When we hear the words ‘Director’s Cut’, a few different idea likely spawn in your mind. Originally, this very simply referred to the full version of a film with any cut scenes added back in. They didn’t always fit, but they were added. It has since evolved to mean the Director’s preferred version of a film, which may be a different film entirely with a myriad of changes.
In gaming, a Director’s Cut can be literally anything it wants. There’s no actual standardisation. Sometimes it’s just to advertise a new release, other times as a reference to films that games love to emulate. Very rarely, it is also the addition of content that could not be completed originally, which is where we’re going to be focusing today.
6Ghost Of Tsushima
In truth, Ghost of Tsushima is a pretty poor excuse for a Director’s Cut. Not by any merit of the game itself, but because it’s not restored anything that had to be cut, nor showcasing an improved version of the game in most regards. It is mainly just the game, but with all the extra content packaged in.
Only by two facts can it be considered a valid Director’s Cut - it so heavily based itself on the works of Akira Kurosawa, and it a is reference in that regard. The other is that it added actuallip-syncing for Japanese audio, something that feels pretty paramount for a game set in Japan with Japanese characters speaking in Japanese. It can only be assumed that it was meant to be added, but simply couldn’t be achieved and the English was prioritised.
5The Last Of Us Part 2
On the opposite end of the PlayStation game that wants to position itself as a movie scale, we have The Last of Us Part 2. While the game was hardly in need of a remaster, it also isn’t pretentious enough to call itself a Director’s Cut. Which is ironic considering it restores cut content.
The Remaster added developer commentary, giving you insight into the creation of the game, alongside the Lost Levels, cut gameplay sections redesigned into combat challenges. They don’t really fit within the game, but that’s why they were cut in the first place and why you’re only seeing them in a director’s cut version of the game. Even if it doesn’t actually bear that title.
4Resident Evil
The original Resident Evil is a game that defined and later redefined the survival horror genre, creating a setting that later games have struggled to ever surpass the atmosphere of. The original Resident Evil later gota remake for the Gamecubethat many view as the definitive version of the game, though it got a Director’s Cut long before that.
The Director’s Cut of the original Resident Evil was intended to both unify the experience of the game universally, as well as add some gameplay improvements. It doesn’t restore content in most regards, though adds some experimental details such as new tracks in the soundtrack.
The original Western release censored much of the gore in the original release. Not all versions rectified this, though certain releases of the Director’s Cut in Europe did uncensor key scenes.
3The Witcher
The Witcher series is one of the most celebrated selection of games, though they came from humble origins. The very first Witcher game was built on a modified version of Bioware’s Aurora Engine, and that came with plenty of its own limitations.
With the relative success of the game, an Enhanced Edition was made that added more variation to NPCs, more detailed animations, further voice acting, redesigned inventory and plenty more. This was the US version. The Director’s Cut came to Europe, which included all of the additions of the Enhanced Edition as well as the original, more sexual versions of the female portrait cards. A Director’s Cut addition indeed.
2Disco Elysium
Talking about Disco Elysium is complicated because it is a game as much about itself as it is the topics it discusses within the game. Corruption, the all-consuming maw of Capitalism, endless critiques that lead nowhere, and a nostalgia for a dead past. Disco Elysium is no more, may Disco Elysium live forever.
The game did get a Final Cut edition that added plenty of new systems and dialogue, as well as giving a full voice-over to the entire game, whereas the original had only minimal amounts of voice-acting. It brought that tragic world all the more to life, and made its criminal demise all the more bitterly poetic.
1Death Stranding
Auteurship is a problem within the gaming industry, no doubt about it. A captain does not pilot a ship alone, and a director does not make a game by themselves.Sometimes you have to look at a game though and acknowledge that perhaps allowing one person unimpeded creative freedom can birthsome truly unique experiences. They still need a team to make it though, and Death Stranding is a great result.
Death Stranding did later get a Director’s Cut to enhance it on the PS5, alongside a myriad of extra gameplay tools and new optional story sections. Many of the new traversal tools are made to either ease the burden of travel, or to realise certain tools that didn’t get to fit into the original game. They don’t always work or fit perfectly, but that’s what happens with a Director’s Cut.
Despite the auteurship assigned to Hideo Kojima, he has stated himself that it was a publishing decision to give the game the Director’s Cut moniker, with him preferring a different title.
