Rise of the Ronin also features a ray tracing mode, which is a bit surprising considering the framerate issues that plague the two other graphics modes. It might be due to the lower internal resolution, but the game seems a bit smoother in the countryside when using RT. It does not seem that different visually, but it feels steadier. Sadly, in cities or villages, which are more populated areas, slowdowns and stutter are back in the game. Let's hope team Ninja will find a way to fix this as the game can be very enjoyable provided you don't mind the old fashioned approach to its open world.

Rise of the Ronin is not a looker, far from that. Worse it runs quite poorly in every mode we tested (there are three of them, Fidelity, Performance and Ray Tracing). Its approach to the open world genre is also quite dated, as it seems to get its inspiration from the Ubisoft formula, but despite all that, it is still quite an enjoyable game to play. The combat and loot systems borrow from the Nioh series and Wo Long and it can be very satisfying, especially if you like Japan and you prefer a more realistic take on the action-RPG genre. It's not the best game ever by any means, but there is something about it that had us come back for more. Now obviously, considering the price tag, it's probably best if you wait until a sale (and a bunch of patches).

Rise of the Ronin will be the third PlayStation 5 exclusive of this year but we sincerely hope it will run better than what the latest trailers have shown so far, especially with such graphics. We're confident the combat mechanics will be very satisfying but let's hope the game runs well when it ships.

A few days ago, the PlayStation YouTube channel put up a Behind the Scenes video of Rise of the Ronin and we failed to share it with you. The game hasn't received a particularly warm welcome due to its dated visuals but we are pretty confident its gameplay will deliver. What about you?