After having tried, played and tested it thoroughly, in this review we will analyze the new PS5 exclusive: Rise of the Ronin
A few days have passed since our last review of Rise of the Ronin, Team Ninja's home title releasing tomorrow, Friday 22 March for PS5 exclusively. In these few days we have had the opportunity to delve further into what we had already mentioned in the preview, thus completing an evaluation that we will unravel during the course of this review of Rise of the Ronin. A title that pays attention to substance and does so by taking elements from already well-known and popular games and which tries to introduce some interesting innovations; net of some obvious gaps which cannot be ignored.
Passing for a Haiku… – Rise of the Ronin review
The haiku they are poetic compositions born in Japan in 17th century and represent one of the most popular and, above all, historical forms of poetry and writing in the land of the rising sun. Poems that can be expressed in very few words all their emotional and artistic charge. Rise of the Ronin fails, unlike a good haiku, to express this charge and fails to do so due to a narrative managed in an all too classical manner.
It remains, however, an interesting historical fidelity and an interesting re-presentation of some themes and some scenes that actually happened in which we can find ourselves or not based on the choices which we are going to do in game. The cut-scenes alternate moments of involvement with moments in which they fail to convey the same bite and interest as other productions; thus causing Rise of the Ronin to stagnate from a purely narrative point of view gray and mediocre area.
To the Sound of Katana – Rise of the Ronin Review
As we said at the beginning of the review, Rise of the Ronin is a title that focuses on the point and the point, in this specific case, is the gameplay and even more precisely the combat system. The fulcrum of the title probably (indeed, certainly) lies all here, in the combat phases (many) that we will face during our adventure. This is where Rise of the Ronin shows its best profile and it does so by giving the player the opportunity to greatly personalize the experience in this sense, avoiding, however, getting lost in RPG dynamics that are excessively deep for what the intent of the production is.
From this point of view, the balance of options offered is really excellent. Based on what our style and taste in terms of combat will be, we will be able to refine or not the mastery of some weapons, thus unlocking certain skills.
At the same time, the presence of a statistics tree the branching of which will be chosen exclusively by us players will offer us the opportunity to build a stronger character, more agile by focusing on dexterity, more intelligent or more charismatic by focusing on charm.
Pad in hand, the combat feedback is very positive and everything turns out to be very enjoyable, also considering a certain degree of challenge which will increase the technical level of the fight itself. Furthermore, the possibility of controlling multiple characters during some missions and of switchare fra essi during a fight, it adds further spice to an already very rich system.
In the saddle or… in flight! – Rise of the Ronin review
By now, we have seen many open worlds and above all we have learned to distinguish them based on their characteristics. Rise of the Ronin, clearly, is an open world but which, fundamentally, reduces the exploration rate to a few elements but done very well. The entire movement system is very responsive, as is riding and flying via a special device. Furthermore, the use of the grappling hook is also responsive and, in turn, is limited by some level design choices in some areas, sometimes reducing the areas and situations in which it can be used.
The exploratory component of Rise of the Ronin is clearly aimed at two other factors: on the one hand the combat (already analyzed in the previous paragraph of this review) and on the other the crafting which, in a light and non-invasive way, becomes part of the game and takes up a relevant position among the gameplay mechanics. A crafting that then marries with the (just barely mentioned) GDR component of the diversification of equipment based on a banal but very functional and usable statistic.
Not really a painting… | Rise of the Ronin review
It is not the first time that in a video game we immerse ourselves in feudal Japan or, without going too specifically, in ancient historical Japan. And therefore, all this helps us create a yardstick highlighting the artistic potential of an environment and a context. Let's play our cards open and start immediately by saying that the previous productions of Team Ninja they have never shone for being excellent graphically but, as in this case, they aimed to offer the best of the experience by focusing on something else.
And so, Rise of the Ronin is perfectly in line with this “philosophy”. For our part, however, we cannot fail to consider the unexpressed potential of this title and, above all, nature exclusive of this game. And precisely because we are talking about an exclusive that, we have to highlight the shortcomings from a technical point of view and we have to state how Rise of the Ronin is light years away from other productions of this generation (which in any case has not been shining, up to now, since technical point of view).
There is one to save the technical sector performance mode which in any case ensures 60FPS and which allows you to play fluidly. Even the sound is not memorable, not to mention the Italian dubbing, replaced after a few lines with the Japanese one. A new patch it was released a few hours ago and, presumably, the title will have a patch on day one (we will find out whether it is substantial or not) and therefore we reserve a minimum of doubt for what could be the improvements made in this sense.
Always at the side of my Twin Blade
Here we are at the final bars of this one Rise of the Ronin review, a title that convinced us but not completely. We're talking about a PS5 exclusive and, not to be underestimated, one new Sony IP which, apart from Returnal, in this generation has not yet produced new brands of the caliber of Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn or Days Gone, as happened in the previous generation. Rise of the Ronin has elements very interesting and positive but which, unfortunately, are balanced by some flaws that are impossible to ignore: above all the technical sector.
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Points in favor
- By covering the Combat System
- Well balanced RPG component
- Enjoyable exploration…
- Dynamic storytelling…
Points against
- …sometimes neutered by some Level Design choices
- …but weak in execution
- Technical sector not up to par with this generation