Topic: RISE OF THE RONIN

@Jimmer-jammer Thanks buddy! Will make a note of that.

@Jimmer-jammer Apologies for not saying so in my previous post, but Massive Congrats on your hard-earned plat for RotR, you should feel exceptionally proud of yourself.

@Jimmer-jammer defeated the boss that you need to beat in order to get the camera he was a toughie, but it was great fun, I think I have got the parry down so it was quite exhilarating action. My ally, the one formerly introduced as the Eccentric Ronin, don't know how to spell his name off the top of my head and I died to his minions shortly after defeating him, but it didn't matter, the boss was already dead and we had access to the area we needed to get into, so it was easy enough to regain my karma and complete the mission.

@Jimmer-jammer congrats on the new shiny buddy and glad to hear you enjoyed RotR so much. As someone who has played a fair few souls-likes how would you compare it to the Nioh games et al? It obviously reviewed under general expectations but I always had that feeling I’d like it more than the journos out there.

@colonelkilgore about 12 hours in and I'm enjoying Ronin. It is quite different than nioh. Those were my favorite souls likes. This has a more "rock, paper, scissors" fighting system. You have to identify what stance would be the best vs each opponent. You can defeat enemies w/o switching but the penalty/less damage that you do is quite large. I'm getting used to the parry system now and enjoying it. I just learn the attack pattern of the enemy by holding block and dodging a bit, then parry off the pattern learned. The weapon variety is great and the loot is about the same amount as nioh games. The bond system is interesting. Open world is easy to traverse and auto pickups are great options. Adding effects to other weapons like in nioh is nice. Not the prettiest game, but the gameplay is fun. I'm sure the others will have more info to add I'm still early but so far it's a fun game.

@Elodin cheers for the reply buddy, very informative and has definitely given me a better understanding 👍

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Congrats! Ryoma is such a great character. Glad to hear you’re getting the counterspark down as it’s very important. That said, I found it helpful to use it sparingly, usually at the end of an enemies’ combo chain, as trying to ‘Sekiro’ it proved very difficult for me and there are many other methods for breaking an adversary’s ki.

@colonelkilgore Thanks! It’s a really fun and satisfying plat to get.

So, it’s not really much of a souls-like to be honest. It shares a few elements here and there but it’s way more Assassin’s Creed than Souls. As compared to Nioh, it’s a lot more straightforward (but still with plenty complexity) and generally less challenging, though it can get mighty difficult later on, especially in midnight mode. There’s a version of stances, the ki pulse, Amrita and so on but they all function differently here. There’s also a social aspect which serves as the backbone of the bond system which is the engine underneath the games entire progression system. For me, this is both its biggest strength and biggest flaw, as it takes a long time to flesh everything out but also then has the gameplay to sustain its runtime, something I feel AC struggles a bit with.

For how much I love the game, I can kind of understand where some of the more critical opinions come from, even if I don’t agree. Its narrative is a bit of a mess and on the surface it seems derivative, so it’s easy to write it off. Where I think it really excels is in the depth of its combat, customization and progression and in its traversal. Also, Team Ninja just knows how an action game should control. It’s so responsive, it makes something like Stellar Blade (which is a great game in its own right) feel downright clumsy in comparison. Not to be too presumptuous but I think you’d really dig RotR.

If you’re looking for something that is a straight up souls-like, Lies of P honestly blew me away. It’s just excellent.

@Jimmer-jammer yeah that combination of open-world Assassins Creed but with Team Ninja combat definitely sounds like my cup of tea for sure. Looking forward to playing it… and Lies of P… … and Stellar Blade 😉

@Jimmer-jammer Thanks, man. Yes ,Ryoma Sakamoto, the very man himself, I thought that was it but didn't want to misspell it and embarrass myself. 😂 I just completed the 'photography' quest this morning and beat the corresponding quest-related boss on my first try, definitely think I have the Counterspark down now, but, yeah I didn't abuse it, just used it when necessary, heeding your sage advice, well, I kept it in mind anyway. Shaping up to be a great game, but surprised that I found the fourth mandatory boss harder than the fifth. Maybe it's a bit like it's distant-cousin, the Dark Souls series in that sense, different people find different bosses easier or harder depending on their personal playstyle.

Anyway, looking forward to sundown, that particular "intoxicated" boss has put me in the mood for a beer! 😉😂

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN I was laughing during that whole fight! A real missed opportunity to make that available as a combat style.

Yeah, I think some bosses are definitely easier than others depending on your play style. I always seemed to struggle against polearms and bayonets.

I defeated Denzaemon Ose yesterday and am taking a break for a bit now. It was an exceptionally fun boss fight, and the most enjoyment I have had out of the game so far.