I played the next PlayStation exclusive early on and it completely changes the genre

RISE of the Ronin is the upcoming PlayStation exclusive soul game that puts you in the heart of feudal Japan.

Set in the Bakumatsu era, it has an East-meets-West vibe, mixing firearms with katana, as often happened in the Boshin War.

The combat is where Rise of the Ronin shinesCredit: Team Ninja

It has tried to achieve a certain level of realism when it comes to the setting and weapons blending into the open world.

Like most soulslikes, the main feature is the combat, but this is a departure from your typical soulslike formula.

You can pause at any time and save anywhere as you explore the world.

It still has the challenges you expect from the genre, and is full of combat systems to learn and eventually master.

The more you use a weapon type, the higher it ranks, unlocking moves across the skill trees.

These RPG elements add something different to your typical game in the genre and move it more towards action-adventure.

The combat is still incredibly exciting, based on the risky Deflect mechanic – similar to a parry – that reminded us of Sekiro’s gameplay.

However, the rewards are high and if you complete it successfully you can defeat enemies much easier.

This is necessary because without Deflect it can feel like it takes a long time for enemies’ health bars to decrease.

Enemies can also parry you, which makes fighting them without Deflect all the more difficult.

The high level of challenge in battle in some ways reflects reality, as samurai had to be well trained if they wanted to stay alive in battle.

Sticking to realism, deaths can be quite gory, with beheadings, loss of limbs and lots of blood.

You even get a horse to ride around on, which makes traveling through the open world a little easier.

Our biggest complaint was with performance, and no matter which mode you choose, there are noticeable issues.

Of course, there’s still a lot of time left before launch, and we hope it gets the shine it needs closer to its release date March 21, 2024.

If you want to read more game reviews and previews, check out our WWE 2K24 review.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

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