30. Until Dawn Remake

As good as the original? Well, no, especially when it comes to the soundtrack selection for certain scenes, specific lighting changes in the beginning, etc. However, Until Dawn’s remake does offer vastly superior performance and character models alongside new content and death animations. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll encourage someone to experience the original and see first-hand why it’s superior. For now, at least it’s better than the movie (not that that’s a high bar to clear).

29. Rise of the Rōnin

Unfairly compared to Ghost of Tsushima when it first launched, Team Ninja’s open-world action-adventure has its share of bright spots despite the story shortcomings. Combat is top-notch, as expected from the Nioh team, and hey, you can use a bayonet as a hybrid melee/ranged weapon, which is really cool. It may not quite have the budget, but you can’t deny Rise of the Rōnin’s ambition, especially with the sheer number of factions, branching paths, and combat depth.

28. Sackboy: A Big Adventure

LittleBigPlanet may be on ice for who knows how long, but Sackboy: A Big Adventure did help fill that void. The vaster movesets, coupled with returning tools like the grappling hook, made for an endearing adventure, especially when playing with a friend. While it didn’t necessarily break new ground in the genre, it was still a joyful romp through Craftworld.

27. The Nioh Collection

Two excellent titles in one package alongside all their paid DLC and updates for hundreds of hours of masocore action RPG fun – what more could you want? Well, maybe a reprieve from the difficulty. However, The Nioh Collection is a sheer testament to Team Ninja’s post-Ninja Gaiden design, blending that combo potential with Souls-like fundamentals and more grounded action, even if the loot chase isn’t for everyone.

26. Mafia: The Old Country

We never really got all our answers about how Mafia: The Old Country ties into the rest of the series (save for it being a prequel and containing a few cameos). Nevertheless, it was a strong return to everything that made the franchise so memorable, from the gripping narrative and strong characterization to the deeply involving themes. That Sicily looked so stunning to explore is also a plus.

25. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

Jokes about remastering a title that wasn’t even a decade old aside, Guerrilla Games poured a significant amount of time and resources into revamping Horizon Zero Dawn for the remaster. Environments were changed, matching Forbidden West in terms of graphical quality, and entire cutscenes were overhauled and improved thanks to re-recorded dialogue. Otherwise, its gameplay fundamentals are as enjoyable as ever.

24. Demon’s Souls Remake

Aggravating as it is that Bluepoint was relegated to making a live-service title for all these years, at least we got the long-requested remake of Demon’s Souls. Purists may scoff at some of the visual choices and their effect on the atmosphere. And yet this remake brings the FromSoftware title into the contemporary age, idiosyncrasies and all, proving that some classics truly are timeless.

23. Sword of the Sea

Fancy hovering around some stunning environments on a hoversword, trying to piece together the sordid history of the place within three hours? Sword of the Sea may satisfy that urge…or leave you confused afterwards. Regardless, it’s a seamless blend of snowboarding, surfing, and platforming with deft pacing and more than a few surprises.

22. Returnal

From arcade shooters that it claimed wouldn’t sell to delivering one of the most pulse-pounding third-person action games of all time, Housemarque has had quite the journey. Returnal is a heck of a stop on the way, with Atropos presenting environments that are as brutalising as they are lovingly surreal. Its take on the rogue-like formula may not be for everyone, but when it comes to fast-paced action and bullet hell mechanics, few games can top it.

21. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

Showcasing the sheer speed of the PS5’s SSD, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart’s clever usage of rifts allowed for a dimension-hopping adventure the likes of which the series had never seen. But even if you ignore the technical wizardry, it’s just a stellar platformer all-around with its traversal mechanics, combat, and the sheer charm of its leading duo.

20. Helldivers 2

The sole success of Sony’s live-service initiative, and it’s easy to see why. Arriving almost out of nowhere to deliver explosive co-op action that’s easy to get into and impossible to put down, Helldivers 2 has grown into a behemoth of weapons, enemies, mission types, and whatnot. It’s almost detrimental in a way, given the technical issues, but when you can run around together in Killzone and Halo armor sets, it’s beyond worth it.

19. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Last year saw Microsoft finally release its first-party titles on PS5, but this year saw a once-iconic character returning to where it all began. We’re of course talking about Senua, whose first game debuted on PS4 before coming to Xbox. Suffice it to say that Senua’s Saga offers more of the same but with far more gorgeous visuals, and it works, despite the familiarity of it all.

18. Absolum

The very best in beat ’em up combat is mixed with deceptively simple upgrades and a branching world design that suits the genre as much as the storytelling. Saying it looks downright amazing would be an understatement, but it also packs in a surprisingly great soundtrack with a who’s who of composers on board. Suffice it to say that if you’re going in for more Streets of Rage 4-style goodness, Absolum will easily surpass those expectations.

17. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

After successfully reviving Silent Hill, it was the turn of Metal Gear Solid, that too where it all chronologically began. And while Delta: Snake Eater threw in some notable new features, from the over-the-shoulder camera to the revamped visuals and quality-of-life, it was, unabashedly, exactly like the original. Love it or hate it for that reason, it’s still a fantastic remake for one of the greatest of all time.

16. The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered

Yes, The Last of Us Part 2 isn’t technically a native PS5 title, and yes, the series’ re-releases are getting a little too excessive. On the other hand, it’s still a fantastic game with a story and twist that’s vehemently argued about to this day. The mix of survival mechanics and responsive gameplay, coupled with larger environments to explore and even more heart-pounding set pieces, all wrapped up in that signature post-apocalyptic atmosphere – it’s still a powerful combo to this day. Throw in the rogue-like No Return and other goodies, and you’ve got an even better deal.

15. Borderlands 4

It’s a good day when you can wake up, play a new Borderlands title and come away with “Not bad.” Featuring the gunplay of Borderlands 3 and none of the same narrative treatment, its main appeal is the vast world, laden with interesting activities, and more build-crafting opportunities than ever before. The looter shooter genre as a whole may seem tapped out, especially on this scale, but Borderlands 4 is still a fun time if you’re into the grind.

