Nioh and Ninja Gaiden developer Team Ninja released its first ever fully open world game last year with Rise of the Ronin, and soon, the PS5-exclusive action RPG will also be making its way over to PC. With its Steam release around the corner, here, we’ll be going over some key details that you should know about the game itself, as well as information specific to its PC version.
SETTING
There was a time when open world period Japanese settings were a rarity, though that hasn’t been the case in recent years. Rise of the Ronin touts that experience as well. Set in mid-19th century Japan, it covers the final years of the Edo period. Its story focuses on the brewing civil war that ultimately ended with the dismantling of the 300-year reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. That means a number of actual, major historical figures also have important roles to play in the game, including the likes of Shoin Yoshida, Ryoma Sakamoto, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, and others.
PROTAGONIST
Rise of the Ronin sees players playing as one of two characters- a pair of twins, with players having the option to play as a man or a woman. Known as the Blade Twins, after their parents are murdered by assassins in the employ of the Tokugawa shogunate, they join a resistance group known as the Veiled Edge, with your ultimate, long-term mission being to help bring about the fall of the shogunate.
OPEN WORLD DETAILS
Rise of the Ronin is Team Ninja’s first ever open world, and it’s quite a sizeable one. And what exactly does it encompass? The chief attractions are the three dense cities that players get to explore- Yokohama, Kyoto, and Edo (which is modern day Tokyo). In addition to the three cities (each with their own distinct architecture and atmosphere), there’s also plenty of lush landscapes, countryside, and smaller settlements and villages to explore.
COMBAT
Unsurprisingly for a Team Ninja game, combat is one of Rise of the Ronin’s brighter spots. At its core, Rise of the Ronin’s combat places a ton of emphasis on parrying and blocking incoming blows and breaking enemies’ posture to find windows in which to unleash your own attacks. Also central to the combat system, similar to Ghost of Tsushima, are multiple different stances (or styles, as they’re known here), each with its unique strengths and weaknesses. Players are tasked with paying attention to enemies and swapping freely between styles based on their weapons is a fundamental part of the game’s combat.
WEAPONS
Again, unsurprisingly for a Team Ninja joint. weapon variety is a big focal point in Rise of the Ronin. Among others, the game lets player use weapon types such as katanas, greatswords, polearms, shuriken, spears, odachi, bayonets, dual swords, pistols, bows, rifles, and hell, even flamethrowers (or fire pipes, as the game calls them).
TRAVERSAL
Mileage may vary on how much you’re getting out of Rise of the Ronin’s open world design and content offerings, but the one area where the game shines unequivocally bright is the traversal. Getting around the game’s open world is quite fun, and you can do it in several ways. Simply running around is always an option, of course, as is horseback galloping. There’s also a grappling hook that you can use to pull yourself up to rooftops (or other designated high points), while a glider also lets you breeze through the air every so often.
MULTIPLE ENDINGS
Choice and consequence mechanics may not be the chief focus in Rise of the Ronin by any means, by player choice does still play an important role. The game will often task you with making narrative decisions, based on which you can get one of two different endings. By and large, the core story doesn’t change too radically, especially where – as you might imagine – real historical events are concerned, though the Blade Twins’ personal stories are impacted by your choices.
FACTIONS
Rise of the Ronin’s world is populated by three different factions that several characters and NPCs belong to. There’s a pro-shogunate faction, an anti-shogunate one, and a Western one that comprises of American and European figures and powers. Which of the three factions you choose to ally with can affect several things, from whether their quests are available to you, to the bonds you forge with characters, to the business you can do with certain vendors, and more.
LENGTH
Rise of the Ronin is a pretty beefy game, for those looking to get their money’s worth, though those just looking to run through its story won’t find that it overstays its welcome either. You can finish its main story in as much as 20-25 hours, while playing through the game with a good amount of side quests can easily take you up to the 40-50 hour mark. According to HLTB, meanwhile, completionists can get as much as 60-70 hours out of the action RPG.
PERFORMANCE AND RESOLUTION TARGETS
As is often the case with PC ports (especially late PC ports), Rise of the Ronin’s upcoming Steam release is proudly touting plenty of technical highlights. For instance, the game will not only feature support for native 4K, but also 8K, as long as you have the hardware for it. You can also run the game up to 120 FPS.
RAY TRACING SUPPORT
Rise of the Ronin feature a ray tracing mode on PS5 when it originally released last year, so it should be no surprise that the PC version won’t be lagging behind on that front. Koei Tecmo has confirmed that the game features full ray tracing support on PC.
UPSCALING SUPPORT
Those looking to optimize their experience even further will be able to do so with upscaling tech. On PC, Rise of the Ronin will feature support for Nvidia’s DLSS (and Reflex), AMD’s FSR, and Intel’s XESS.
MORE PC FEATURES
What else can PC players expect from the upcoming open world title? Rise of the Ronin’s PC release will feature support for ultrawide and super ultrawide screens, for 3D audio, and fully customizable mouse and keyboard support (for those who don’t want to play with a gamepad).
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
If you’re looking to play Rise of the Ronin on PC, you’re going to need a pretty powerful rig even if you want to play on base settings. On minimum settings, you will need either an i5-10400 or a Ryzen 5 1600, along with either a GeForce GTX 1060 (with 6 GB VRAM) or a Radeon RX 5500 XT (with 8 GB VRAM). On recommended settings, you’ll need either an i5-10600K or a Ryzen 5 5600X, as well as either a GeForce RTX 2080 Super (with 8 GB VRAM) or a Radeon RX 6700XT (with 12 GB VRAM). On either setting, you’ll also need an SSD and a whopping 180 GB of free storage space.
PRICE
Coming to PC roughly a year on from its original release, Rise of the Ronin’s upcoming port isn’t going to be full priced. Though it was $70 on PS5 at launch, when it releases on Steam on March 11, it will be priced at $49.99. So far, Koei Tecmo hasn’t yet confirmed if the game will be Steam Deck compatible.
