The best games with a Director's Cut version

When we hear the words “Director’s Cut,” another idea probably comes to mind. Originally this simply referred to the full version of a film with possibly reinserted cutscenes. They didn't always fit, but they were added. It has since become the director's preferred version of a film, potentially being a completely different film with countless changes.

In gaming, a director's cut can literally be whatever it wants it to be. There is no real standardization. Sometimes it's just to promote a new release, other times it's a reference to movies that games like to imitate. Very rarely, it is also the addition of content that could not be completed originally, which is what we will focus on today.

6

Ghost of Tsushima

In truth, Ghost of Tsushima is a pretty poor excuse for a director's cut. Not because of the merits of the game itself, but because it didn't restore anything that needed to be cut, nor is it an improved version of the game in many ways. It's essentially just the game, but with all the additional content.

There are only two reasons why it can be considered a valid director's cut: it is based so heavily on the works of Akira Kurosawa and is a reference in that regard. The other thing is that it added real lip sync for Japanese audio, which seems pretty important for a game set in Japan and with Japanese characters speaking in Japanese. It can only be assumed that this was intended to be added but simply could not be achieved and English took precedence.

5

The Last of Us Part 2

At the other end of the PlayStation game wanting to position itself as a film benchmark, we have The Last of Us Part 2. While the game hardly needs a remake, it's also not pretentious enough to call itself a director's cut. This is ironic considering that cut content will be restored.

The remaster added developer commentary that gives you insight into the making of the game, as well as lost levels and cut-out gameplay sections that have been reworked into combat challenges. They don't really fit into the game, but that's why they were cut in the first place and are only seen in a Director's Cut version of the game. Even if it doesn't actually have that title.

4

resident Evil

The original Resident Evil is a game that defined and later redefined the survival horror genre, creating a setting whose atmosphere would be difficult for later games to ever surpass. The original Resident Evil later received a remake for the Gamecube, which many consider to be the definitive version of the game, although there was a director's cut long before that.

The Director's Cut of the original Resident Evil was intended to both generally unify the gaming experience and add some gameplay improvements. Most of the content is not restored, but some experimental details are added, such as new tracks in the soundtrack.

The original Western release censored much of the gore in the original release. Not all versions have this fixed, although certain releases of the Director's Cut in Europe have key scenes uncensored.

3

The Witcher

The Witcher series is one of the most famous games, despite having humble origins. The very first Witcher game was based on a modified version of Bioware's Aurora Engine and came with many limitations of its own.

Due to the game's relative success, an Enhanced Edition was created, which added more variations to the NPCs, more detailed animations, more voice acting, a redesigned inventory, and much more. This was the US version. Coming to Europe was the Director's Cut, which included all of the Enhanced Edition additions as well as the original, more sexual versions of the female portrait cards. A Director's Cut addition, in fact.

2

Disco Elysium

Talking about Disco Elysium is complicated because it's both a game itself and the themes the game explores. Corruption, the all-consuming maw of capitalism, endless criticism that leads nowhere, and a longing for a dead past. Disco Elysium is no more, may Disco Elysium live forever.

The game actually received a Final Cut edition, which added numerous new systems and dialogue and gave the entire game full voice acting, whereas the original only featured minimal amounts of voice acting. It brought this tragic world even more to life and made its criminal downfall all the more bitter and poetic.

1

Death Stranding

Authorship is undoubtedly a problem in the gaming industry. A captain doesn't control a ship alone, and a director doesn't make a game alone. However, sometimes you have to look at a game and acknowledge that if you give a person unfettered creative freedom, perhaps some truly unique experiences can emerge. However, you still need a team to pull it off, and Death Stranding is a great result.

Death Stranding later received a Director's Cut to improve it on the PS5, along with a variety of additional gameplay tools and new optional story sections. Many of the new traversal tools were designed to either ease the burden of travel or to implement certain tools that didn't fit in the original game. They don't always work or fit perfectly, but that's exactly what happens with a director's cut.

Despite the authorship assigned to Hideo Kojima, he himself has stated that it was a decision by the publisher to nickname the game “Director's Cut” as he preferred a different title.