Rise of the Ronin

Cheers Frog - will go have a look. I'll keep this open then just in case anyone wants to discuss the game in its own thread.

Ha, don't worry, I'll let you know. There's nothing I've seen so far that has flaccified my interest (I don't think the graphics look that bad but maybe I'm being blinded by the general design).

I do promise to give some critical impressions as I'll be getting it on release.

Only human enemies is a major downside for me as well. They're fine as trash mobs, but not as bosses.

Plus, what's going to rival the pants-shitting terror of seeing a Tengu approach when I'm low on health and miles from a shrine?

 In two games and all their respective DLC's, I NEVER got a good handle on Raven Tengus. They always wrecked my shit.

I think the most disappointing thing from that is the Ubified open world - settlement, clear bandits, get missions, rinse repeat. That's just a bit, well, old school. I shouldn't be surprised that Team Ninja has gone derivative here, they're not very good at creating self-contained levels never mind an open world. 

Still getting it though   The time around Bakumatsu isn't my favourite period of Japanese history but it's pretty damn fascinating even so and a fairly fresh backdrop for this kind of game. I also came away from it slightly less worried about the combat than I was before, but it's going to be hard to judge that until I actually try it out. 

Key points from Skill Up's video, for those who want to know but don't want to spend 23 minutes* watching it:

- 'Far Cry Japan' was his assessment of the map design and mission structure
- Team Ninja's version of Ghost of Tsushima, with no uniqueness or innovation
- Streamlined combat versus Nioh 2 and Wo Long (the other recent Team Ninja games he has played)
- Only able to play the first two hours of the main quest, but did lots of open-world stuff too
- All footage is B-roll supplied by Sony
- Easy/medium/hard difficulty settings, adjustable at any point
- Easier than other Team Ninja games, but still has challenging boss fights
- AI companions make the game easier
- Heavy narrative focus and lots of cutscenes
- English dub isn't good
- Narrative is akin to that of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, weaving historical figures into the game's fiction
- Lots of base-clearing missions
- Stealth is key, a la Assassin's Creed and other games of its ilk (hiding in long grass, throwing rocks, etc.)
- Main missions are pretty much the base-clearing missions with boss fights at the end
- There are cats to pet and banners to unlock, the latter of which act as fast travel points
- He was kinder about the graphics than most other people have been so far
- Even on performance mode, frame-drops are frequent and cutscenes are choppy
- You create your own pratagonist and AI ally, similar to the pawns in Dragon's Dogma
- There are classes, but they're just starting points (think Dark Souls - weapons not locked to classes, etc.)
- In addition to basic attacks with Square, you can perform abilities by holding R2 and pushing a face button
- Abilities use Ki, and managing that is... key (I'm sorry)
- Ki Pulsing is still a thing, with properly-times presses of R1
- Stances return, in a 'rock, paper, scissors' format (different stances are strong/weak against different enemies)
- Three stances and "over half a dozen" weapons overall
- Combat is very parry-centric
- Still loads of loot, albeit not quite as much as Nioh
- Feels like Team Ninja's attempt to break into the gaming mainstream


* Okay, reading all that probably took you as long as watching the video would've done

I thought Armoured core was a bit ugly tbh.

Tuffty One common complaint I've heard - with which I agree - is that Team Ninja have already made prettier games, especially Nioh 2. Why does Rise of the Ronin look so much worse, when Nioh 2 was a PS4 game and Ronin is a PS5 exclusive?

Presumably, part of the answer lies in the fact that Nioh 2 was linear while Ronin is open-world... except that Stranger of Paradise also looked like ass, and that was another linear mission-based game.

I agree that Team Ninj prioritise gameplay over graphics, and that's a compromise I'll always accept; I just hope that Ronin's gameplay proves to be better than I've been led to believe so far.

Stranger of Paradise didn't even look that bad Maybe not like Nioh/Nioh 2, but certainly not like ass...

Uly is normal mapped and runs at 720p, confirmed.

Nah, Wo Long is one of the better looking games they’ve put out. Both it and Ronin look a lot better than Nioh and Stranger of Paradise. I think you fellas are confusing art design with graphics tbh.

Yeah, the Niohs and SoP are running on that old DOA5/NG3 engine. How people can say their later games are downgrades is beyond me.