14. Forza Horizon 5

For years, PS5 players have heard about the brilliance of Forza Horizon 5. The extensive roster of cars (now at 900 and counting), the attention to detail of Mexico, its various jaw-dropping locations, and the sheer amount of content to experience. But for all its intricacies, systems, and realistic physics (if that’s what you’re into), Playground Games’ open-world racer is just the perfect fantasy for any car enthusiast to let loose.

13. Gran Turismo 7

The most drop-dead, stunning game in Polyphony Digital’s long, illustrious history and also the most controversial. But has that stopped Gran Turismo 7 from delivering the very best racing sim action this generation (especially after Forza Motorsport fumbled)? Not by a long shot, and the plethora of updates thus far, including the upcoming Spec 3 update, have made it even more worthwhile.

12. Silent Hill f

With the first hurdle of a competent remake surpassed, Konami faced its next big challenge: Delivering a new Silent Hill that was not only fun but downright terrifying. So naturally it went scorched earth by having Ryukishi07 pen the narrative and kera to design the creatures alongside a rural 1960s Japanese town as the setting. Even with complaints surrounding its combat, if there’s any horror title you need to experience this year, it’s Silent Hill f.

11. Days Gone Remastered

Even in the absence of a new game, you can’t keep ol’ Deacon St. John down. Finally arriving on the PS5, Days Gone Remastered offers everything that fans loved about the original with visual improvements and faster loading times. Permadeath and Speedrun modes provide fresh new challenges, while the brand new Horde Assault puts an arcade spin on surviving against an overwhelming amount of Freakers, complete with its own progression.

10. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Bigger, better and somehow offering the same runtime, Insomniac’s sequel puts a somewhat darker twist on Peter Parker’s journey as Spider-Man. In reality, it expands on the original in some truly spectacular ways, from the varied playstyles to the customization and plethora of suits. Plus, Manhattan, alongside Brooklyn and Queens, has never looked better or flowed as seamlessly as you web sling through them at breakneck speeds.

9. Astro Bot

A pitch-perfect platformer with a presentation that’s equal parts stunning and endearing, packed with the best that the genre has to offer in terms of levels and mechanics…all without any fluff, and paying tribute to PlayStation’s extensive history? That somewhat describes Team Asobi’s Astro Bot in a nutshell, but you could also just call it a masterpiece. It may not boast the same scale as many of Sony’s other heavy hitters, but its heart is unmatched, making for an exclusive that everyone should play. However, at the very top of the PS5 mountain sits…

8. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

That Sandfall Interactive’s first title could launch this year and catapult up the list of must-play games of all time is a testament to its brilliance. And make no mistake – Clair Obscur is brilliant in every single way that should matter in a role-playing game, full of wondrous locales to explore, an involving story with memorable characters, a fantastic combat system that mixes turn-based and real-time actions to excellent effect, and the music. Oh, the music. If you haven’t experienced it already, then what are you waiting for?

7. God of War Ragnarok

Sony’s Santa Monica Studio is no stranger to going all out when it’s time to end a story, and Ragnarok is no exception. Themes of family, betrayal, belonging, and more are tackled; vast lands teeming with dangerous new threats are revealed; and the sheer amount of combos that you can potentially pull off is even more insane than ever. Ragnarok is the studio’s magnum opus, and the fact that it added an entire rogue-lite expansion, Valhalla, on top as an epilogue for free only further sweetens the deal.

6. Black Myth: Wukong

It’s not often that something so unbelievably gorgeous delivers on its mountain of expectations, but Black Myth: Wukong made it look easy. The stunning art direction and presentation are backed by an equally involving combat system and some of the coolest boss battles in a video game. Wukong is more than just a great action RPG, though – it’s also a testament to the sheer game development talent in China.

5. Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition

Let it not be said that Guerrilla Games didn’t follow the rule of “more” with Horizon Forbidden West. More Machines, weapon types, armor sets, activities, side quests, fidelity, characters, locations – the list goes on (and Horizon Zero Dawn isn’t a small game). Amid all this, it even offered some shocking revelations, not to mention a much-requested boss fight in the expansion, Burning Shores. It’s been almost four years since its release, but Horizon Forbidden West remains an addictive open-world experience.

4. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Venturing beyond the confines of Midgar didn’t just mean experiencing the broader world of Final Fantasy 7 as a whole – it also meant a completely new approach to exploration. More mini-games and optional activities, not to mention side quests where key party members took the lead to go with additional challenging bosses, all wrapped up in an open world format. And that’s not even getting into all the improvements with the combat, summons, and the sheer insanity of the story. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gets some flak for certain sequences going too long, but for long-time fans and RPG enthusiasts alike, it’s simply breathtaking in almost every way.

3. Elden Ring + Shadow of the Erdtree

You probably saw this coming, but like a certain Scarlet Rotted Blade, Elden Ring and its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, simply won’t know defeat. Are there areas where it falters, especially in performance? Absolutely, but for us, it’s such a masterclass in open-world design and action RPG combat. That first moment where you step out and gaze upon Limgrave; that moment where Stormveil Castle is conquered and you look out upon the deeper world; the first nightmarish moments of Caelid; and who can forget wandering into the Land of Shadow and getting uppies from the Furnace Golem? Elden Ring wears its influences – from Breath of the Wild to Dark Souls – on its sleeve, and delivers a magical journey that few other games have managed to surpass.

2. Ghost of Yōtei

Plenty of revenge sagas ask how far you’d go, but Ghost of Yōtei offered a slightly different twist, which led to a more layered narrative. Of course, it also took everything about Ghost of Tsushima and elevated it to whole new levels, whether it was the natural flow of its open world, the sheer variety in activities, or the responsive combat. Overall, a fantastic title and more than a worthy follow-up to its 2020 predecessor.

1. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Much has been said about Hideo Kojima and his, let’s say, unique storytelling. However, Death Stranding 2 didn’t just up the emotional quotient while introducing various unforgettable new characters. It also made vast improvements to the original’s gameplay, accommodating those who favored stealth, going in guns blazing, or the familiar friction-filled hiking. The sheer visual fidelity is top-tier among games this generation, and it all ties together into a satisfying tear-jerker of an ending.

