Rise of the Ronin feels like a wandering swordsman trying to do too much. It shines when focused on what it’s good at, which is fighting. And while it’s competent in other areas, it just isn’t as good as when you don’t have weapons in hand. 

The game offers a challenging but not throw-your-controller level of combat. There are plenty of fighting styles, weapons, and encounter approaches to keep you engaged. 

The main story will pique your interest. However, it sometimes feels like it takes a backseat to the personal stories of the characters you meet along the way. And that way is set in an open world that has a mixed bag of activities. 

Mid 1800s Japan, Blade Twins

Rise of the Ronin is set in the mid-19th century Japan. It’s a time when there’s a fierce ideological clash that extends into actual crossing of swords. Should the country remain closed-off or should it be more welcoming to foreign forces. That’s an oversimplification, but I trust you get the gist.

In the midst of all of that, you play as one half of a Blade Twin assassin under The Veiled Edge clan. The two of you were taken in as children and grew up fighting together. But one fateful mission – the game’s opening – sees you two parting ways which the situation called for. 

You return to your clan where your master is being attacked and while you ultimately best the attackers, you end up facing your master which leaves you masterless. Your goal now is to find your Blade Twin in a world filled with people with their own interests and agenda. 

Character creator

The game being set in this particular time period means that if you’re a Kenshin Himura fan (Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X), know that you can most certainly take on this game as your very own Battousai. 

I did make a Kenshin-ish character, throwing in some Takeru Satoh in there who played Himura in the fantastic live action adaptation of the franchise. Too bad there’s no option to put a cross mark on his left cheek. Here’s the character code if you want to use this as a template. 

Battousai???

However, the Blade Twin story had me going in a different, quite unconventional direction. I instead went with two Japanese members of TWICE who were often mistaken for each other during their pre-debut and early years. 

Blade Twins: Momo Hirai, Sana Minatozaki

The character creator was deep enough that I felt I was able to recreate the faces of both Momo Hirai and Sana Minatozaki. Believe it or not, this personally helped a lot in myself being a little bit more immersed in the Blade Twin story of it all. 

Deep, challenging combat

You start off choosing a fighting style. Each of which has a better affinity to certain weapons you start with. I went with the default Uchigatana (Katana) and Odachi to keep things simple. But you can choose one that’s more oriented to speed and stealth, or one that’s just hand-to-hand combat. 

At the heart of the combat is its parrying system, called countersparks. Countersparks allow you to stun and stagger an enemy, depleting his stamina gauge callede Ki, that then lets you deal heavy damage or even a finishing blow. 

Getting the timing down can be tough especially with the unconventional default controls of the game. It’s definitely going to take a while to get used to and can be tough even in normal difficulty. 

It is imperative to really get the basics down as this isn’t a game you can button mash your way through. Even a common-level enemy can punish you if you’re not paying attention and fight within the game’s intended mechanics. 

Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect 

From there, the combat opens up in interesting ways. Your primary skill tree is divided into four categories: Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect. Strength leans more towards sword, great sword, and rifle handling abilities. Dexterity applies to stealth, grappling, and arrow-shooting abilities, while charm and intellect lean more towards passive buffs and item crafting. 

The Strength category unlocks cool sword skills like letting you deflect bullets. This is also where you upgrade the effects of your gun-toting skills. Your rifles gain more speed and distance while you learn handgun tricks and finishes. 

Dexterity ups your ‘ninja game.’ Here, you learn skills like multiple assassinations where you can kill-off two targets quickly, consecutively. This also expands what you can do with your grappling hook. Some skills will let you to grapple enemies for quick assassinations or use it to throw items at tougher enemies with massive health. 

All these skills prove useful in dealing with enemies as you progress through Rise of the Ronin .

Ten, Jin, Chi

These are the three primary fighting styles which apply to a whole suite of weapons. The game lets you play the way you want and is very generous with you acquiring these weapons. Learning the fighting styles though, is another story. You have to go on Bond Missions, Side Quests, or simply progress through the story to unlock certain fighting styles. 

These, again, will prove useful. The more you progress, the more you’ll encounter enemies who can switch styles on the fly. This means you’ll have to switch too if you want to be effective against that particular enemy. Even if your level is higher than an opponent, you can still very much lose if you’re unable to adjust to an advantageous fighting style. 

Fighting puzzle

All these mechanics combine to make a combat that will have you thinking on your feet. You have to balance patience and aggression to best your opponents. Learning the timings of their blows, keeping an eye on their stances, and using the fighting styles available to you, all while minding potential effects like poison and burning make this a deep and challenging combat gameplay. 

The sword play in Rise of the Ronin is exquisite and extremely enjoyable. But sections of the game also do a good job of teaching you that going head-strong sword swinging isn’t always the best course of action. 

Stealth is rewarding in that it’s tricky enough that it feels like you’re trying to figure out the best route to take out enemies quietly. But the AI is inconsistent. Plenty of times, you’re taking someone out with another enemy just a few paces away but they don’t react at all. And while that’s technically a good thing for your sake, as a function of the game, it can certainly be better. 

But when you do break away from stealth, most of the time you won’t mind because the combat is so incredibly engaging. 

An okay open world

There’s nothing groundbreaking about the open world of Rise of the Ronin. But that’s not to say that it’s bad. It just is. And most of the time, it’s fine. Objectives aren’t too far apart from each other. And there’s a good chance of you encountering them just as you’re traversing the world. 

Traversal, by the way, is done by running, riding, gliding, and grappling. There’s enough here to make you feel like a bad-ass as you’re moving along. But if you’re going for the completionist route, you’ll likely find yourself using the fast travel option more. 

The world is filled with many different activities. There are multi-tier side quests, Bond Missions, treasure hunts, cats to pet, shrines to climb, and training sessions. All of these lead towards the improvement of the protagonist. Whether that’s through battles that earn you EXP, loot that improve your gear, tasks and places that add to your skill points, and more. 

All the activities benefit you in one way or another. With how pertinent they all seem, it should feel more connected and immersive. But something about it just isn’t. Especially on the immersive part, you can listen to a podcast or two while ticking off some of these open world objectives. This is understandable when clearing enemy camps, petting cats, and climbing shrines. But even some side quests with a fair bit of story in them don’t feel as engaging as say the ones you find in Ghost of Tsushima. They are solid, not stellar. 

Masterless Samurai

Rise of the Ronin lives up to its name. The game overall feels like a masterless samurai getting by with enough strength and guile. But it needs a bit more to get to a higher level. The swordsmanship is good but not refined. It survives through some clever, but proven street smarts and is averse to risks which could prove costly. 

I have to note that while playing this game, I couldn’t help but think how there are other open world games I’d rather play. This is especially during its early hours. It gets better the more you play. But it just doesn’t grab you enough to make you really want to stay.

It’s a good game but is a victim of terrible timing, releasing a few paces after FFVII Rebirth and right at the same time as Dragon’s Dogma 2: Two open worlds that you might be better off spending your time in.

Overall, if you’re looking for a sprawling samurai adventure with enough political intrigue, a more than fair share of characters, a satisfactory gameplay loop, and challenging combat, then give this one a go.