Rise of the Ronin Reviews
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 created a huge open world of historical Japan in Rise of Ronin, and the result is an excellent samurai GTA.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Rise of the Ronin is one of those games that is filled with many strengths and weaknesses. Combat is extremely engaging and fun, but on the other hand, its world is too shallow, story is disappointing and visuals are outdated. You can enjoy it, but keep your expectations low.
Review in Persian | Read full review
While Team Ninja's first open-world game felt dated and same as other open-world games in some ways, incredibly successful gameplay, which the team has now mastered, and the fun-to-follow script and characters made me overlook these shortcomings.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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
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 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
Rise of the Ronin, in its entirety, is a Jack of all trades and master of none. It is a sampler platter of many design ideas stitched together, held in place with a captivating story and likable characters. If you are a fan of Team Ninja’s unique blend of combat and/or the time period this game takes place, then you are in for a treat. Just know that combat won’t be forgiving and you probably won’t like all the busy work. But barring all that, it is worth a couple of playthroughs just to see where the story possibilities go even if you can’t change history in the way you would’ve liked.
Rise of the Ronin is a great action-packed open-world experience that starts very strong but as time goes on, it definitely starts to become repetitious; mostly due to its lack of variety and memorable boss fights. It's still generally a lot of fun, though. 🏯
Rise of the Ronin's transition to Steam broadens its audience, delivering a compelling samurai narrative intertwined with fluid combat and rich historical context.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
So, is it worth playing Rise of the Ronin? I think so. Especially if you enjoy clearing a map filled with scattered markers. There’s a good chance the game might wear you out before you finish it, but you can always come back to it after a break to check off a few more collectibles. Personally, I’m looking forward to a sequel because it’s a pretty solid foundation that Team Ninja could expand on.
Review in Polish | Read full review
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
No matter how fun the gameplay is, that doesn’t matter if the game doesn’t consistently work, and I don’t think anyone could realistically say that Rise of the Ronin works as it should on PC.
Ultimately, Rise of the Ronin is a good game, but it falls short of its potential. For fans of samurai and feudal Japan, there's a lot to enjoy, but those expecting a revolutionary action RPG in the Souls-like vein may end up disappointed. Its combat is satisfying, and combined with an interesting story and a good setting, it may be enough to keep players hooked, but don't expect any major innovations, and be prepared to face terrible technical issues.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Rise of the Ronin is, from many perspectives, Koei Tecmo's most ambitious adventure and its arrival on PC should be celebrated for providing even more enthusiasts of the theme and fans of the studio with access to it.However, between mistakes and successes in the adaptation, here we have yet another proof that PC ports require a lot of attention during their creation. Therefore, it is difficult to recommend this version more widely until its most serious problems are solved and the performance is within expectations for different hardware configurations, both above and below average. Until then, we hope that, one day, the adventure of the nameless warrior can in fact be experienced in all its glory on computers as well.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review