Rise of the Ronin isn't a Soulslike, but it's not far off

No one would blame you for asking if Rise of the Ronin is a Soulslike given Team Ninja's Nioh games were part of the sub-genre.

However, whilst many would think the new open-world samurai game follows suit, the answer might surprise you.

Is Rise of the Ronin a Soulslike game?

Rise of the Ronin is not a Soulslike game, but it's certainly close given the shared DNA of other games in the sub-genre. 

Compared to the Soulslikes by Team Ninja Nioh and Nioh 2, which are known for their difficulty like their contemporaries by FromSoftware, Rise of the Ronin is an exception given Team Ninja's new focus on combat accessibility and open-world exploration. 

Yes, the game's higher difficulty settings - 'Dusk' for Medium, 'Twilight' for Hard - still provide a challenge for those who are keen on tough combat encounters like in Dark Souls or Bloodborne.

For Rise of the Ronin, though, Team Ninja decided to also include its Easy 'Dawn' difficulty mode to make the game open to more players - not turning them off from enjoying its story. 

Why does Rise of the Ronin have an Easy mode?

This was discussed in an Automaton interview with Rise of the Ronin game director Fumihiko and producer Yosuke Hirashi, the former of which elaborates on the developer's initiative to both fans old and new. 

For gamers who love the Nioh titles for example, "the highest difficulty level is for those who enjoy the typical Team Ninja-style action-packed experience", Yasuda explains.

Meanwhile, "The so-called normal setting is for players who want to enjoy aspects, like developing your character, through exploring the open world. The easiest setting is for those who want to focus on enjoying the story", the director adds.

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As for their reasoning for expanding Rise of the Ronin's difficulty options, Yasuda simply explains "We decided from the very beginning that for players to experience being a ronin in the Bakumatsu period, there was no need to make it so that players couldn’t complete the title unless they fully understood the game system". 

Yasuda essentially means that even though Rise of the Ronin isn't exclusively made for players adept with high-difficulty games, inadvertently taking it out of the running being a pure Soulslike, its added difficulty settings means those who aren't as good with action games aren't missing out either, so everybody wins.

As mentioned in my Rise of the Ronin preview, the game has certainly achieved that balance so far; the challenging combat in even its Medium/'Dusk' difficulty will make many Soulslike fans feel right at home. 

For more from the game, check out its download size and if Rise of the Ronin will be on PS4, PC, and Xbox.

Otherwise, jump into our Rise of the Ronin homepage for even more guides and updates right here at GGRecon.