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0 Rise of the Ronin is an Action, Adventure, RPG that’s developed and published by KOEI TECMO. Creators of the Atelier series, Dynasty Warriors, Ninja Gaiden and some other titles I’ve had years of playing. There was controversy attached to this title, but it’s mostly due to Sony not releasing the game in South Korea. There’s no official reason provided as to why this was done. But this was only happening for owners of a PS5.
With the experience KOEI TECMO has with making a game that has anything to do with ancient Asian history. On top of the combat experience, thanks to the Ninja Gaiden franchise experience. Heck, they even give people who get the game before April 2nd to get some moves and items from Ninja Gaiden. So, if you see this review and want that bonus, do it quickly.
Be in the shadows. Be with the wind. But, if I find you on the roof, I’m bringing you down with the hook!
Gameplay
We start our story in Japan. The year is 1863, 300 years have passed under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ships coming from foreign lands have docked on their shores from the West. Since they appeared, chaos, diseases, and political turmoil have begun to corrode the country from the inside. Only time will tell how we shape the country throughout our journey.
We play as the Veiled Edge, a team that consists of twins, regardless of their gender. But, before you can go out there and start to change Japan with our ideals, it’s customization time! I spent about a good 30 mins between both warriors and prayed that one doesn’t die. Though I forgot that these two are twins, I made one character look like my partner and myself. After learning everything about fighting and forgetting how to sheath my weapon, I got a mission.
The leader of our village sent us to go kill a certain foreigner on his ship, get a letter and make sure there are no survivors. In the attempt on killing this person, a man known as the Blue Demon appears and kicks our butts. This is the moment where you choose who you’ll play as for the rest of the game…I choose my partner. After escaping with a scratch and my other half is presumed to be dead from that mission.
Weapons
Playing Rise of the Ronin, I really loved the variety of weapons and fighting styles. After choosing the Blade of Origin, I focused on Paired Swords and Bayonets. Yet, let’s not forget the rifles, handguns, bows and flamethrower you can use. With there being about nine weapon choices, and six choices of Blade of Origin to accommodate everyone. Though if you feel like you don’t like the one you picked, you can repair your blade at the longhouse.
Now, some people would be going straight for the story and do side missions later, but not me! I went around the whole region I could access, freeing every town from bandits. Rescuing every cat that I either heard or saw, and even did a lot of side missions before even touching the story. I honestly spent about 25 hours doing everything I could do before working on the main quests. Thinking that Yokohama would be my only location, I’m later taken to Edo and a brand new board to play on.
I feel like the game did a great job with not only all the combat styles, but with the Vendetta system. Just having my enemies marked on the map to where they are to hunt them down for revenge feels so good. There’s even the counterspark and rock-paper-scissor system on fighting against weapons types that I loved oh so much. Now, the camera system is something else I want to touch on, but that’s for the next section to cover.
Graphics and Audio
I played Rise of the Ronin on my PC on the lowest setting possible. The reason for this is, my 3070 could not handle the settings they gave me automatically. Though even on the lowest settings, there were large lag spikes and animation delays. Hopefully, the people who played it on PS5 are having a better time than me during their journey. Yet, there are moments when certain places and buildings will render beautifully and others not so much.
For example, I took a photo of Mount Fuji with the camera of that era and it looks beautiful. Yet, the moment I exit the camera and go to my next target area, my GPU is throttling like a jet engine. With a huge dip in FPS being to the lag. Sometimes it happens in my travels, while others happen literally in a fight with a boss/fugitive character. It either helped me with timing my counterspark, or it gave me the nastiest butt whopping that has me panic heal.
Now, besides the beautiful scenery, the building I entered and either walked around or fought in was immaculate. It honestly had me wanting to get a better GPU and get my fill of their work. Yet, I’m glad that my GPU spared me from letting me hear not only the soundtrack, but the shamisen playing. There is one scene in the story where you’re told to follow the sound of the shamisen, and I just stood still to just listen. I would honestly fall soundly asleep listening to only the shamisen playing.
Longevity
Now, I already confessed to spending 25 hours just going around the map and clearing everything on there. I even got to level 16 after doing everything on there. Even with that in mind, this game does have some longevity and replayability. From the choices you can make, to even the faction you choose to represent in the story that could change the story in a large way. Especially when a certain choice is made in Edo early on that could be different if you choose to let him free.
So, I plan to replay the game as my character and make the opposite choices I did when playing as my partner.
Final Thoughts
Rise of the Ronin was the best breath of fresh air I needed when it comes to feudal Japan and sword fighting. Playing a game where it’s a mix of Dark Souls, For Honor and a splash of Shadow of Mordor. I would be recommending this game to those who love Japan’s history and sword fighting, but just on the PS5. The reason is that this game killed my 3070, and I’ve had to regress to continue playing the game. I would have tested it on the Steam Deck, but I’m not willing to lose that too.
So, play this game on the PS5, but if you don’t have one, you can play it on PC. Just make sure it’s a Super edition or a 4080 just to be safe.
I give Rise of the Ronin the Thumb Culture Gold Award
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
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