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Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin released to generally positive yet lukewarm reception from overseas critics, with a number of reviews describing the historical RPG as “forgettable” or “unremarkable.” On the other hand, the game has been received with a lot more excitement domestically, and Japanese users are expressing an increasing distrust of video game Metacritic scores.

Rise of the Ronin was one of 2024’s highly anticipated releases, brought by the developers of Ninja Gaiden, Nioh and Wo Long: Fallen Dinasty. The open-world RPG reimagining of Japan’s turbulent Edo period had users worldwide hyped up for another Ghost of Tsushima-level samurai game. Ronin’s first critic review fueled this excitement further – as the Japanese game magazine Famitsu scored it at 37 out of 40, with critics praising the story, combat mechanics, immersive world and difficulty levels, albeit pointing out the slightly bland visuals.

On the other hand, Rise of the Ronin has a Metascore of 76 based on 112 critic reviews as of this writing, and while this is not a dramatically low score, it places the game in the 55th place among video games released this year, which is quite underwhelming. Japanese players have been voicing complaints about this score, commenting, “76 is way too low,” and “the Metascore is not to be trusted, anything under 80 for this level of game is absurd.” One player close to clearing the game remarked, “even when I subtract points for the complaints I have I’d still give the game around 90, I can’t agree with a Metascore of 76 after all.”

As opposed to its critic score, Rise of the Ronin’s aggregate user score is significantly higher at 8.5. Furthermore, this score has been showing an upward trend in the past few days, indicating that the game’s reception is improving as more players pick it up.

This fact has inevitably drawn comparisons to Dragon’s Dogma 2, which released on the same day as Ronin. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is currently in the opposite situation, with a strong Metascore of 85 and a weaker user score of 6.2. While the game does deserve the praise it received from critics (although its release was followed by some microtransaction– and graphics- related controversy), some players believe that it was scored unfairly high in comparison to Ronin. One user who enjoyed both titles commented, “This has made me painfully aware of how unreliable Metascores are.”

Japanese players have also proposed that the real thrill of Rise of the Ronin may be somewhat lost on a player not informed about its historical and cultural context, as one user commented, “It’s kind of a shame that this game kind of ‘picks its players’ because it’s set in the Bakumatsu period. If it had been a common fantasy game, it would have sold a lot more.”

For Japanese players, Ronin is the equivalent of a French Revolution RPG, with personalities as impactful as Bonaparte making an appearance. But for an overseas audience, the magic may get lost in translation. Many Japanese users think this may be part of why Rise of the Ronin’s Metascore is as low as it is, as one user remarked, “The games Japanese people like and the games foreigners like are actually quite divided (…) so complaining about the low Metascore is kind of meaningless.”

As an aside, Rise of the Ronin sold 64,646 physical copies in Japan in its first week, following closely after Dragon’s Dogma 2, which sold 68,592 units during the same period.

Rise of the Ronin’s overseas critic reviews booed in Japan - AUTOMATON WEST

The PS5-exclusive Rise of the Ronin has earned a Metascore of 76, which Japanese users consider to be unfairly low.

automaton-media.com

 

[Zathalus]

I was surprised at the low Meta after playing it myself. It's pretty good.

 

[stn]

It is very solid and underrated. It should be scoring at least an 8 across the board.

 

[DeaconOfTheDank]

Yup, the reviewers really dropped the ball on this one. It's obvious that a large majority gave rushed, disingenuous "reviews" so that they could jump into DD2.

Take a look at the OT - quite a bit more positivity from folks than you would expect from a game scoring in the low-mid 70s. The discrepancy between what gamers are experiencing vs the low expectations set by reviewers is pretty stark to say the least.

 

[Wildebeest]

US reviews just review the hype when it comes to scoring. The whole process just isn't that deep. This game just doesn't have much hype, at least in the English-speaking world. I don't know what they need to do to get more hype. Make the game more RPG like, have some Sony type sad dad cinematic story that is 110% American not some weird foreign historical shit, have a four player or more coop game mode. Have a big steam release where the game is controversial because the PC version sucks, forcing games journalists to defend it and their "profession" like cheap bargain-basement shills. That's how it works these days, right?

 

[Elios83]

The game was obviously super underrated.
Reviewers were all too busy on trying to give a free pass to Dragon's Dogma 2
In the end reviewers are just victims of the general hype/sentiment they themselves read online.

