Preview Can Rise of the Ronin compete with Ghost of Tsushima on PS5? First Answers on PS5

If action-adventure games in Japan are often associated with “feudalism”, Rise of the Ronin immerses us in a certain era. Here we are in the 1850s during the “Bakumatsu” period. It was the end of the shogunate and – after years of separatism – the country finally opened up to trade and began to industrialize and modernize. It is therefore a period of progress but also of great turmoil, where two ideologies collide: one ready for change; Others are eager to maintain the established order. Amidst all this, the player embodies a lone warrior who can be personalized from A to Z (class system, super complete character editor). His goal is simple, to find someone he loves… To achieve this, an open world stretches its arms towards him.

Great out

Because yes, unlike Nioh or Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, Team Ninja is trying the open-world bet here… After a clearly engaging introduction, the studio unleashes us as we head to the land of Japan – with the city of Yokohama. First observation (and unfortunately this is a habit in the team): The technique still leaves a lot to be desired. We’re down to the PS5 version of Ghost of Tsushima – with 3D models and textures that lack detail. The rendering is a bit dated, but despite everything, we get away with the atmosphere, especially thanks to the nice soundtrack and pleasant lighting effects. We just hope this glitch doesn’t affect the fun too much in the long run. After all, contemplation is an important factor for an open world.

In short, if the pleasure for the eyes is mixed, what about open world building? In Rise of the Ronin, you can ride a horse (even in a glider) and hope to find something interesting, but the game quickly prompts you to save the widow | Orphans to unlock additional activities. Here, there are what we call “public order” missions which are almost occupied villages that have to be liberated. Once your work is done, your knowledge of the area increases and this points out points of interest in the surrounding area. After all, why not, but we must admit that the secondary activities did not really excite us – for the moment. For this prologue, the title serves its action phases with all its might And we finally fear approaching indigestion.

While wandering the open world, for example, we came across other opponents to fight, a boss or even a side quest that asked us to find flowers in the middle of a base full of enemies. We hope that more diverse points of interest await us in the rest of the adventure, that Rise of the Ronin’s open world isn’t just about connecting multiple battlefields.. Even Yokohama – the first city – appears as a “big hub” for the moment and with a little side quest | Traders At this point, we also have a couple of reservations about the writing of the software, which seems to place its characters in a historical context. We also note the presence of full French dubbing (this is a pleasant surprise), multiple choice dialogues, locked answers behind certain skills, such as intimidation. It is also about the secondary characters with whom we have to build relationships. In short, narrative plays an important role… Let’s hope it lives up to its promises.

Pay attention to strife

In any case, if there’s one thing that Japanese studios deserve our trust on, it’s fights! From what we can see, The action stages of Rise of the Ronin are very promising And Nioh and Wo Long reveal themselves as a kind of “synthesis” between the clashes of the Fallen Dynasty… Already, like any good demanding action-RPG, here is the sinews key to war (endurance, if you prefer). It’s a blue gauge in the middle of the screen, and it decreases every time you dodge, attack, or hit with your guard up. On top of that, the bar empties a little every time you take damage, and when it gets to “zero”, well, you have a good chance of standing still for a few moments, unprotected. In this case, the end is almost guaranteed.

On the one hand, Rise of the Ronin asks you to pay more attention to your stamina – and on the other hand, the best defense is attack. Because just like you, opponents have a key bar, and when this bar runs out, you can give them a super powerful finishing move. This move is often enough to defeat smaller enemies, but is also crucial for taking down big bad guys, including bosses. In this last case, So your objective will be to eat away at your opponent’s stamina

, and the most effective strategy to achieve this is to successfully parry and chain martial abilities, that is, specific moves for each type of weapon… Among these types of weapons, we find katana, spear, even double Odachi. Sword We remind you that the game also relies on a whole set of firearms, but for the moment, we have not had the opportunity to appreciate their full flavor. We only had access to a rifle, the gameplay of which was reminiscent of Wo Long Arc. Useful for making headshots, sometimes kills instantly.

generally, Rise of Ronin battles are exciting, strategic, and feel good. As usual with Team Ninja, the effects are very intense, with members flying in all directions after the final blow, and we notice a flexibility of movement reminiscent of Wo Long Fallen Dynasty. Like the latter, here you can climb facades thanks to jumps, leap over opponents to deal massive damage – and slowly progress to backstabs. The advent of the grappling hook also makes it easier to reach certain edges, and even easier to drag the opponent to their feet (or lunge at them). This new tool also allows you to throw a decorative object at someone. In short, Rise of the Ronin’s gameplay has some nice surprises, and we particularly remember the possibility to ignite your weapon by parrying an arrow or rifle bullet, or to “wash” blood from your blade during a fight. Get the key back.

Despite everything, at this point, even the copy doesn’t look flawless… Even after a few hours, we’re still confused when switching weapons in the heat of the moment. To choose the right posture that does the most damage to the right opponent (we’ll come back to that). Team Ninja’s gameplay also doesn’t lend itself very well to multi-target battles. – which often happens in open worlds – especially due to artificial intelligence that is either very absent or very erratic. The qualities of Rise of the Ronin really shine more in 1 on 1, and that’s where we like to focus and put ourselves to the test! Also, the challenge here is rather tough, but You have the possibility to change the difficulty between the two missions. A very good thing, especially for a demanding action-RPG. What’s more, like Wo Long, there is a support system where characters met during the adventure can help you during the quest. And it is also possible to play these characters in the heat of action to make better use of their skills.

A smart move

This isn’t the only thing that Team Ninja has achieved in meeting needs and accessibility. For example, the experience system works in two stages… On the one hand, there’s your character’s “normal” level, which increases through encounters and missions and which earns you great skill points. On the other hand, there is Karma, which is only earned in combat and which offers you rare skill points! This second type of XP is used to unlock more powerful abilities – but they can be complicated to obtain! indeed, In case of failure, it is the enemy who killed you who keeps your precious karma

, and to retrieve it, you must either defeat it or give it the finishing move. It is a good compromise between the classic progression | FromSoftware game’s famous tension while recovering your soul.

But we obviously haven’t covered the intricacies of Rise of the Ronin. For example, it is possible to gain “rare” skill points by strengthening your relationships with characters you meet during your adventure, the same people who can help you during missions. This is how you unlock new “fighting styles” – A sort of evolution of Nioh’s pose but more provided…Basically, instead of having a high, medium, and low stance for your weapon, here you can change your fighting style on the fly. Each weapon can carry a maximum of three, and some opponents are more sensitive to certain styles! It allows you to modify fights and looks like a promising system. For the rest, Team Ninja makes Team Ninja, with lots of loot, a well-stocked skill tree.