Rise of the Ronin Review

It’s not hard to see Rise of the Ronin’s predecessors in it. Nioh’s launch in February 2017 marked a turning point for the acclaimed action developer Team Ninja, as it began backing away from the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises in favor of loot-heavy Soulslikes. The studio’s signature precision combat never left, but it took on a new form that not all of its old fans stuck around for. Since then, Team Ninja’s primary focus has been making tough-as-nails action-RPGs that emphasize replay value, and those traditions are alive and well in Rise of the Ronin. However, describing RotR as another Team Ninja Soulslike doesn't tell its full story.

Rise of the Ronin brings back many of the looter and Soulslike elements shared between Nioh, Nioh 2, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, while packing a game's worth of new systems on top of them. In addition to stealth and open-world traversal elements, Rise of the Ronin emphasizes meaningful bonds and decisions that carry gameplay and narrative weight. Weaving roleplaying and action together allows Rise of the Ronin to simultaneously be to Nioh what Elden Ring was to Dark Souls, while also expanding its identity beyond what a Souls game would allow.

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Classic Assassin's Creed Fans Should Keep An Eye on Rise of the Ronin

The latest State of Play trailer for Rise of the Ronin showcases some features that are very similar to classic Assassin's Creed titles.

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By Josh Cotts

Building A Samurai's Story In Rise of the Ronin

The core premise of Rise of the Ronin resembles Nioh 2 and Wo Long, but with a twist. A lone warrior enters a real-life historical conflict in all three games, this time with the player's custom Ronin looking for their missing Blade Twin after a mission goes wrong. Unlike Nioh and Wo Long, however, the depiction of the Boshin War in late 1860's Japan is done without a supernatural slant. Battle animations, cutscenes, and rare enemies like 8-foot tall bruisers wielding giant claws still carry Team Ninja’s audacious footprint, but Nioh’s roster of spirit animals and mythological demons are sitting this game out.

Another holdover from those titles is Rise of the Ronin's character creator, and it's just as robust. Comparisons to Dragon's Dogma 2’s character creator are inevitable given they're both launching on the same day, and while RotR’s can't match that, it does its job. Both Blade Twins are available like DD2's Arisen and Main Pawn, so players can go wild with themed pairings if they wish. Vibrant colors, stylized makeup, and multiple hair components should pave the way for designs worth sharing through RotR’s online features. Paltry voice options are the only outright failing, and were a necessary compromise so the Ronin and their Twin could speak in cutscenes.

While the player character’s overarching plot is somewhat predictable, Rise of the Ronin’s pro- and anti-Shogunate faction system is the main source of intrigue. Specific allies and their associated Bond Missions hold some sway, but the onus is on the player to choose how pivotal moments play out, changing the allies and enemies encountered. Amusingly, for how much its gameplay resembles Nioh or Wo Long, RotR’s structure and factions are closest to the Way of the Samurai franchise. Similar to those cult classic action-RPGs, two Rise of the Ronin players can find just as many differences in their adventures as their fighting styles.

Rules of Rise of the Ronin's Engagement

Speaking of fighting, that’s what players will spend most of Rise of the Ronin doing. It will feel familiar to long-time Team Ninja fans with lots of primary and secondary weapon types to find, but there have been several changes to keep things fresh. Chief among them is the grappling rope, playing out like Devil May Cry’s combat-oriented Snatch despite resembling Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s traversal-minded grappling hook. Not only that, but there are unlockable skills to add grappling to stealth kills, swimming, and other niche areas. Rise of the Ronin's grappling rope maximizes its potential, ensuring it’s just as fun keeping a long gliding session up as it is yanking an enemy onto, or off of, a rooftop.

Returning players will notice that many aspects of combat have been streamlined. Although some button combinations and Ki/stamina gauges are still present, it’s easier to keep track of them than in past Team Ninja games. Defensive play is encouraged, and a couple successful Counterspark parries can tip the Ki economy in the player's favor. Countersparks may take some getting used to due to becoming an attack if performed late, but chaining several for longer enemy stuns feels great once players have the timing down. Despite having an equivalent to Nioh’s gameplay-defining Ki Pulse, RotR doesn't let that dominate combat either. Balancing this generosity is enemy martial skills, which become omnipresent upon encountering Matthew Perry in RotR's prologue. These unblockable attacks must be precisely parried or avoided, and their variety means players can never get too complacent.