But in the end it's the actual user feedback that will create a positive word of mouth and push sales.
Even the same Ghost of Tsushima was underrated on PS4, same for Death Stranding and Days Gone.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Same as in Ghost of Tsushima, which was blatantly robbed and the expected shitshow that it will be SB's upcoming review.

Western journos lost the plot years ago, it took people long enough to realize MC is as little reliable as Rotten Tomatoes nowadays.


Sony and Microsoft need to implement a community space like Steam so it's only users' opinions that matter.

 

[GrayChild]

Hopefully this will end the trend of Japanese developers changing their products to appease a vocal minority of political activists who don't even like games that much.

Right....?

 

[Ogbert]

The problem isn’t that Ronin is underrated. The score is fair.

It’s that Dragon’s Dogma is overrated.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

When "souls vets" like Fightingcowboy gave the game a negative preview, I think many journalists just used that to pile on. The combat itself is very good, with one of the best uses of the parry system since Sekiro. And the game has 50+ hrs of content that is for the most part really enjoyable. Doesn't at all feel like a Ubisoft slog. It's a great fast paced open world RPG

But I do understand why most critics wouldn't rate this higher than an 8. The pop in and performance can be so egregious on that shit Katana Engine. For me tho, it is probably my favorite game of the past year

Also, when it comes to graphics, ROTR is perfectly adequate. Some reviewers saying it had PS3 level quality are just trolling. Game has really good art direction

 

[fart town usa]

The more I play, the more I feel like reviewers just rushed through so they could focus on DD2, as well as create content/guides for DD2. There's only so many hours in the day and if your source of income is dependent on clicks, of course you're going to focus more on the game that brings you ad revenue and subscribers.

Ronin is a great game, full stop. 40+ hours into it so far. Just a damn fun game to play.

 

[Nankatsu]

I honestly became less hyped for the game after seeing some trailers, but passing by the game's OT her eon GAF and watching some combo sequences, I'm really tempted at picking this up after finishing Rebirth.

I need this gen's Sekiro...until Sekiro 2 comes around that is.

 

[Ogbert]

The more I play, the more I feel like reviewers just rushed through so they could focus on DD2, as well as create content/guides for DD2. There's only so many hours in the day and if your source of income is dependent on clicks, of course you're going to focus more on the game that brings you ad revenue and subscribers.

Ronin is a great game, full stop. 40+ hours into it so far. Just a damn fun game to play.

Like you, I’m really enjoying it but it does have obvious flaws.

The graphics are undercooked, the traversal is poor in towns (I think the grapple hook should be useable everywhere rather than in select places), the loot is overwhelming to the point of being pointless, the skill tree is confusing and there is a bit of open world bloat.

However, the core combat is absolutely brilliant and completely redeems it. It’s my game of the year so far.

The problem is that reviewers just pick and choose which games they want to praise. Dragon’s Dogma has equal flaws and, in my opinion, nothing like the same core gameplay. And yet it gets showered in 9s and 10s.

 

[fart town usa]

Like you, I’m really enjoying it but it does have obvious flaws.

The graphics are undercooked, the traversal is poor in towns (I think the grapple hook should be useable everywhere rather than in select places), the loot is overwhelming to the point of being pointless, the skill tree is confusing and there is a bit of open world bloat.

However, the core combat is absolutely brilliant and completely redeems it. It’s my game of the year so far.

The problem is that reviewers just pick and choose which games they want to praise. Dragon’s Dogma has equal flaws and, in my opinion, nothing like the same core gameplay. And yet it gets showered in 9s and 10s.

Yea, I hear you for sure. The game is by no means perfect and I have complaints but when I think about what I would dock it points for, other elements make up for it so it's just kind of a wash. For every pop in and funny looking tree in the distance, there are countless moments when the light hits and the game looks simply stunning.

I honestly think it's just the mindset of gamers allowing themselves to be talked out of playing games and getting hung up on everything other than if the game is fun to play. Granted, not everyone is going to enjoy it but the most vocal complaints are from people who haven't played the game.

Gamers are dumb with their hot takes. I'm guilty of it too at times but I at least have no problem taking a chance on a game if it grabs my attention, and I do my best to avoid threads for games I haven't played. I stopped following reviews over a decade ago. Most of them are not trustworthy in the slightest.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Japan’s used to being coddled with their inflated Famitsu scores.

