Last year, Rise of the Ronin launched as a timed-exclusive for the PlayStation 5 and was wildly considered to be the most underrated game of 2024. Fast forward one year later and we now have the long-awaited Steam version of the game, and it's already reviewing higher than original title. With the PC edition finally released, Free Step Dodge will provide some additional coverage for the game.
Rise of the Ronin just might be considered the red herring video game dirt sheets needed to claim they don't bow down to Sony for every overdone 250-million-dollar blockbuster third person reskin of Uncharted they make. Sadly, based on the information gathered; this is one of the better-timed exclusives to come to the PlayStation 5 and of course it ends up with a 76/100 on Metacritic. The PC version has started off a bit stronger with an 82/100 on the ranking conglomerate.
Consider this release post for Rise of the Ronin as an everything you need to know guide to go along with the reviews for the people that don't want to factor their purchasing decision over critiques alone. Either way you slice it; a lot of people are interested to see where this game goes and where the relationship with Koei Tecmo & Sony will go if it underperforms or exceeds expectations. To be fair to Team NINJA and Koei Tecmo regardless of the scores; Rise of the Ronin alongside Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth are the two games over the past three years that have impressed or interested me with PS5.
The first PS5 review (to also break release date of the 22nd) is FAMITSU and this is actually a typical review tactic that's done to steer critics and players in a direction that is either average or strong. They've really become a lot more lenient over the past few years compared to what they used to be like, but they've given Rise of the Ronin a very positive score praising the mechanics above all else with a 37/40.
PlayStation Universe has so far given the highest score to Rise of the Ronin at a 95/100 calling it Team NINJA's most ambitious effort yet. They praise it by calling it grounded and hail the character creation tool as robust. PSU is also stimulated by the amount of replay value the game seems to offer and even states that most open world titles do not come close to being as generous with reward variety.
Rise of the Ronin received an 8/10 from Eurogamer with the critic bouncing up and down about its brutal blood gushing effects combined with the "beauty" seen in the overall visual design. The reviewer did feel that not everything was perfect, and the game was hampered down greatly by not having boss fights that were memorable as Wo Long's Lu Bu.
Game Informer, Game Spot & IGN awarded the game a 7/10 claiming that it was great fun and super long (50-80 hours) compared to most timed exclusive blockbusters these days. Even with the score being considered average these critics weighted out far more positives than negatives.
Variety has submitted the most vocal review yet rating the title a 5/10 stating that the characters were forgettable, and that Team NINJA has "fallen short graphically" with outdated visuals. I'm not sure how great the review system is with Variety, but I've heard multiple times that they're a casual take and when visuals are all that you can talk about coherently, it seems like a valid claim to argue.
The current Metacritic consensus rating is a 76/100 based off 109 submitted reviews. Oddly enough the consensus rating from the players is 86/100 based off of almost 1,300 ratings. There is clearly a happy audience here and you must be careful when considering the word of the big critics that only highly attribute heavy cinematics and cutting-edge graphics to the crisp and brilliant gameplay mechanics that Team NINJA are known for.
As previously stated, the Meta Score has started off stronger on PC and the first review up is from Loot Level Chill claiming that even though it's been a year since RotR it's still completely worth it to PC players that have patiently waited. Hobby Consolas says rates the game 87/100 and claims that despite the addition of new bugs, and bugs that haven't been fixed yet, RotR is a sincere visual improvement to the PS5 edition. GameSurf scores Ronin an 85/100 and says the sense of scale is far greater on PC.
We've had plenty of long-term contributors here at FSD state that Rise of the Ronin is potential GOTY material, and it shows in their gameplay. If you're looking to watch the best gameplay possible from a streamer that plays ultra consistently; please look no further than the Team NINJA Italian reference point - MasterNINJARyu. We'll chronicle his masterful gameplay here at FSD so that you can observe and peruse his entire playthrough at your leisure. MasterNINJARyu has also confirmed that he will posting content for the PC version as well; so, you can expect some of the best quality gameplay from this player thanks to the visual enhancements of the PC version.
Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Do not hesitate to follow Team NINJA's Master on Twitch for even more exciting Rise of the Ronin gameplay! While he may not play as consistently as Ryu when he does play its going to be around two hours and you're getting top-notch gameplay from a guy that's working for Team NINJA Studios. While giving you this great gameplay he's also interacting with the players, so this is really the closest you are going to get to the Team NINJA experience.
