Side quests are one of the many fun activities in Rise of the Ronin that feature some important but mostly inconsequential characters. There are two types of side quests in Rise of the Ronin; Bond Missions and Grass Roots Missions. The former are based around allies that can be bonded with, and the latter are more traditional side quests that feature unnamed characters never to be seen again.
Rise of the Ronin has dozens of side quests in total, and many of them are ultimately forgettable and only worth doing thanks to the rewards. However, there are a few which stand the test of time and live on as quests that hold their own even when compared against some stronger main story missions. Whether it’s chasing down a striking set of armor or exacting revenge on betrayers, some side quests in Rise of the Ronin shouldn’t be skipped.
“When Cloud of Vengeance Part” is one of Rise of the Ronin‘s best side quests because it rewards the Heirloom Armor, which is a helpful armor set for early in the game. The mission begins by talking to a stranger in a cave who tells the player he’s on the hunt for someone who slew his brother and stole his family’s armor. The story continues when the player agrees to help the stranger take revenge and reclaim the armor.
Once agreeing to help the man, the player must go to three different locations to gather the armor. After the armor has been collected, the character then returns to the Ronin, bestows the armor on his brother’s son, and slaughters the man who killed their family. This is a classic revenge story that also rewards a valuable set of armor, making it one of the must-do side missions in Yokohoma.
The Bad Bunch is one of Rise of the Ronin‘s side quests which ties directly into the main story. The choice of whether to kill or spare Gonzo is first encountered in the sixth main mission, “Curtain Falls, Curtain Rises.” If players decide to spare Gonzo, he then reappears in a side mission shortly thereafter titled “The Bad Bunch.”
“The Bad Bunch” begins when a Ronin asks to go rough up someone who swindled him out of some money. If the player agrees, they go to the villain’s location to find Gonzo, assuming he was spared earlier, and then the same choice of whether to kill him presents itself again. Sparing Gonzo once more leads to him becoming an ally, making “The Bad Bunch” one of the best side missions in Rise of the Ronin if the prerequisites of sparing him are met.
The “A Thousand Blades” mission is one of the shorter side quests in Rise of the Ronin, but a must-play nonetheless. The mission opens with a lowly Ronin asking the player for a favor, which is to visit Gojo Bridge and defeat Benkei, a hulking man who steals the weapons and armor of those he bests. The Ronin is one of the defeated, and asks the player to reclaim his gear.
Immediately upon besting Benkei on the Gojo Bridge, the Ronin who requested his defeat attack both him and the player in an attempt to reclaim their goods and make a sizeable profit. The player then teams up with Modern-Day Benkei to take down the men mere seconds after defeating him. Rise of the Ronin‘s “A Thousand Blades” may be brief, but it’s nonstop challenging action.
One of Rise of the Ronin‘s best side missions, “Midnight Revenge,” comes in the game’s third act. Upon meeting with the Shogun himself, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, he asks the player to accompany him on a simple errand and wants to leave immediately. The pair runs into a group of Ronin who attempt to rob them but allow them to pass after learning Tokugawa is the Shogun.
The Shogun then travels to a gambling den before getting into a ferocious battle outside the establishment against the Kurosu. This is a great side mission because it effectively humanizes a larger-than-life figure in Yoshinobu. Deciding whether to side with the pro or the anti-shogunate in Rise of the Ronin is a tough choice, and while there are good and bad people on both sides, Tokugawa is one of the more genuine characters.
“A Lucky Find Put to Use” requires a few prerequisites to unlock but is well worth the work. This is a bond mission with Igashichi Iizuka, the same ally who also gifts the Glider and several other modern gadgets, one of the many differences between Rise of the Ronin and Ghost of Tsushima. This mission only becomes available after Igashichi has built the Detector and Fire Pipe gadgets for the player.
At the start of the quest, Igashichi wants to take the player to a graveyard, but the two are ambushed by Shogunate guards before they can make it out the door. The player quickly disperses them, and they arrive at their destination to test out the new gear. The Fire Pipe, in particular, is a must-have item in Rise of the Ronin as it is fun to use in combat and necessary for destroying red barrels to reach the frustrating chests.
Rise of the Ronin players who also enjoy Ghost of Tsushima must take the time to play “The Three Blades of the Era” side quest. This may not be the most thrilling side quest, but there’s one character in particular who sounds eerily familiar. Toranosuke Shimada is played by Daisuke Tsuji, the voice actor behind Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima.
The mission begins with the player arriving at Odani Dojo to be greeted by Toranosuke Shimada, who then invites the player inside to spar. After defeating Shimada, a “Big Samurai” by the name of Tanetsugu Oishi comes out and issues a challenge as well. After defeating them both, they provide directions to Master Odani, who is out training by the riverbank and always welcomes a challenger.
“Fruit From Distant Shores” is the second part in a two-part arc featuring the innocent botanist Robert Fortune. The player arrives at Fortune’s estate only for Ine Kusumoto to say she believes something is going on due to the American soldiers who recently arrived. Players must then fight through a plethora of enemies en route to finding Robert, who is being held captive by a “Foreign Woman.”
This is one of the best side missions in Rise of the Ronin due to the sheer volume of enemies to overcome and the satisfaction of saving a kindred spirit. Robert Fortune couldn’t harm a fly even if he wanted to, and players can bond with him after saving him in “Fruit From Distant Shores.” Much of Rise of the Ronin takes place in the metaphorical gray area, so it’s nice to fight against pure evil every now and again.
The entire point of the “Loyalty to a Friend” side quest in Rise of the Ronin is finding Isami Kondo’s severed head. The mission opens with the player searching for the head with one of Kondo’s former Shinsengumi coworkers, Hajime Saito. After defeating a few anti-Shogunate grunts, Gensai Kawakami appears and proves to be a formidable challenger.
Upon defeating Gensai, the player proceeds across the river with Hajime Saito to find Kondo’s head in a box, but it’s here things take a turn. Hajime says he promised Kondo that he would get rid of anyone who knew about his severed head. He is one of Rise of the Ronin‘s toughest boss fights, striking with immense quickness and dealing massive damage with a versatile move set.
Rise of the Ronin‘s “Spirited Away” side quest is eerily similar to some Witcher Contracts in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The mission opens with a villager asking the player to look in on a nearby village which claims to have had its inhabitants abducted by a mysterious spirit. He says he’s not one to believe in such mystical happenings, but he asks the player to go and investigate.
Upon arriving in the village, it’s clear something horrible has been happening; there’s blood all over the buildings and on the ground trailing towards the storehouse. There is a pile of bodies inside the storehouse, and when the player turns to leave, they’re greeted by a large group of 10 bandits. Defeating these bandits is optional, as the main objective is to flee, but killing them all and returning to the villager yields the Abductor’s Greatsword, one of the more powerful weapons in Rise of the Ronin.