Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin is undoubtedly the most ambitious of the titles developed by Team Ninja up to this point, as well as the riskiest. This is because the vision modeled by the studio led it to face unprecedented challenges in terms of design and technical implementation, deriving from the choice to opt for an open world that frames a more complex narrative structure than that of the previous productions of the Japanese collective. Unfortunately, the aspects that go beyond Team Ninja's "comfort zone" are also the least convincing, in the face of a playful core that reaffirms the developer's talent for creating layered and satisfying combat systems, this time with an eye towards accessibility. The combat system itself is the element that vigorously raises the qualitative balance of Rise of the Ronin, capable of offering hours and hours of martial contests that are as intense as they are exciting. Such is the merit of the combat-progression combo, that it is easy to establish how a more linear structure focused on clashes would have given greater impetus to the proposal, perhaps limiting the technical compromises that the game clearly manifests. Overall, therefore, Rise of the Ronin offers a worthwhile experience, as well as more accessible than the average of Team Ninja's productions, although the route towards the open world has limited the potential of the proposal.

It’s dubious whether the various iniquities of the game are good enough to justify where it goes, especially knowing that all that effort can’t change which way the wind is blowing for Japan by the end.

Whether you are a history nut or an action RPG lover, Rise of the Ronin should be your next choice in a game. You’ll have fun dicing up your enemies while learning about Japan’s rich culture. It’s the perfect combination of the two, and I hope to see more entries like this to dive more into historical content.

Its super fun and smooth gameplay is never repetitive, although the level design could be better. Visually, it is an average ps4 game.

The combat is brutal and amazing to master, but it's bogged down by excessive loot requiring you to be locked into menus for far too long. The setting is interesting and genuinely fun to learn about and explore, but your character's involvement feels almost secondary. It's like a fast-food meal. You'll enjoy the experience while engaging with it, but won't think back on it afterward or get any real nourishment from it.

Rise of the Ronin struggles to find its identity in ways that hinder what would otherwise be one of Team Ninja's finest works. A compelling story told against the backdrop of the 1850s Bakumatsu Period is instead overshadowed by a vapid and uninspired open-world setting and a narrative that rarely feels like the player has agency.

Rise of the Ronin offers an enticing, streamlined take on complex Team Ninja action, but it will prove somewhat disappointing if you're a fan of mechanically rich combat.

Thanks to this brisk pace of play, a constant stream of skill points used to unlock new abilities, and a steady deluge of new equipment and armour that you can use, sell, or disassemble for crafting resources, the sense of progression is both real and satisfying. Once I was on the train, I didn’t want to get off. Still, it does feel like a game with unrealized potential. Players have been spoiled for choice over the last year when it comes to visually breathtaking, narratively rich games with huge and interesting open worlds. Rise of the Ronin is on the outskirts of that conversation rather than in the middle of it. Worth considering, especially for fans of historical epics and solid action, but the competition is stiff.

With great combat, Rise of the Ronin falters trying to be bigger than it should, which ends up taking the focus away from its positives and distracting us with a series of things that don't really matter.

An enjoyable counterpart to Ghost Of Tsushima, with some truly excellent combat, but the bloated open world elements can often suffocate your enjoyment.

In an attempt to expand its player base, Team Ninja ends up diluting the formula it spent so many years refining. Rise of The Ronin stands out for its incredible and precise combat experience, combined with an enticing level design that stands out in an open world stuck in an overly familiar and beaten structure, without any major surprises in store. The story has its ups and downs, caused above all by an inconsistent pace, with characters constantly entering and exiting the stage. The game's performance also leaves something to be desired, especially considering that it's a PlayStation 5 exclusive released in 2024.

Ultimately, Rise of the Ronin will be a mixed bag for people. The combat will carry it for many, but the lack of variety in the open world, messy story, and performance issues will take away from others.

Rise of the Ronin doesn’t have the production values of something like Ghost of Tsushima, but it’s mechanically and thematically superior. If you can handle the choppy frame rate, flat visuals, and stilted performances, you’ll find an open-world game with a lot of heart, a true identity, and plenty of nuances to master.

Rise of the Ronin is charged by Team Ninja’s beloved combat gameplay from recent years, with a politically-charged story where decisions actually feel like they matter. Unfortunately, Team Ninja’s talents lie within gameplay, and the open world design leaves a lot to be desired.

