Summary
Team Ninja’sRise of the Roninwears its influences loud and clear. From the combat styles, stance-switching, and weapon selection of games likeNiohto the open-world exploration and world-building ofGhost of Tsushima,Rise of the Ronincarefully straddles the line between a more focused traditional open-world action game and a Team Ninja Soulslike. Another ofRise of the Ronin’s more obvious inspirations is that of FromSoftware’sSekiro, especially where the parry-heavy sword combat and focus on deflecting enemy attacks are concerned. However,Rise of the Roninactually outdoes one of its primary inspirations in one key area: stealth.
Stealth has always been a component of FromSoftware’s games, but the ways that it ends up being implemented throughoutthe Soulsborne gamesandSekiroleaves something to be desired.Sekiroarguably had the greatest implementation of stealth and made it a more viable strategy, but players would often find themselves in situations where stealth wasn’t only not ideal, but also detrimental to the player’s continued mastery of the combat mechanics.Rise of the Roninaddresses this by incentivizing the use of the grappling hook and glider for stealth takedowns and giving players some interesting stealth-focused gadgets to use during missions and while exploring its open world.
Rise of the Ronin’s Grappling Hook is its Secret Weapon
Sekiro’s world designlent itself to much more verticality than was present in other FromSoftware titles. And, in combination with Wolf’s grappling hook, players could scale almost any surface inSekiroto then briefly catch enemies unaware. These dalliances into stealth gameplay were always short-lived, though, as eliminating a handful of enemies one by one would eventually funnel the player into intense head-on confrontations with stronger enemies where using stealth mechanics would be practically impossible.
Rise of the Ronin’s Blade Twin protagonists have access to a grappling hook as well, but using it wisely proves that playing the game stealthily is an entirely viable approach to almost every encounter.
Much likeSekiro, a lot ofRise of the Ronin’s mapfeatures plenty of variance in its topography and architecture to give the player useful vantage points for scouting enemy placements and movement. Grappling up to one of these surfaces and observing the enemy will almost always reveal the potential to remove a group of bandits using cat-and-mouse tactics.
That said,Rise of the Ronindoes also force players to eventually confront stronger enemies face-to-face. Bandit leaders and fugitives require more than one stealth takedown to eliminate, but the grappling hook can usually facilitate a quick escape to get out of harm’s way and make a subsequent stealth approach or takedown from above.
The Detector Makes Playing Rise of the Ronin Like a Stealth Game Practical
The first few hours ofRise of the Roninare quick to provide the player with two of the most important tools they’ll have in the game—the grappling hook and the glider. It’s not until the protagonist befriends Igashichi, though, that they receive one of the most valuable tools in the player’s arsenal when it comes to playingRise of the Roninlike a stealth game. The firstBond mission inRise of the Roninthat players can complete for Igashichi sees the player obtain the Detector, which works similarly to stealth abilities from other games likeThe Last of UsandGhost of Tsushimaby allowing the protagonist to sense enemies through walls for a brief period.
Combined with the glider and the grappling hook (which make aerial or rooftop takedowns a possibility), the Detector is an invaluable part of the player’s arsenal when it comes toRise of the Ronin’s stealth mechanics. All three of these tools work in conjunction with one another to make stealth a viable playstyle inRise of the Roninmore than it ever ended up being inSekiro.
Rise of the Ronin
WHERE TO PLAY
FORGE YOUR FATE IN THIS EPIC NEW SAMURAI ACTION ADVENTURE Embark on an epic journey across war-torn 19th-century Japan in this combat-focused open-world action RPG from Team NINJA, the veteran studio behind Nioh and NINJA GAIDEN.Japan, 1863. After three centuries of the Tokugawa Shogunate’s reign, the Black Ships of the West descend upon the nation’s borders and the country falls into a state of turmoil. Amidst the chaos of war, disease, and political unrest, a nameless warrior forges their own path, holding the very fate of Japan in their hands
