8 /10 21

Rise of the Ronin represents Team Ninja’s most ambitious open-world project to date. Released for PlayStation 5 in March 2024 and coming to PC via Steam in March 2025, this action RPG immerses players in the Bakumatsu era of 19th-century Japan during the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Players assume the role of a masterless samurai, a ronin, whose choices shape alliances, combat styles, and the nation’s fate. The game blends historical authenticity with Team Ninja’s polished combat systems, online co-op for up to four players, and a dynamic world reacting to player decisions. This review examines how Rise of the Ronin balances ambition with execution across platforms.

How to Play Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin is a character-action RPG emphasizing sword-based combat, character customization, and alliance-driven narrative choices. Players navigate open-world Japan, engaging in story missions, side quests, and dynamic encounters while managing resources, equipment, and character relationships.

1. Controls – Combat uses responsive light and heavy attacks, dodges, and parries with stance-switching mechanics. Controls feel responsive with manageable complexity; the learning curve is moderate for action RPG veterans but steeper for newcomers unfamiliar with Team Ninja’s design philosophy.
2. Progression – Complete story chapters (3 major acts) affecting world state, faction relationships, and available missions. Experience-based leveling unlocks combat styles, skills, and equipment. Player choices create multiple story branches with different endings and content availability.
3. Combat and Mechanics – Balance close-range sword combat with ranged options. Master four switchable combat styles, each offering unique movesets, perks, and playstyle approaches. Parrying and counter-sparks reward defensive play; stance flexibility encourages tactical adaptability across difficulty levels.
4. Tips – Invest in all four combat styles rather than specializing early; variety proves crucial against diverse enemy types. Stock healing items before major missions. In multiplayer, coordinate roles: assign dedicated damage dealers, defensive supports, and skill specialists for optimal group synergy.

Who Should Play Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin appeals to action RPG enthusiasts who value combat depth, choice-driven narratives, and cooperative multiplayer. The game respects player agency through faction alignment and side-quest consequences. Its historical setting and Japanese cultural elements attract players seeking authentic period immersion beyond typical fantasy RPGs.

• Team Ninja Combat Fans – If Nioh, Nioh 2, or Wo Long delivered satisfaction, Rise of the Ronin’s refined combat system builds on that foundation with greater accessibility and varied playstyles without sacrificing depth.
• Co-op Adventure Seekers – Players wanting four-player cooperative gameplay in story missions and exploration will find meaningful multiplayer integration that doesn’t overshadow single-player experience or progression.
• Historical Drama Enthusiasts – The Bakumatsu era setting features real historical figures and events reimagined through a lens emphasizing player narrative agency. Character relationships develop with nuance rewarding careful dialogue choices.
• Skip If – Avoid if you demand cutting-edge graphics and frame rates; PS5 performance prioritizes visual fidelity over 120fps options. Skip if you want minimal grinding or fast-paced storytelling without side-content divergence.

Rise of the Ronin Platform Performance

Rise of the Ronin launches on PlayStation 5 with optimized performance modes. The PC Steam version released March 2025 offers enhanced visual options including 8K resolution support, ray tracing, and 120fps targets using DLSS and FSR technologies. Performance varies by platform and settings but remains smooth across target specifications.

Rise of the Ronin System Requirements

Rise of the Ronin’s PC version requires modern gaming hardware to run optimally. The game demands high SSD speeds and sufficient VRAM for texture streaming. Minimum requirements enable 1080p/30fps gameplay with upscaling; recommended specs target 1440p/60fps with medium to high visual settings. Intel Arc, NVIDIA RTX, and AMD RDNA2 GPUs receive optimization priority.

Similar Games to Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin occupies a unique space combining action-RPG combat depth with open-world exploration and narrative agency. Games sharing these elements offer comparable experiences with different historical settings or mechanical emphases. Players seeking alternatives should consider titles prioritizing player choice, co-op gameplay, or period-specific atmospheres.

• Nioh 2 – Team Ninja’s action RPG foundation that Rise of the Ronin refines. Shares combat philosophy but emphasizes loot-driven progression and darker fantasy setting rather than historical authenticity.
• Ghost of Tsushima – Historical samurai setting with similar Japan geography. Emphasizes combat mastery and visual storytelling over choice-driven branching narratives or cooperative multiplayer.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Team Ninja-inspired parry-focused combat mechanics. However, delivers linear narrative and single-player-only experience without choice branching or multiplayer features.
• Dragon’s Dogma 2 – Open-world action RPG with player agency through pawn system and multiple dialogue paths. Features similar character customization and combat-focused progression without historical setting grounding.

