A thrilling samurai saga that shines in combat but stumbles through its uneven journey across feudal Japan.
March 22, 2024 felt like the opening salvo of something big in the gaming world. Rise of the Rōnin, from Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo (publishers behind Nioh and its sequel), staked a claim as one of PS5’s most intriguing exclusives of the year. Set in Japan’s Bakumatsu era—those turbulent times just before the Meiji Restoration—this action‑RPG promised to carve a new path: not quite Ghost of Tsushima, less punishing than Nioh, but with the samurai blood and open‑world scale to make waves. The question: did it deliver on its ambitions?
1. A Digression in Design: Setting the Stage
You arrive in late 19th‑century Japan as a ronin—a samurai without a master. Political factions are everywhere, Western powers are meddling, and revolution is in the air.
With a surprisingly deep character creator, you customize your own blade‑wielding avatar and assign them a sort of origin archetype: “Killer,” “Seducer,” or “Breaker,” each with its stat‑tilted perks from the get.
Team Ninja openly said this was their boldest project—a long‑gestated idea since 2015, finally announced in September 2022 and released in March 2024. PC version landed March 11, 2025 with support for ultra‑wide monitors, up to 8K resolution, ray tracing, DLSS, AMD FSR, Intel XeSS and unlocked 120 FPS.
2. First Impressions: Appearance Over Substance?
The game doesn’t exactly drop you into a cinematic masterpiece. Critics noted that the visuals feel a bit “dated” for a PS5 launch: blocky faces, odd water shaders, occasionally wooden animations. ZTGD even described the opening tutorial as bland compared to the cinematic flair of Ghost of Tsushima’s start.
Early missions feel generic. You push through cutscenes, tutorials, and fetch‑quests. If you’re expecting instant immersion, you might be checking your watch. But hang on—there’s depth lurking beneath.
3. Combat: Where the Ronin Really Roars
This is the crux—and Rise of the Rōnin delivers. Combat is Team Ninja’s comfort zone: fast, fluid, and strategic.
Parries, counters, stealth takedowns, firearm usage (musket duels!) and a variety of weapons give flexibility to play as ghostly assassin or brawling swordsman. It’s more approachable than the unforgiving souls‑likes of old, but with enough nuance to engage.
The learning curve is steep—GameSpot’s long‑term review noted the first 10 hours feel slow, but after ~50 hours the game opens up in rewarding ways. Stick it out and the Bond mechanic, faction reputation, relationship-building, and story shifts all become meaningful.
4. The Bond System & Faction Play
If Nioh’s loot grind was about gear, Ronin’s major hook is about people. You forge bonds with NPCs and factions. Choosing whether to assassinate or protect historical figures affects not just dialogue, but alliances and even how history plays out. It gives a weight to decision-making often absent in open‑world games.
Side‑quests are concise: hunt fugitives, photograph landmarks (yes, including Mount Fuji), pet stray cats (yes, really!). Missions are designed to boost your bond with villages and factions, upgrading weapons, gear, and story access without bloat.
5. Open World & Traversal: Beautiful, But Repetitive
You roam Edo, Yokohama, Kyoto and countryside, traversing terrain on horseback, grappling hook, and glider. The world has charm, but critics call it “dull” or “dated”—too many empty fields and fetch-quests, map markers that feel like busywork rather than discovery.
There’s infrastructure—co-op for three players, three difficulty modes (Dawn/Easy, Dusk/Normal, Twilight/Hard)—even allows freestanding difficulty switching mid-game.
6. Technical Terrain: PS5 vs. PC
On PS5, the game runs fine, though early players noted some performance stutters at launch. A free demo arrived later in Summer 2024, allowing players to test performance before buying, and preserve progression into the full game.
The PC port on March 11, 2025 brought fancy features like 8K, DLSS, ray tracing and ultra-framrate support—but with rough edges. One technical review called optimization “very poor,” with crashes, weird pop-in textures, and heavy VRAM usage (10 GB @ 4K). You’ll likely need DLSS or FSR to get solid 60 FPS. Some users reported camera slowdowns when targeting 120 FPS.
7. Critical Scorecard & Community Pulse
Metacritic average sits at 76/100, with a few PC reviews pushing closer to the low 80s. Famitsu scored it 37/40—one of the stronger early takes.
Outlets like ZTGD, GodisaGeek, GameSpot and The Times praise the combat and narrative engagement, while calling out repetition or uninspired visuals. GameSpot called it a “long‑term investment,” rewarding after slog.
Reddit’s r/PS5 and r/Games threads reflect a mixed but positive tone:
“Rise of the Ronin is a great open world game but it has many [flaws] in things like its mission design and graphic presentation.” (Reddit)
“Accessible, fun, and full of ambition… moment‑to‑moment gameplay… remains delightfully engaging” (Reddit)
8. Final Verdict: Worth Every Drop of Blood
Let’s break it down:
| Feature | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Combat & Gameplay | Fluid, tactical, satisfying—even for souls-lite fans | Requires patience; early hours dull |
| Story & Bond System | Choice-driven, emotional, affects world state | Narratively unoriginal; cutscene animation stiff |
| World & Side Activities | Historical locations, multiple traversal options, faction alignment | Repetitive mission design, dated environment, filler fetch‑quests |
| Technical (PS5) | Solid load times, DualSense support | Occasional frame issues, graphical roughness |
| Technical (PC Port) | High-res support, DLSS/FSR, ray tracing, ultra-wide | Poor optimization, texture popping, heavy VRAM demands, joystick ideal |
| Overall Value | ~40–60 hours of content; co-op mode adds replayability | Lack of world polish may disappoint metaverse-level expectations |
9. Wrap Up
If Rise of the Rōnin had a motto, it’d be “historical flair meets player choice.” Rise of the Rōnin delivers just that—but with a few scratches on its lacquer.
From March 2024’s PS5 release (and March 2025’s PC port), Team Ninja’s long‑game paid off in a satisfying, if imperfect, samurai epic. Combat is rock solid. World-building and faction ties give genuine weight to your actions. The ambiance of a divided Japan at the brink of transformation is well‑executed—even if the surroundings aren’t the prettiest.
Yes, the open‑world scaffolding is familiar, the visuals unremarkable, and the pacing uneven. But endurance pays off: by the mid-game, storytelling deepens, bonds matter, and those effortless sword-spark headshots feel just right. Think of it as a slow‑burn romance, not an instant love affair.
If you’re a fan of Team Ninja’s legacy but shied from Nioh’s grind or Sekiro’s difficulty, this is your door—big, open, slightly creaky, but promises something worthwhile inside. Approach with curiosity and patience, and you’ll find joy in each duel, each alliance, and ultimately—your own legacy as a ronin shaping history.
Score: 7.6 / 10
A beautifully flawed open‑world samurai epic. Not revolutionary—but heartfelt, deeply playable, and worthy of your time.
