Rise of the Ronin Reviews
Team Ninja's ambitious open-world action RPG is one of the best games about the Bakumatsu era ever, but its repetitive, uninspired open-world activities bog down what is an otherwise captivating experience.
Rise of the Ronin shows exactly what that money buys. From the awkward horse animation to the silent protagonist, in every cutscene fading out to a loading screen instead of dynamically swinging back behind the protagonist, in the constant tooltip tutorials and the entirely unmotivated progression systems with no contextualisation in the world.
In spite of solid combat and fun traversal, Rise of the Ronin is, unfortunately, Team Ninja's most underwhelming game in years.
While Rise of the Ronin suffers from outdated and unattractive graphics, the story and gameplay more than make up for it with a wealth of varied and interesting content available paired with good storytelling that keeps players engaged and wanting to know more. Fans of Team Ninja may be disappointed from the step down in combat quality, but nonetheless it is an enjoyable title that we can recommend at full price.
Rise of the Ronin is undoubtedly Team Ninja's most ambitious, detailed and mature work to date. With its rich maps, compelling storyline and exhilarating combat, it creates an unforgettable tale of the Bakumatsu period. As Team Ninja explores new design concepts, this is definitely a title not to be missed by Team Ninja fans.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Rise of the Ronin was the near-perfect samurai/ronin open-world RPG that I have been starving for, and offers players a lot of choice in their playstyle.
Rise of the Ronin brings the typical game structure of Nioh into a barren open world full of boring fetch quests and repetitive missions. The combat system is once again top notch, but the overall quality of the game certifies a step backward for Team Ninja.
Review in Italian | Read full review
An ambitious open-world action-RPG with fast-paced combat, choice-based storytelling and a variety of gameplay systems that keep the experience fresh.
The companion system adds meaningful decisions and choices and attempts to add depth to every character in the game. The diverse set of weapons and tools at your disposal always keep combat fresh and engaging. And the game's evocative setting and its colourful cast of characters always push you forward into the story. Rise of the Ronin is clearly lifting above and beyond its weight-class, and you can see it wobbling at the knees. But to its credit, it never crumbles under that load.
Team Ninja once again shows its quality by further improving an excellent combat system and adapting this to an open-world game. Masterfully representing Japan in one of its most troubled periods, in addition to delivering a complete package of quality, Rise of the Ronin only fails in technical aspects and in some design decisions that can compromise in the end.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
In feudal times, ronin was a samurai without a master. Being your own master is the feeling delivered by Team Ninja's newest title Rise of the Ronin. Freely roaming huge open world districts with trusty horse companion, gliding throughout architecturally stunning cities of 19th century Japan, switching around diverse combat stances, making bonds with true friend and have epic duels against mighty foes. Moreover this grounded adventure from Bakumatsu period sprinkled with various creative liberties let's you experience Japan's grand opening to the world.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Rise of the Rōnin is a very solid game though it still suffers from open-wrld-fatigue and a feel of repitition after spending enough time with it. Still, the Bond feature and the ability to alter the course of the story are a very welcomed additions to this type of game.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Team Ninja's open-world experiment with Rise of the Ronin leaves a bittersweet taste, but the studio's inexperience in that journey is understandable. In short, the delivery is far from what this type of game is today and its great exponents; However, the Japanese studio manages to get away with its polished combat system delivering impressive duels on several occasions. As I warned, the niche is here for the duels and, in that sense, you won't be disappointed; Apart from that, there are several forgettable elements, but it is a fact that the 2 incentives that I considered during my experience: the development of the story and its combat proposal, are enough to give it a chance.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It’s safe to say that Rise of the Ronin is perhaps Koei Tecmo’s largest and most ambitious game yet. There’s tens of hours of fun to be had here, living out your fantasy life as a Ronin. Who you ally yourself with and how you develop your character is up to you, and with so many options, you could have a very different experience compared to a friend who is also playing. It’s just a shame that its open world areas aren’t a little more interesting; it ends up diluting the experience on the whole. Still, whether you love open world games, action RPGs or simply like the idea of being a samurai, Rise of the Ronin is worthy of your attention.
Rise of the Ronin provided the best encounters and combat system Team Ninja ever provided in a recent memory, but it's open world is devoid of life or points of interest
Review in Arabic | Read full review
A successful attempt by Team Ninja to make a game in an open world. Even though there is little innovation here, it is not boring to follow the story (and influence it) and fight in fierce battles for dozens of hours.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Rise of the Ronin is a case where more isn't always better. It's got varied and challenging combat, a wealth of content, and a wide variety of mechanics in a story that spans over a decade. But while most of the individual components work, many feel unrefined, and their sheer volume doesn't elevate the experience.
Rise of the Ronin really demands that you give it a fair go. It starts off slow and takes a while to get running. Once it does, it's quite fun, with engaging and exciting combat that feels more demanding and intense than I'm used to from an open-world game. It's a big investment up front to find out if the game works for you, and enjoying previous Team Ninja games doesn't necessarily guarantee that you will.
While it is an open world game and therefore part of a tired and tiring genre, Rise of the Ronin makes it worth sticking with, thanks to incredibly strong historical fiction storytelling. With any luck, it will inspire some people to learn the more factual side of the era and, hopefully from there, come to a better understanding about where modern Japan came from. Despite being relatively recent, the Boshin War is a relatively under-utilised period of Japanese history, and Rise of the Ronin acts as a good introduction to it. Like with any historical fiction, the emphasis is firmly on the “fiction” side of things, but Koei has done a superb job of depicting the dynamics, tensions, conflicts and personalities of the era, making it as good an introduction to the era as any.