Players like to be rewarded with additional story, characterization, and fun upgrades upon discovering more of the open world, not another checkmark on a map. The Witcher 3‘s world is huge, but players don’t complain about it being bloated because it’s filled with unique landmarks and interesting side quests around every corner.

These 10 games even manage to disappoint the casual collectathon fan with their uninspired locales and boring terrain, proving that games need to do more than merely populate the world with objects. Here are 10 more open world games in recent years that have suffered from bloat.

Forspoken

Like other games on this list, Forspoken had a ton of potential leading up to its release. We first saw glimpses of it with the impressive next-gen demo when the PS5 was announced but the final result was severely lacking. The best thing about the game, its versatile and engaging parkour, isn’t facilitated well by the open world.

For one thing, there’s entirely too few things to do in the magical world of Athia. What’s more, there’s an absence of ‘magic’ to capture the imagination in the world, consisting of empty rolling hills dotted with repetitive activities as it is. What hinders the empty exploration further is Frey’s constant quipping and complaining. If you’re not keen to hear constant quips and snarky complaints over the course of several hours of empty, though fun, world traversal, you’re not going to have a good time in Athia. After critical and commercial failure, the studio was shuttered.

Rise of the Ronin

Team Ninja’s design identity lives and breathes by its dense and action-packed linear nature, so naturally, the decision to go open-world in their next samurai game was ambitious for the team. Being the first open world game from the studio, Rise of the Ronin doesn’t falter too hard, but it could’ve been better within a more streamlined structure.

The refined action combat the team has been known for helps the formulaic world activities feel a bit more fun than they otherwise would. This is the third game on the list to feature dozens of bandit camps in its large world, but there’s also genre mainstays like watchtowers, and … cats to pet across mid-19th Century Japan, okay at least that’s kind of charming. Still, the lack of organic environmental discovery, unlike, say, Ghost of Tsushima’s waypoint wind, and a more empty and boring world map than other games within the space, keep Rise of the Ronin from reaching the potential set by its unique time period and deep combat. Hopefully, the developers will keep on investing in this IP, because there is potential here and a Rise of Ronin 2 could be a genuinely great game.

Biomutant

Unlike Gotham’s largely samey environments, the open world in Biomutant is rather diverse and visually unique across biomes. But visual distinctness between the six tribal regions  is where Biomutant’s open world stops being impressive – unless you enjoy the busywork of clearing checklists, that is. Completing the many outposts, resource towers, ruins, and fast-travel signpost rewards you with little while being but it’s as shallow as it is repetitive.

But the combat and quests don’t really do anything interesting to accommodate the rote world activities, firmly solidifying Biomutant as a quintessential ‘mid’ game. It’s unremarkable, but not bad per se, and when multiplied by the huge open world and all its repetitive activities, makes for a lot wasted time one could have spent in more meaningful game worlds. Biomutant is a prime example where a stong investment doesn’t always result into a meaningful product.

Gotham Knights

If rote repetition is the death knell of open worlds, Gotham Knights feels oddly lifeless for a city meant to be in constant crisis. All of the positives of the Arkham games, save some of the third-person combat DNA, is gone with this game. Sure, there’s some fun stealth sections to be found within the story chapters, but a majority of the game’s content is beating up the same thugs and solving copy-pasted crimes throughout Gotham to grind towards Knighthood progression.

Players can typically look past a bit of padded grinding if the world feels alive and responsive, but Gotham also fails on that front. Alleyways are mostly empty, civilian traffic is practically non-existent, and the city doesn’t evolve or react to story advancements or a recently liberated borough. At least the game looks really nice with its lighting. Gotham oozes atmosphere on a superficial artistic level despite the lack of liveliness and organic activities. Gotham Knights does have its shining moments, but very few of them have to do with the open world structure. Honestly, at this point, we just need a new Batman Arkham, not to mention the disaster that was Suicide Squad.

Just Cause 4

While Biomutant can’t reasonably be considered bad by any means, Just Cause 4 certainly can. The only thing I’m uncertain about is if this game suffers more on the story or exploration axis because it sucks at both. First and foremost, there’s just way too many patches of nothingness in the game world, resulting in terrible activity density.

At least Rico’s versatile grappling hook can be played around with to traverse the boring environments because it’d be downright sleep-inducing to go anywhere in this game otherwise. Accommodating the poor map design is a total absence of a minimap or radar. I mean, come on, an open-world game with no way to track points of interest at-a-glance, and one with such a bloated and empty world at that, is inexcusable. The missions and side activities are also far less creative and interesting than previous Just Cause titles, and the game crashes pretty often. You know what, I can’t even point the main blame on the open world, Just Cause 4 is just plain bad. It’s amazing how the series shifted into a complete free fall after Just Cause 2. Such a massive shame!

RAGE 2

Rage 2 is another game on this list that certainly isn’t altogether bad; its open world design just kinda feels tacked on to extend game time. Avalanche studios used Id Software’s wonderful gunplay tech to craft a fast and fun gameplay. Shooting in Rage 2 feels fast paced but with very lackluster and repetitive map design, its potential is severely diminished. There’s hardly any reason to spend time checking off side activities due to the drip-fed upgrades that players are rewarded with. This is thanks largely to a pretty early plateau in the upgrade tree, which maxes out your character pretty quick.

And without any meaningful side stories or lore to discover out in the wasteland, exploration is largely an exercise in repetition. The rapid pacing of the gunplay also just isn’t well suited for the wide swathes of land, something a more densely populated map could’ve remedied a bit.  It’s a shame Rage 2 faltered on the open world front. A synthesis between Id gun mechanics and the open world chaos of Just Cause 3 set within a Mad Max-esque setting seem like a dream come true. But Rage 2’s world is largely average and is enough to pull down the game’s otherwise fun gameplay and traversal mechanics. It’s unlikely we will ever see a new RAGE game and that’s such a disappointment.

