Highlights
- Rise of the Ronin blends challenging combat with open world gameplay, set in a historical Japan similar to Far Cry's open-world loop.
- The game involves restoring public order across Japan by completing tasks and eliminating bandits, similar to Far Cry's zone liberation mechanics.
- Rise of the Ronin puts a creative spin on Ubisoft's open-world formula, offering its own streamlined and satisfying approach.
Between Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2, and Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin, fans of sweeping, open-world adventures have plenty of excellent options to choose from in just the first quarter of 2024. Ahead of Rise of the Ronin's release, many fans questioned whether the game would be similar to other Team Ninja Soulslikes such as Nioh or Wo Long or if it would share more in common with games like Ghost of Tsushima and Assassin's Creed. The open-world game design on display in Rise of the Ronin definitely has similarities to the Ubisoft formula, but it actually has much more in common with Far Cry than Assassin's Creed.
Rise of the Ronin strikes a careful balance between the challenging, methodical encounters and mechanical complexity of Team Ninja's Soulslike games and the approachable hack n' slash gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima and the modern Assassin's Creed games. Its core open-world loop, though, is heavily reminiscent of Far Cry, with the protagonist needing to strategically restore public order across Japan. In the process, the player helps loosen the grip of the Shogunate on the country during a time of great historical transformation and political unrest, not unlike the settings of the Far Cry games.
All Features Confirmed for Rise of the Ronin So Far
There are plenty of unique features for players to look forward to in Team Ninja's upcoming action-adventure RPG, Rise of the Ronin.
Rise of the Ronin's Open-World Loop Takes a Page Out of Far Cry's Book
The large open-world map of Rise of the Ronin is separated into three distinct regions – Yokohama, Edo, and Kyoto. Within those regions, the map is further subdivided into various districts, each with its own checklist of locations to visit, tasks to complete, fugitives to hunt, and more. Before the player can safely travel to and from these districts, it's first necessary to restore public order by eliminating the bandit presence in an area, restoring the people's sense of safety and establishing what the game calls a "Bond" link thanks to the protagonist's efforts.
If this sounds familiar to the methodical clearing of a large open world map and liberating zones from authoritarian rule in the Far Cry games, that's because it's a very similar gameplay loop. Just like in the Far Cry games, the more the player works toward establishing their Bond link with a particular district, the greater rewards become available, typically in the form of stat bonuses for the game's four distinct skill trees. With bandit presence gone from an area, the player is also free to fast travel in Rise of the Ronin, moving to and from previously visited locations to clean up any outstanding business to reach 100% Bond level with the area's populace.
How Rise of the Ronin Puts a Creative Spin on Ubisoft's Open-World Formula
The open-world design of Rise of the Ronin will definitely feel somewhat familiar and formulaic to anyone with experience playing Ubisoft's open-world franchises like Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, but that in no way works against the title. Instead, Rise of the Ronin offers an exciting look at how a more streamlined approach to the tried-and-true Ubisoft open-world formula works well in the context of a Soulslite. By combining the studio's experiences making the Nioh series and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty with the general structure of games like Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, Team Ninja has created a title that proves there's still some life left in Ubisoft's aging open-world formula.
The combat is arguably the star of the show in Rise of the Ronin, and the future of both of Ubisoft's premier open-world franchises can stand to learn something from how it elevates Team Ninja's first open-world game. Every one of the open-world activities across Rise of the Ronin's large map works in the service of making the player a more skilled and deadly combatant, and in the process it also helps to prop up the game's narrative about a lone ronin working to dismantle the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Rise of the Ronin
Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin is an exclusive PS5 action RPG set in Japan, with the story taking place during the Edo period's final few years.
- Platform(s)
- PS5
- Released
- March 22, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Team Ninja
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
