Team Ninja‘s Rise of the Ronin has failed to rise to the occasion.
Initially hyped as an open-world epic adventure reminiscent of Ghost of Tsushima, the critics suggest it doesn’t come close. The game currently holds an average score of 76/100 on Metacritic, which although not poor, does highlight some areas of concern.
Released hours ahead of its official release, critics agree that Rise of the Ronin deserves praise for its excellent combat gameplay, consistent with Team Ninja’s strength as one of gaming’s more renowned studios. It introduces a variety of fighting styles, forcing a player to adapt based on an enemy’s unique strengths and weaknesses. It’s also worth noting its storytelling and action. The game’s setting in a turbulent era of Japan and the character-driven narratives offer a compelling backdrop for the game’s events.
These elements combine to add fun and engaging layers to Rise of the Ronin, which in an ideal world, should’ve should’ve made the game one of Team Ninja’s better outings. Unfortunately, there’s a catch.
Where Rise of the Ronin impresses when you’re in the thick of things, whether in the middle of a fight or narratively, its poor execution of the open-world experience drags down the overall experience. Critics note the uninteresting and outdated side content material that just won’t fly after the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring elevated the genre.
Different from the decisive strikes of the masterless samurai that players control, Rise of the Ronin struggles to establish its identity. Is it a Souls-like with RPG elements or is it an action RPG? This lack of commitment is a flaw amplified by graphical and performance issues.
To make things worse, Koei Tecmo set an ambitious sales target for Rise of the Ronin. It expects the PS5 exclusive to sell 5 million copies, a lofty goal that even a game like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has yet to reach. Given the mixed reviews and stiff competition from Dragon’s Dogma 2, this is impossible to achieve, especially since the reviews have dampened the initial enthusiasm for the game.
Even if we were talking about lifetime sales, none of Team Ninja’s previous titles have sold over 5 million copies. To put this into perspective, it took Nioh 2 nearly two years to reach 2.5 million copies in sales and it still hasn’t reached that figure alone.
The review embargo and publicized sales target has indeed cast a shadow over Rise of the Ronin but it shouldn’t detract you from trying the game. As is expected from a Team Ninja title, Rise of the Ronin remains an enjoyable romp through the Bakumatsu era of Japan albeit one that feels all too familiar.