Mafia III

The original studio behind the first two Mafia games merged into Hanger 13 for Mafia 3. Hanger 13’s debut game lacks a lot of the charm and density the previous games had, going for a quantity over quality approach. The territory control system quickly becomes repetitive, with little variation between districts. The world itself, a fictional version of New Orleans, also lacks intriguing landmarks and unique stuff to do within it. It’s just a shallow and hollow open world all-round.

At least the story and atmosphere somewhat make up for it; however, repetitive side objectives are often mandatory to progress the main plot, harming that aspect as well. Here’s hoping the Hanger 13 has learned from their first game and refined Mafia: The Old Country’s Italy into something more engaging.

Saints Row (2022)

In a lot of ways, the 2022 reboot of Saint’s Row feels like a first draft of a game from a decade ago. It’s got the basic elements to make a classic Saints Row experience, but hardly any of the creativity, charm, or polish. Where previous Saints Row games made exploring and causing mayhem unpredictable and fun, this reboot turns every open world activity into a chore.

Criminal Ventures are just one example of this; once you do your first couple insurance fraud busts and repo jobs, you’ve pretty much seen done them all. The world does little to encourage curiosity either, considering how empty and vacuous it feels. What’s really a shame is the lack of charm across the whole experience, thanks in part to the odd incongruent meshing of attempted wackiness with serious drama, resulting in an experience that falls flat in the end. This release, more or less, has killed Saints Row.

Crackdown 3

Out of all the games featured on this list, Crackdown 3 reigns supreme when it comes to boring environments. We all wanted to explore a dark sci-fi city in the sequel, but the city’s repetitive building designs make exploration feel stale and uninspired. It’s one of those games where the asset reuse is so glaringly obvious that it significantly detracts from the experience. But it’s not just the bland environments of the city that hurt the open world experience, mission and enemy variety is severely formulaic too. What puts the nail in the coffin is the paltry rewards for doing open world activities.

You’re mostly just collecting ability orbs after completing activities or exploring environments with no interesting lore or customization. And of course, Crackdown 3 commits the major sin of mandating side content to progress the main story, this time in the guise of collecting intel for regional boss fights. At least there’s the charm of playing as Terry Crews throughout the formulaic experience, but even that wears thin pretty quickly. With Microsoft cancelling projects left and right, the future of Crackdown seems like it’s done and dusted.

Need for Speed: Payback

Need for Speed: Payback is a game I still kind of enjoy playing to this day, but it’s not to experience the exploration or anything. No, it’s the superb vehicle selection and customization which is the main draw of the game, but even that can be had in the better NFS maps that Heat and Unbound facilitate. Payback’s fictional map is quite large and spread out, but it features no police chases outside of scripted events.

Instead of hiding from cops and making an intricate escape through a dense downtown route, you’re just collecting stuff and starting events on the map. This makes Payback’s map the least dynamic and least designed for racing than any of the modern-era NFS titles. Fortunately, a lot of great Need for Speed games were released since then, so let’s hope this continues into the future.

Fortunately, another patch is on the way, going live on April 10th. Team Ninja says it’s “investigating reported issues” and that the forthcoming update should “fix or improve” some of them. It also apologized for the inconvenience caused. Which ongoing issues will be addressed remains to be seen, so stay tuned for detailed patch notes later this week.

Rise of the Ronin is available for PS5 and PC. Check out our review for the PC version here, which we criticized for its performance and other long-standing issues like bland quest design and poor writing.

Team Ninja hasn’t said anything about bringing the open-world action RPG to other platforms (like with Wild Hearts S), but director Fumihiko Yasuda is paying attention to the Switch 2. Head here for more details.

We are currently investigating reported issues for “Rise of the Ronin” Steam version.

Currently we are preparing a patch, which will be released 4/10 (Thu.), to fix or improve some of these issues.

We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences that you may have experienced.

— Team NINJA (@TeamNINJAStudio) April 3, 2025

WORLD DESIGN

As open world games, world design is a crucial element in all three of the games we’re discussing here, but they’re not all equally good in the department. Rise of the Ronin’s open world is fairly by-the-numbers and often feels static, which means exploration never elevates itself to the heights that you’d want. On the other hand, between Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ghost of Tsushima, the competition is a little bit more- well, competitive.

If we had to pick a winner, however – which is the whole point of this exercise – we’d probably have to go with Ghost of Tsushima. Yes, Shadows’ map is beautiful and a constant joy to explore, and unlike Rise of the Ronin, its world feels wonderfully alive and dynamic (thanks partly to a system of regularly shifting seasons). Ghost of Tsushima, however, feels like it’s on a different level, whether that’s because of its incredibly strong sense of place, how effective the world is at distracting players with its bevy of optional content, or any number of other factors.

VISUAL DESIGN

Once again, we can comfortably say Rise of the Ronin is the first to be eliminated in this category. Team Ninja’s open world game does have its share of striking sceneries to show off from time to time, but from a technical perspective, it’s quite rough around the edges. Ghost of Tsushima and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, on the other hand, back up their gorgeous art and visual design with strong tech driving the ending under the hood- and once again, we’ll probably have to pick Ghost of Tsushima. Liberal use of bright, bold colours and stunning vistas of natural beauty combine to create what has to be one of the most memorable and distinct open world settings in recent memory. Shadows has of course taken cues from Ghost’s visual design in how it depicts its feudal Japanese setting, but in our eyes, Sucker Punch’s 2020 samurai epic has yet to be dethroned in this category.

TRAVERSAL

Unlike the two categories we’ve been through so far, we’re going to have to place Ghost of Tsushima dead last here. Don’t get me wrong, making your way around its map is fun enough, but gameplay options on that front are fairly limited. Compare that, for instance, with Rise of the Ronin, which at least begins making up for its otherwise underwhelming world design by making sure that navigating that world is a lot of fun. Equipped with a horse, a gliding contraption, and a grappling hook, Rise of the Ronin makes traversal a ton of fun.

We are, however, going to have to give this one to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This is a franchise that has always prided itself on its traversal gameplay, and Shadows is probably the best it has been in this area for a long time. There’s multiple factors contributing to that- Naoe is perhaps the most nimble and best-moving Assassin’s Creed protagonist to date; her grappling hook is a ton of fun to use; parkour feels much more precise than it has in any previous Assassin’s Creed action RPG. Without a doubt, traversal is one of Shadows’ biggest strengths.

