Rise of the Ronin Reviews
Rise of the Ronin is therefore a very strong first game in a new IP. It's the Assassin's Creed in Japan that we've been looking for for years. It manages to create an epic story where choices really matter. The gameplay is deep and manages to find a nice balance in terms of difficulty and challenge. The game is extremely ambitious with sixty hours for the story and packed with various options, but this does come with a few downsides. Graphically, the game is less strong and exploring the many extra assignments and missions feels very repetitive. The many bosses and characters are similar and lack creativity. The three regions are not different enough, but the game still manages to keep you interested for sixty hours. It manages to tempt you into another mission every time. I can't wait to dive back into the game and see what I missed because of my many choices.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Rise of the Rōnin is a great action RPG with an intense combat mechanic, a strong and captivating story line and a huge and diverse open world. The weak spot is the balancing. Because despite there being three difficulty levels, some missions and especially some boss fights are too hard, even on the mid and the lowest difficulty setting.
Review in German | Read full review
Rise of the Ronin has an excellent combat system and a somewhat dark narrative but the game's dull world and mediocre quest design take away from the best mechanics on offer here. It all starts to blend together into a mindless sandbox game that offers little excitement.
Rise of Ronin is a mindblowing action-adventure open-world RPG set at the end of the Shogun Era. While the game may have soul-like elements, not the difficulty, allowing more people to enjoy the game. Inspired by many mechanics from Nioh titles, the game boasts to have a compelling story with the freedom of shaping your future under your control. Rise of Ronin also excels with fluid combat and amazing sights but slightly lacks in matching the current generation graphics.
Rise of the Ronin takes you to an exciting time in Japanese history. However, that says it all. Rise of the Ronin borrows many elements from well-known games such as Assassin's Creed and Nioh. The combat can be relatively frustrating due to the different styles you have to learn. There is also a lot to experience in the open world, but it is not always beautiful or challenging. Rise of the Ronin is therefore primarily a game where you can enjoy yourself for a short time.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
"Rise of the Ronin treads too closely with games we have already experienced."
While it does have an interesting and dynamic narrative premise, Rise of the Ronin fails to deliver a story worthy of awards or great praise. However, its combat stands out for its depth and for being fun, once again showcasing where Team Ninja truly excels.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
While Rise of the Ronin looks a little out-of-date as a PS5 exclusive, its robust choose-your-own-adventure system and Team Ninja's best and fairest combat system to date make it a worthy addition to the PS5's exclusives catalogue.
Rise Of The Ronin is Team Ninja's best title to date, perhaps on par with Nioh 2. It's not the most revolutionary title, but the developer continues to shape the Souls-like genre into their own distinctive style and that continues with this latest game. If you're looking for a meaty historical open-world game that's not too difficult but still provides a bit of a challenge, Rise Of The Ronin is that game.
Rise of the Ronin's exhilarating combat, accessibility and open world will appeal to Team Ninja fans and newcomers to the Soulslike genre, even if it's more safe than innovative.
Rise of the Rōnin is a fascinating game. It makes up for its lack of polish with a considerable amount of charm. And this charm makes me like the game more than many other polished but soulless AAA games. Yes, the graphics are dated, the mission design is repetitive and the enemies are dumb as dirt. But the combat system and traveling through the open world are so much fun that these criticisms pale into insignificance. When I switch off my brain and enjoy the excellent action, time flies by with the game. Rise of the Rōnin may not be flawless, but it offers a damn fun and captivating gaming experience that no fan of samurai and Japan should miss out on.
Review in German | Read full review
Providing Team Ninja iron out some of the creases in a post-launch patch, this could still be seen as a retainer—possibly a worthy companion piece to anybody hooked on the Shogun miniseries.
Accessible, fun, and full of ambition, Rise of the Ronin will have you hooked on its combat no matter what type of player you are - with an exciting story of engaging characters being bloodied icing on the cake. Sure, some of its RPG systems won’t be for everyone, but Team Ninja’s first open-world effort is almost everything you could want from an action-packed samurai game set in Japan.