getting to the island requires players to at least be at Act 2 in the main game, when Jin learns of a proposed invasion into Tsushima for the island of Iki, led by a women called, “The Eagle.”

There is more that ties Jin to Iki, however, as it is the place where his father breathed his last breath. So there is a deep, personal connection to this area that takes the story telling elements from good to great. And the story writers dug deep into this to create a moving, emotional tale.

While many of the same landmarks exist here from the main game – think about those hot springs, etc. – there are also a host of new things to do, including animal sanctuaries to explore and archery challenges to master. All of that on top of a host of collectibles, interesting things to collect, and more. Iki Island was not just extra DLC to pad the pockets of Sony executives. It was a DLC package created with time and love, and it delivers in spades. It took me about 10 hours to complete the main story of Iki Island, and I could easily lose another 10 to exploring all the islands nooks and crannies, but if you are looking to extend your Ghost of Tsushima experience, this is the time to do it!