From the staff who made the superb “Nioh” over at Staff Ninja, “Rise of the Ronin” opens with immense promise. You begin as a pair of “Blade Twins,” samurais of the Veiled Edge who’re off on an assassination mission that, in fact, serves as a tutorial on the gameplay, which permits for twin melee weapons like swords & spears, alongside twin ranged weapons like weapons & bows. You may as well change between warriors, which provides an attention-grabbing strategical part in that one warrior could also be better-suited to take down an enemy than the opposite.
On the finish of the prologue, one of many warriors is injured, leaving you to decide on which one you wish to play, however the dynamic of allies will return and be a foundational a part of the sport. The event staff of “Rise of the Ronin” constructed their gameplay on an formidable idea whereby the gamer makes allies by way of missions and encounters that they’ll tackle future missions, even giving them presents to extend their loyalty and dialogue decisions to enhance the connection. Nevertheless, it more and more seems like a majority of those decisions are perfunctory and that the sport and your connection to your allies will play out the identical it doesn’t matter what you do. It’s good for a recreation narrative to offer authorship, however it has to really feel resonant. I made a decision to shift up my decisions to check my idea that they didn’t actually matter, going from a pleasant samurai to merciless one, and I couldn’t actually inform the distinction. The sport funnels you into the identical story beats it doesn’t matter what.
And people story beats are fairly bland, and in service of repetitive clunky fight. First, the fight system is extremely overcrowded. Not solely can you turn between the 4 aforementioned weapons, however you’ll be able to alternate stances together with your melee weapons based mostly on the enemy. If that doesn’t sound chaotic sufficient, gadgets can be geared up and quick-used on the left facet of the overcrowded HUD. It results in a deep lack of fluidity because the fight turns into a collection of clumsy decisions as an alternative of participating encounters. The physics are additionally wildly inconsistent from swings that don’t appear to actually be connecting with the enemy to an vitality system referred to as Ki that provides one other factor to concentrate to. Gameplay that permits for this a lot selection and customization is sweet in idea, however “Rise of the Ronin” is an efficient instance of an excessive amount of of an excellent factor. It’s a case examine in how one thing goes from dense to unrefined.
