Ghost Of Tsushima 20200629163251

What difficulty should you select in Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut? Finding the right difficulty early on may elevate your experience with Sucker Punch's open world samurai title, but even if you think you've chosen poorly, don't worry: you can hop into the gameplay options menu at any time outside of combat and change the difficulty to your liking. In this Ghost of Tsushima guide, we're going to detail what each difficulty setting actually does.

There are also a number of accessibility options that you can tweak in Ghost of Tsushima — some of which will have an effect on the game's difficulty. Check out our guide Ghost of Tsushima: All Accessibility Options for more information on those.

What Difficulty Should You Select in Ghost of Tsushima?

Ghost of Tsushima gives you four difficulty settings to choose from. They are as follows:

  • Easy: Enemies are less aggressive and they do less damage to Jin. The timing for parrying and perfect parrying is forgiving.
  • Medium: Enemies are aggressive and they deal moderate damage to Jin. The timing for parrying and perfect parrying is quite tight.
  • Hard: Enemies are very aggressive and they deal large damage to Jin. The timing for parrying and perfect parrying is very tight.
  • Lethal: Both Jin and his enemies will die in just a couple of hits. The timing for parring and perfect parrying is very tight.

For most players already experienced with action games, we'd recommend Medium difficulty. The middle-ground setting offers a decent challenge while also giving you some room to breathe and learn the game's mechanics bit by bit.

But if you're having trouble, Easy is a great alternative. Ghost of Tsushima can be a very unforgiving game — especially early on when your armour is weak and you're unfamiliar with different enemy types and how to deal with them. That said, Easy still requires skill — you can't just mash the attack buttons and expect to walk away from battle unscathed. But with more generous timing for parries and perfect parries, Easy can be a perfect place to start for many players who want to get used to the combat system.

Hard mode demands patience and precise timing. Enemies deal huge damage to Jin and they're much more aggressive, which means that fighting against large groups is not ideal. If you don't want to die, you need a solid defence — parries and perfect parries, as well as perfect dodges, are a necessity. Hard mode is recommended for players who want a real challenge where every mistake can result in a very swift death. Lethal is even more brutal.

There are no Trophies related to difficulty in Ghost of Tsushima, so don't worry about changing the settings or playing through the game on a specific difficulty. You can find out more about the game's Trophies and how to unlock them all through the following link: Ghost of Tsushima: All Trophies and How to Get the Platinum.

What difficulty will you be playing Ghost of Tsushima on? Let us know, and whichever setting you choose, be sure to check out our Ghost of Tsushima guide for much more help with the game.