Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week?
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 weeks ago
I got sidetracked this last week. The plan was twofold: finish Chrono Ark (first ending) and finish Ninja Gaiden 4 to get ready for the DLC that dropped a day ago.
Instead I got completely hooked on Rise of the Ronin. It’s been a hot minute since I played some Open World Slop and it is hitting me just right. With all the shit going on right now it’s been pleasant to have some mind numbing collect-a-thon gameplay, at least thus far.
The comparisons to Ghost of Tsushima are very natural to make, but honestly I’m personally preferring Ronin. GoT wins in graphics and presentation, but the combat in Ronin is a lot more fun and deep. Both use stance switching in a sort of rock-paper-scissors system, but Ronin has a lot more skill expression given that the stance relationships only matter defensively. You counter the enemy stance while parrying, but you’re free to use whatever when going on the offensive. I find this much more satisfying than the GoT system of “pick the right stance and win”, and Ronin also has a lot more active skills to use, especially when you start chaining stance and weapon switching mid combat.
In terms of writing I am still fairly early in the story, but I like the use of authentic history and real historical characters and one thing again where I prefer Ronin over GoT is that there is a bit more humour, levity and charm to the characters. GoT is fine with its writing but everything is so serious and dour all the time and delivered in an almost monotone way that it just wore me out over the playthrough.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
If you’re in the mood for more open-world Japan, I liked Ghost of Yotei a lot. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is okay as well if you like the Ubisoft formula, but YMMV.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 weeks ago
Well, probably will need a bit of a break after this one. I get fatigued if I play too many of these in a row, same with Soulslikes.
How much better is Yotei to Tsushima, or is it just more of the same? I thought Tsushima was okay but I’m less high on it than most people. Especially the writing wore me down with the constant dour monotone delivery and serious tone. It was also too long for how little variety it had in both writing and quest design.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I enjoyed Yotei more, but it’s similar enough that you’ll probably want a break. I definitely liked the fact that there wasn’t a Debbie Downer yelling at you for being dishonorable all the time. That got annoying really fast!