Rise of the Ronin: Two Blades, One Destiny
Before you are let loose on the hills and valleys of Japan, there is the classic tutorial mission that explains the basics to you.
The year is 1853: As a twin blade, you grow up with your counterpart in the Village of the Hidden Edge. Hers is one trained unit of elite fighters on and become in Rise of the Ronin be instrumental in shaping the country like a soft piece of clay through battles, intrigues, dialogues. But a particularly spicy mission that takes us to the Black Ships that have come from the West gets out of hand and you will soon be separated from your partner in crime. Your search for him takes you out of the village into the vastness of Japan, into regions around well-known cities such as Yokohama, Edo (formerly Tokyo) or Kyoto.
Here’s the one Meanwhile, change can no longer be stopped: Because of the Americans who have arrived, the shogunate is planning to open the actually closed country to trade with the outside world, while a number of nationalist rebels want to prevent this and overthrow the current government. As an independent pawn you end up between the fronts and takethe reins for Japan’s future into your own hands: Are you helping the shogunate under the leadership of Yoshinobu Tokugawa to promote exchanges with the Americans and nip the emerging resistance in the bud? Or are you helping those same insurgents and trying to take Japan away again?
In some dialogues you can not only decide in which tone you respond, but also whether you threaten the other person or start an argument straight away.
Anyone who is interested in the historical events surrounding the… so-called Meiji Restoration Who knows a little, of course, already knows what exactly happened in the Land of the Rising Sun from 1868 onwards and despite a lot of influential decisions, Rise of the Ronin doesn’t seem to completely rewrite history. Nevertheless, you are always faced with the choice of which faction you can swear and swear byrise in the favor of historical personalities or end their lives prematurely. The strong focus on the story and its characters suits the game well and often acts as a driving force in the open world.
With the help of various dialogue options you can choose your conversation partner lie, convince or intimidate, negotiate a peaceful solution or let blood flow and thus open or close new paths for you. If you don’t give in prematurely in the midst of political unrest, you are available to deepen bonds: choosing the right response options is just as important as handing out gifts or completing character-specific missions. Wait as a reward intimate moments of togetherness, improved fighting styles and of course useful items on you; The dialogues seem authentic, although sometimes a bit stilted due to the historical circumstances.
Open world swoon
One of the many inconsequential side activities in the open world of Rise of the Ronin is the heartwarming petting of furry four-legged friends.
If you have already gained experience with the last Team Ninja titles such as Nioh or Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, then you can playfully prepare for a new framing with Rise of the Ronin. Instead of pointed missions in tube-like areas with one or two branches, shortcuts and distractions, you get one here classic open world presented, which has become popular in recent years thanks to the newer Assassin’s Creed games, Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, The Witcher 3 and Ghost of Tsushima dominant genre trend has blossomed and really classic.
Collectibles are waiting for you on every corner, often marked with the corresponding symbol on your map: pray at shrines, pet cats, take photos; Defeat fugitive ronin, fly through cardboard targets with the glider, shoot with a rifle or bow and arrow, standing or on the back of my trusty steed. Also the typical bandit camp should not be missed, but thanks to the ingenious combat system (more on that later) they are still the most fun way to pass the time. Every now and then a fight breaks out on the side of the road, a merchant is attacked or a master wants to test his student in sword fighting. The spontaneous events liven up the otherwise stagnating open world, are playful but just as uninnovative as the rest of the genre goulash.
Clearing out bandit camps ensures that public order is restored, which reveals new activities on the map and later also the Strength of pro- and anti-Shogunate factions influenced; Ultimately, these are just percentages in the menu that don’t leave a lasting impression. Anyone who likes to work through a kilometer-long shopping list and watch percentages rise will still be happy here, but given the… Open world assembly line workwhich has been thrown at us by the industry for ten years, many players are likely to show signs of fatigue.
Markers, markers and even more markers: on the left you get where to go next, on the right you get what you’ve already done. Satisfying, but also dull.
Especially since Rise of the Ronin really makes no effort to loosen up the familiar formula in any way, like Breath of the Wild or Elden Ring did. That too degenerates accordingly actually fun movement by horse or glider At some point you will have to navigate predominantly via fast travel in order to tick off markers as efficiently as possible: Away from the dynamic but repetitive events and the picturesque landscape of Japan for any video game tourism, there is therefore no real reason to explore the area. The open world tends to get in the way of the rest of the game and bloat it unnecessarily rather than providing any actual added value.