Rise of the Ronin - PlayStation 5

Absolutely love this game. I was a huge fan of Ghost of Tsushima (I have a Tsushima Displate adorning my desk at work) and consider that to be a near perfect game (the only flaw really for me being that it came to an ending, but that's to be expected ;) ). While I don't love Ronin as much as Tsushima, it's awfully, awfully close. I think Tsuhima's fighting was tighter and had a better control scheme, but Ronin's is still top notch. The fighting can be intense but is still a lot of fun, especially since, unlike Tsushima, you often have the option to take one or two NPCs with you to help you out. Having trouble beating a particular boss? Switch out the NPCs you're using and/or tweak the difficulty setting and you should be fine. . Speaking of the NPCs, Ronin does a great job of making them fun to interact with. You can form bonds with them and increase your level of friendship to unlock in-game bonuses (sometimes loot, sometimes bonus points to improve your character) and further advance down each NPCs personal story. Some decisions you make can get them killed off, and sometimes you save their lives and add them to the roster of NPCs available to go on missions with you. They all have distinctive personalities and the voice acting is very well done for most if not all of them. . The graphics are very well done. It's a lot of fun wandering around the open areas and looking at all of the scenery if you like that kind of thing in a game. The devs did a great job on the design for the areas you get to wander around in. Whether it's city, village, countryside, wilderness, it's all very nicely done. . Were you a fan of the Batman Arkham games? You'll get a bit of that vibe in this game. Plenty of opportunities for you to take down enemies using stealth methods. Plus as you advance in the game's main storyline, you get "technology upgrades" like a collapsible paraglider contraption that lets you glide around like Batman, plus a fancy rope contraption that lets you rappel around and climb buildings and yank enemies up off the ground for a stealth takedown. It gets a little steam punkish in that respect in that you even get a proto-flamethrower weapon option you can use if you want. . Lots of customization options too. Not just your character's physical looks, but plenty of different gear/costuming options. I also like that the game lets you lock in the outfit look that you like the most. This lets you swap gear in and out for stat bonuses without changing how your character looks. Fighting styles allow you lots of combat customization as well. As do the decent amount of weapon options, including lots of melee options (like two-handed swords, katanas, dual katanas, spears, polearms, etc.), plus bows (with poison and flame tipped arrow options), shurikens, pistols and rifles (it is the 1860s after all). As you advance in the game, you can improve your abilities with bows and rifles so that you can even get some sniping in. . I've seen some people complaining about bugs, but me personally, I've run into very few game glitches. Occasionally there'll be a minor graphics glitch here or there, but I've got a bit over 50 hours in the game at the moment (and still I think only about 3/4 of the way done) and I think I've had things like that happen maybe 3-4 times total and they were always easy to deal with by doing something like rotating the in-game camera around to look at something else. I've not had a single instance of anything like broken quests/missions or anything that dumped me out of the game. . If, like me, you would like something similar to Ghost of Tsushima, then check this game out. It's similar, but definitely with its own "personality" to it. Even if you didn't play Tsushima but enjoy open world games with plenty of room to roam and lots to do (like Witcher 3 for example) (gambling, side quests galore, sparring to improve your combat abilities, cat collecting, gardening to grow herbs for crafting, etc.) in addition to the main storyline and fighting, you can't go wrong with this game. Read more

I could not stop playing this Sony PS5 game. Although the graphics looked a bit dated, the gameplay and character development were interesting. I wasted a lot of time due to not knowing how to ride a horse, however once I figured it out, the game went much faster. Although, I do not rate this game as highly as Ghost of Tsushima, it is not far behind in my humble opinion. Fight sequences are fairly challenging, so be prepared to experience defeat often. Be patient with this game and eventually you will be rewarded upon getting the hang of it. As you gain more combat technique skills, more protective armor and more lethal weapons, defeating enemies becomes easier. A must have for fans of Samurai genre video games. Read more

While rise of ronin is far from a perfect game, it is one I can say was a complete blast from start to finish. Its fun combat and enjoyable characters make up for the weaker aspects such as a bland overworld. As of writing this Im over 100 hours into this game and still crave more of this great combat. Faster then Nioh but not as fast as Wo Long it creates a very enjoyable balance between fun and difficult. Read more

142 hours on Normal/Hard difficulty I had my eye on this game when I first heard about it. However, after watching some reviews that painted it in a negative light, I shied away. Luckily, I decided to check out a few Twitch streams (I highly recommend this for any game you’re curious about), and that drastically changed my opinion. While it’s not perfect, it’s still my GOTY for 2024 (though I’ll see how other games fare). • The combat feels like a Team Ninja game, but it doesn’t necessarily remind me of Nioh or Wo Long. That’s a good thing because I wanted this to be its own experience. • Finally, fast travel done correctly in an open-world game! Once a spot is unlocked, you can simply hover over it and instantly transport to the location. Quick and seamless. • Weapon variety isn’t a must in these types of games, but it’s certainly welcome. I like the idea of being able to play it “my way.” For me, that means fast attacks, and the dual swords allow for that. • Do you find Team Ninja games too difficult? Well, you’re in luck because there are difficulty options! I started on Normal but bumped it up when things got too easy, then brought it back down toward the end. • Currency really matters in Rise of the Ronin. I hate it when I have a lot of leftover money with nothing to spend it on. There’s always gear and weapons to upgrade here. • Who doesn’t love a good boss fight? That said, anything can be overdone. There are far too many boss fights in this game, to the point where none of them feel special anymore. • Granted, I might take longer than the average person to finish games, but RotR felt unnecessarily long. I enjoy side content and side missions, but a leaner approach would have been better. • Maybe it’s just me, but I found most of the skills useless. By the halfway point, I was dumping skill points into random nodes just to satisfy my OCD of having unused points. They should have focused on fewer skills but allowed us to power them up more (they did this to some extent, but not enough). If you don’t go in expecting Nioh 3, I think you’ll enjoy yourself. It’s a bit on the long side, but I still consider it the best game I’ve played this year. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights—you’re up next! Read more

Fun game at a great price on Amazon. There is a lot to do in this game all kinds of side things going on and things to pick up and people to meet. You're going to be busy with this one. Read more