It feels like nobody in Rise of the Ronin is connected to the world or its events, much in the same way most mechanics of the game don’t feel connected to each other. The game is inconsistent and unpolished. Annoying stat-crunching, a poorly handled story, and some really awful boss fights make it feel like a bad Soulslike was bolted on to something that could’ve been so much better. But its traversal mechanics, top-notch side missions, sublime open world, and the varied and likeable characters you can build relationships with all help prop up its weaker elements.

Rise of the Ronin is the most ambitious game of Team Ninja and by far. Much more narrative than its predecessors, it unfortunately takes quite a long time to become really interesting. That's the risk when you want to create fiction when it doesn’t need to. But it is also the fault of an open world far behind a certain Ghost of Tsushima. In the end Rise of the Ronin is an open world game among many others, but with an ultra-dynamic, demanding and very deep gameplay.

In recent years Team Ninja focused on soulslikes, a somewhat niche genre among big-budget games. Rise of the Ronin builds on this previous output, but at the same time opens up to the mass consumer, thanks in part to its open-world structure and lower difficulty level. Although the developers didn't succeed in everything, this attempt can be counted as successful.

Rise of the Ronin is the result of Team Ninja's desire to evolve its pure action-based formula through an open-world structure: at its core, the great strengths remain the same as always, but the paradigm shift has not brought the hoped-for benefits. The combat system is indeed a deep, layered, and accessible amalgamation that delivers excellent sensations, in some ways akin to a fighting game, yet the framework in which it is placed never really manages to serve its purpose. The world-building is classic, the activities are very simplistic, the graphic section and technical execution are absolutely not up to date, while the historical setting is extremely interesting but ends up limiting the scenery and aesthetic design.

Almost nothing in Rise of Ronin is outright bad, but it is Exhibit A in any argument about why action games are not dozens of hours long or why open-world designs do not fit every mold. For all the inspirations the game wears on its sleeve, it never rises above them, and thus feels like a title in search of an identity and desperate for a specific kind of player. It’s sometimes a good time, just not for a long time.

Rise of the Ronin brings the typical game structure of Nioh into a barren open world full of boring fetch quests and repetitive missions. The combat system is once again top notch, but the overall quality of the game certifies a step backward for Team Ninja.

Its combat is fun, its world is worth exploring, and the game itself does a fine job of showing you just (and only just) what it needs to at any given moment. The problem is, it brings very little that's new to the table. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it definitely doesn't match a game that clearly had ambitions to be something greater.

It's not without some flaws, but I finished Rise of the Ronin with much more left to do, and even after 50 hours, I want to head back in to see what I'd missed and attempt to change history. The parts of the game that work more than balance out its weaker elements. And while it took a while to find the rhythm of Rise of the Ronin's combat, its speed, complexity, and intensity make for some phenomenal fights that always feel great to win. Rise of the Ronin is a game that might take a bit to get good, but the commitment is worth it.

Rise of the Ronin marries a cool historical setting, Team Ninja’s mastery of tough-but-fair combat, and some smart RPG design to make a game that is immediately compelling, and even more fun with friends. It’s full of cool little touches, whether it’s throwing something at an enemy with the grappling rope or dropping from your glider onto your horse. Unfortunately, it’s also a game full of map clutter, bloated systems, and a truly absurd amount of junk loot, and the time I spent clearing out everything that didn’t spark joy and dealing with all these non-essential systems made me pine for a leaner, meaner, more focused game. Rise of the Ronin is excellent when it has the courage to be itself and lean into its challenging, rewarding fighting; too often, however, it feels stuck in indecision, torn between what it wants to be and what it feels it’s expected to be, and not even the best samurai can overcome that.

Rise of the Ronin has an excellent parrying system that makes its Soulslike gameplay feel challenging, yet fair compared to its contemporaries.

Rise of the Ronin is a fun game that takes so much inspiration from the best in the genre that it doesn't find its own personality or offer anything new.

Rise of the Ronin is a curious blend of Nioh and other similar titles, offering a fresh take on samurai action in the signature Team Ninja style. Despite its somewhat dated technical and design aspects, its phenomenal fast-paced action and combat system will surely resonate with fans of this genre.

Rise of the Ronin has the same tight combat that we have come to expect from Team Ninja. Unfortunately, the action takes place in an empty, sterile open world that even an incredibly fascinating setting cannot breathe life into.