 

[Fess]

Not sure it would’ve changed the metascore but no doubt it would’ve got more sales and hype and positive talks if it wasn’t exclusive. People wouldn’t have praised it unless it genuinely deserved it, but you wouldn’t have as many people searching and highlighting and exaggerating flaws on social so regular people avoid playing it.

 

[Nankatsu]

Not sure it would’ve changed the metascore but no doubt it would’ve got more sales and hype and positive talks if it wasn’t exclusive.

Phil Spencer is that you?

 

[Fess]

MPhil Spencer is that you?

Just saying, exclusivity leads to salty takes. It is what it is. Next up is Stellar Blade
I think Helldivers 2 and Palworld is the way to do it whenever possible to gain some hype and positive talks. Console+PC and day 1 on Steam for some concurrent player talk.

 

[hyperbertha]

Game is mid. It offers nothing new, plus a downgraded version of nioh combat to focus on a bland ubisoft open-world. Graphics is weak as well. Story forgettable. Why should it get above 80 on metacritic?

 

[March Climber]

Even from an outside perspective, it looks like a solid 8/10 game based on impressions and footage.

Hopefully this will end the trend of Japanese developers changing their products to appease a vocal minority of political activists who don't even like games that much.

Right....?

Some of you have to stop letting this consume your mind when arguments like yours are completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.

I’m sorry but not every single little dot connects to something political.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Mid 70’s is perfect for ROTR. It’s a good but not great game.

Also user scores are meaningless.

 

[Arsic]

Mid 70’s is perfect for ROTR. It’s a good but not great game.

Also user scores are meaningless.

I think like someone mentioned earlier that the reason 70s is absurd for this game when a game like DD2 with WAY more issues as a game and performance is out there scoring way higher.

The scores should be reversed, or DD2 needs to be in the 60s category to be more concrete.

Reviewers are all useless morons but they still have an effect even on me considering a game. I goofed big. I thought DD2 was going to be amazing and I’m still struggling to get past 8 hours played. Ronin I thought would suck and it’s now in my forefront for GOTY but I know that will change as more games come out.

Ronin was robbed.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Mid 70’s is perfect for ROTR. It’s a good but not great game.

Also user scores are meaningless.

User scores are meaningless when it's review bombed, not when it is positive. Name me some bad games with good user review scores? It is very clear gamers are enjoying ROTR more than reviewers

 

[Gaiff]

the loot is overwhelming to the point of being pointless

Seriously, why does Team Ninja keep doing that Borderlands/MMORPG style of loot where you got the same items over and over again but with slightly different stats? They did that shit in Nioh too and I stopped giving a damn because I just couldn't be bothered to look at items' stats every time to compare them to what I currently had.

The combat in their games is heavily reliant on skill, timing, and positioning so why do they water it down with bullshit stats and crappy loot? At that point, they should just use the From approach where you have 150 unique weapons with varying movesets rather than 1,000,000 variations of 10 weapons.

 

[BossLackey]

Yea, I hear you for sure. The game is by no means perfect and I have complaints but when I think about what I would dock it points for, other elements make up for it so it's just kind of a wash. For every pop in and funny looking tree in the distance, there are countless moments when the light hits and the game looks simply stunning.

I honestly think it's just the mindset of gamers allowing themselves to be talked out of playing games and getting hung up on everything other than if the game is fun to play. Granted, not everyone is going to enjoy it but the most vocal complaints are from people who haven't played the game.

Gamers are dumb with their hot takes. I'm guilty of it too at times but I at least have no problem taking a chance on a game if it grabs my attention, and I do my best to avoid threads for games I haven't played. I stopped following reviews over a decade ago. Most of them are not trustworthy in the slightest.

I haven't started it yet (DD2 took my life over), but as a massive Team Ninja fan, I can't resist.

There are certainly issues with the game, but for some reason both this and DD2 feel like they're not getting a fair shake from the general public.

Like the negatives are much more heavily weighed than the positives for some reason. Like I said, I still haven't played ROTR, but I'm almost positive I'm going to greatly enjoy it.

 

[Fake]

Or user score are meaningless or not. Pick your poison and stick with that.

 

[Fess]

I think like someone mentioned earlier that the reason 70s is absurd for this game when a game like DD2 with WAY more issues as a game and performance is out there scoring way higher.

