We don’t do rankings in our sport evaluations on MobileSyrup, but when we did, Workforce Ninja’s Rise of the Rōnin can be the epitome of a 7/10 for me.
It’s the form of expertise that doesn’t notably excel in anyone space, nevertheless it’s additionally not inherently unhealthy. As a substitute, it’s a decently entertaining, if overly acquainted, expertise that doesn’t depart an excessive amount of of an enduring impression.
A part of that simply comes right down to its place within the media panorama. For one, its standing as a historic open-world PlayStation samurai journey instantly attracts shut comparisons to Sony’s own Ghost of Tsushima, a sport that was already dubbed “Assassin’s Creed Japan” for its similarities to Ubisoft’s works. Rise of the Rōnin additionally comes proper on the tail of Disney’s stellar ongoing Shōgun collection, one other historic samurai drama.
Sadly, Rise of the Rōnin additionally simply doesn’t do sufficient to distinguish itself from these titles. First, there’s the principle story, which is about in 1863 war-torn Japan, follows your customized warrior as they pursue a shadowy group. It begins with an admittedly drained revenge motivation on your character, though it does get a bit extra attention-grabbing when different gamers be a part of the battle, particularly those that have been prevalent within the Bakumatsu, like Sakamoto Ryōma, an actual samurai who was additionally featured in Like a Dragon Ishin! It’s nothing overly compelling, although.
Punctuating these story beats is the fight system, which is stable, if a tad uninspired. Given Workforce Ninja’s pedigree engaged on the likes of Ninja Gaiden and Nioh, you’ll be able to anticipate slick melee-based fights targeted round staggering enemies, however with a bit much less of a problem. A part of that comes right down to a extra forgiving parry system and the power to often have companions with you (extra on this later). There are additionally Nioh-like stances, which add a bit extra selection. None of those really feel novel, nevertheless it works fairly nicely on the entire.
The extra distinctive elements of the gameplay, by the way, largely must do with ranged fight. Throughout battles, you need to use a grappling hook to launch explosive barrels at enemies or hit them Indiana Jones whip-style. You can even parry flaming arrows to inflame your sword, which is each extremely satisfying and badass. The flexibility to make use of firearms additionally makes this really feel a bit totally different from the likes of Ghost of Tsushima.
The place Rise of the Rōnin largely comes brief, nevertheless, is its open world. As talked about, it feels painfully much like different video games. Even when we’re ignoring Ghost of Tsushima‘s comparable (and much prettier) setting, the precise construction of Rise of the Rōnin‘s Japan leaves a lot to be desired. After a quick tutorial, you’re set out in your journey into the huge fields. What’s the very first thing I got here throughout? A camp by which it’s important to take down a number of bandits earlier than you get a brief cinematic about liberating the individuals who reside there. After this, I got here throughout a big city that additionally had a gaggle of enemies I needed to filter earlier than getting an identical sizzle reel of individuals returning to their properties.
This repetitive Far Cry-style method to landmarks is all too frequent in open-world video games, and it’s one thing Ghost of Tsushima additionally suffered from. That guidelines design method extends to different perfunctory actions like discovering cats to pet, treasure bins to plunder or scenic spots to {photograph}. Whereas many different open-world video games additionally undergo from this form of generic aspect content material, those which are most profitable on this regard at the very least inject significant bits of narrative and persona into these elective actions, just like the recently released PS5 exclusive Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Sadly, that’s lacking in Rise of the Rōnin.
The sidequests themselves can be a missed bag, with a few of them feeling like they got here from generations in the past. For example, one in every of them, one in every of them had me searching for herbs for a girl, however that was the one narrative behind it, so the entire thing boiled right down to clearing out an enemy encampment, snagging the crops and operating again to her. There are a number of quests like that. On the flip aspect, different aspect content material is extra impactful since you meet attention-grabbing individuals, just like the aforementioned Sakamoto Ryōma. Apart from offering mini de facto historical past classes, these interactions additionally unlock companions with whom you’ll be able to develop a ‘Bond.’
Relying in your dialogue selections, these characters will stay your allies and struggle with you in battle (and you may even swap between them on the fly for a wider vary of skills, like Sakamoto’s proficiency for staggering) and even flip towards you. It’s a intelligent approach to make you are feeling extra like a participant on this key a part of Japan’s historical past whereas additionally offering some actual penalties for the actions you pursue and the selections you make.
That’s finally what I’ll most keep in mind about Rise of the Rōnin. Whereas the respectable fight and serviceable story don’t combine all that nicely with the tasteless open-world, the sport succeeds due to its deeper dive into this fascinating historic interval and the extra lively function that gamers get to play in it.
Rise of the Rōnin undoubtedly isn’t a must-play, nevertheless it’s value trying out down the road with a value drop.
The sport launches solely on PlayStation 5 on March 22nd for $89.99.
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