This reviewer played Rise of the Ronin on the "Dusk" normal mode, although other difficulties can be switched to at any time. The Dawn "easy" mode has extra modifiers for those who need them, while Team Ninja veterans may want to start on Twilight mode instead.

The result is neither easy nor simple, but Rise of the Ronin is still the best entry-level game in Team Ninja’s normally-brutal catalog. Its three-part prologue teaches players what they need to know about combat and stealth, and ends with a trial by fire that demonstrates through enemy actions how players should be using their tools. This is promptly undercut by hours of mechanics and tooltips being dumped on the player in its open world, but Rise of the Ronin has a willingness to meet players at their level that is uncharacteristic of Team Ninja’s work.

Rise of the Ronin Does A Bit of Everything

And that’s all without mentioning the strongest tool in players’ arsenal. Switching to allied characters is a near-instant action when available, and defeated players will automatically take over living allies with a chance to heal their downed bodies. Competent ally AI and the option to substitute in human players could be seen as giving Rise of the Ronin too many "easy mode" features, but there are fewer direct ways to accept friendly aid. Off the battlefield, players can unlock new attacks, and entire combat styles, by deepening NPC bonds. Restrictions and greater difficulties exist for those that want them, but Rise of the Ronin is intent on making players care about its supporting cast one way or another.

With RPG elements in mind, the elephant in the room needs to be addressed. Rise of the Ronin is still fundamentally a Nioh successor, and that means Nioh's loot is back. Love it or hate it, this is the part of the game that’s changed the least. Enemy corpses now display a glowing aura tied to the highest-rarity item they’ve dropped, which looks nicer than past games’ clutter even though it obscures what players pick up. Rise of the Ronin thankfully inherits all the automated equipment sorting, selling, upgrading, and dismantling functions Team Ninja also built up, but nothing here will win over the system’s old critics.

That abundance of features holds just as true for Rise of the Ronin’s accessibility options as it does for any other menu. Sporting multiple manual save slots on top of an autosave is especially notable, as it drives a hard wedge between RotR and its Soulslike roots. Unfortunately, the cost of so many settings is the menus becoming a mess. Both sets of triggers on the DualSense operate different levels of the pause menu, and certain submenus are even tied to L3 and R3. Checking tooltips and details about RotR’s interesting mixture of real history and fiction in its Encyclopedia tab mercifully lacks a learning curve, but when even that starts getting bloated, it's clear that something could be done better.

Rise of the Ronin Is A Real Ronin’s Adventure

At least it's more fun to get lost in Rise of the Ronin’s open world than it is in the game’s menus. Any thoughts of Rise of the Ronin being a discount Ghost of Tsushima are quickly put to rest as its gritty-yet-quirky tone quickly becomes evident. Whether on foot, horseback, or glider, wandering players can find treasure, stray cats, minigames, settlements overtaken by bandits, and more. Opportunities for role-playing are abundant, with players able to commit crimes to raise their wanted level, or bond with an area to gain special items and have collectibles marked on their map. All the while, the player's Ronin will accrue Skill Points and other resources to invest back into all of this gameplay. For Team Ninja’s first attempt at an open-world game, Rise of the Ronin is impressive.

The game’s presentation is also impressive, even if it comes with some caveats. The Best War Games’s review was conducted before the day-one patch, so some polish was missing, but Rise of the Ronin still exhibits a strong and vibrant art style. Many areas are framed well, drawing the player’s eyes towards destinations or the best camera angle to line up in RotR’s photo mode. The game typically runs smoothly in framerate mode, albeit with a noticeable drop in model quality and render distance. Graphics mode or ray tracing may be worth turning on to truly soak in the open world, but only with the FPS limiter off as well. Rise of the Ronin's soundscape is more consistently high-quality, with period-appropriate music, sometimes punctuated by ambiance, setting the mood. Heavy use of accents may drive some away from the English voice track, but it’s usually tolerable.

Despite some rough patches, it's easy to forgive Rise of the Ronin after how far it's come from its predecessors. It retains many loot-heavy Soulslike traits, but redefines itself as an action-RPG that cares for its world, characters, and player-driven narrative. Whether a Ronin finds themselves perfecting an overpowered build straight out of Nioh 2, giving gifts to raise NPCs’ affections, sniping at an enemy base from their glider, or catching cheaters in a betting game, there's rarely a dull moment. Team Ninja has proven that it can do more than just iterate on Nioh, and fans who get invested in Rise of the Ronin should find plenty to enjoy.

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