What will the upcoming open-world samurai ARPG look like?
These impressions are based only on the first hours of the full game, without using online multiplayer.
My strongest impression from the first few hours of playing the full version of Rise of the Ronin is that I somehow already knew almost every element of the game. The open-world structure, including the sub-mechanics, is very reminiscent of the newer Assassin’s Creed games, the theme and tone of the story are noticeably reminiscent of Ghost of Tsushima, and the combat or loot system is unmistakably reminiscent of the Nioh series from the same creators (as Ronin). It’s as if the developers at Japanese studio Team Ninja have set themselves the task of emulating “Western historical open-world games” as much as possible. While it’s all very familiar, the trio of inspirations mentioned are all quality games, and the resulting combination is definitely worth a try if you’re a fan of them.
At the beginning of the game, you will have to create the appearance of your character, but be careful, you have the opportunity to switch in this menu and create the appearance of two characters – after all, you are one of the “Veiled Edge” pair, which are specially trained pairs of samurai who always fight shoulder to shoulder. Since your “double” will be important to the story, be sure to think about his appearance. At the same time, both characters can be male or female, the choice is yours. The following story prologue rather quickly replaces the sequence of your training, several treacherous ambushes of enemies, as well as your first big mission on board the “black ship” of the Americans.
While this is all familiar, the resulting combination is amusing.
The story, set in Japan in the second half of the 19th century, is wild from the start and full of unexpected twists, supported by the “movie” animation in the game engine. However, compared to the mentioned Western games, it seems somewhat less realistic and human, rather giving the impression of a kind of shorthand and inhumanly exaggerated anime cartoon, full of brave heroes and villains with somewhat exaggerated statements and dialogues – if you have played the Nioh series, then you have a very good idea of how the story, its characters and dialogues are structured. Perhaps the only difference is that I have not encountered any supernatural creatures or magic yet. Let’s see how the story will develop in the rest of the game, since it is supposed to be non-linear, and your actively developing relationships with various characters, depending on your choices and the completion of additional missions for these characters, will play a role. it.
After completing the story prologue, the game takes you to a huge open world. Its map is drawn for you as a result of your active travels and explorations, or activity icons appear on it after you liberate one of the local villages from bandits. You also get horses and the ability to teleport quite quickly between unlocked “flags”, which also work like fires from the Souls games (they will replenish your health kits and ammo, but will revive any killed regular enemies).
If you’ve played Nioh, you have a good idea of what the story feels like.
While wandering between villages and towns, you can collect various herbs and raw materials in nature, from which you can then make first aid kits or upgrade your weapons. For variety, by killing enemies, you get weapons and armor as loot, which is so far similar (in properties and wealth) to the Nioh series. The combat system will probably not surprise you either, it classically emphasizes endurance (your own and that of your enemies) and well-timed counterattacks or dodges. However, stealth is also a very effective way to destroy entire enemy camps with stealthy death blows, sneaking up on enemies from behind.
In terms of design, you have the option to set three graphics modes in this PS5 exclusive game: performance (lower resolution and fewer effects, but aiming for 60 fps), quality (higher resolution with a target of 30 fps) or ray tracing. As always, I prioritized smoothness above all else, and in the first hours, both in missions and in the open world, the game runs pleasantly smoothly, with perhaps the only stutter when entering the first expansive exterior. In terms of graphics, don’t expect anything as aesthetically impressive as Ghost of Tsushima with its fantastically colored plains, but this game’s cooler color palette adds to the realism, and some of the character details or landscape views are definitely impressive. The filmography of the story episodes is also somewhat simpler compared to Ghost, but it serves its purpose.
You can set three graphics modes in the game.
While some aspects can be judged from the first hours of the game, the overall impression of a huge non-linear RPG will of course emerge much later. I am very interested to see how the implementation of online co-op with teammates will work (which we of course plan to test for review purposes), I am very much looking forward to the smooth jumps from a flying roguelike onto a horse while riding, as well as sneaky “strikes from above” and other advanced mechanics shown in the gameplay trailers. Who knows, maybe even this story will have an interesting beginning, and it will be worth discussing between individual players what choices they made and what the game’s ending will be. For now, it looks like fans of previous Ronin games will be pleased, and probably fans of the other games mentioned as well.
Rise of the Ronin is coming to PlayStation 5 on Friday, March 22, and can be pre-ordered from Alza.
Source :Indian TV