COMBAT

We have our first category where all three games have plenty to be proud of. Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Rise of the Ronin all tout great combat, each going for a different style- but which one comes out on top? For our money, Rise of the Ronin is the winner here.

Ghost of Tsushima’s parry-based and stance-based combat deserves a ton of plaudits, as does Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ slick evolution of the Origins-Odyssey-Valhalla style. Combat, however, is the one thing that Team Ninja has always had unimpeachable expertise in, and for all of its faults (of which it has many), Rise of the Ronin doesn’t buck that trend. It’s mechanically tight and satisfying, and also manages to be much more approachable than past Team Ninja titles without sacrificing any of its depth. This is the one area where Ronin deserves unreserved praise.

STEALTH

Stealth is part of the core loop on all three games we’re looking at here, but they each place different emphasis on it. Rise of the Ronin is a combat-focused game first and foremost, which means stealth often ends up taking a backseat- which means this is another category where Ghost of Tsushima and Assassin’s Creed Shadows are duking it out against each other. And as close as the competition is here, Shadows ultimately nabs it.

For the first time in years, an Assassin’s Creed title feels like a stealth game above all else, delivering a much tighter and more enjoyable stealth experience than Origins, Odyssey, or Valhalla did. Like with traversal, stealth, too, is driven by Naoe first and foremost, whose impressive toolset combines with an expanded base moveset, significantly improved stealth mechanics, and an excellent new dynamic light and shadow system that sprinkles a dash of Splinter Cell into proceedings.

STORYTELLING

This one is really one-sided, which is a shame, given how important this category is. Rise of the Ronin’s storytelling chops are nothing to write home about (which is putting it mildly), while Assassin’s Creed Shadows also disappoints in this area, even if it does have two excellent protagonists and the odd moment of strong storytelling in its main story here and there. Ghost of Tsushima, on the other hand, feels like it is firing on all cylinders with its main story from beginning to end. Full of memorable moments, epic set pieces, actual stakes, and strongly written conflicts, themes, and characters, Sucker Punch’s open world title tells a gripping tale, and tells it really, really well.

OVERALL

If you’re looking for a great open world action-adventure game set in a historical Japanese setting, then you have some good options here, and, depending on what you want, you will find at least two of these games to be the best in class. Rise of the Ronin is the obvious weak link here- while it wins with combat and performs reasonably well in the traversal category, it comes in dead last everywhere else.

The other two games are a lot more closely matched- people who favour traversal or stealth will get the most out of Assassin’s Creed, and if you want an amazing, gorgeous world with great storytelling, Ghost of Tsushima is probably the game for you. Honestly, both of these games are worth playing, but if we absolutely had to pick just the one, it would be Ghost of Tsushima. In addition to winning the most categories in this comparison outright, it also comes in in second place in most categories that it doesn’t win. So sure, if you are in the market for just the one Japanese flavoured action-adventure game? Go with Ghost of Tsushima. But we really can’t stress this enough, when you have the time, definitely at least take a look at Assassin’s Creed Shadows too.

Where Ghost of Tsushima was a resounding success, Rise of the Ronin proved to be more divisive from a critical perspective- which means there are some very different lessons that Assassin’s Creed Shadows can (and, in our opinion, should) take from the two games. Here, that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about, as we discuss the lessons that we hope it take in terms of how to go about things from Ghost of Tsushima, and how not to from Rise of the Ronin.

WHAT TO LEARN FROM GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

OPEN WORLD

Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest strength was the the compelling design of its incredible open world setting, and that’s by far the most significant lesson that any game hoping to achieve similar things should take from it. Sucker Punch absolutely knocked the ball out of the park with how well-designed the Tsushima map was and how it encouraged exploration, constantly finding ways to let players organically stumble on addictive optional content, of which it had an abundance scattered throughout the vast map. In terms of both design and how it has players engaging with and exploring their surroundings, Assassin’s Creed Shadows needs to take a step up from its recent predecessors if it’s going to do justice to its long-awaited setting. Our hope is it’ll have looked to Sucker Punch’s 2020 hit for inspiration.

VISUAL DESIGN

To a great degree, this goes hand in hand with what we just talked about, because Ghost of Tsushima’s open world wouldn’t have been anywhere nearly as well-received as it was if it hadn’t been so visually arresting. The game managed to find the exact right way to portray the abundant natural beauty of its setting, and that’s what we’re hoping to see in Assassin’s Creed Shadows as well. Thankfully, this is an area where the Assassin’s Creed franchise has usually had a pretty solid track record, even with what are deemed the weaker of its entries. Based on all of the footage that has been showcased for Shadows leading so far, it looks set to follow in its predecessors’ footsteps in this area with a visually striking open world setting.

COMBAT

Assassin’s Creed’s track record with combat tends to be pretty hit or miss. 2020’s Valhalla, for instance, wasn’t without its merits in the combat department, but after the slick and addictive combat loop of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, it felt like a bit of a step down to many. Shadows has the unenviable task of making significant improvements- but so far, it seems well positioned to. Of its two protagonists, Yasuke is going to be the more combat-focused one, and his fighting style certainly seems to have taken some pages from Ghost of Tsushima’s book. Of course, as an action RPG, there will be several factors that’ll set Shadows apart from Ghost here, from significantly greater weapon variety to progression mechanics, abilities, loot, and more, but with a greater focus on more precise and slick strikes as opposed to the bruising style of Valhalla, it certainly seems to have the right idea so far.

STORYTELLING

Assassin’s Creed hasn’t always succeeded at telling compelling stories, but when it does manage to do so (like the highs of the Ezio trilogy), it does so with flying colours. Whether Shadows will be able to hit those highs is anyone’s guess, but it does still need to deliver a strong, well-told story. Ghost of Tsushima knew exactly how to do that in a manner that felt authentic to its period Japanese open world setting, so yes, Assassin’s Creed Shadows absolutely should be looking to it for inspiration. Thankfully, Shadows’ development team at Ubisoft Quebec has proven with the likes of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Odyssey that it knows how to tell good Assassin’s Creed stories with likeable protagonists. Hopefully, Shadows won’t buck that trend.

