Ghost of Tsushima PC Performance Review: An exceptional port

The winds of feudal Japan are about to sweep across your gaming laptops and PCs as Ghost of Tsushima makes its highly anticipated debut on the Windows platform. Originally released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2020 and later updated for the PS5 in August 2021, this action-adventure, pièce de résistance is now set to bless our screens (yes, a multi-monitor mode is supported along with ultrawide monitors). With its stunning visuals, gripping storytelling, and immersive open-world experience, is Ghost of Tsushima a worthy entry to your PC games portfolio?

In this article, we will take a look at how an entry-level gaming laptop runs Ghost of Tsushima. We will also examine how this game performs on a high-end gaming laptop. Since the game is originally a PlayStation 4 game, we won’t dive deep into the storyline as it remains unchanged in this port. Furthermore, this article will also give you an idea of how well the game has been ported, and whether it’s a GPU-heavy, CPU-heavy or RAM-demanding port. So let’s explore the fantasy world of Ghost of Tsushima on the the PC.

Firstly, the game has been ported by PC Port Studio Nixxes Software, the same team recently ported Horizon Forbidden West and has already worked on other big titles such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales and God of War PC ports. The game offers compatibility with the newest upscaling tech such as AMD FSR 3 and Nvidia DLSS 3. Additionally, it’s also compatible with frame generation.

What felt missing in terms of tech was the support for any additional Ray Tracing. However, since the game didnt support any form of ray tracing on the consoles, it is a little much to expect the same on PC.

Performance:

Getting to the performance side of things, I am pleasantly surprised by how well this game has been optimized for PC. When I tried playing the game on an entry-level gaming laptop, specifically the new Infinix GTBOOK (INR 64,990) that sports an octa-core i5 12th-gen 12450H CPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 3050 (80W), I did not find any frame time inconsistencies, and the frames almost always remained above 30FPS, all while the graphical preset was set to Very High, DLSS set to quality, and without the help of any frame generation. But, here’s where it gets really exciting: when I decided to try out the Frame Generation (using AMD FSR 3 since the RTX 3050 doesn’t support DLSS 3), the average FPS jumped from 40 FPS to a whopping 61 FPS. This not only made the game incredibly responsive and smooth but also retained all of its stunning graphical details.

Next, I ran the game at 4K on a gaming PC equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900K, 48GB of RAM at 7200MT/s, and an Nvidia Founders Edition RTX 4070 Super. We paired this hardware with an LG 4K monitor, and as expected, the game performed exceptionally well. We achieved frame rates upwards of 75+ FPS without any Frame Generation turned on and with the graphical preset set to Very High. When I enabled the NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation, the game’s average frame rate increased to above 95 FPS.

One thing I will mention here is something that I have noticed in almost all the recent AAA titles and that’s somewhat poor visual quality while using FSR, and some ghosting artefacts during fast movements when using DLSS. These are the limitations of these upscaling technologies, so I won’t blame Nexxis for such issues. On another note, I found that this port is a GPU-heavy port and doesn’t require a ton of RAM or an extremely powerful CPU. 16GB RAM clocked at 3200MHz and a 12th-gen i5 is enough to enjoy this game. However, when choosing a GPU, it’s better to get the best one you can afford. If you want to maintain a stable 4K 60+ FPS at maxed-out settings, then an Nvidia RTX 4070 Super is the way to go.

Lastly, at close inspection, I noticed the quality of the cutscenes was average. It felt like these cutscenes were directly taken from the console version of the game. After a few scenes, it became evident that the game on the Very High preset looks comparatively better. However, since a gamer playing the game won’t really focus on these sequences for their visual prowess, their quality is surely forgivable. Also, the game was released back in 2020 and the visuals of the cutscenes are at part of that time and seem a tad old in 2024. What felt breathtaking was the gameplay, especially when you’re in a battle or when you’re riding your horse through thick lush jungles and abundant foliage of Japanese wildflowers. It was so beautiful that I’d say at Very High preset the game looks nothing less than a moving wallpaper and that is a very good thing.

Verdict:

I have played many PC ports of PlayStation franchises and frankly, Ghost of Tsushima has become one of my favorites. It doesn’t have any new-age features like ray tracing or path tracing, but I’d still call it one of Nixxes’ best ports to date. The PC port runs smoothly, even on entry-level gaming hardware, with no frame time inconsistencies and decently good frame rates. Additionally, I found no bugs or performance issues. The inclusion of upscaling technology combinations like DLSS, FSR, and frame generation, along with support for multiple aspect ratios, gives the players plenty of options to tweak settings to their liking all while maintaining high in-game frame rates. To sum up, Nixxes Software has done an exceptional job with this port, making it a must-play for both new players and longtime fans of the console version.

Editor’s rating: 8 / 10

Pros:

• Visually stunning
• Well-optimised for a large gamut of hardware configurations
• DualSense controller Support

Cons:

• No Additional Ray-Tracing Support
• No Built-In Benchmark Tool