Rise of the Ronin PS5 tech review: a good game marred by technical challenges

Rise of the Ronin is an open-world samurai action RPG, and perhaps developer Team Ninja’s most ambitious project to date. Building on the same in-house technology that powered Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Stranger of Paradise, the pure focus on PlayStation 5 development makes the project particularly tantalising in what has become a prolonged cross-generation era. To that end, fully open world streaming is incorporated into the engine plus ray-traced reflections.

Despite these engine breakthroughs, Team Ninja has a huge challenge in following 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch’s open-world samurai action game which set a high bar for visual quality despite its cross-gen release. How does Rise of the Ronin fare in comparison, and which of its three graphics modes are the best way to enjoy the game?

The good stuff first: Rise of the Ronin takes the winning Souls blueprint for its combat, with a particular focus on counterattacks – much like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. The more counters in a row you nail, the lower the opponents’s stamina gauge falls until they’re left open to a finishing move. It’s brilliantly executed, and the tight action – together with a wealth of weapons and the ability to quickly switch characters and styles – make for a satisfying challenge.

Zooming out, all of this combines with a broad open-world design that recreates mid-19th century Japan. As a wandering ronin you take on quests, with the story branching out depending on which allegiance you pick. The quest structure is more Assassin’s Creed than Dark Souls though, with objective markers filling the map and tools like horses, grappling hooks and gliders available to help you get from A to B quickly.