Zakkurye had also released some popular PS5 videos discoverable at his Team NINJA specific YouTube channel. Subscribe immediately to the controversial player for his infamous and popular takes within the Team NINJA universe and find out what it takes to be the ultimate Hokage. With his most popular video pertaining to Rise of the Ronin you can learn how to unlock every combat style in the game. You can also review some of the Hokage's most insane battles.
Rise of the Ronin just might be considered the red herring video game dirt sheets needed to claim they don't bow down to Sony for every overdone 250-million-dollar blockbuster third person reskin of Uncharted they make. Sadly, based on the information gathered; this is one of the better-timed exclusives to come to the PlayStation 5 and of course it ends up with a 76/100 on Metacritic. The PC version has started off a bit stronger with an 82/100 on the ranking conglomerate.
Consider this release post for Rise of the Ronin as an everything you need to know guide to go along with the reviews for the people that don't want to factor their purchasing decision over critiques alone. Either way you slice it; a lot of people are interested to see where this game goes and where the relationship with Koei Tecmo & Sony will go if it underperforms or exceeds expectations. To be fair to Team NINJA and Koei Tecmo regardless of the scores; Rise of the Ronin alongside Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth are the two games over the past three years that have impressed or interested me with PS5.
REVIEWS FOR RISE OF THE RONIN PC & PS5
The first PS5 review (to also break release date of the 22nd) is FAMITSU and this is actually a typical review tactic that's done to steer critics and players in a direction that is either average or strong. They've really become a lot more lenient over the past few years compared to what they used to be like, but they've given Rise of the Ronin a very positive score praising the mechanics above all else with a 37/40.
PlayStation Universe has so far given the highest score to Rise of the Ronin at a 95/100 calling it Team NINJA's most ambitious effort yet. They praise it by calling it grounded and hail the character creation tool as robust. PSU is also stimulated by the amount of replay value the game seems to offer and even states that most open world titles do not come close to being as generous with reward variety.
Rise of the Ronin received an 8/10 from Eurogamer with the critic bouncing up and down about its brutal blood gushing effects combined with the "beauty" seen in the overall visual design. The reviewer did feel that not everything was perfect, and the game was hampered down greatly by not having boss fights that were memorable as Wo Long's Lu Bu.
Game Informer, Game Spot & IGN awarded the game a 7/10 claiming that it was great fun and super long (50-80 hours) compared to most timed exclusive blockbusters these days. Even with the score being considered average these critics weighted out far more positives than negatives.
Variety has submitted the most vocal review yet rating the title a 5/10 stating that the characters were forgettable, and that Team NINJA has "fallen short graphically" with outdated visuals. I'm not sure how great the review system is with Variety, but I've heard multiple times that they're a casual take and when visuals are all that you can talk about coherently, it seems like a valid claim to argue.
The current Metacritic consensus rating is a 76/100 based off 109 submitted reviews. Oddly enough the consensus rating from the players is 86/100 based off of almost 1,300 ratings. There is clearly a happy audience here and you must be careful when considering the word of the big critics that only highly attribute heavy cinematics and cutting-edge graphics to the crisp and brilliant gameplay mechanics that Team NINJA are known for.
As previously stated, the Meta Score has started off stronger on PC and the first review up is from Loot Level Chill claiming that even though it's been a year since RotR it's still completely worth it to PC players that have patiently waited. Hobby Consolas says rates the game 87/100 and claims that despite the addition of new bugs, and bugs that haven't been fixed yet, RotR is a sincere visual improvement to the PS5 edition. GameSurf scores Ronin an 85/100 and says the sense of scale is far greater on PC.
GAMEPLAY CONTENT FOR RISE OF THE RONIN
We've had plenty of long-term contributors here at FSD state that Rise of the Ronin is potential GOTY material, and it shows in their gameplay. If you're looking to watch the best gameplay possible from a streamer that plays ultra consistently; please look no further than the Team NINJA Italian reference point - MasterNINJARyu. We'll chronicle his masterful gameplay here at FSD so that you can observe and peruse his entire playthrough at your leisure. MasterNINJARyu has also confirmed that he will posting content for the PC version as well; so, you can expect some of the best quality gameplay from this player thanks to the visual enhancements of the PC version.
Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Zakkurye had also released some popular PS5 videos discoverable at his Team NINJA specific YouTube channel. Subscribe immediately to the controversial player for his infamous and popular takes within the Team NINJA universe and find out what it takes to be the ultimate Hokage. With his most popular video pertaining to Rise of the Ronin you can learn how to unlock every combat style in the game. You can also review some of the Hokage's most insane battles.
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