I tried 'Rise of the Ronin'...

well the day is finally come for the launch of Rise of the Ronin and today we're going to give it a shot because I've heard some mixed things about this game reviews just dropped and they are relatively mixed with a Metacritic Landing in the mid '70s which is just about where I predicted it would land over on my podcast I do with jaw rptor the reviews mention an extremely robust combat system but that many parts of the game feel outdated and also conflicted and this shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who is famili amiliar with Team ninja games they make games that are amazingly in depth with the combat system they rival the likes of from software in many ways but with pretty much everything else they really struggle and sometimes that's just graphically they struggle other times it's just scope or tone they can struggle with but this game seemed to have a lot of potential and that's why a lot of people were really stoked for it and the other part of it too was this little bit you see on the bottom of the screen right there you see the published by Sony interactive entertainment yeah that led to a lot of brand confusion with this game Sony has openly said in investor calls that they don't have any big first party games launching this year and as a result they don't really have much exciting to sell to their PlayStation 5 fans so for 2024 they opted to put their name as publisher onto a bunch of thirdparty games which isn't necessarily a bad idea but it does lead to a bit of confusion I for one have seen a ton of people confusing confused as to whether or not this is a Sony first party like PlayStation Studios title and it's because like it's not but it's published by Sony interactive entertainment and they want you to kind of think maybe it's on that level of quality even though as we've seen it just isn't like it looks like it's a good game and we're going to try it here in a second but it's just not on the same level as the likes of ghost of sushima or God of War Ragnarok or Marvel Spider-Man sorry my cat is breaking into something where are you she jumped in the spare box I had in the closet and couldn't get out this is Hermione say hello Hermione she's a very sweet cat she's a little stupid but she's very sweet anyway what was I saying oh yeah basically this game is just not on the level of those first party games and that's led to a bit of confusion because fans were expecting it to be on that level and now they're a little surprised that the game they were expecting was going to be like an A+ standard Sony third person Adventure game is actually more like a C like C+ C minus somewhere in that range and that's not usually what Sony puts out so it just reflects I don't think very positively on the brand so it might have been a mistake we'll see if it leads to more brand confusion as the year goes on but in the meantime let's see what the game actually has to offer and boot in interestingly enough they actually have three different difficulty options which is not standard for these types of games normally it's just one option you don't even get to pick it you just boot the game up and you go so this is is a little different I wasn't expecting that they also specify of course kind of standard affair with historically inspired games that it's inspired by real history but it's not trying to copy anything or tell a story one to one that's pretty three centuries ago Japan was unified under the Tokugawa shet it closed its doors to the rest of the world for a Time the island nation prospered okay [Music] if despite its apparent Tranquility conflict broed beneath the surface I mean I can already tell it's an engine but it's not the prettiest game in public they were loyal but the C of discontent was slowly being fanned towards conf floration that's a cool transition I'll give him that weapons were secretly forged in preparation for Rebellion but the shogun's forces got wind of the plan and took terrible and bloody RS oh God that's intense they did not count on another type of weapon being forged in kurosu Warriors known as the veiled [Music] Edge skill and both subut in the way of the sword these nameless assassins were unmatched in their abilities oops under the tutelage of a master the blad they honed their skills in pairs called blade twins [Music] go separately Don't Mess With Grandma okay together Unstoppable blade twins are tied together by the bombs of Fate ooh so this is actually something not many people knew about and it wasn't really advertised before the game started there's actually two selectable playable characters which they didn't really advertise didn't really talk about but like that's kind of cool who knew I didn't know this until I was talking with Joor Raptor who got Early Access to this game did a big review on it you should go check out on his channel and he mentioned you know earlier last week that there were two playable characters and they kind of tie in the story in interesting ways and I was like why didn't they talk about that in the marketing like it's nowhere to be found in any marketing that I've seen so it was just very very surprising and I don't know why they chose to just not mention it but it's a thing and again this is where team Ninja really excels are in the action RPG mechanics and systems this is where they're at their best so I'm excited to see the different levels of depth here I'm just going to go kill her let's just go straight straight off with it let's go show me what you got oh not the character I selected there she is okay little nod time to do some morbin time to morbin I never saw the movie I don't know what the meme is oh and he here's where we select the character we can choose left with him touching his wrists seductively or right okay I don't know uh I'm just going to go with her let's do that and then we're in the game and we're doing it now there also are Graphics options one of the biggest