WHAT NOT TO LEARN FROM RISE OF THE RONIN

SIDE CONTENT

Though Rise of the Ronin wasn’t without its strengths in areas such as the combat and the traversal, where its open world was concerned, it left many disappointed. Chief among the reasons for that was the quality and nature of the side content the game had on offer. By-the-numbers design and cookie-cutter optional content made the entire experience feel a bit too rote, to the extent that exploration was often nowhere near as fun or captivating as it should have been on paper. Assassin’s Creed as a franchise hasn’t always had the best track record with its optional offerings, so our hope is that Shadows will try and avoid the pitfalls that Rise of the Ronin fell in.

DEAD CITIES

It wasn’t just the open countryside in Rise of the Ronin’s open world that often felt static and empty. Major cities like Kyoto, Yokohama, and Edo were highlights of the map on paper, but actually exploring their streets and alleys was a letdown. From the lackluster crowds to the atmosphere of the cities in general, there were far too many knocks against Rise of the Ronin’s urban environments for them to be anything more than superficially interesting. Yes, they did boast strong visual design, and yes, the traversal was undeniably enjoyable, but that’s far from enough for open worlds looking to convincingly deliver a strong virtual historical tourism experience (as Assassin’s Creed always does).

CLUMSY WRITING

We touched on this aspect when speaking about Ghost of Tsushima’s strengths in the storytelling department- but we want to zoom in on the writing in particular, because this was another area where Rise of the Ronin felt like a letdown. On paper, it had all the pieces in place to tell a strong story, especially given the period of Japanese history that it chose to focus on, but clumsy writing, unnatural sounding dialogue, and paper-thin characters dragged the whole experience down. Assassin’s Creed Shadows needs to not make that mistake. Writing hasn’t always been this series’ strong suit, especially in recent years. But Rise of the Ronin has shown us exactly how painfully poor writing can waste a conceptually strong setting and story. Hopefully, Shadows will have learned that lesson during development.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Rise of the Ronin was Team Ninja’s first ever open world, so the studio definitely deserved some leeway in this area, while there’s also no denying that the game didn’t necessarily have too many major technical issues upon release. It had enough smaller ones though, from wonky animation glitches and texture pop in to lighting bugs and what have you, which all came together to make for what was a rather rough gameplay experience. That lack of technical polish also arguably weakened what was an already weak open world experience. If Assassin’s Creed Shadows is to make the strong impression right out the gate that series fans are hoping it will, and if it wants to get the most out of its undeniably promising setting, it needs to be as technically polished as possible.

In an interview with RPG Site, the duo acknowledged that while PlayStation supported Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja with publishing and localisation for the Nioh games, PlayStation Studios was, in some way, involved throughout the development of Rise of the Ronin.

“We received support in publishing and localization for the Nioh series, but for Rise of the Ronin, in addition to that, PlayStation Studios was involved in almost the entire PS5 version development process,” said Yasuda when asked about working with Sony.

“They shared valuable insights on various aspects, including accessibility and improving onboarding accuracy, which not only enhanced the value of the title but also provided a significant experience for Team Ninja.”

Hayashi goes on to say that, without the support of PlayStation, Rise of the Ronin wouldn’t even have been started as a project. He goes on to thank the teams at PlayStation Studios for their support in releasing the game.

“This project would not have started without the support of PlayStation Studios,” said Hayashi. “We are extremely grateful to the PlayStation Studios team for lending their strength to this new challenge.”

In the same interview, Yasuda also spoke about the popularity of the Nintendo Switch in Japan, noting that he is paying close attention to how things are going to change when the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally released. In the meantime, the PC has also gained quite a bit of traction in Japan as a gaming platform.

“In terms of consoles, there has been a long-standing situation in Japan where there is a significant number of Switch players, and I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2,” said Yasuda.

“For games like the ones we create, there are many PS5 players, but I also feel that the number of PC players has significantly increased in Japan over the past few years.”.

This is far from the first time that Yasuda has referenced PlayStation Studios when it comes to the development of Rise of the Ronin. While Sucker Punch wasn’t directly involved with the game, Yasuda does note that its open world title, Ghost of Tsushima, served as one of the major points of reference during the development of Rise of the Ronin.

This largely came down to the fact that Rise of the Ronin was going to be Team Ninja’s first open world game; its previous series, Nioh, is more level-based, with players picking the next stage to tackle through menus.

Rise of the Ronin was recently released on PC. Check out our review of the port here. Back when the PS5 release happened last year (review here), Koei Tecmo had also revealed that it had become the best-selling game in the company’s history so far. Leading up to that announcement, Rise of the Ronin was surpassing the Nioh franchise shortly after its PS5 release.

“In terms of consoles, there has been a long-standing situation in Japan where there is a significant number of Switch players, and I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2,” said Yasuda.

He also noted that the games he has worked on with Koei Tecmo tend to have a big audience on the PS5. In more recent times, however, Japan has seen quite a rise in PC gamers as well.

“For games like the ones we create, there are many PS5 players, but I also feel that the number of PC players has significantly increased in Japan over the past few years,” he said.

After having originally been released on the PS5 back in 2024, Rise of the Ronin came to PC earlier this week. The PC version of the game saw a host of improvements over its PS5 predecessor, including support for PC-specific features like ultrawide display, and higher resolutions and frame rates. However, as we noted in our review, the port didn’t feel like it was all the way there. Check out our PC review of Rise of the Ronin for more details.

While even its PS5 release could be considered middling when it came to critical reception, Koei Tecmo had revealed back in June 2024 that its sales had already surpassed the Nioh franchise. Yasuda referred to Rise of the Ronin at the time as “the best-selling Koei Tecmo title so far.”

Before the original release of Rise of the Ronin, Yasuda had credited Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima with inspiring Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo to make the game. While Rise of the Ronin was going to be the studio’s first open world game, Ghost of Tsushima was one of the points of reference during development.

