Rise of the Ronin was developed by Team Ninja and came out exclusively for PS5 on March 22, 2024. It is a shame to see this game has struggled to carve its own path. It is currently being overshadowed by the other games that launched on the same day, most specifically Dragon’s Dogma 2. In my opinion, Rise of the Ronin should not be overlooked.

I went into the game thinking it was going to be Team Ninja’s take on Ghost of Tsushima. At least that is what I gleaned from the marketing. I even told myself if it can be half as good as Ghost of Tsushima then I will be content with my purchase. What I did not expect is a game that wears all of its inspirations confidently on its sleeve. While simultaneously still keeping intact what makes Team Ninja special.

Rise of the Ronin Heavily Inspired by Sekiro

The game starts off in a specialized tutorial area that teaches the player basic attacks, dodges, how to block, and how to parry. In this game, the parry is called “counterspark”. We pick out 2 starting weapons and then are off to complete an intro mission and fight the first two bosses. It even follows the same trope as Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro where the first boss of the game is unbeatable. When failing to defeat the first boss in Rise of the Ronin, it triggers an automatic cutscene that continues the story.

This boss is also where the counterspark mechanic is given more reign to shine. Counterspark is similar to the deflection and parry mechanic found in Sekiro. Each enemy has a Ki meter below their health bar and hitting these countersparks (parries) is the best way to dwindle that meter. After fully exhausting the enemy’s Ki meter, it opens them up for a critical blow. These critical blows are also extremely satisfying. Critical blows can also be done via stealth.

On top of just regular attacks, enemies have special “martial skills” attacks. These typically have a wind-up animation and the enemy glows red to indicate the attack is imminent. These “martial skills” can be parried but the timing is tricky. The game acknowledges these attacks are more tricky to parry and advises the player that dodging can be more effective.

Skill Trees and Combat Stances

Rise of the Ronin has layers that even I did not expect. The skill tree offers more ways to approach combat, not just minor stat upgrades. One of the first skills I learned was being able to jump off enemies and also use a counterspark while jumping. This skill became useful right away as enemies with spears are abundant in the first section of the open world, and their main form of attack is a basic charge.

Another layer I did not expect is each weapon having different combat styles to unlock. These combat styles are essentially different stances. The different stances are important to keep in mind during combat because enemies will be either weak, resistant, or neutral to a given stance. These are indicated by the arrows next to the enemy’s health bar. If the enemy has blue arrows it means the stance is effective against them, red arrows mean the stance is resistant, and white symbolizes neutral resistance.

Rise of the Ronin Open World Features

Now on to the least interesting aspect of Rise of the Ronin, the open world. In my short stint with the game, the open world is checklist-driven. There are enemy encampments to defeat which unlock small towns and a fast travel point, towers to climb which also serve as fast travel points, and of course, collectibles and treasures to find.

The most unique open-world activity I’ve done so far is defeating fugitives. These fugitives are special enemies in the world and upon defeating them, we are treated to new combat styles to tinker with. They may even have special parameters to face them, for example, one of the fugitives early on will only spawn at night.

Rise of the Ronin Graphics and Performance

Now the contention surrounding Rise of the Ronin. The graphics and presentation. The main thing I see being thrown around is that this game looks like a PS3-era game. I personally think it looks more like a PS4/Xbox One-era game, but graphics are not a hill that I personally die on. As long as the game feels responsive that is what matters the most. Higher frame rates are always a plus though.

There are 3 different graphical options in the game. performance, fidelity, and raytracing. The fidelity and ray tracing modes do offer an unlocked frame rate toggle. Since Rise of the Ronin is combat and gameplay-focused, it begs for 60FPS. Fortunately, the performance mode offers 60 frames most of the time. It is a more stable frame rate compared to the other two options in my experience. So if you want the most consistency I recommend the performance option.

Gameplay Over Narrative

The story so far is kind of lackluster, but the gameplay is king here. It is fast and frenetic. There’s no reliance on dodge roll invincibility frames like most soulslike games either. The game even offers different play styles with stealth mechanics and ranged weapons like bows and guns to mix up the action. Some missions can even be played in co-op but I have yet to try that out. Also, after taking a glance at the trophy guide on powerpyx.com the platinum is very attainable. I’m still quite early in Rise of the Ronin but the game has exceeded my expectations so far.

Author: Subeg Dhaliwal

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