Team Ninja and Sony’s open world action RPG Rise of the Ronin is here, and though it isn’t quite the smash success that the studio’s past games – especially Nioh – have been, it’s fair to say that it isn’t lacking for depth in systems and content. From its combat to its open world, Rise of the Ronin throws a lot at you throughout its runtime, which means it can take a while to completely familiarize yourself with its ins and outs. To help you along in that process, here, we’ve compiled a few handy pointers that you should keep in mind while you play the game.
COMBAT STYLES
Rise of the Ronin’s combat boasts impressive variety in a number of different ways, and having different combat styles contributes on that front significantly. The more you play and progress further, the more new combat styles you attack, each of which is not only better suited to certain weapon types, but will also give you a leg up on your enemies depending on what weapons they’re using. Enemies will at times also switch weapons during combat, which means you’ll be required to keep an eye out for when you, too, need to switch styles to counter new threats.
FLASH ATTACK
The best way to quickly switch weapons during a fight is to use Flash Attack, which can be unlocked in the skill tree quite early on. While switching weapons the regular way obviously works just fine as well, if you use a Flash Attack (which is done by pressing R1 and up together), you will switch weapons mid-attack, allowing you to more fluidly change things up without having to break your attack combos.
GRAPPLING IN COMBAT
The grappling hook is going to be one of your most used tools in Rise of the Ronin, and though the bulk of its utility will be seen during traversal, it will be a handy tool during fights as well. Using the grappling hook, you can pull enemies straight to you, which not only allows you to close distances quickly, but also gives you a brief window to unleash attacks while an enemy recovers from having been grappled.
MASTER THE PARRY
Rise of the Ronin takes cues from a number of different games we’ve seen in recent years. From Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, it borrows the parry system, known as Counterspark here, which tasks players with timing parries of incoming attacks to break an enemy’s guard and stagger them, leaving them open to high damage-dealing attacks. Pay attention to enemies and learn their attack patterns, because using Countersparks to your advantage is pivotal to success in Rise of the Ronin.
BLADE FLASH
A smaller yet still pretty useful combat mechanic, it’s one that’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. Each hit you land on an enemy increases your Blood Gauge, which essentially means your weapon gets increasingly covered in blood. Pressing R1 right after an attack, however, sees you flicking your weapon to clean the blood off of it, which in turn will replenish a decent chunk of your Ki meter (which, in a nutshell, is Rise of the Ronin’s version of stamina).
DETECTOR
Though Rise of the Ronin is very much a combat-focused game (unsurprisingly for a Team Ninja joint), it does also put added emphasis on stealth, and the detector is going to be one of your most useful tools on this front. Acquired pretty early on through Igashichi’s questline, the detector can be used at any point to highlight enemies’ locations in your vicinity. A pretty basic tool, yes, but one that you should try and get your hands on as soon as possible, given how useful it can be.
BONDS
Befriending people and building deeper bonds with them is a surprisingly significant part of the experience in Rise of the Ronin, and it’s definitely something that you should be keeping an eye on at all times. Throughout your time with the game, you’ll meet and forge bonds with different characters, and the more you help and spend time with them, the deeper your bond with them will grow. Deepening bonds with characters can lead to pretty useful and varied mechanical rewards (like Igashichi’s aforementioned detector), so make sure you’re cultivating friendships with as many people as possible.
AREA AND FACTION BONDS
It’s not just people that you’ll be building deeper bonds with in Rise of the Ronin. You’ll also be deepening your bonds with different areas of the open world, as well as factions that form the backbone of the story. Doing the former will unlock new side activities and quests, while the latter will bring its own rewards, like vendors aligned with that faction selling items at a discount. Like personal bonds, area and faction bonds are also well worth keeping an eye on.
PUBLIC ORDER
As you explore the open world of Rise of the Ronin, you’ll frequently come across areas that have been taken over by enemies, following which the game will task you with restoring these areas by defeating all the enemies there. Restoring public order in these activities is definitely recommended. Doing so will increase your bond with that region of the open world, while you will, of course, also unlock a new Veiled Edge banner that you can fast travel to at any time.
KARMA
Rise of the Ronin eschews a lot of Nioh’s Soulslike tendencies, but we do still have hints of that sprinkled in here. Take Karma, for instance, which is an additional progression currency on top of regular skill points and XP that can be lost upon death (and can also be recovered by killing the foe that killed you). The more enemies you defeat, the more Karma you gain, and if you touch a Veiled Edge banner when your Karma meter is full, you unlock new skill points, as well as rare skill points that let you unlock special, exclusive abilities and skills tied to stats like dexterity, charm, and intellect. Those skills are particularly useful, so ensure you’re always keeping an eye on how much Karma you’re racking up.
PILGRIM DOGS
Scattered throughout Rise of the Ronin are pilgrim dogs, and as any game that doesn’t have a heart made of stone would, Rise of the Ronin lets you pet them to your heart’s content. That comes with mechanical rewards too, while at your base of operations, you can also send pilgrim dogs off to nearby shrines in your stead with a handful of currency. Depending on how much money you give them, they will come back with a variety of different rewards.
FOREIGN BOOKS
Igashichi’s Bond questline is one of the first ones you unlock in the game, and it’s also among the most useful. As part of his questline, he’ll ask you to seek out and retrieve foreign books for him that he intends to then use to improve and power up his inventions. The more of these you find and hand over, the more things you’re able to get Igashichi to unlock and make, which means keeping an eye out for foreign books is always recommended.
LANDMARKS
Rise of the Ronin’s open world doesn’t always do justice to its period historical setting, but those looking to engage in some virtual tourism can still do that to some extent. For instance, scattered throughout the map are different landmarks. Finding each of them will help you increase your bond level with the area that they’re in, while also rewarding you with XP.
SHRINES
Another side activity that you’ll find plenty of as you explore Rise of the Ronin’s open world is shrines. There are a large number of these to be found everywhere, and our recommendation would be to seek them out whenever and wherever you can. Each shrine you find increases your bond in the area you found them in, while they also reward you with free skill points, which is always a nice bonus.
CATS
Finding and petting cats is something else you’re going to be doing plenty of in Rise of the Ronin’s open world, and though it’s not quite as useful as some of the other activities we’ve discussed here, it still can be pretty darn useful. The cats you find help you get your hands on more silver coins, which, in turn, can be used at vendors to purchase special items.