“Rise of the Ronin is our first open world game, and Ghost of Tsushima was one of the games we used as reference, and I personally enjoyed it,” Yasuda said. “I felt inspired by the fact that a game set in Japan had been researched to such an extent by the developers, and had also received high praise for aspects such as its combat system. At the same time, I wondered why we couldn’t release a game like Ghost of Tsushima back then. Ghost of Tsushima served as good encouragement for creating Rise of the Ronin.”

Rise of the Ronin is available on PC and PS5. Check out our review of the original release for more details. If you’re interested in playing it on the PC, you can check out the hardware requirements to run Rise of the Ronin. In the meantime, check out our thoughts on the Ghost of Tsushima vs. Rise of the Ronin debate.

Before we get to the game itself, however, it’s important to talk about its performance on PC. For context, I played Rise of the Ronin on a PC running on an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, 32 GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, and an AMD Radeon 7800 XT GPU. The game was installed on an M.2 NVMe SSD to ensure that there would be zero bottlenecks.

Despite far surpassing the recommended specs listed on the game’s Steam store page, the performance felt a bit hit or miss at times. For instance, running the game at its Ultra graphics preset delivered inconsistent performance that ranged from between 70 FPS with dips all the way down to 40 FPS at a resolution of 2560 x 1440p, which meant that I had to switch to upscaling through FSR’s Quality mode. The frame drops I got without FSR became especially obvious whenever there was any heavy foliage involved which meant that the duels in the grass became a deadly affair because of dropped frames making me drop my combos or parries. Switching FSR on, even in Quality mode, resulted in a minor downgrade to the visuals. In exchange, however, I was able to get a more stable frame rate that peaked up to 100 FPS, with rare dips down to the mid-60s.

"It’s also one of those games where a controller feels like an absolute must-have."

Thankfully, there are several graphical options that can be tweaked, and it’s not too difficult to strike the perfect balance between great, steady frame rates and excellent visuals. I had to ultimately settle on the High preset to be able to play without needing to use FSR. Even with these settings, Rise of the Ronin still ends up looking decent. Sure, there might be a few visual artefacts here and there, especially if the scene has heavy rainfall, but those kinds of things only start feeling like a legitimate problem if you want to count every pixel on your monitor.

Considering all of these factors, however, I would not recommend playing Rise of the Ronin on a handheld gaming system like the Steam Deck. Having tried it on mine, I can safely say that you’ll have to wait for quite a few optimization patches by Team Ninja before the game starts feeling even remotely playable on the handheld. Aside from the troubles with getting it to run smoothly enough on the Steam Deck, the game’s dense UI also doesn’t work too well on the much smaller display of the handheld system. While various UI elements can be disabled to help clear out some of the clutter, the in-game menus will still be painful to navigate because of small text and several stat numbers you often have to keep track of.

It’s also one of those games where a controller feels like an absolute must-have. While the default keyboard and mouse bindings are fine, the game was made from the ground-up to be played on a controller thanks to its fast-paced combat. Thankfully, you don’t have to compromise between the two, since navigating between them in the menu in the PC version feels like a breeze.

When it comes to visuals, Rise of the Ronin is still a decent looking game. Its setting of Japan during the final few days of its isolationism during the Bakumatsu period has been wonderfully rendered, and travelling through its open world still remains an absolute joy. This is helped in large part by the fact that you have so many options for traversal. Being able to seamlessly break out into a sprint and then transition into using a glider as you jump off a cliff feels excellent.

"Rise of the Ronin is still a decent looking game."

Speaking of gameplay, this is where Rise of the Ronin truly shines. The game features what feels like a more polished take on the combat and stance systems from Nioh. Fights are incredibly fast-paced, while still maintaining an air of lethality since your health bar can disappear in an instance if you manage to miss a single counter. You have two melee weapons you can switch between, as well as a pair of ranged weapons that can be used to take out enemies wandering at a distance or mix all of them to deliver a cracking combo.

Much like just about any game featuring a historic Japanese setting like Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Rise of the Ronin’s combat also places quite a bit of emphasis on the parry mechanic. When a fight breaks out, you’ll have to wear down your enemies by depleting their Ki. This can be achieved by simply attacking them even if they block, forcing them to dodge, and most efficiently, countering their attack by using the Counterspark. Essentially, timing the Counterspark correctly with an enemy attack parries the whole thing, depletes a big chunk of their Ki, and leaves them open to a quick follow-up attack or two.

On completely depleting your opponent’s Ki, you can then hit them with a Critical Strike – an elaborate, often fun attack that takes off big chunks of their health bar. For most enemies, just getting a Critical Strike will be enough to finish them off. Boss fights, however, will need you to stay on the offensive, while also being careful enough to not miss your Counterspark or dodges.

This excellent combat is accompanied by a simplistic stealth system that thankfully doesn’t get in your way too much, since it can simply be used to finish off lone enemies. Unfortunately, all of this is bogged down by the fact that most of the open-world content in Rise of the Ronin simply doesn’t feel like it’s worth investing your time into. In the open world, most quests feel generic and doesn’t contribute much aside from marking off some completion points for a checklist that you might be familiar with in, for example, the recent Assassin’s Creed games.

"This excellent combat is accompanied by a simplistic stealth system that thankfully doesn’t get in your way too much"

This is alleviated by the fact that a some of the main story quests and side-missions will put you in bespoke levels designed for the excellent core combat, along with various tools that the player might have, like the grappling hook. These levels are also the few places where you can enable co-op, allowing up to two more players to join you in taking down your enemies. These levels are also often accompanied by boss fights which remain an overall highlight of the game thanks to their general intensity and the overall tight gameplay.

In conclusion, Rise of the Ronin is a mixed bag. The story remains a weak spot and while it starts off with some downright fantastic segments that have you sneak into a ship to assassinate Admiral Matthew Perry, things start losing steam shortly after you are given access to the open world. You originally have a singular goal in mind – reuniting with your Blade Twin – but you’ll quickly get embroiled in bigger schemes involving political machinations that revolve around the Tokugawa Shogunate and its opposing factions. While there are a few fun characters you get to meet along the way, especially historical ones like Sakamoto Ryoma and the aforementioned Matthew Perry, the story is unfortunately marred by too much clunky writing for the overall story to stick its landing.