Rise of the Ronin is a case where more isn't always better. It's got varied and challenging combat, a wealth of content, and a wide variety of mechanics in a story that spans over a decade. But while most of the individual components work, many feel unrefined, and their sheer volume doesn't elevate the experience.

While still an apt Souls-like experience, Rise of the Ronin struggles to find its identity amongst Team Ninja's catalogue. It feels like it's being pulled in different directions, and starts to collapse under its own ambition in the third act. In saying this, the DNA of Nioh and Wo Long is palpable here, and I have no doubt that fans of Team Ninja will enjoy this first foray into open world design despite its shortcomings.

The phenomenal combat system is not enough to rave about Rise of the Ronin. The chaotic storyline, boring open world, clunky gameplay and outdated graphics distract too much from what works well in Team Ninja’s latest game.

Rise of the Ronin is defined by that divide. Its combat system and historical setting give it a strong foundation, with occasional moments that genuinely stand out. At the same time, its formulaic open-world design and weak character development fail to build on those strengths. RPGamers should expect a game that offers rewarding combat and an engaging setting, weighed down by a predictable structure, pacing issues, and an incoherent story.

Direct comparisons don't do Ronin any favours. Its grappling is reminiscent of Sekiro, but the procedure never feels as urgent or dynamic as it does in From's game. Its combat follows rhythms previously explored in the Nioh series and also Wo Long, but it rarely feels any more refined, nor more satisfying... But it is consistently charming. [Issue#397, p.102]

I wanted to love this game, anyone who knows me knows that I love samurai, ninjas, swords and the like, I was just bored by this game sadly. Rise of the the Rōnin doesn’t feel like a game that is worth $70 in my opinion, it is a hodgepodge mix of some of gaming’s biggest trends lately but never amounts to the sum of those parts.

Anyone wanting a semi-RPG, semi-hack and slash, semi-historical epic, semi-action adventure game will probably find something to enjoy here. I was just never able to find that spark within Rise of the Ronin, and am glad that I am finished with it now.

Rise of the Ronin is a competent open-world game that suffers from too much bloat. While there are story pacing problems and too many meaningless interactions, Rise of the Ronin is the best iteration of Nioh’s systems translated into an open-world game.

Much of what you can experience in Rise of the Ronin has been done better elsewhere. Team Ninja picked the wrong edges to smooth off. Rather than go down the Elden Ring road of allowing freedom of exploration and discovery to balance out the challenge of combat, Rise of the Ronin instead takes a step backwards to the era of rigid open-world games that put players on treadmills, and train them to expect rewards when the bell rings. It's a disappointing change of stance from Team Ninja, and one that could leave them open to an unfortunately mortal blow.

In spite of solid combat and fun traversal, Rise of the Ronin is, unfortunately, Team Ninja's most underwhelming game in years.

Rise of the Ronin isn't necessarily an awful game, it's just one that's quite unremarkable. When this project was first unveiled back in 2022, I was ecstatic to see Team Ninja tackle the open-world genre and was curious to see how the studio would bring its own unique ideas to this format. Instead, virtually nothing that Team Ninja has done with Rise of the Ronin is enough to set itself apart from a growing deluge of games in the genre. With so many other titles to choose from in this space, there are far better options that warrant your time and attention.

Rise of Ronin is not a bad game, but a mediocre one. Everything it does, from world building to combat system, story and mechanics both in and out of combat is well made and works. But there's nothing here that hasn't been done better in other games, or that you won't find a better version of elsewhere.

Rise of the Ronin isn't a bad game; it's something debatably worse: completely forgettable. With dated open world design and a monotonous narrative, the cracking combat of a Team Ninja title is left to try and pick up the pieces. It manages to get the title in acceptable shape, and with its Bonds system and culture clash, just about forms an experience one could enjoy. Where it falls apart is the fact the open world is so intrinsically linked to all these features and mechanics that it's impossible to find pleasure in them for any respectable length of time. Rise of the Ronin is designed to attract a wider audience than Team Ninja titles past; what they find might put them off for good.

Rise of the Ronin is a fine open world adventure that never elevates itself to greatness. Fun Team Ninja combat will drag you through, but pointless open world fluff and questionable visuals sadly result in 'just another' open world game.

Rise of the Rōnin's open world is vast and content-rich, but it's a case of quantity over quality that's only partially rescued by the unambitious but technically adequate combat.