Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja know how to make an astonishingly good action game. Rise of the Ronin is some of the most fun I’ve had with an Action RPG in years. The massive world, paired with the top-notch combat, made every combat encounter feel like a battle for life and death. But, as with many of their other PC releases, Rise of the Ronin currently suffers from PC woes that make a Day One purchase hard to recommend. However, with a bit of TLC, Rise of the Ronin can shine in the way it was meant to from the start.

Temper Both Your Steel and Your Expectations When Jumping Into ‘Rise of the Ronin’ on PC

The Nioh games, alongside Ninja Gaiden, are some of the most stellar action games of all time. Fast-paced combat, mixed with strategic measures to ensure death doesn’t meet us all. I’d go so far as to say that Rise of the Ronin is a step above the rest, honestly. Simplistic on paper but masterwork in action, Rise of the Ronin tested my reflexes, my patience, and my skills during every encounter. Even when I found plenty of higher-quality gear for my Ronin, I couldn’t let my guard down against the smallest of grunts.

But, it took a while before I could finally get to a place where my PC would actually let me experience Rise of the Ronin as it should. I met the recommended specs, but there were plenty of visits to the Graphics menu to tweak things. If I set VSYNC to a certain parameter, my game would run at half speed. Sometimes, it looked like a watercolor painting, rather than an accurate depiction of the Bakumatsu era. And more often than not, I saw enough framerate spikes that would drive a lesser man insane. Pair this with some textures not loading in, and I was in for a slightly visually inconsistent experience.

But I trudged through, propelled on the high that the combat and exploration gave me. Once I finally found a PC setting that would work for me, I let things be. I didn’t want to experiment any further and risk losing what I had worked so hard to get. And I have to admit; it still ran better here with the goofy settings that I had to work through than it did sometimes on PS5. And for that, I’m thankful.

It Doesn’t Matter Where I Found Myself in ‘Rise of the Ronin’, There Was Always Something To Do

Rise of the Ronin is a massive adventure. The map is large and ready to be explored at my whim. Regardless of where I found myself, there was always something going on. I could track down bounties, search for cats that I could pet (GOTY candidate for that fact alone), or progress the main story along. Missions flew by quickly, and I was always itching to get back into the action as quickly as I could.

There isn’t much that I can say about Rise of the Ronin that hasn’t already been said since its original release. The PC port is exactly the same game as its PS5 counterpart. So if you’ve already entered this world once before, it’s going to be no different. But for anyone who hasn’t jumped in yet due to not having a PlayStation 5, it’s worth experiencing. It’s one hell of an adventure, with plenty of twists and turns throughout its overarching narrative to keep things interesting. Plus, the branching paths of Anti-Shogunate vs Pro-Shogunate will allow players to experience different parts of the story on multiple playthroughs.

While I didn’t have a chance to test out 8K resolution or the bevy of other fancy PC enhancements, mainly due to the power of my PC, I would assume that some of these features may also suffer from the same woes that the current game does. While it runs smoothly enough, it may take a few patches to get Rise of the Ronin fully ready for prime time. Until then, the enhanced framerate may be enough to get players excited enough to return to this adventure.

Even With Its PC Port Issues, ‘Rise of the Ronin’ Is a Generational Action Game

I can confidently say, once these performance and graphical woes are ironed out, Rise of the Ronin on PC will be the definitive way to experience the game. Even now, on weaker-than-PS5 hardware, the game at least runs great on my end. I just wish that the same amount of polish that went into the combat and the world went into ensuring that it was ready for showtime on Day One. And there is a chance that a Day One patch could resolve a lot of the issues that I’ve been experiencing; only time will really tell.

But there’s something special about Rise of the Ronin, and anyone who has played it can say the same thing. Even experiencing plenty of graphical issues during my playthrough, I couldn’t put the game down. It feels great to play, and the combat is an absolute masterclass of action. I mean, what other game lets you deflect a bullet and start your sword on fire? It’s such a phenomenally paced action experience that these issues are the least of my concerns.

Even with its issues, I can still happily recommend giving Rise of the Ronin a try. It’s an incredibly dense and exciting action game, with plenty of care put into every facet of it. Seeing as Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja have launched PC games with issues in the past and worked through them, I do not doubt that this will be the same way. It’s a shame that it didn’t launch in better condition. But, Rise of the Ronin resonated with me enough to help me look past some of these woes.

Verdict: Recommended

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Rise of the Ronin will be available on PC on March 11, 2025. It is available now on PlayStation 5. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.