Performance never rarely affect the review scores. I don’t know how bad DD2 is but I’m not surprised that critics don’t drop the score because of framerates.

Zelda OoT, 20fps in the US, 17fps in Europe. (Metascore 99). Breath of the Wild (97) had issues, and Tears of the Kingdom (96). Red Dead Redemption (97) ran at 30fps. The Last of Us 2 (93) as well. Bloodborne (92) was 30fps with bad framepacing. Elden Ring (96) had performance problems and shader stutter. Etc etc

 

[Švejk]

Japan is only now realizing that the MC scores are shit caliber jokes of journo clown mayo?

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I think like someone mentioned earlier that the reason 70s is absurd for this game when a game like DD2 with WAY more issues as a game and performance is out there scoring way higher.

The scores should be reversed, or DD2 needs to be in the 60s category to be more concrete.

Reviewers are all useless morons but they still have an effect even on me considering a game. I goofed big. I thought DD2 was going to be amazing and I’m still struggling to get past 8 hours played. Ronin I thought would suck and it’s now in my forefront for GOTY but I know that will change as more games come out.

Ronin was robbed.

Ronin got a mid 70’s score like it deserves, it wasn’t robbed. DD2 supposedly being overrated (I haven’t played it yet) doesn’t make Ronin’s score wrong.

Like you, I’m really enjoying it but it does have obvious flaws.

The graphics are undercooked, the traversal is poor in towns (I think the grapple hook should be useable everywhere rather than in select places), the loot is overwhelming to the point of being pointless, the skill tree is confusing and there is a bit of open world bloat.

However, the core combat is absolutely brilliant and completely redeems it. It’s my game of the year so far.

The problem is that reviewers just pick and choose which games they want to praise. Dragon’s Dogma has equal flaws and, in my opinion, nothing like the same core gameplay. And yet it gets showered in 9s and 10s.

Agreed with a lot of this. It doesn’t make sense for the hook to only be usable in certain places and the loot is like a Borderlands game. Combat is great though.

I’ll add that the way of unlocking stuff is needlessly complicated and random.

 

[Killer8]

I can see why it is scoring the way it is due to a lack of innovation, however i'm also having a blast with the game. It's open world Nioh, Team Ninja combat firing on all cylinders, and if you played their games before then you know what to expect. It'll go down as this gen's Days Gone. The Japanese also loved Ghost of Tsushima so I value their opinion of the two games, as it seems that here in the West, rather than just enjoying both games for their individual strengths, the need to compare the two has created this weird undeserved hatred of Ronin. "It's not peak so it's shit" seems to be the reviewer narrative.

 

[fart town usa]

Game is mid. It offers nothing new, plus a downgraded version of nioh combat to focus on a bland ubisoft open-world. Graphics is weak as well. Story forgettable. Why should it get above 80 on metacritic?

Can we please stop labeling everything as Ubisoft open world. Ronin and Ghostwire: Tokyo were dogpiled with that label but Ronin made me realize that it's not collectables that bring open world games down, but the actual gameplay mechanics themselves.

Ronin's combat and quickness in roaming the land are what people are praising in the OT. It's a fun gameplay hook. Ubisoft games are generally a slog because the gameplay/combat is lacking.

 

[fart town usa]

I’ll add that the way of unlocking stuff is needlessly complicated and random.

It's bonds. You have to increase the bond with people, and stances for weapons that are associated with each character will gradually unlock. I unlocked at least 5 stances yesterday.

 

[Danjin44]

Easy, dont let mere "score" tell you what game is worth it and whats not.

 

[Madflavor]

I think Ghost of Tsushima has an 83, and Lies of P has an 80. This, plus Rise of the Ronin's score, is why I'm convinced that Stellar Blade is going to end up in the 70s on MC.

I think the big takeaway from this is that people shouldn't get too hung up on Metacritic scores, especially for a genre that simply isn't going to appeal to everyone. Action heavy games are just one of those genres that's extremely difficult to impress and appeal to everyone, unless your name is FromSoftware.

 

[Mortisfacio]

Mid 70’s is perfect for ROTR. It’s a good but not great game.

Also user scores are meaningless.

Unless a game shows signs of review bombing, I actually prefer user review over critic reviews. Too many games I don't enjoy reviewed very well with critics, or vice versa. ToTK being a more recent example. Critic reviews are borderline "game of a gen" tier, but I thought it was boring. The 8.4 user is more in line with my feelings of it than the 96 critic meta.

