Rise of The Ronin is an action RPG by Team NINJA set in Edo Period Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Rise of The Ronin Review Overview
What is Rise of The Ronin?
Rise of The Ronin is an action RPG with a hint of soulslike action sprinkled throughout its low-fantasy historical setting. Taking place at some point during the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan’s Edo Period, you take control of a nameless warrior from a secretive group of freedom fighters as they cut a swathe through cronies and foreigners alike.
Rise of The Ronin features:
⚫︎ Vast open-world experience with plenty of areas to explore
⚫︎ Fast-paced combat focusing on stealth and action
⚫︎ Detailed character creation
⚫︎ Wide selection of classes, weapons, armor, skills, and martial arts
⚫︎ Challenging but fair soulsike experience
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Rise of The Ronin's gameplay and story.
 PSN |
$69.99 |
Rise of The Ronin Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Fun and Detailed Combat System Character Creation is a Blast Challenging But Fair Stunning Graphics, Great Aesthetics |
Buggy Open-world Traversal NPCs Aren’t That Compelling |
Rise of The Ronin Overall - 80/100
Rise of The Ronin is a good enough addition to the ever-increasing ranks of soulslike games. While blessed with a fun back-and-forth style combat loop that emphasizes parries and routes a la Sekiro, its open-world layer feels more like a checklist than an actual exploration. A similar give-and-take scenario is present in all the game’s facets, leaving it a slightly imperfect, but good enough successor to Team NINJA’s other games. At the end of the day, it’s samurai with guns. What’s not to love?
Rise of The Ronin Story - 8/10
Rise of The Ronin’s story and setting are odd ducks among soulslikes, eschewing the high-fantasy lore and heroic ages of From Software’s eponymous game series for the stylized historical beats of Japan’s late Edo Period. There are plenty of namedrops and key historical events to go around, and I am a fan of them. It’s well-made, simple, and perhaps a little predictable, but most of all, it proves that reality is sometimes more fun than fiction.
Rise of The Ronin Gameplay - 8/10
Rise of The Ronin’s gameplay is a tightly woven web of smooth-as-butter mechanics that mesh together into a fun and admittedly satisfying dance of swords and firearms. High-stakes swordplay shares the limelight with careful stealth takedowns and tactical ranged combat—a trio that shakes up the tried and true soulslike formula well enough. Its open-world mechanics fall flat with wonky traversal and a lack of organic exploration, but it’s not enough to sink an otherwise fun loop.
Rise of The Ronin Visuals - 8/10
Rise of The Ronin's graphics and art direction are the real deal, combining hyperrealistic-quality graphics with the uniquely antique stylings of late Edo Period Japan. The muted colors born from the game's far less fantastical setting might not be everyone's favorite but I sure am a fan.
Rise of The Ronin Audio - 9/10
Rise of The Ronin’s voice-acting, musical score, and sound design are all exactly the quality you’d expect from a veteran soulslike studio like Team NINJA. All three facets of the game’s audio contribute greatly to its action and story, providing an auditory background that’s both heartfelt and heart-pounding.
Rise of The Ronin Value for Money - 7/10
$70 is a tall ask for most gamers, even for a game of this quality. Forking over all that cash might be a problem for most, especially when the fan-favorite and undoubtedly superior Elden Ring is a whole $10 cheaper on average. Don’t get me wrong, this game is worth its price, but only barely, whereas other soulslikes are worth far more than what their price tags would suggest.
Rise of The Ronin Review: Blood, Blades, and Boomsticks
Here’s a little-known fact about warfare during the Edo Period—or well-known if you’re a historical trivia nerd like me—guns were pretty commonplace and used by a lot of warriors among the shogun’s ranks. It’s highly unlikely that higher-ranked samurai actually used these primitive firearms for anything other than decoration or sport, but the riff-raff certainly loved the sheer stopping power of a boomstick.