question marks with the game ahead of its launch was with performance because a lot of the trailers they dropped had all sorts of frame dips the resolution was super low there was popping and F in of NPCs and stuff similar to what we've seen with Dragon Dogma 2 but in this case there are actually options to change it so you can prioritize Graphics or even raay tracing which is kind of cool I can't adjust that while we're in the game but if I do Fidelity you until it drops to 30 frames and while we're standing still it looks better they're still doing some sort of like upscaling or something on the grass that doesn't look super great but it it does look sharper not by much but it's technically sharper I guess I'm going to go back to FPS that's that's what I'm doing now elephant in the room you're not playing these games for the graphics you know it's pretty rare to get a game that has like a top of the industry level of combat system you know and then also amazing graphics and and Fidelity and stuff it's not super common which is why when you get it with like amazing art Direction and it just looks very visually stunning it ends up being like game of the year like something like Elden ring or something else but in this case it's serviceable like you can play this game but it definitely feels like I'm looking at a PS4 game if that and frankly some people are not going to care and it doesn't really matter that much of course if you have a high tolerance for outdated graphics and things and and presentation that's cool like good for you I'm I'm a little jealous cuz it'll open up a lot more games for you to enjoy for sure but the the reality is is in 2024 there are certain graphical standards that have had the bar raised you know I think it's fair that we expect more from games that are full price $70 games which is what this is this is $70 it's a lot of lot of cache a lot of Moola and so if you're going to charge 70 bucks and present one package that's akin to something like a PS4 game you know a game from 10 years ago in its presentation and style I think I'm entitled to be a little frustrated with the poor presentation when I paid 70 bucks like for 70 bucks I can get a package that's really really impressive and is visually stunning and everything and that runs a bit better for the same price you know and so for some people they just it's a non-issue they don't want to think about it they don't want to talk about it but I will stand up for the people that are a little frustrated by this you know we've had a a generation of cons so far with the PS5 where there haven't really been a ton of huge leaps forward you know going off of the PS4 from the PS3 massive leaps like the the first time I saw footage of some of those early PS4 games I was blown away I remember that first demo which eventually would release in 2016 I was just genuinely stunned that that was running in real time and we haven't really had the same level of Amazement with the PS5 generation and when we do get new games that are full freaking price that sometimes even have the PlayStation Studios logo on them or rather PlayStation interactive Entertainment logo on them they end up being a bit behind the times so I I think it's fair to be frustrated by it I'll leave it there as we go into this next tutorial phase but it's kind of like the elephant in the room it's everywhere you look it it it's not a very uh beautiful or stunning game now we got to fight grandma oh we're fighting her together okay come on I want to Parry you nope I screwed that up don't mind me there we go there we go sorry Grandma seriously if you ever see like an old lady doing these kinds of moves run away like she's on something she cannot be trusted I'm I'm just going to be real oh you can switch characters in combat what is this wow okay okay I see what we're doing we're cooking with fire I see she's only aggroed on the the other character though she don't care about me nice switch back that's kind of cool I'll give him that that's cool that's cool I like that come on attack me there we go I always get on the second or third one I always struggle with the first that's training for now yeah I just beat your ass that's why now one of the things that jaw rptor also mentioned about the game when I was talking to him on the podcast which again you should check out was that they kind of do these little vignette missions where each of the main story missions kind of do like a Fade Out fade in it's like a separate area it's not fluid or all part of the same world instance each encounter for the story is kind of a separate little bitty thing which is reflected in like their classic traditional design how team ninja has previously done things but it's not with standard for open world games and this is something that comes up time and time again when you look at rise of the Ronin and when you talk about it and play it is that it feels like a game that's a really cool first outing for a team trying to do an open world game that traditionally hasn't done this type of thing before and you can tell like you can tell this is not what they typically do they usually are doing the more linear types of games with really intense boss battles and big encounters like that they're not usually doing this type of thing and there are some Growing Pains as a result with like weird main quest design with weirdly paced encounters with uh technical issues when you go into cities or areas with big groups of people things like that there we go buya kha got him got got I'll take your stuff don't mind me I'm I'm going to sneak up on him don't mad me there we go sucks to suck dude is he peeing on a bookshelf he totally was the dude deserved to [Laughter] dive oh God okay so it didn't do a didn't do a whole lot it's probably not the meta that's okay oh God that oh man I'm done oh god oh and then I take over that's kind of cool okay okay I need to actually like Focus up here there you go I appreciate