If a game arrives for review on the same day it’s released to the public, that’s usually a red flag. I mean, if the quality of the game is good, why not tell people in advance? And yet that’s the situation we faced with the release of Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut – the latest PC port from the masters of Nixxes. The developer’s pedigree is solid, so perhaps we shouldn’t have worried, but even Nixxes releases have been rushed out in the past. Luckily, first impressions of this latest port are positive.
This is the first time Nixxes has produced a PC port based on the Sucker Punch engine, but it’s clear that the studio has an established feature framework and they all fit right into this Tsushima port. That starts with an enviable selection of display technology features, including the must-have features of arbitrary frame rate and ultra-wide support. And it extends to other Nixxes standards, including the ability to select all upscalers available for your particular GPU – DLSS, XeSS, FSR 3 – as well as the AMD and Nvidia frame generations. However, there is an additional twist. While DLSS Frame-Gen shipped from day one with the ability to use any spatial upscaler the user wanted (including none at all!), FSR 3 would only work with AMD’s own solution. However, this is not the case with Tsushima, meaning owners of RTX 20 and 30 series GPUs can take advantage of DLSS upscaling in combination with FSR 3 frame generation.
In addition, the typical Nixx sense of scalability remains with its ports. Aim for 30 frames per second with dynamic resolution at 1280 x 800 on medium settings and the Steam Deck works fine. At the other extreme, I used an RTX 4090-equipped PC running at full 4K resolution with Nvidia DLAA (think DLSS is only used for anti-aliasing at native resolution) and hit a minimum of 76 fps in the first hour of play . And that’s without frame generation, which brings us to over 100 frames per second.
- 0:00:00 Introduction
- 0:00:56 News 01: Ghost of Tsushima PC impressions!
- 0:16:05 News 02: Assassin’s Creed Shadows announced
- 0:25:33 News 03: PlayStation News Summary!
- 0:49:10 News 04: GTA 6 will be released in autumn 2025
- 0:55:22 News 05: Red Dead Redemption may be coming to PC
- 1:02:30 News 06: PO’ed remaster released
- 1:12:13 News 07: John and Oliver’s new TVs!
- 1:28:42 Supporter Q1: Will the changes to Xbox strategy reduce console competition?
- 1:36:49 Supporter Q2: Does an Xbox-PC hybrid really make sense?
- 1:43:49 Supporter Q3: Could Nvidia’s rumored ARM handheld SoC be the end of Nintendo and Valve?
- 1:48:50 Supporter Q4: Are there gaming applications for OpenAI’s recently revealed AI technology?
- 1:52:40 Supporter Q5: What are your most anticipated games technically for the rest of the year?
- 1:56:21 Supporter Q6: How do you like to set up your PC screens when gaming?
- 1:58:54 Supporter Q7: What do you think about producing update videos for games that ship in subpar condition?
- 2:04:25 Supporter Q8: What’s the latest gaming and tech news that you’ve been enjoying?
In between, I also tested Ghost of Tsushima on what is affectionately known as DF Frankenstein’s console – a PC with the AMD 4800S desktop kit (an obscure Chinese OEM motherboard based on the Xbox Series X CPU). The Radeon RX 6700 is the closest you’ll get to a PC that matches the PS5’s GPU. The result? I could use Intel XeSS upscaling at dynamic 1800p and a near fixed 60fps on high settings. I chose this because the PS5 targets 1800p with its “Framerate Mode”, albeit with checkerboard rendering, which isn’t possible on PC. The 4800S shows how little CPU power the consoles have compared to today’s mainstream processors, but even so, Ghost of Tsushima isn’t limited to the CPU here – it’s just the taxing cutscenes (limited to 30fps on PS5) and something under-reactive response dynamic resolution system that prevents us from running fixed at 60 fps.
We’ll have more on the PC port of Tsushima soon, but for now we can share some important information: Firstly, there’s no sign of #StutterStruggle manifesting itself in this game – it runs very, very smoothly. Secondly, similar to other Nixxes ports, there are scalability advantages over the PlayStation 5 version of the game, but overall you can expect a very familiar experience. Aside from the frame rate and display options that PC users enjoy, one of the biggest benefits is a significant increase in image quality. With no checkerboard pattern in sight, more modern upscalers can deliver a cleaner image – although the quality is above and beyond, especially when using DLAA.
We haven’t finished the visual duel with the PS5 yet, but for now we’d argue that, similar to other Nixxes efforts, the high visual setting offers equivalent quality in terms of graphical features – although there’s no single level-of-detail requirement , which mirrors the PS5 – which appears to be similar to high, but with foliage drawing that’s like a mix of low and medium. When it comes to shadow and volume quality, the PC can significantly exceed the PS5 standards. Alex will be taking a closer look at this port later in the week and providing our recommendations for optimized settings, so keep an eye out for that.
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There’s plenty more to explore in this week’s show – John and Oliver discuss their respective TV purchases, with the former sticking with OLED while the latter opts for LCD for his display of choice. John shares his enthusiasm for Nightdive’s latest remaster – PO’ed – a remarkable release, if only because we can’t make a particularly convincing commercial case for its existence… but the fact that it exists is entirely due to passion and The mission is thanks to the studio itself, which is somewhat refreshing given recent events.
Meanwhile, between discussions about Grand Theft Auto 6’s release date and the tantalizing prospect of an actual PC port for the first Red Dead Redemption, there’s some open discussion about Sony, Microsoft and the state of this console generation – along with the remarkable stats that are there There are half of monthly PlayStation users still using the PS4.
Supporter questions and answers? It’s a part of DF Direct Weekly that I love – we’re covering eight questions this week with topics as varied as Nvidia’s laptop plans, the feasibility of a hybrid Xbox/PC console, our most anticipated games of 2024, and if When will there actually be good news? Everything looks so bleak at the moment. We receive around 50 to 70 questions every week. Some make it into the show, some make it into our supporter-only offering DF InDirect, but I read them all – it’s great to keep in touch with what our audience is excited about, worried about or interested in is. Together with Our Discord is a crucial input for deciding what we should report on. If you like our work, consider joining us. Until next week!