Rise of the Ronin vs Competitors

Rise of the Ronin competes against major 2024 action-RPG releases and PlayStation exclusives. This comparison contextualizes the game’s value proposition, critical reception, and long-term engagement potential. While receiving more modest review scores than some contemporaries, it offers distinctive strengths in co-op implementation and historical immersion.

Rise of the Ronin Story and World

Rise of the Ronin unfolds during Japan’s Bakumatsu period, a historically turbulent transition from feudal shogunate rule to modern imperial restoration. The protagonist, a masterless ronin created through character customization, navigates three distinct chapters spanning different regions: Yokohama’s foreign-influenced port, Kyoto’s traditional heart, and Edo’s political epicenter. The narrative emphasizes player choice: align with anti-shogunate revolutionaries, pro-shogunate traditionalists, or independent Western powers. These decisions reshape available missions, NPC relationships, and story conclusions without invalidating gameplay. Real historical figures like Ryoma Sakamoto and Shoin Yoshida appear as compelling characters whose fates intertwine with the player’s choices, grounding fantasy elements within historical authenticity.

Rise of the Ronin Multiplayer and Online

Rise of the Ronin features cooperative multiplayer seamlessly integrated into single-player progression. Up to four players can join missions together, though party size reduces during free-roam exploration. PlayStation Plus subscription is required; cross-play between console and PC is not supported, but platform-native cross-play functions within each ecosystem.

• Story Co-op (Main Missions) – Drop-in/drop-out online co-op supporting up to 4 players during story chapters. Shared progression benefits all participants; loot distribution uses scaling to ensure fairness regardless of player count.
• Free-Roam Assistance – Asynchronous elements allow leaving bloodstains, messages, and cooperative summons in open-world areas. Matchmaking balances player levels to prevent power imbalances while exploring.
• PvE Focus – No player-versus-player combat; all multiplayer emphasizes cooperative problem-solving. The game comparably features bond systems rewarding cooperative play with improved AI companion abilities.
• Cross-Play – PS5-to-PS5 and PC-to-PC matchmaking functions natively; no PS5-to-PC cross-play due to platform exclusivity agreements and server architecture limitations.

Rise of the Ronin DLC and Expansions

Rise of the Ronin includes robust base-game content without aggressive DLC monetization. Post-launch roadmap details planned free updates and cosmetic packs, though major story expansions have not been officially announced as of March 2025.

• Launch Bonuses – Pre-order editions included exclusive Iga Ninja gear, Toyokuni paired swords, Bando Warrior armor sets, and early-access combat styles. Standard edition buyers access all armor and weapons post-launch through in-game progression.
• Free Cosmetic Updates – Monthly armor sets, weapon skins, and hairstyle options released as free downloads. Cosmetics offer no gameplay advantage; appearance modification remains purely customization-focused.
• Balance Patches – Regular updates address combat tuning, encounter difficulty, and multiplayer scaling. Developer roadmap commits to quarterly content updates extending 12+ months post-launch.
• Potential Story DLC – While not yet confirmed, Koei Tecmo’s pattern suggests episodic expansions exploring secondary characters like Raven’s counterpart may release 6-12 months after launch at $14.99 per episode.

Rise of the Ronin Community and Support

Rise of the Ronin maintains active developer engagement through regular updates and community feedback integration. Official forums, social media channels, and fan communities foster discussion around strategy, lore, and cooperative play.

• Official Community – PlayStation Blog and Koei Tecmo’s official forums host developer Q&As, patch notes, and community spotlights. Team Ninja developers occasionally respond to specific gameplay questions and balance concerns.
• Fan Communities – Discord servers (10,000+ members), Reddit communities, and specialized wikis maintain active discussion about builds, hidden content, and co-op strategies. Community content creators produce guide videos averaging 50,000+ views per upload.
• Mod Support – PC Steam version does not support native modding; mods are not officially endorsed but community tools enable cosmetic and balance modifications among enthusiast players.
• Patch Cadence – Major updates release quarterly; balance patches deploy monthly. Community reports of bugs and exploits receive developer response within 2-4 weeks. Roadmap transparency provides 6-month visibility into planned features and improvements.