them making these first couple of encounters a little more approachable even though I'm dying I appreciate that they're like one two three attacks like they let you get your feet under you okay I'm back for Revenge everybody ooh that time it actually did something okay that that was intense that was head's just on the floor awkward that guy just noticed yeah I mean already I can tell the the strong suit through and through combat combat's great it's super tight hitboxes are super precise enemy animations are fair nothing feels cheap like you can tell this is where they are at their most comfortable oh God oh my God but maybe technical stuff is not their strong suit oh oh man okay well oops that couldn't have timed out better I was trying to pay them a compliment also okay I'm going to say it I'm going to say it you guys are going to be like Luke don't say it I'm saying it what kind of sociopath puts their bed in a room and puts the headboard facing the inside of the room instead of against the wall what kind of maniac would do such such a thing okay Real Talk shout out I I need to know in the comments do people sleep like this I was under the in like understanding that normal human beings when they put their bed in a room if the bed is against a wall the head and like pillow goes against the wall or in this case it would go in the corner and then here the pillows would go here you lay with your head here feet going out this way is it not weird to put your head in the middle of the room like I'll Grant you I don't know why it's weird but it's weird right it feels like that's weird Okay anyway moving on Luke this is not why people are watching this video I'm sorry I noticed it now I can't stop thinking about it now that's going to be the only thing I think about when I look at this game from now on I'm sorry it just happens okay this has to be a boss fight right it's got to be we just saved we walk in the room we grabb something mysterious I'm used to Triangle being pick up okay grab the captain's cabin key we go through here boss fight no it's another another bed okay big chest open it up grab some stuff silver saber okay ooh new saber let's look at it yeah there's all sorts of equipment again this is where they are at their best if you've played any team ninja games before there's a lot of depth to these systems definitely enough for you to keep an eye on and here we go little cut scene little something something first boss fight let's get it little nod Japan a great white whale that's eluded all others but my vision is clear my Harpoon ready dude one day I want to just stand on a boat and talk to myself while smoking a cigar like that's how you know you've made it you know that's the dream now that's a revolver Jesus Christ wow that's an American revolver I don't know why he has a British accent with that kind of revolver okay here we go Boya Kasha you ain't you ain't doing that to me I parried your ass oh I can I can throw stuff oh oh not like that love it okay okay I'm very low on health don't mind me I'm just going to switch characters so I'm not responsible does anyone else do that in these kind of games where you can switch characters when you get low you just switch so that you don't feel bad if you screwed up that's what I do there we go also I just realized it's Matthew Perry isn't that the name of the guy from friends that just passed away yeah see these kinds of boss fights they are entirely designed around teaching you one mechanic like the goal is to teach you how to Parry and that's what you do if you can do that you'll Beat the Boss full stop it's like father gason in bloodborne teaching you parries like that's all it is first try zero deaths I'm afraid I can't let you kill him oh the blue demon it's a two-phase fight I knew it was going too well oh my God what the hell was that oh Jesus dude okay so that was scripted okay I I was like I know I was doing pretty good man that was ridiculous exist didn't they do this in neo2 didn't it open up with a scripted fa it's been a minute since I played the live and take the secret message lose oh so here you can pick which one okay so again I mean combat system amazing uh I no complaints as you would expect from Team ninja it is a strong suit they are very very good at it and it's tight it's responsive it feels Fair it's relatively intuitive at least as far as combat systems can be it's where the other systems come into play where team ninja tends to start to have more difficulties just like they did with Wong Fallen Dynasty they started having troubles in that game as well which I also reviewed it's just a balancing act like if you are somebody that is gameplay as king it's all about the combat system and you can kind of look past maybe a clunky narrative maybe poor performance maybe less than modern visuals and presentation and stuff you're going to have an amazing time and that's been the case for team ninja games for a while I think they've actually started falling further and further behind in presentation because I think Neo 2 and Neo the original for their time looked very good and yeah they probably weren't going to win like best graphics of the year or anything but they still looked and ran pretty damn well at least from what I recall but nowadays wellong Fallen Dynasty looked like one gigantic burnt chicken nugget uh that you were running around on and then in this game it just looks like someone took a fist full of Vaseline and schmeared it all all over my display cuz it's so blurry and that probably doesn't come through in a YouTube video when you're watching like on your phone or computer screen or maybe you're watching this on your TV or something but when you're actually playing it it's just not up to Snuff for modern games that are charging $70 in my opinion as a result I think it's it's more like a wait for sale in that sense and especially as we start to get into more of the open World Systems and stuff the game starts