Rise of the Ronin takes place in 19th century Japan, where citizens find themselves in struggles with foreign influence and the changing landscape of the world. The Shogunate has ruled over Japan for over three centuries, but the Black Ships of the West threw everything into chaos. One samurai must navigate a political minefield between warring factions who have different views of Japan’s future.
Upon starting Rise of the Ronin, the influence of Ghost of Tsushima will stand out to anyone familiar, and not just because of the setting. Similarities exist within the combat, the open-world nature, conflicts between opposing groups, and more. Rise of the Ronin can be as deep as people want. Fans who love a challenge in combat and many different options and techniques, will find a lot to like here. Gamers who love to button mash might have difficulty with certain aspects of this game. Boss fights and situations require precise timing, especially on the harder difficulty modes. Simply walking into battle wildly swinging a sword can lose the fight.
A Samurai Can Wield Many Weapons
Rise of the Ronin features many different weapons, allowing for unique challenges in battle. Some weapons include the saber, bayonet, katana, bow and arrow. Combat falls into the in-your-face melee variety. However, secondary weapons will also allow players to keep their distance in a pinch. Ranged weapons have limited ammunition, so while fighting from a distance can be helpful, players must get good at melee combat to make it through the game.
Rise of the Ronin also features different combat styles. A bayonet, for example, won’t have the same options as a katana. Each weapon has at least a few different options to choose from, and players can upgrade the different weapons and styles by utilizing them in battle. Each style also comes with its own martial skills button combos that can help players in battle, so it becomes essential to experiment with what works best and then hone in on upgrading that skill set.
Forge Your Armor On The Battlefield
In addition to upgrading weapons, other items will also require some attention. Warriors will have different pieces of armor that will become more powerful as the game progresses. For example, the armor that covers a player’s body initially has a defense level of 20. By the time the story reached its conclusion, my character’s body armor had a defense level of 459.
Throughout the game, different types of armor and upgrades will become available, each with unique benefits, such as increasing aiming speed or gaining more money from fallen enemies. Players can add different pieces of armor for their head, body, arms, and legs, so be sure to keep up to date and switch out equipment when more powerful items arrive in the inventory.
The world that Team Ninja has given us in Rise of the Ronin features many different missions and objectives to complete. This, of course, includes the main storyline missions that will advance the story as well as branching paths. At times, the player must make a decision and live with the consequences. Players can also click in the right stick to see what choice other gamers have selected.
Explore Japan With A Series of Quests
In addition to the main quest, Bond missions will also dot the landscape. Bond missions allow a character to establish and strengthen bonds with different people. By increasing your bonds, players’ influence can also rise. A player’s character can have a bond with a single individual, a faction, or even an entire area, and how much of a bond will depend on your actions.
“Grass Roots” missions can be more of the side mission variety, such as the one where a farmer lied to me about getting robbed to get a group of criminals eliminated. In addition, other objectives become available over time, such as “Scenes of Interest” for those who still want more content. These can involve taking pictures of specific areas, disposing of the remnants of a clan, tracking down some crabs, and more. With all of this available, players can also look at a mission list to see the missions currently in progress, which will help to keep everything straight.
Keeping with the role-playing game mechanic, Rise of the Ronin also features several skill trees. The game features five skill trees, with only four initially available. These four include strength, charm, dexterity, and intellect. The strength tree features the ability to weaken an enemy’s morale, gain the intimidate option in some conversations, gain the ability to repel arrows and bullets, and more.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Intellect tree allows the player to craft medicine, add the “persuade” option to some conversations, the ability to barter for equipment so items don’t cost as much, and much more. Players must decide the best path and determine how their upgrade path should progress. I focused on strength, dexterity, and intellect during this review playthrough. Whenever possible, my character would be stealthy and immediately assassinate enemies. For those times when face-to-face melee combat becomes unavoidable, having some of those characteristics from the strength tree turned out to be very beneficial.
Customization Suite Gives Players Control
Rise of the Ronin also features character creation for those who like to be creative. The standard options include changing a character’s face, body, facial hair, voice, and gender. An interesting twist the team at Team Ninja included also involves the use of character creation codes. This allows people to share their creations with others and even view rankings for different characters. This adds a nice little twist to the character creation idea for fans and one everyone should enjoy.
In addition to the missions, skill trees, and combat styles, a warrior also needs a place to rest. This takes the form of a Longhouse in Rise of the Ronin. Players will have the ability to “remodel” their house by displaying a weapon, hanging a scroll on the wall, displaying some accessories, and a suit of armor. Characters met throughout the game will also stop by a player’s house from time to time. When that happens players have an opportunity to talk with them and even deepen bonds and relationships.
Team Up With Another Samurai On Missions
Players can put out a call for cooperation. This allows other players to complete missions alongside your character to earn rewards. Remember that the mission level will depend on the strength of each party member. Utilizing this co-op feature has advantages, such as reducing the number of Karma points lost if defeated during a mission. Players can also look at the “Testament of the Soul” in their longhouse, which will show how to replay parts of the story and retry missions.
The crew over at Team Ninja has delivered a fun experience with Rise of the Ronin. It does have a few issues, however. For starters, some missions have a real balance problem. A particular mission featuring a tournament has a big difficulty spike during the last round that will catch some gamers off guard. This sudden spike might turn-off some people. On the upside, it forces everyone to improve at the game. Still, the frustration level might chase some people away.
A Narrative That Can Be A Bit Confusing
The world in Rise of the Ronin features beautiful landscapes. Having gone through and completed Ghost of Tsushima, Rise of the Ronin doesn’t quite reach those heights. The main story also feels convoluted. Groups pop up and disappear at a fairly brisk pace in the game and some gamers will have problems keeping up with the events and what characters belong to what party.
Fans of open-world games with a historical slant will love Rise of the Ronin. The number of missions available will keep fans busy for a little while. Outside of those missions, a beautiful world awaits everyone to explore. Take a cinematic picture of a bridge, pet a pilgrim dog, or help random citizens who need assistance. Despite some of the shortcomings mentioned above, Rise of the Ronin gives fans a fun look at 19th-century Japan.
Rating: 8/10 Specs
Rise of the Ronin is available for download beginning March 22.
Please Note: Sony provided Wealth of Geeks with a code for Rise of the Ronin on the PlayStation 5 for review purposes.
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