Ronin

Devolver Digital's {Ronin} has been out for over a year, however, this month it makes its way onto PS4 to introduce itself to another audience. It's hard to explain exactly what {Ronin} to someone who hasn't experienced it, but the way to describe it is a mixture between 2D platforming, tactical combat and violent action. Does this all sound strange? Yes, it does, but trust us when we say it makes for a lot of fun in practice.

The premise of {Ronin} is that you are a heroine in a motorcycle helmet who seeks vengeance on an evil corporation for taking your family away, letting vengeance consume you as you take down five key leaders in the shadowy organisation, crossing their faces out of a group photograph as you do so. Apart from a short comic you can access at the main menu and subtitles every now and then when looking at the photograph, though, this really takes a backseat and you'd be forgiven for skipping past what little story details you're actually given.

And that's because the gameplay is so infectiously moreish. The way the game is set out is that there is an objective to complete, which is either to hack the computers in a level or kill someone, and you have to navigate your way through rooms via windows, doorways and elevators in order to achieve this, defeating enemies along the way. After your main objective is complete, then you vacate the premises and head back to your motorcycle where you can ride off to your next objective.

The catch in all of this is the combat. When undetected you move freely, jumping, climbing, grappling and moving all as you'd expect of a 2D platformer, however, when you enter combat everything you do becomes turn-based. Rather than being something like Final Fantasy, this actually means that everything you do is executed the same as before, but only in short bursts. So if you're jumping for instance, you can get a certain distance (pointed out by the jump arc on screen) before your turn stops again and you think about your next move.

How this plays out is excellent and makes for some really tricky scenarios, as there are a variety of enemies and their weapon trajectories are all mapped out via red lines, so every move you take has to consider where enemies will fire and which ones of them need to reload. This is ramped up even further in later levels when samurai come along, who can slash at you, as well as henchman with machine guns, who fire a stream of bullets in between turns you obviously can't move across.

Thinking out where to go in order to either defeat your enemies or get where you need to be (or both) is a huge part of the fun in {Ronin}, as you need to always think one step ahead to ensure your own survival, and backing yourself into a corner can be deadly. Once you unlock more abilities like planting a decoy and being able to throw your sword, this all becomes even more interesting and plays out like a game of chess, deceiving your opponents and waiting for your time to strike.

Although the game makes it clear in the many hints that pop up on screen that "this is not a stealth game. Just kill everyone", stealth is also an option to a certain extent. One of the secondary objectives on each level is to complete the level without the alarm being raised, so the stealthier you can be the better, and some of the later skills let you hang people from the ceiling Batman-style, so it is an avenue to pursue, especially if you stick to the darkness.

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These secondary objectives push the game's difficulty right up, though, as it takes an extra level of skill to complete all of these for each level. When civilians see you they start a count down to raising the alarm, as do enemies, but not killing civilians is one of your secondary objectives, as is killing all enemies. Doing these in combination with not raising the alarm (there are the same three secondary objectives in each mission) is therefore very difficult.

This is where our first criticism of {Ronin} comes, however. Sure, the secondary objectives are meant to add that extra layer of challenge not only for those who want the skill points but also for completionists, however, once you fail in doing one there is no incentive whatsoever to keep trying to achieve the others, as unless you do them all at the same time you don't get the skill points. In fact, you get nothing. We found, for instance, that once we accidentally raised the alarm deep into the level, we just sped out of the level because there was no reason to kill all the enemies any more. It's like knowing you've failed a driving test but having to sit there anyway.

Another criticism that we'd have is that sometimes the jumping arc can be wrong. Before we go further, we're aware the hint sometimes says "the jump arc is a lie", but that's still no consolation when the indicator on the jump arc as to where your turn will end proves wrong and all of your progress is undone. It's bizarre that there is a indicator on screen whose inconsistency is actually drawn attention to, and its more frustrating than hilarious when that message shows up.

Another minor criticism we'd have of {Ronin} is that some of the checkpoints require a lot of walking to get back to the action. One particular checkpoint had us climb up a wall, ride a slow elevator up to the enemies, and when we died we had to do that again each time. Some checkpoints are very good in spawning you straight back in the action, but the time-consuming ones became a slog.

To circle back to the positives, though, {Ronin} has an art style that is minimalist but at the same time very striking, and although the game doesn't take itself too seriously, there is a certain intensity about the bright red blood flashing against the dreary grey of the urban setting around you. This world felt very NeoTokyo in design, however, it didn't get in the way of the action and instead provided blank, faceless buildings for you to enter and exploit, much like the faceless corporation it embodies.

{Ronin} is an overall very enjoyable experience that tests player's strategic thinking, with an ending that will surprise many, but unfortunately the issue with skill points means that there are only two avenues, one for the very talented and one for the player who just wants to do the bare minimum - there's no reason to poise yourself in between. Regardless, if you're happy with either path, {Ronin} is certainly worth your time, even for the short time (roughly five hours) you'll have with it.