Red Ronin from QUByte Interactive and Wired Dreams Studio is a turn-based dash ‘n slash game of revenge. Learn more in our Red Ronin review!

 

Red Ronin from QUByte Interactive and Wired Dreams Studio is a turn-based dash ‘n slash game of revenge. After a cutscene that shows your character falling from a very tall building while bleeding to death, you will get to meet your robotic companion Isaac and Red, the titular character who is about to do some killing. Red must climb through each floor of the building so that she can reach the highest floor where the main target is located after being betrayed by her team. You’ll learn all of the basics during the first set of levels.

 

Given the game’s premise, the controls are easy to pick up. You’ll move your character with the left analog stick as it dashes around the area. You can freeze time with the Triangle button for one turn, which can be useful for setting them up for you to slice through them, or enter Tactic Mode with the Circle button. To be able to stop time or enter Tactic Mode, you’ll have to collect charges for them at each level. When in Tactic Mode, you’ll be able to move Isaac around the area, setting arrows with the X button, changing their direction with the L1 and R1 buttons. Once you exit Tactic Mode, moving Red over the arrows will quickly change the direction of his movement.

 

There’s going to be a lot of trial and error during your time with Red Robin, and you’ll learn from your mistakes during every step. You might at first think that you know exactly what you’re doing and that you can easily move around each level while killing every enemy on your path, but you’ll soon understand that it’s very easy to end up at the wrong spot at the wrong time. Enemies can kill you in one hit, but you’ll soon have to avoid hazards, such as spikes that pop out of the floor after you pass over them.

 

There’s a full trophy list for you to work your way through, but you won’t be able to get all trophies during your first run since there are four trophies in particular that will get in your way. Two trophies are related to one character that you must kill or let escape, so those trophies cancel each other out. Another one requires that you complete the game in less than an hour, and then there’s a trophy that requires that you don’t die a single time. For this, you’re going to need to know what each level will throw at you so that you can do a perfect run. You will also have to die 10 and 20 times on the same level, beat each of the bosses, spend a minute without moving, perform a 4x, 8x, and 16x combo, and finish the game.

Red Ronin is a challenging turn-based dash ‘n slash game with a minimalist pixel art style, simple gameplay mechanics, and a good difficulty curve that will not feel overwhelming. It’s going to take you a handful of hours to finish this one the first time around since you’re going to be dying a lot as you find the right route to take through each stage. Red Ronin is out on PlayStation 4 with a $7.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Red Ronin review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by QUByte Interactive.