Why am I going off about guns and samurai? Well, that’s because Rise of The Ronin has both of those in spades, of course! I am an absolute fan of your character’s diverse arsenal in this game, but I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s more to this game than guns and samurai, though I won’t blame you if you were already sold to just those two. Let’s go through everything that makes Rise of The Ronin tick, THEN we can gush about how cool its entire premise is.
Let’s start with Rise of The Ronin’s most prominent feature: its gameplay. Rise of The Ronin is a soulsike. That much is clear from the get-go, and the game wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. This isn’t Team NINJA’s first attempt at a Japan-themed soulslike either, as two of their prior games (Nioh and Nioh 2) pretty much set the scene for Rise of The Ronin.
Rise of The Ronin’s combat is a lot more simplified when you compare it to Team NINJA’s other games, though it’s still complex enough to carry the studio’s signature. Instead of relying on stances and directional combat to give the game a skill aspect, Rise of The Ronin employs combat styles in a rock-paper-scissors-type system where one performs better against another in a closed cycle. Each style also has its own set of special attacks, each with its own unique benefits, like dealing extra damage against enemies that are blocking. Finding the right combat style against an enemy is key to winning, as is parrying.
Hitting the triangle button at the right time delivers a Counterspark, which is this game’s version of a parry mechanic. This will stagger most mundane enemies, giving you an opening to strike back or even execute them. This works on ranged attacks too, allowing you to ricochet bullets, arrows, and thrown blades back at the enemy with the added benefit of lighting your sword on fire. Herein lies the back-and-forth aspect of every fight, where you and your enemy take turns whacking each other with weapons until someone gives. Oddly enough, that’s not your only way to take enemies down in this game.
Stealth is as valid an option as combat in Rise of The Ronin. You can do a lot of Assassin’s Creed-style moves in this game to pick off enemies one by one before closing in with your blades. Heck, go full Sniper Elite and take them all out from a distance. You do have a gun, after all. The option to approach any combat from different angles plays well into the game’s open-world aspect, as not all enemy outposts are made equal and could require different strategies to overcome. Unfortunately, this concludes the game’s strong points when it comes to its open world.
I’d say that you have plenty of space to explore, but using the term "explore" might lead you to think that you discover things on your own when, in fact, things are listed out for you in the most boring way possible. I’m all about quality of life, but making a checklist of things to discover takes away the joy of exploration and, in my opinion, the entire point of having an open world in the first place.
In terms of narrative, Rise of Ronin opted for a more grounded setting and story, going through stylized retellings of real-life events that occurred during Japan’s late Edo Period. I won’t spoil anything here, so you can enjoy it by yourself, but don’t expect anything to the effect of Dark Souls. Apart from the low-fantasy setting, the stakes aren’t really that high, and we more or less know how it ends, at least from a historical point of view. I’m still a fan, though, and the oddly realistic setting actually gives the game its own identity in a sea of ancient and forgotten worlds with esoteric lore.
Audio-wise, this game gleams like a well-maintained blade. The clangs and clashes of the swordplay sound heavenly and sufficiently hefty for their speed. The music tugs at my heartstrings while keeping my blood pumping for another showdown at sunrise. The voice acting is pretty darn good and is supplemented by okay writing. I didn’t expect audio to be this game’s strong suit, but here we are.
Overall, I think this game is a good enough addition to the soulslike genre. It doesn’t really hit anything out of the park and is a runt compared to the genre’s biggest titles, but it does well enough if we’re not comparing it to the unfair standards of From Software’s masterpiece. At the end of the day, it’s swords, guns, and samurai. You really can’t go wrong with a premise like that.
Pros of Rise of The Ronin
| Things Rise of The Ronin Got Right |
|---|
|
Fun and Detailed Combat System Character Creation is a Blast Challenging But Fair Stunning Graphics, Great Aesthetics |
Fun and Detailed Combat System
I’ve mentioned the game’s combat system in passing earlier, but in true Team NINJA fashion, that’s not even half of what you can do with this game’s combat system. I’ve mentioned the Counterspark parry already, but did you know that you can regain your Ki—this game’s version of stamina—by flicking the blood off your blade? Yeah, adding a special input mid-combo will flick blood off your blade and earn you back some Ki, effectively repaying the Ki you used to attack and letting you win the trade.
