When the studio behind Nioh and Ninja Gaiden puts out a new game and describes it as its biggest and most ambitious title ever, you have no choice but to sit up and take notice, especially if that game is also being given the full backing of being a PlayStation Studios title.

Rise of the Ronin has now launched, after a long development cycle, to those expectations, but it’s fair to say that it hasn’t quite managed to live up to them. From its open world to its attempts to tell a more involved story, the action RPG stumbles in a number of key areas.

Here, we’re going to talk about all of that and more, and about how Rise of the Ronin might still turn out to be a net positive for Team Ninja in the long run.