Rise of the Ronin Review

Rise of the Ronin reviewed by Will Borger on PlayStation 5. Rise of the Ronin marries a cool historical setting, Team Ninja’s mastery of tough-but-fair combat, and some smart RPG design to make a game that is immediately compelling, and even more fun with friends. It’s full of cool little touches, whether it’s throwing something at an enemy with the grappling rope or dropping from your glider onto your horse. Unfortunately, it’s also a game full of map clutter, bloated systems, and a truly absurd amount of junk loot, and the time I spent clearing out everything that didn’t spark joy and dealing with all these non-essential systems made me pine for a leaner, meaner, more focused game. Rise of the Ronin is excellent when it has the courage to be itself and lean into its challenging, rewarding fighting; too often, however, it feels stuck in indecision, torn between what it wants to be and what it feels it’s expected to be, and not even the best samurai can overcome that. #IGN #Gaming #RiseOfTheRoni