Rise of the Ronin (2024): The Review
Overview
Rise of the Ronin tries to blend open-world exploration with Team Ninja’s signature combat in a historical tale set during Japan’s Bakumatsu era. While it aims for the epic scope of Ghost of Tsushima and the intensity of Nioh, it lands somewhere in between, a game with solid ideas, impressive ambition, but inconsistent execution. It's a unique experience that fans of samurai games will appreciate, though its flaws keep it from rising to the top tier.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
The Positives ✅
Rise of the Ronin’s combat is where Team NINJA flexes its muscles. The mix of swordplay, parries, ranged tactics, and stealth takedowns creates a fluid back-and-forth rhythm that’s as thrilling as it is stylish. The Counterspark parry alone is a standout mechanic, letting you stagger enemies, reflect arrows, and even light your blade on fire if timed correctly. Layer that with unlockable abilities like switching weapons mid-combo or deflecting with bare fists, and every battle feels like a performance, a samurai dance of precision and brutality.
The historical setting is another strong point. Instead of diving into otherworldly fantasy, Rise of the Ronin embraces late Edo Japan with all its politics, cultural shifts, and grounded drama. It feels different from most other soulslikes in the best way, making reality just as fascinating as fiction. The visuals back this up with detailed art direction: muted tones, ornate costumes, and architecture that leans heavily into authenticity without losing its sense of atmosphere. Pair this with the immersive sound design, blades clashing with weight, music swelling during duels, and strong voice acting, and the presentation nails its target.
Customization and progression are rewarding too. The character creator lets you shape a protagonist that actually feels like yours, and the game makes sure you see them often in cutscenes and action sequences. That attention to detail carries into combat depth as well. The system begins approachable but gradually compounds into something layered and satisfying, rewarding smart counters and careful stamina management. Add in the ability to experiment with firearms, stealth, and strategy, and Rise of the Ronin avoids being a one-note soulslike.
The Negatives ⚠️
Where Rise of the Ronin stumbles is in its open world. Instead of fostering organic exploration, it leans on checklists and icons that make traversal feel like busywork. Riding your horse is supposed to speed things up, but clunky movement, jittery jumps, and awkward traversal mechanics turn it into a headache rather than a helper. The sheer size of the map loses some of its potential because discovery rarely feels like discovery, it feels like ticking boxes on a to-do list.
Performance issues don’t help either. While not completely game-breaking, the horseback traversal bugs and occasional stiffness in world interaction undermine the polish you’d expect from a $70 release. It also doesn’t help that the open-world design feels shallow compared to the tight, polished combat system, like two halves of different games stitched together. And while combat shines, the overall difficulty doesn’t quite measure up to the heavier hitters in the soulslike family. For some, this will be a positive, but veterans may feel like it’s pulling punches.
Another sore spot is the NPCs. Soulslikes thrive on memorable characters who stick with you long after you put down the controller, but Rise of the Ronin falls flat in this department. The historical setting had potential to elevate figures into icons, but most NPCs fade into the background. Combined with a story that’s solid but predictable, the narrative impact never hits the highs of its genre peers. And then there’s the elephant in the room: the $70 price tag. With Elden Ring often found cheaper and offering a more complete experience, it’s hard not to feel like Rise of the Ronin is asking for just a bit too much.
The Experience 🎮
Playing Rise of the Ronin is a push and pull of exhilaration and frustration. The moment-to-moment combat delivers the kind of rush that makes every duel worth remembering, chaining parries, swapping weapons mid-strike, and finishing with a killing blow feels incredible. The freedom to approach encounters stealthily, from a distance with firearms, or head-on with a blade adds replayability and keeps the flow dynamic. It’s in these fights where the game fully shines, reminding you why Team NINJA has a reputation for high-octane action design.
Yet when the swords are sheathed and you’re out in the open world, that momentum stutters. Traversal lacks the joy of exploration, and instead of rewarding curiosity, the map often feels like a chore to clear. The horse, rather than being a trusty companion, becomes a source of frustration thanks to buggy movement. And while the story’s grounded, historical setting is refreshing compared to the genre’s usual cryptic lore, its predictability keeps it from feeling truly epic. The pieces are strong, but the glue binding them together isn’t always as firm as it could be.
Still, Rise of the Ronin’s identity carries it through. It’s not trying to out-Elden Ring Elden Ring, instead, it blends samurai drama, accessible but layered combat, and a unique setting to carve out its own space in the genre. It may not be flawless, and it may not justify its full price for everyone, but when the blades clash and the sparks fly, it becomes easy to forget the shortcomings. At the end of the day, it’s samurai, swords, and guns, and that combination is still hard to resist.
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