If you can ignore the boring quest design and the uninspiring story, Rise of the Ronin on PC is a great fighting game. On the performance front, it definitely needs some optimization patches. After all, a game which isn’t really setting any graphics benchmark shouldn’t be as taxing on the hardware that I played it on.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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.

FragPunk

Bad Guitar Studio’s free-to-play competitive shooter Fragpunk finally arrives on March 6th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC and caters to the Valorant crowd. That is if Valorant had an even more bombastic art style and cards that introduce modifiers, from larger heads to flipping the level upside down. As far-fetched as it seems, Fragpunk’s mix of abilities and cards is endearing – here’s hoping it’s also long-lasting.

Split Fiction

Better than It Takes Two (according to director Josef Fares) and promising to blow people away (again, according to Fares). Regardless of the signature hyperbole, Hazelight’s latest co-op adventure looks quite good. As Mio and Zoe, two writers stuck in a simulation, players venture across sci-fi and fantasy worlds with a ridiculous number of gameplay mechanics. Mechs, gravity changes, dragon-riding, spacewalks, even sausage making (turned terrifying) – it’s all here and out on March 6th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. And only one person needs to own a copy to play with a friend, thanks to the Friend’s Pass.

Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster

Launching on March 6th for all platforms, Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster is exactly what it says – a remastered compilation of Konami’s first two award-winning role-playing games with updated effects and HD backgrounds. Quality-of-life features like a conversation log, auto-save and Fast Forward for combat should make the journeys to gather all 108 Stars of Destiny much smoother. If you enjoyed Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and always wanted to experience its inspiration, now’s the time.

WWE 2K25

With Cody Rhodes finishing his story, the past year or so of WWE has focused heavily on the Bloodline. So it should come as no surprise that the new Showcase in WWE 2K25, out on March 14th, is all about the faction, incorporating past and present Samoan wrestlers while debuting a new social space called The Island for players to hang out. With over 300 wrestlers, a new unified MyRISE mode, online multiplayer for MyGM and new match types, there’s quite a lot on the card.

MLB The Show 25

The show never truly ends for Sony San Diego Studio. and this year, it’s looking to implement major improvements based on fan feedback. Road to Show is revamped, offering eight licensed teams while still following the Path to 99 progression. Diamond Dynasty dabbles with rogue-like mechanics, Storylines continue, and the gameplay has seen numerous improvements. MLB The Show 25 launches on March 18th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, though unfortunately, not for Game Pass.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

After months of delays, rumors, and extensive gameplay showings, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is poised for release on March 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Ubisoft is mixing up quite a bit with its dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, but also returning to its stealth action roots while revamping the parkour and adding seasons. Between the base-building, scouting, loot, and late Sengoku era intrigue, there’s tons to unpack, but can it revive the publisher’s fortunes? That’s the million-dollar question.

Rise of the Rōnin (PC)

Insert a joke about playing a better open-world action RPG set in Japan. But in all seriousness, Rise of the Ronin’s PC version is worth looking forward to. It not only features ray tracing, up to 8K, 120 FPS, support for various upscalers and more, but it comes packed with all the post-launch updates, including more challenging missions and new loot. It arrives on March 11th via Steam.

Killing Floor 3

Killing Zeds in 2091, where Horzine has spliced the undead with cybernetic technology to craft new horrors. As a Specialist of Nightfall, it’s your job to resist, undertaking missions with up to five other players. All the tenets of Killing Floor are present, from highly customizable weapons and wave-based combat to modifiers on higher difficulties and Grindhouse levels of gore. The far future premise may turn some off, but after playing the closed beta, the full game may be the bloodiest of good times when it launches on March 25th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Atomfall

Survival sandbox post-Windscale fire disaster set in and around an isolated village. A somewhat despotic military, cults, bandits, mysterious bunkers, mutants, and naturally, a voice in a telephone booth telling you to kill someone. Rebellion Developments’ Atomfall is certainly something, to the extent that even its lead designer is intrigued at how it may or may not work out. It launches on March 27th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC, so it won’t take long for us to find out.

The First Berserker: Khazan

When the Les Pollos Empire – and the world at large – faced disaster at the hands of the Berserk Dragon, it turned to one legendary general to save it. However, after being forsaken by his king, Khazan would be badly wounded and exiled…that is, until the Blade Phantom took up residence in his body, offering a path to revenge. Regardless of your connection to the Dungeon and Fighter lore, there’s no denying the brutal yet responsive combat or the stunning world design. The First Berserker: Khazan arrives on March 27th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Two Point Museum

If managing a hospital and a university wasn’t enough, Two Point Studios is dooming human culture further by placing you in charge of a museum. Organize exhibits and tours, manage guests, decorate the floor, and even send expeditions to garner artifacts. With five museum locations and a sandbox mode, there’s plenty of room – and challenges – to become the perfect curator. Two Point Museum arrives on March 4th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

AI Limit

Another Souls-like anime-style action RPG, this one offers a post-apocalyptic world not unlike that of Code Vein (minus the vampires). As a Blader arriving in mankind’s last standing city, Havenswell, it’s your job to repair the Branches. Be careful, as massive beasts, ravenous warriors, and terrifying monsters roam the city, seeking your end. Launching on March 27th, AI Limit will be available for PS5 and PC.

Wreckfest 2

Through various trials and tribulations, Flatout’s spiritual successor Wreckfest underwent four years of early access before releasing to strong critical praise. It’s finally getting a sequel in the form of Wreckfest 2, which is also going the early access route on March 20th. Overhauled physics, more “intense” crashes – Bugbear promises it all and then some, including a forthcoming revamp of career mode. There’s a lot of content coming later, but at launch, it should be yet another smash hit.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone

If you had to order someone to dimension-hop and steal the precious MacGuffin-like Chernobylite, who else to send but Cole Grey, even if he does get stranded? Though the sequel embraces more action RPG-esque combat and multiple classes, you’ll still have to gather materials and survive across irradiated landscapes, with or without companions. With about 30 percent of the full game, Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone will launch on March 6th for PC via early access.