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Behind the great anticipation for the release of Rise of the Ronin, there must be some camps of players who are still curious about how it differs from previous Team NINJA games apart from the new approach towards open-world design. Soulslike gameplay with challenging combat is certainly one that is expected to be brought into Rise of the Ronin, and although the game is still designed in a style identical to the Nioh series and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, this title turns out to be much more accessible to novice players than previous Team NINJA games.
Even so, you’ll still be presented with challenging encounters, and depending on how you prepare your journey at the opening hours of the game, whether jumping head-on or looking up some tips beforehand – your experience will differ greatly.
If you’re looking to make better preparations before embarking on this grand adventure in Bakumatsu-era Yokohama, we’ve compiled some tips and tricks in this beginner’s guide that will assist you well in your journey.
The Difficulty
Many players may wonder how challenging Rise of the Ronin actually is. Well, the game can be quite tough at the beginning.
That said, even on the hardest difficulty, the game is a lot more accessible to newcomers compared to other recent Team NINJA titles. Not to mention, you could always change the difficulty anytime outside a mission through the pause menu. Even so, it does not hurt to try out on the hardest difficulty to test out your tenacity.
One of the reasons Rise of the Ronin is a lot more accessible is the more grounded setting, which follows real-world history and pitting you against human enemies with different fighting styles and weapons of choice. This is a departure from Team NINJA’s previous games, which merge fantastical and mythological elements into history and feature extraordinary monsters with brutal moves that can be difficult to anticipate.
There is also a huge adjustment to the stamina recovery mechanic with the new Blade Flash, which will remind those who had played Nioh of the Ki Pulse. However, unlike the latter, the Blade Flash does not require as tight of timing, allowing executions to be easier as you unleash consecutive attacks with practice.
Picking Your Blade Sharpening Origin
Picking the right Blade Sharpening Origin is very important for a satisfying starting experience. The Blade Sharpening Origin is essentially your class, allowing you to gain access to a variety of useful skills and weapons to start off your adventure.
Of all the available options, the Killer is our recommended choice as it gives you three weapon recommendations that are more suitable to learn the game as you play for the first time. This class also grants you an additional special skill that allows you to deflect bullets and arrows with the game’s parry mechanic known as Counterspark.
If you’re feeling brave enough to start the game with the weakest stats without any benefits, then you could try out the Unsharpened. For most Soulslike, these sorts of classes are usually reserved for players seeking to test their skills while providing the most balanced starting stats so you can branch out to different playstyles with flexibility. Since Rise of the Ronin is a lot more accessible this time, this Origin choice could be a great way to make the game feel more challenging for those longing for such an experience.
Mastering the Combat Style
Rise of the Ronin has a robust selection of Combat Style that you could unlock as you progress through the game and allow you to switch between them during battles on the fly. Each style has its advantages and disadvantages against certain enemy types, so it is very important to get used to switching between Styles and the different types of weapons associated with them.
Mumryo-ryu is the earliest Style you will gain access to and master, and it also happens to be the most flexible option with multiple weapons available for use. As you progress further into the game, you will eventually encounter more variety of enemies that will require you to change up your strategy with Combat Style depending on the situation.
Make Use of Blade Flash
The stamina system, or Ki, is supported by the Blade Flash mechanic, an action of restoring stamina by swinging your weapon to the ground to remove the blood. This system is quite similar to the Ki Pulse from the Nioh series, which is quite a challenging mechanic to fully master as it demands precise timing. Fortunately, Blade Flash is much easier to execute as it can be triggered directly after launching an attack without needing to pay too much attention to timing. The amount of stamina you recover depends on how much blood is on your weapon, indicated by a gauge under the weapon icon.
Usefulness of Grappling Rope
Not only solely for exploration, the Grappling Rope can also be quite useful in many combat situations. With this tool, you can pull enemies towards you to open their defenses for a brief moment. You can also use it as a gap closer with enemies who are far away, including archers who are sometimes positioned on rooftops and are quite inconvenient to reach manually. As for the rest? The Grappling Rope can also be used to assassinate enemies by pulling them from above so that you can automatically hide their bodies from enemies that might be patrolling the area below.
Despite its multiple uses, you can’t always rely on it in all situations. For example, stronger enemies like Leaders have solid defenses that are hard to break through and they can completely parry your grappling attempts. Of course, this is only when you’re engaged in a frontal battle, as even strong enemies can still be assassinated but note that they won’t fall immediately and only lose some of their HP.
Raising Your Karma
Leveling up your character will give you Skill Points to unlock new skills, but the game itself also has Rare Skill Points associated with each of the main stats (Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect). Specifically for this Rare Skill Point, you can acquire by increasing Karma in each open-world area. The Yokohama map in the game has a total of 20 areas, and by increasing the bond in each area, you can accumulate Karma to be converted into Skill Points by stopping by one of the Veiled Edge Banners (checkpoints) in each area. Another way you can get Rare Skill Points is by using special consumable items that can be obtained from many places and mission rewards.
Don’t Shy Away with the Loadout
Rise of the Ronin still follows the tradition of Team NINJA’s souls-like games by giving you loot in the form of weapons and armor. The only difference this time is the simplified RPG elements such as the weight system have been eliminated. For those of you who might not be familiar with the system, it’s a kind of weight limit that your character can bear when using a combination of selected equipment and if it exceeds the threshold, then your character will become slower and lose their mobility. But with Ronin, you won’t be bothered with this system because your character can use any combination of equipment without any weight limitations.
Equipment Rarity Matters
On topic of equipment, the game divides it into five rarity tiers, namely Standard, Superior, Excellent, Exquisite, and Masterwork. Equipment in higher tiers usually has better special passive effect bonuses that you might want to prioritize, even if their main stats (Attack or Defense) are lower than other equipment you have. If you’re faced with a difficult choice between two pieces of equipment with both having desirable bonuses, then you would need to compare and ultimately decide which suits your playstyle more.
Technology Development
You can unlock more Armor slots for accessories as well as gain access to other useful upgrades through Technology Development. Access to the facility itself is provided by Igashichi Iizuka, who is one of the most important allies for bond building due to the access to rewards and facilities he provides.
To unlock more Technology Development upgrades, you only required to collect Foreign Books, which are usually scattered throughout the overworld or obtained through completing side missions.
Clearing Out the Map
Completing various side activities in the world even from the beginning of your adventure can prove to be a very rewarding experience. Not only does it allow you to earn a lot more rewards, but you can also collect Skill Points, especially those that can only be obtained in specific ways such as by increasing your Karma. Completing a region on the map won’t take much of your time either, as the game has an open-world design that is rather excellent. The developer had made sure that players didn’t get confused by the many icons scattered on the map that would end up won’t yield that much meaningful reward. It’s a different story with Ronin, which in our opinion offers a much more rewarding experience compared to most open-world games in general.
Don’t Ignore the Cats!
It may seem like a trivial and inconvenient distraction, but collecting cats in this game has a lot of benefits. One of these relates to the Cat Concierge business that you’ll be able to access once you’ve progressed further into the game, where you can rent out cats based on how many you’ve collected. The more cats you rent out, the more rewards you can collect.
The cats in this game are also closely related to Usugumo Dayu, one of the Geishas in the Pleasure District who can also give you access to new items to purchase depending on the amount of cats you have. In addition, each cat that you manage to collect can also increase your Bond and Favor level with Dayu, which is especially helpful if you want to build a more intimate relationship with her.
Rise of the Rōnin is slated to launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 on March 22, 2024.
