Rise of the Ronin was my first Team Ninja game, so going in, I didn’t know what to expect. As someone who isn’t the biggest Souls-like fan, it could’ve easily not been for me. It was the opposite. The story, being a sucker for 19th-century historical nonfiction (with some player choice thrown in there), is quite good. However, I felt as if there were too many allies, a little over 30, with most of them being pretty bland, with a few exceptions. I can’t do this review without mentioning the frame drop and how dated the PS5 already is. Frequent dips into the 30s for an action-heavy game can be off-putting, but it was helped by a patch after launch that stabilized it mostly.

Where the game really shines is the combat. Boss gauntlets, stealth, parrying, a variety of weapons and builds to play around with—the whole nine yards. Once you get the parrying down pat, it’s one of the more satisfying games I can remember playing. The stealth doesn’t feel forced, the gunplay is excellent, and the main antagonist is fun and difficult but has a good balance.

Overall, this was a good game. The beautiful setting of Japan during the Edo period, decent characters all around, and masterful combat. If that’s what you’re looking for in a game, I say go for it.

With Rise of the Ronin, Team Ninja is cautiously trying its luck in the open-world arena, without setting any new standards for its future projects in this genre. Despite a world design that may seem conventional, the game stands out for its rich history and complexity. The game's setting transports us into a remarkable historical immersion, where we meet nuanced characters evolving in an equally complex geopolitical landscape, an uncommon aspect in the studio's productions and in the video game genre in general.

Team Ninja's strengths are in evidence, with an extremely rewarding combat system, an impressive variety of weapons to master, and memorable opponents, despite their lack of diversity. Whether you're a fan of the studio's creations, a fan of traditional open worlds, or a fan of Japanese history, Rise of the Ronin has something to satisfy you. I can see myself in all these categories, and I can only warmly recommend that you immerse yourself in this adventure. Rise of the Ronin is an experience not to be missed for those looking to combine a love of video games, an appreciation of well-choreographed combat and an interest in history with a capital H.

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A story that makes you fall asleep.

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A gameplay that can make you question you life. Why are you wasting it?

In January of this year (2023) I was going through an extremely bad period of my life. My depression was at an all time low, and I started to show a few symptoms of being schizotypal (which have since disappeared a little bit). Around the same time, the next game in my backlog was this game.

As I was playing it, something strange happened. I started to feel extremely happy. Shenmue taught me about the intricacies of life: how to keep a schedule, how to be more friendly towards people, how to explore and interact with the world around you, and so much more. It does seem silly to talk about how a game has changed the way you act in real life, but it happened for me.

For a game to do this to a human means it transcends the lowly status of being a "video game". Shenmue I & II is a magnificent sprawling work of perfection that rarely shows its age. Everyone should play it; not just gamers, but salarymen, wives, children... everyone.

Bruh I can't take this game anymore. There's hints of the original Shenmue spirit here but it's utterly twisted by a lack of honesty in its core component. You can tell this story in a better way if you just make a smaller, shorter game. Why delude yourself into thinking that you're an epic? I never seen a game try to pad its length out as hard as this, and I am not even the kind of person who slowly dies inside anytime a piece of entertainment media meanders in its pacing and such. Everything in the game is designed to be make the game longer, and there's barely enough rewarding moments to make it worthwhile. Having to train by learning new moves and improving your stamina is a nice idea, but the constantly meaningless prolongement of the main story is nowhere near good enough to justify the effort and time being put into said training. Not to mention the combat feels pretty unsatisfying by itself, it feels more like watching a bunch of hollow doll puppets flinging their appendages around. They did nail the nostalgic Dreamcast vibes through the environment visuals, the music is as good as always, and I like that you can call characters from the previous games and just chat for a bit. Still, as a massive enjoyer of the first two Shenmues (Shenmue 1 is very high on my list of favorite games), I can't help but be a little sad right now.