Ghost of Tsushima PS5 finally improves Sony’s complicated PS4 save transfer process

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut has made a welcome change to how first-party games handle cross-gen save transfers.

As confirmed in VGC’s Ghost of Tsushima PS5 review, the new-gen version of the game has a main menu option that allows players to transfer their PS4 console saves either direct from the console’s storage or a USB stick.

PlayStation owners will likely welcome the simplification of what was previously an over-complicated process to access their last-gen saves for cross-gen games.

Until recently, many games such as Marvel’s Avengers required players to have the PS4 version of a cross-gen game installed on their PS5, or return to the PS4 hardware version, and manually upload their save to the cloud.

This meant that players who had deleted their last-gen game would need to download and fully update it all over again just to transfer their save data.

The process was unsurprisingly criticised as being unnecessarily lengthy, especially compared to the setup on Xbox, where Smart Delivery has meant that save data automatically transfers between versions (because within Microsoft‘s ecosystem, Smart Delivery games are the same game across generations).

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is the first Sony-published title to adopt the more simple PS4 save transfer process, but EA’s Jedi: Fallen Order appeared to be the first third-party title to use the method when it was released earlier this summer.

In addition to making save transfers easier, Ghost of Tsushima’s PS5 edition will automatically unlock Trophies that were previously unlocked in the PS4 version.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut will be released for PlayStation 5 ($69.99) and PlayStation 4 ($59.99) on August 20.

Existing Ghost of Tsushima owners can upgrade to Director’s Cut on PS4 for $19.99, or upgrade to Director’s Cut on PS5 for $29.99.

further reading

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Review: Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut stands toe-to-toe with the PS5’s best

The PS5 version delivers the definitive experience, while Iki Island adds new layers to Jin’s story - even if it's a bit short

Players who purchase Director’s Cut for PS4 will also be able to upgrade to Director’s Cut on PS5 at any time for $9.99.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut has a number of PS5 exclusive features including visual and audio enhancements, support for DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, and lip sync for Japanese voice over during cutscenes on Iki Island.