Various other unlockable skills also let you deflect with your bare fists, switch weapons mid-combo, or even chain assassinations if you’re quick enough. It starts out simple, as I mentioned earlier, but compounds itself before long and builds up to be fun, complex, and detailed system that’s as satisfying to pull off as it is to watch in action.
Character Creation is a Blast
I love a good character creator, and this game’s got a pretty darn good one. It’s not quite Dragon’s Dogma 2 in its complexity, but you can get up to some devious and/or charming antics with what the game lets you modify about your character. The best part? You actually get to see your hard work in cutscenes and combat, as the game tries its best to keep your face front and center whenever it gets the chance.
Challenging But Fair
A soulsike is as a soulslike does, and it does you dirty. Even though Rise of The Ronin doesn’t do you as dirty as most other soulslikes—I’d say it’s one of the easier ones—it’ll still dent your prefrontal cortex with a hammer if you’re not careful. Parries make or break engagements and some areas require more than just brute force to get through.
This game rewards clever gameplay as much as it does skilled combat, so don’t be afraid to turn back and try a different strategy. This is what makes this game challenging but fair. It’s not really a "hit your head against the wall until it breaks" situation anymore when you can just pick them off from a hundred yards away with a gun.
Stunning Graphics, Great Aesthetics
Some might not like the game’s muted tones and semi-realistic setting, but I am very much a fan of the Edo Period regalia that everyone has on. It’s far more grounded than Team NINJA’s other games—and most other soulslikes, for that matter—and I think it lends itself well to what the game’s trying to accomplish. I’d even go as far as to say that the game’s far less fantastical aspirations keep it more cohesive and aware of its art direction.
Cons of Rise of The Ronin
| Things That Rise of The Ronin Can Improve |
|---|
|
Buggy Open-world Traversal NPCs Aren’t That Compelling |
Buggy Open-world Traversal
You get your own horse in this game but it’s no Torrent. I’d sooner call this horse "Stream" or "Puddle" because its overworld traversal is atrociously bad. I’m cannot stress enough how buggy and jittery open-world traversal is when you’re on horseback, especially when you try to jump over some rocks. It’s not game-breaking by any stretch of the imagination, but I expected more from a $70 game.
NPCs Aren’t That Compelling
More of a nitpick than a downside, but I expected more memorable NPCs from a soulslike. Granted, Team NINJA’s not really the forerunner for compelling NPCs, but I still expected some effort to be put into their implementation. It’s usually not a sin to be forgettable, but in a genre where environmental storytelling is key, you’d better be the next Solaire or I’m not biting.
Is Rise of The Ronin Worth It?
Yes, If You Can Spare The Coin
To be perfectly honest, this game is just barely worth its hefty price. $70 isn’t completely astronomical for a soulslike, but it’s getting up there—almost to a point where anything short of perfection is unreasonable. Still, this game has enough going for it to scrape by with a "yes," though I wouldn’t buy this on a whim.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
| PSN |
$69.99 |
Rise of The Ronin FAQ
Is Rise of The Ronin a Multiplayer Game?
Yes. Up to three players can go through the game’s story mode via online multiplayer. Please note that a PlayStation Plus membership is required to access this game’s online multiplayer function.
Will Rise of The Ronin Be Available on The PlayStation 4 or Other Platforms?
No. Rise of The Ronin is a PlayStation 5 exclusive.
Rise of the Ronin Product Information
 |
|
| Title | RISE OF THE RONIN |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 22, 2024 |
| Developer | Koei Tecmo Games, Team NINJA |
| Publisher | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Supported Platforms | PS5 |
| Genre | Open World, Action RPG |
| Number of Players | 1-3 (Online Multiplayer) |
| ESRB Rating | M 17+ |
| Official Website | Rise of the Ronin Website |
