Rise of the Ronin's Blademaster Finds Itself Challenging FromSoft's Best

Rise of the Ronin’s Blademaster Finds Itself Challenging FromSoft’s Best

• Rise of the Ronin strikes a balance between accessibility and challenge, combining elements from Nioh and Ghost of Tsushima.
• The tutorial boss, The Bladesmith, emphasizes important game mechanics like Counterspark and Martial Skills.
• Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin has a great tutorial boss on par with those seen in FromSoftware’s games, starting the game off on the right foot.

Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin falls into similar territory as the studio’s more recent games, but it does so with a definitive leaning toward accessibility. While there are elements of both Nioh and Wo Long to be found in Rise of the Ronin’s gameplay, the title’s featuring of a difficulty slider and more approachable combat see it land in a comfortable middle ground that lies somewhere between open-world action games like Ghost of Tsushima and the intense, methodical combat of a traditional Soulslike. One area where Rise of the Ronin wears its Soulslike influence loud and clear, though, is in its incredible tutorial boss.

The tutorial bosses in FromSoftware games are typically understood as being a great primer for what’s to come, introducing players to the key mechanics they’ll need to master to be successful in future encounters. Rise of the Ronin continues this tradition with its own tutorial boss in The Bladesmith, whose boss fight concluding the game’s introductory section requires that the player use virtually every tool at their disposal in order to emerge victorious. Not only does the Bladesmith serve as a great skill check for players before setting them loose on the island nation of Japan, it rivals the best tutorial bosses of the studio known for them.

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The Bladesmith Fight Underscores Rise of the Ronin’s Counterspark and Martial Skill Mechanics

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Players actually fight another, earlier boss in Rise of the Ronin before facing off against The Bladesmith, but the encounter with Matthew Perry is one that mostly serves the game’s story as opposed to its gameplay. In comparison, the fight with The Bladesmith is the true final test to gauge whether the player is ready to face all of Rise of the Ronin’s challenges, which is illustrated through the encounter’s emphasis on two of the game’s major mechanics – Counterspark and Martial Skills. Counterspark is Rise of the Ronin’s version of the traditional Soulslike parry mechanic, albeit much more deliberate and methodical in terms of its timing.

Correctly deflecting the Bladesmith’s attacks is paramount to surviving the encounter, as are using the protagonist’s Martial Skills. Just like the Counterspark ability, players get a brief tutorial covering the importance of Martial Skills in the game’s introductory section, emphasizing their utility in draining opponents’ Ki. Without correctly utilizing both of these abilities in the fight against The Bladesmith, chances of survival are incredibly low (especially on Rise of the Ronin’s higher difficulties where the margin for error is slim). Rise of the Ronin teaches the player everything they’ll need to know to be successful in the first few minutes and then has them put it to use against The Bladesmith before beginning the game in earnest.

Team Ninja’s Latest Game Learns Important Lessons From FomSoftware’s Library

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While Team Ninja has some incredible Soulslike games under its belt and has successfully carved out its own signature niche within the growing subgenre, there are certainly some areas where the studio has traditionally struggled. Aside from the typically uninspired level layouts in Team Ninja games, the Nioh series and Wo Long don’t exactly have satisfyingly thorough tutorial boss encounters. With Rise of the Ronin, Team Ninja isn’t just learning from its own prior experience, as it’s also borrowing some of the best parts of FromSoftware’s past games.

The closest FromSoftware analogue to Rise of the Ronin is the studio’s excellent one-off title (and 2019 Game of the Year winner) Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. And, like Rise of the Ronin, the true tutorial boss of Sekiro ranks as one of the best in the genre, sufficiently preparing players for the road ahead and acting as a skill check for grasping the game’s mechanics. Rise of the Ronin is more of a “Soulslite” than a true Soulslike, but it clearly displays an understanding of how to acclimate players to the challenge it’s providing.

Rise of the Ronin

Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin is an exclusive PS5 action RPG set in Japan, with the story taking place during the Edo period’s final few years.

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