 

[Crayon]

Looking forward to trying it myself. There are plenty of games with middling metascores that I find quite good, as well as the other way around.

 

[gothmog]

Always love the Japanese xenophobia angle on games like this. Like I get that the gaming media sucks but blaming it on foreigners just not getting it is pretty lame.

 

[sigmaZ]

Just disappoint there was no demo.

 

[Ozriel]

Devs should really have asked Sony to help out a bit more with the marketing.

Might well be the only exclusive in a long while they didn’t have a State of Play for. Those do a whole lot with respect to marketing.
I remember the internet blowing up with hype after the Ghost of Tsushima SoP.

Releasing same window as Dragons Dogma didn’t help matters too

 

[fart town usa]

Always love the Japanese xenophobia angle on games like this. Like I get that the gaming media sucks but blaming it on foreigners just not getting it is pretty lame.

In this case it's completely valid. I'd wager that few Western gamers playing Ronin are actively familiar with that era of Japan's history. When most Western reviews knock the narrative and Japan says it's good, there's definitely a disconnect with how Western gamers and Japanese gamers are responding to the story. Makes it even worse when we know reviewers plow through games to get it off their to-do list.

I personally find the game hard to follow at times but I'm taking it in stride and doing a bit of research on things so I can appreciate the story more.

It's similar to a Westerner watching something like Ringu or Ju-On for the first time and having no clue what is going on and then labeling the story as "meh". If you don't understand the significance of certain things, it's harder to be engaged in it and appreciate whatever it is you're experiencing.

 

[Skifi28]

All everyone would talk about in every single thread here pre-release was "muh graphics". I haven't seen so much whining about visuals before and they're not even that bad, meanwhile the combat always looked superb and most people would try and ignore it.

I hope the same people are not in this thread wondering why the game is underrated.

 

[IAmRei]

Cant sppeak myself, still have to finish DD2, but... I still have Unicorn Overlord to play as well... Time so short yet there are lot of games needed to be played...

Im not much interested for now. But i jave regular cycle, to cycle between themes, once i feel i want to play ronin or ninja, i think i will know where to find and this game definetely. Just not now...

 

[Aion002]

Game is mid. It offers nothing new, plus a downgraded version of nioh combat to focus on a bland ubisoft open-world. Graphics is weak as well. Story forgettable. Why should it get above 80 on metacritic?

Unfortunately... Yes.

The combat is solid, but a downgrade compared to Nioh build options and Wo Long fast paced action.

The graphics are really bad sometimes and just ok most of times, while the open world is just bland.

Also, Team Ninja tried too many different things and failed to achieve greatness in all of them. They tried to combine things from Way of The Samurai, Ghost of Tsushima and Nioh in one package, but ended up making a half-assed game that doesn't have anything really well made on it.

Finally, story wise Team Ninja was just dumb for adding Yoshida Shoin, the guy was an asshole and gamers don't give a shit about him...

Talking about the story, the story branching thing is entirely half baked, they clearly tried to emulate Way of The Samurai take on it, but differently of WoTS that has the entire game focused on player choices and freedom, this game gives you the first act to learn about one side, another act to learn about the other side and then makes you pick a side and that's it....

Again, it doesn't have the story choices of WoTS, it doesn't the visuals and cinematic feels of Tsushima and it doesn't have the deep and complex combat of Nioh, all that combined with an open world that plays like a ps3 game feels like a chore.

In other words: it doesn't bring anything new and it doesn't do anything better than other games.

 

[Fess]

In this case it's completely valid. I'd wager that few Western gamers playing Ronin are actively familiar with that era of Japan's history. When most Western reviews knock the narrative and Japan says it's good, there's definitely a disconnect with how Western gamers and Japanese gamers are responding to the story. Makes it even worse when we know reviewers plow through games to get it off their to-do list.

I personally find the game hard to follow at times but I'm taking it in stride and doing a bit of research on things so I can appreciate the story more.

It's similar to a Westerner watching something like Ringu or Ju-On for the first time and having no clue what is going on and then labeling the story as "meh". If you don't understand the significance of certain things, it's harder to be engaged in it and appreciate whatever it is you're experiencing.