to fall even further and further behind the technological curve so no spoilers or anything I'm not going to like show any of the cut scenes and stuff I just want to show you like the fire effects in here like the environmental work things like this like the Popin again it's just not up to Snuff for a $70 game in 2024 I just personally don't think it is and if we keep tolerating it and thinking like okay well yeah it doesn't run well or yeah there's graphical problems or or yeah maybe there's frame drops or pop in or this or that like that right there like as long as we tolerate this stuff developers and Publishers are going to keep doing it because there's no push back whatsoever and I don't want to see a world where that becomes normalized I would like us to have higher standards and to get back to the point where when we are talking about a game or reviewing a game we're like oh yeah it's graphically amazing and stunning it's ridiculous I don't know how they got this running you know that's what I want to be back at and we used to be be there but we're just we've Fallen a long way just like her in the snow right now we're dead but at this point we've only been through the first few missions of the game and naturally I think if you're going to review the game or check it out in more depth you should put more time into it thankfully a lot of reviewers have and as the reviewers have delved into this they found that a lot of the game is a bit wanting I mean if you look to ACG who does amazing video game reviews he said that he's wrapping up the last 2 hours of the game and for him it's a wait for a sale the open world is a tangible negative on absolutely everything somewhat enjoyable combat can't drag a player and his poorly animated horse around for long enough to want to experience it oof baby and of course very good friend of the channel who I do the podcast with draw Raptor said I sadly cannot recommend rice of the Ronin despite trying to be accessible the game still has annoyingly difficult Duo bosses which I'm sure yeah those looks super annoying my God he says there's only a few open world activities without much variety Co-op can be fun but is very limited constantly fighting your companions and allies makes caring about the story impossible loot gets uninteresting quickly which has also been a a difficulty for team ninja games in the past Graphics are really bad and it still has performance and visual glitches and just look at this footage jaw Raptor captured I mean people give me crap for being skeptical and like looking at game trailers and pointing out like glitches and frame drops and pop in and stuff because I'm like in these trailers in these like Early Access events and and footage they're showing you the best that they have to offer the best footage that they have to offer and if in the best footage they have to offer there's Poppin there's glitches there's stuff like that which there was in all of the promotional material before this game launched what's the worst footage look like you know if the best is bad the worst has to be God awful and as you're seeing in these clips again from draptor like you can't really excuse this kind of graphical Fidelity and technical issues and glitches this is just unacceptable for a $70 game in 2024 it's outrageous it's crazy and I don't think anybody should tolerate it I I think it's insane it's it's crazy like it's one thing if the game is really really good and it has some problems or it's got big graphical issues and things then it's like okay wait for it but like there's a gem in the middle of all of this rough kind of like I said with Dragon Dogma 2 there's there's a diamond in the rough there it's got some rough edges but damn it's beautiful if you can get to the inside it just seems like with rise of the Ronin there's a couple of really cool things that it does and then there's a lot of things it does that are just bafflingly terrible and you're just expected to kind of roll over and take it all while they're charging 70 bucks and putting the PlayStation interactive Studios publisher logo on the box to try and sell this game with credibility in that way and I think it could actually potentially lead to some brand damage for Sony if they're not careful cuz just like Xbox learned when they put their logo on redfall and that was a pile of hot steamy horse crap it doesn't look good on your brand on your console when you put your name next to a steaming pile of horse turds or whatever I called it before and I hope that PlayStation recognizes that they shouldn't just put their name on whatever ninja game is coming out to try and get some quick credibility or to make it look like they don't actually have no games coming out in 2024 I think that they should push for more if they can and uh maybe start putting out some really good games again that' be cool Naughty Dog save me you're my only hope where are you come please we need you you know what I think that'll do it for me for tonight it is 12:30 a.m. so I'm a sleepy boy um we're going to get this video up for you in the morning shout out to Jacob my editor for pulling the all nighter to make it happen you all are amazing thank you for making our dreams a reality getting to do this make YouTube videos for a living it's something that is humbling every single day I get to do it and I owe it all to you guys for watching so thank you for watching if you want to see more videos make sure to subscribe because I'm close to half a million Subs here and I would love for you to be in the first half before we start making our uh Headway on the second half a million so make sure to hit the sub button but with that I'm going to go to bed thanks for watching I love you all dearly and I'll see you in the next video hugs and kisses bye-bye

Channel: Luke Stephens

Views: 141,209

Keywords: luke stephens

Id: xA1S8IMRS08

Length: 27min 14sec (1634 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2024