Rise of the Ronin review: To live and die by the sword

But this being a game from renowned blade-fighting specialists Team Ninja (Nioh, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, etc), Ronin ruthlessly keeps its focus on the swordplay by which almost all of the plot is driven. For all its admirable depiction of Japanese cities such as Yokohama and Edo (now Tokyo) and its attempts to enlighten us about the various factions at war, few storyline strands get resolved by anything other than a sharp weapon to the guts.

This counts as something of a pity because Japanese-based Team Ninja has very deliberately tried to branch out from its previous combat-focused titles. In telling the tale of the titular wandering samurai caught up in the conflict between several sides, the developer has clearly flirted with Western influences for inspiration about the narrative structure of this open-world hack’n’slash, learning from the likes of Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher 3.

You can see it in the environmental storytelling and the effort to provide meaningful side quests. It’s a game that respects your time, incorporating myriad quality-of-life accommodations, such as unlimited fast travel and – somewhat unrealistically for the concept – wings that let you descend quickly from heights.

Alas, it has also imported a lot of the typical mission bloat that now defines modern open worlds – your map teems with icons for minor skirmishes, shrines to visit and cats to pet.

Happily, though, Team Ninja hasn’t forgotten how to build exhilarating fight mechanics – and even gives us the stealthy option to avoid a deadly brawl in some cases. You can creep across roofs and swing from a grappling hook to let you sneak past many guards or drop them with a blade from above. But sooner or later you’ll need to cross swords with an enemy – or group of enemies, more likely.

What appears at first an elementary one-button attack system soon develops serious depth, adding combos, specials and dodges that depend, Dark Souls-like, on a stamina meter. Next, you get access to guns, bows and projectiles such as shuriken.

Allied to a skill tree and multiple stances that enable considerable customisation, the combat feels hefty and satisfying – all clanging weapons, parries and counter-strikes. It never aims for the exacting level of a Dark Souls-like and generously offers several difficulty levels that even on the lowest setting is anything but insultingly easy.

Co-op mode lets you take on certain missions with an ally, either an AI or a human player. It’s too restrictive in one sense – why not the whole campaign in co-op? – but in AI mode you can at least take control of your companion at will, conveying a tactical advantage.

You may remember Sony’s last samurai-set game, Ghost of Tsushima in 2020. The similarities are legion – both are built on the same open-world template. The US-made Tsushima triumphs on a technical level thanks to sumptuous visuals and Hollywood-like polish. Rise of the Ronin looks at times like something out of the late PS3/early PS4 era, a bit glitchy and twitchy. Yet its intense swordplay and native authenticity imbue it with an absorbing playability that’s hard to ignore.