Rise of the Ronin - PlayStation 5

Absolutely love this game. I was a huge fan of Ghost of Tsushima (I have a Tsushima Displate adorning my desk at work) and consider that to be a near perfect game (the only flaw really for me being that it came to an ending, but that's to be expected ;) ). While I don't love Ronin as much as Tsushima, it's awfully, awfully close. I think Tsuhima's fighting was tighter and had a better control scheme, but Ronin's is still top notch. The fighting can be intense but is still a lot of fun, especially since, unlike Tsushima, you often have the option to take one or two NPCs with you to help you out. Having trouble beating a particular boss? Switch out the NPCs you're using and/or tweak the difficulty setting and you should be fine..Speaking of the NPCs, Ronin does a great job of making them fun to interact with. You can form bonds with them and increase your level of friendship to unlock in-game bonuses (sometimes loot, sometimes bonus points to improve your character) and further advance down each NPCs personal story. Some decisions you make can get them killed off, and sometimes you save their lives and add them to the roster of NPCs available to go on missions with you. They all have distinctive personalities and the voice acting is very well done for most if not all of them..The graphics are very well done. It's a lot of fun wandering around the open areas and looking at all of the scenery if you like that kind of thing in a game. The devs did a great job on the design for the areas you get to wander around in. Whether it's city, village, countryside, wilderness, it's all very nicely done..Were you a fan of the Batman Arkham games? You'll get a bit of that vibe in this game. Plenty of opportunities for you to take down enemies using stealth methods. Plus as you advance in the game's main storyline, you get "technology upgrades" like a collapsible paraglider contraption that lets you glide around like Batman, plus a fancy rope contraption that lets you rappel around and climb buildings and yank enemies up off the ground for a stealth takedown. It gets a little steam punkish in that respect in that you even get a proto-flamethrower weapon option you can use if you want..Lots of customization options too. Not just your character's physical looks, but plenty of different gear/costuming options. I also like that the game lets you lock in the outfit look that you like the most. This lets you swap gear in and out for stat bonuses without changing how your character looks. Fighting styles allow you lots of combat customization as well. As do the decent amount of weapon options, including lots of melee options (like two-handed swords, katanas, dual katanas, spears, polearms, etc.), plus bows (with poison and flame tipped arrow options), shurikens, pistols and rifles (it is the 1860s after all). As you advance in the game, you can improve your abilities with bows and rifles so that you can even get some sniping in..I've seen some people complaining about bugs, but me personally, I've run into very few game glitches. Occasionally there'll be a minor graphics glitch here or there, but I've got a bit over 50 hours in the game at the moment (and still I think only about 3/4 of the way done) and I think I've had things like that happen maybe 3-4 times total and they were always easy to deal with by doing something like rotating the in-game camera around to look at something else. I've not had a single instance of anything like broken quests/missions or anything that dumped me out of the game..If, like me, you would like something similar to Ghost of Tsushima, then check this game out. It's similar, but definitely with its own "personality" to it. Even if you didn't play Tsushima but enjoy open world games with plenty of room to roam and lots to do (like Witcher 3 for example) (gambling, side quests galore, sparring to improve your combat abilities, cat collecting, gardening to grow herbs for crafting, etc.) in addition to the main storyline and fighting, you can't go wrong with this game.

One of my favorite games I’ve played to date. The legendary soundtrack composed by none other than Inon Zur was tense and emotional in all the right places, and nailed the time period it represented. The character creator had so many unique options that I loved, and the game has a vast array of outfits you can change into whenever. It was nice being able to play as a stylish AND kickass ronin lady.I enjoyed collecting all the cats, training at the dojos, and target practice. It was so satisfying to let an arrow fly into a barrel that exploded a bunch of targets. The world was filled with beautiful things that I’d stop to marvel at: flowering trees, sprawling vistas, mountains, waterfalls etc. I took every chance to use my glider to soar from one plateau or rooftop to the next. You also have a steed you can switch out and equip with different tacks.The combat was varied and fast-paced, and I enjoyed experimenting with different weapons and styles. There are different forms of assassination you can learn, and you can drop bombs while gliding. There are different skill trees where you earn general skill points and special skill points that coincide with the traits of strength, dexterity, charm, etc. You have some dialogue choices that become available as you learn to lie, persuade, or intimidate. Loved the performances from the voice actors; they even made sure each person’s accent related to their country of origin. Americans sounded like Americans, British like British, and the Japanese characters had Japanese accents (I played in English).The story kept me interested although I do agree allegiances didn’t make complete sense, i.e. you’d fight an ally out of nowhere or someone you just fought didn’t seem to mind. But as someone else said, that’s common in these fighting style games. It was cool that there was a romance element; it wasn’t too fleshed out, but that’s not really the focus of the game. In the future though, if Team Ninja does anything like it, I wouldn’t mind seeing some romances that tie into the main story rather than all of it being rushed at the very end. That being said, I really do hope I see more like this from them! It was an experience that I miss now that it’s over. I’ll definitely be playing it again!

While rise of ronin is far from a perfect game, it is one I can say was a complete blast from start to finish. Its fun combat and enjoyable characters make up for the weaker aspects such as a bland overworld. As of writing this Im over 100 hours into this game and still crave more of this great combat. Faster then Nioh but not as fast as Wo Long it creates a very enjoyable balance between fun and difficult.