How can this be changed though? Without just focusing on the gameplay. Can’t expect people from around the globe to do japanese historical research just to fully enjoy a game. If they want wide international appeal they need to make it easier to understand without prior knowledge. Foreign movies are changed all the time when they make a western Hollywood version to better suit the new audience.

 

[fart town usa]

How can this be changed though? Without just focusing on the gameplay. Can’t expect people from around the globe to do japanese historical research just to fully enjoy a game. If they want wide international appeal they need to make it easier to understand without prior knowledge. Foreign movies are changed all the time when they make a western Hollywood version to better suit the new audience.

I dunno.

The gamer has to hopefully be engaged and take it upon themselves to do a bit of research. I understand that's not the correct answer for most but I love history/politics and I also love horror so researching J-Horror was fun and researching for this game is fun as well.

Actually, the answer is for people to just play GoT and ignore Ronin. Ronin is what it is at this point, for better or worse, and it's not gonna drastically change with whatever update they give it.

I just think it's a bummer that we got a solid Japanese developed game, with an interesting take on historical things and most of the discussion revolves around pop in and horse animations.

The OT is pretty dead but most people there are simply enjoying it and sharing great screenshots. It's a shame, really fun game that more people should be open to playing. It'll become a fan favorite once it finds its audience, I guarantee it. It's just super easy to play.

 

[Bilu]

A mediocre game can still be fun.

 

[fart town usa]

Again, it doesn't have the story choices of WoTS, it doesn't the visuals and cinematic feels of Tsushima and it doesn't have the deep and complex combat of Nioh, all that combined with an open world that plays like a ps3 game.

In other words: it doesn't bring anything new and it doesn't do anything better than other games.

I think what you said is fair but the bolded are pretty bogus, not so much you saying it but the overall sentiment because alot of people say it.

I'd argue that most modern games play no worse, or better, than what we got on the PS3/360.

And the whole, "this game does nothing new" that is always a bad thing until it isn't. And when it's not a bad thing, it's always for reasons that don't add up when compared to games that were roasted for being "dated".

That's also why the OT for Ronin has people saying how much fun they're having. Few, if any, are treating it like some mind blowing experience. It's just a fun game with a great vibe.

 

[gothmog]

In this case it's completely valid. I'd wager that few Western gamers playing Ronin are actively familiar with that era of Japan's history. When most Western reviews knock the narrative and Japan says it's good, there's definitely a disconnect with how Western gamers and Japanese gamers are responding to the story. Makes it even worse when we know reviewers plow through games to get it off their to-do list.

I personally find the game hard to follow at times but I'm taking it in stride and doing a bit of research on things so I can appreciate the story more.

It's similar to a Westerner watching something like Ringu or Ju-On for the first time and having no clue what is going on and then labeling the story as "meh". If you don't understand the significance of certain things, it's harder to be engaged in it and appreciate whatever it is you're experiencing.

I understand what you're saying but at the same time I'm not actively familiar with 99% of the worlds I interact with in gaming. It's up to the story teller to fill me in.

Ringu and Ju-On worked on more levels than just the back story, which is why it resonated with many westerners.

 

[tmlDan]

i just started but im really really enjoying it, why do they hate it here in the west? I see some responses here but i don't think its fair to judge it so harshly for those reasons, the combat is not just average or half baked its fantastic....im really confused as to how "its just like another game doing it better"

obviously, im still too early on to judge yet

 

[fart town usa]

I understand what you're saying but at the same time I'm not actively familiar with 99% of the worlds I interact with in gaming. It's up to the story teller to fill me in.

Ringu and Ju-On worked on more levels than just the back story, which is why it resonated with many westerners.

Yea, the game does do a good job of allowing you to read up on things and view connections, but it's very easy to be a passive participant with the choices. And that's probably the main difference with Western and Japanese players. It's a good question that I was trying to answer and there probably isn't an easy way to accomplish it. I imagine the translation was probably difficult enough, so a Japanese team trying to take it a step further to ensure that Western audiences as just as engaged in Japanese focused Historical Fiction.....seems near impossible to me.

For instance, when I play it seems obvious that the Shogunate are the villain, but then I play more and I'm like, "hmm, the anti shogunate are pretty xenophobic and we know Japan opening to the west was a good thing..." It makes decisions hard for me to choose but at the same time, I still don't know all the details because I'm not familiar with this part of history. It's kind of hard to describe but that's also big reason I like the game. The decision system is basic but it gets my brain juices flowing in a way that other games don't.