Ghost of Tsushima has undoubtedly been one of the most commercially and critically successful PlayStation-exclusive video games in the past several years. Now the hype surrounding the game is steadily building up once again, as details of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut are being steadily revealed. While there are many new pieces of content the expansion will introduce, one fans are most excited for is the ability to tame and pet new animals on Iki Island.
Sucker Punch Productions' award-winning action-adventure epic of samurai Jin Sakai defending Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The game developer released several impressive player statistics for the occasion, including a collective 4,241 years spend on horseback, 61 million photos taken, and of course, 55.63 million foxes petted.
The biggest component of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut is the new Iki Island. Said to be in "stark contrast" to Tsushima, Iki has been absent of any samurai, leaving its denizens to fend for themselves. The island is filled with criminals and raiders, with the land and its people scarred from war. However, there are pockets of beauty and serenity, as Sucker Punch confirms there will be a number of animal sanctuaries. Jin will be able to visit these locations and interact with local wildlife, which includes wild cats, deer, and even monkeys. Using his flute, Jin can calm and tame the creatures, before approaching for the all-important pets.
The developers note that after the animals have been calmed, players can return to pet them as often as they want. The ability to pet and tame new animals wasn't the only thing Sucker Punch revealed today about the expansion, however. A Ghost of Tsushima Iki Island trailer was released today, revealing more details as to what players will be up against. The trailer establishes Iki has been taken over by another Mongol group, led by shaman Ankhsar Khatun, a powerful woman simply known as The Eagle.
Petting animals, while not doing anything to particularly advance a plot, have become an extremely popular and desired feature in almost any video game that has non-threatening animals. A common fan complaint from the otherwise-lauded The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the inability to pet Hyrule's dogs. A Skyrim modder made headlines a few months ago for making the game's dogs pettable a decade after its release. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut wisely expands upon its fox and dog petting options, and while monkeys could theoretically attack, its not as crazy as Far Cry 6 letting players pet crocodiles.
Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut launches in just a few weeks, so players won't have to wait long before they venture out to Iki Island. They may want to clear some space though, considering the game's large file size.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now on PS4. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut launches August 20 for PS4 and PS5.