Rise Of The Ronin

Proof that Ninja Gaiden wasnt merely a flash in Japan

Sword fights that demand skill and patience, historical authenticity (to a degree), apparently effortless decapitations that are equal parts horrific and hilarious… whatever you want from a game featuring samurai, there’s a chance it’s in here somewhere. There are some undeniably shonky elements, sure, yet they melt into the charm.

Writing on the PlayStation Blog at the end of 2023, Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda described Rise Of The Ronin as “Our biggest game to date”, and as we play we see that this can be interpreted in multiple ways. The obvious interpretation, of map size, certainly applies. Taking place in late 19th-century Japan, in the final years of samurai and ronin, the story is spread across three areas of the country: Yokohama; Edo (renamed Tokyo shortly after the events of the story); and Kyoto. Each is a large map full of missions, buildings, fields, people, and areas that you’ll only see a fraction of if you pinball between story missions.

It’s also the developer’s biggest game in terms of storytelling scope. It’s set during a very specific period in Japanese history, when discontent with the ruling shogunate – and specifically the way that it handled dealings with Western governments – provoked widespread discontent, and eventually civil war. The more we look into this period of Japan’s history, the more impressed we become with Team Ninja’s attention to detail, and its ability to blend historical facts into its action game. There aren’t many games where studying the history of 19th-century Japan can mean stumbling into story spoilers, but this is certainly one of the few.