Ronin

It's fairly short. But it is replayable. For me that's a good thing. I'd much rather play a short game with no grinding than a padded-out time waster. Nice graphics, fun movement. There are all sorts of skill upgrades - I only got one of them, but still completed the game, so they are a nice bonus, not a necessity. I liked the cut back story. The whole game had a really enjoyable feel. After completing it I feel the urge to play it again already. Now and again the controls seemed fiddly and didn't do what I want (only ever in combat - which also seems to disable your ability to use stairs, or climb over a ledge for some reason). That's the only niggle in an otherwise excellent game. I should add that I gave up on Mark of the Ninja (really didn't like it), but played all through Ronin and had loads of fun, so I really recommend giving Ronin a go. Some levels seem hard at first but you get it in the end, then feel like a cool ninja.

I don't review a lot of games. And usually when I do, it's negative. But in this case... Gameplay is very good. This may be a turn by turn game when combat is on, but this doesn't mean the action gets broken by it. You get to be very creative on how you deal with some situations, from kicking a guard through a window, to pulling your sword from a distance into an enemy, passing by domino effect. But be ready for a lot of restart, as the game can be brutal, and the slightest mistake will mean your death more often than not. There is no real story here. Yes, you know you are after 5 person, and want to kill them, but that's as far as the story goes in game. There are also a few bugs, like passing through some walls, windows smashing even if you're not passing through, etc. But those are not that frequent, or that game breaking.

Great style, tight gameplay, and really lands its ending as a homage to Japanese revenge flicks. Very on point in expressing that through gameplay. There's some replayability too with the new game plus, which seems to be more difficult than the base game.

A really addictive game. I bought it three days ago at a discounted price and I'm almost at the end of the it! Yesterday I also bought the special edition since I'm enjoying this game a lot. At the beginning I didn't understand the rules of the game, but I finally I got used to them. Therefore, I think there should be a help section in the menu. I really like the battles. Avoiding the employees (without getting locked down) can be trickier that beating the enemies.

Ronin is a straightforward great action game. Though it lacks a little bit of backstory, this has the advantage of throwing the player right into the action with a short and clean tutorial. The art is more than decent with clear and pleasant graphics, and the OST is actually very good and fitting. On the gameplay side, it is surprising to find a combat game that is at the same time turn-based and very dynamic. It rewards thinking carefully about the next move(s) but doesn't feel slow ; quite brilliant. Its main default is the difficulty. Though I usually don't shy away from a challenge (at least for the genre!), near the end I abandonned after hitting a wall of difficulty. I feel that games should offer an easy way out (less rewarding but still there) which Ronin does... at the begining. However, even if not pushed through the end, Ronin was a very enjoyable experience that kept me on my toes ! =)