Rise of the Ronin: Everything We Know About the Upcoming Team Ninja Game
Jan. 22, 2024Rise of the Ronin: Everything We Know About the Upcoming Team Ninja Game
From what Team Ninja has shown so far, the game looks like the most ambitious project they have put out so far, pushing the boundaries of what the team is comfortable with by introducing new gameplay features that we haven’t really seen before in their previous games. In this article we will be exploring everything we know so far about the story and its historical setting, the characters, the combat and the gameplay itself. Let’s check it out!
In Rise of the Ronin, you play as a Ronin, a wandering samurai without allegiance to a lord or master, during the Boshin War in the late 19th century of Japan. During this period, Japan was under severe political turmoil following the arrival of the USA in 1853 and the change in politics that ensued.
Before their arrival, Japan had a Feudal System and was an isolationist country that did not interact with other foreign powers. But, with the arrival of America’s Black Warships, Japan was forced by Western Powers to end their isolationist foreign policy, and subsequently undergo a rough transition to a Democratic System.
The story of Rise of the Ronin is not just set in this context; it very much embraces it. Its narrative will predominantly revolve around the Boshin War during this political turmoil, and the 3 main factions who fought over the future of Japan.
Your character will be fictional, a neutral Ronin turned Mercenary who plays a massive role in the direction that this historical conflict takes. The 3 Factions that you will have to choose from include the Sabaku Faction, the Tobaku faction and the Obei Faction.
The Sabaku are a Pro-Shogunate group aiming to uphold the existing Feudal System ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate, who have been in power for almost 3 centuries, since just after the Battle of Sekigahara and the historical events that surrounded Nioh. This faction includes ii Naosuke, a Chief Minister of the Tokugawa Shogunate working with the Western powers to open Japan’s ports to foreign trade. Known for mercilessly suppressing his opposition, he is feared as “The Red Demon of Ii”, a nickname inherited from his ancestor. Alongside him in the faction is Taka Murayama, a Geisha who, in history, created a movement against ending Japan’s isolationist policies.
On the other side of the coin is the Tobaku Faction, an Anti-Shogunate group made up of a diverse group of individuals who oppose the Tokugawa shogunate, and are united in their desire to return political power to the Emperor. On this side we have Ryoma Sakamoto, a Ronin with an earnest soul. As a master of the Hokushin-Itto-ryu school of swordplay, he aims to take down the Tokugawa Shogunate by uniting other Anti-Shogunate factions. The other prominent member of the faction is Kogoro Katsura, a Feudal retainer of the Choshu clan, and a man known for being slightly addicted to Sake.
That leads us to the third Faction, the Obei. The Obei are the Western forces of the Bakumatsu era, consisting of US and European powers who seek to open Japan to foreign trade, hoping to end the country’s isolationist policies. The most important figure in this faction is Commodore Matthew Perry; the man who began the entire conflict.
At the order of the President, his fleet of Black Ships circumnavigated the globe to negotiate the opening of Japan’s ports for trade. He is determined to incite the opening of Japan before any other Western power. Rivalling him in the Obei is Rutherford Alcock; a British Diplomat tasked with assessing the value of Japan’s integration into the global economy, and reporting back his findings to his superiors. Despite denouncing the shogunate’s exclusionary politics as “barbaric”, he has a profound fascination for Japanese craftsmanship.
There is a lot more historical context within the Boshin War that could probably be used to surmise the general direction that the plot in the game will take, but as of now it’s all speculation since there hasn’t been any confirmed storyline from Team Ninja yet. We can assume that they will likely take a spin on the real historical events of the Boshin War to create a fictional story, but to what extent is currently unknown. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how these characters in History interact with each other, and how you as a Ronin collude with different factions to shape Japan’s future.
The gameplay of Rise of the Ronin looks like it’s going to be similar to something like Ghost of Tsushima, but with a little more hack-and-slash. There will be 3 difficulty options to choose from for players that just want the narrative experience, or want a real challenge, and players will also be able to coop with each other in missions. To start, let’s go over what the world has to offer.
Rise of the Ronin is open world, and will be set in 3 major cities of Japan as well as the countryside, with the 3 cities combined spanning 27 square kilometers. The 3 cities will be Edo, the modern day Tokyo, Kyoto, the Imperial Capital, and Yokohama, Japan’s major port for international trade and their symbol of modernization.
It’s likely that each of these cities are connected to a specific faction in the Boshin War. Edo would be of the Pro-Shogunate, as it is the political centre of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kyoto can be connected to the Anti-Shogunate, since it is recognised as the imperial capital and symbolises the power of the Emperor. Yokohama is an international port, so it can obviously be tied to the Obei, the Western forces who wish to open trade. With those possible connections in mind, it’s definitely plausible that each city will contain characters, missions or quests related to that specific faction.
To explore these cities as well as the countryside, players will have a few options at their disposal; a bird-shaped Glider which can be used to coast across cities, a grappling hook to launch yourself above roofs which to put yourself in a position to activate your glider, and a horse which will likely be for exploring the countryside and the beach shown in the trailer. There was also a brief shot of a ship next to a port, which is probably just a trade ship in Yokohama Port, but could be some form of naval traversal.
Characters in this world are more than just NPCs that you can talk to; they will provide you with missions and quests that you can complete to improve your Bonds with certain characters. These characters will probably be the 6 mentioned in the story, but there’s potential for many more to be introduced as well. Opting to forge bonds with specific individuals will alter the narrative, ultimately influencing Japan’s future.
That’s not all though, as the decision-making elements extend beyond just character interactions. Players will engage in conversations featuring multiple choice responses, and make crucial choices like forming alliances or choosing to kill or spare an assassination target. We’ve been told not to expect a massive scale of branching options in the main story, but nevertheless, the idea of changing the course of History sounds quite compelling. For Team Ninja, players making choices that steer the story towards an ending is completely uncharted territory that we haven’t really seen before in a Team Ninja game, so it will be interesting to see how they flesh this out.
Aside from character relationships, other confirmed forms of progression in the game include Karma and XP. Karma has been hinted by Fumihiko Yasuda, the CEO of Team Ninja, to be a progression system that will punish dying, bringing a soulslike element to the game. Not much is known about this system besides that you lose something upon death; all the developers have to say is that Karma “symbolises the destiny people carry from one life into the next”. However, there is also an XP system which players do retain after death, perhaps to purchase skills and abilities to use in Combat.
Weapons you can use will include Samurai Weapons such as Katanas, Tanto, Spears, Bows and Tanegashima rifles which you may recognise from Nioh. Alongside these Feudal Era weapons are firearms introduced by the new technology from the West, such as revolvers, muskets and rifles which you can use in tandem with your Samurai weaponry, potentially being comparable to the combat of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, but in Team Ninja’s own style.
The basics behind the combat seem to include dodging glowing red attacks, parrying normal attacks and using a wide arsenal of combat methods to defeat your enemies. For example, we can see the player using a katana or dual katanas lit on fire to deal extra damage to enemies. In one instance, we can actually see that the player deflects a fire arrow to light his katana on fire, and subsequently do twirling fire katana 360s on the poor archer. Another tool of combat will be the Grappling Hook, which can be used to pull yourself towards enemies, and even throw explosive barrels at them and perhaps other environmental objects. There were also cannons within the environment, so we can expect to have those available as well.
There also appears to be many different abilities within the game, possibly from a skill tree system similar to Nioh. In the trailer, we saw 1 returning ability from Nioh, the Izuna Drop, which launches an enemy into the air before grabbing them and slamming them down head first. There was also a move used against the Sumo boss that launched the player over him to deliver a swift mid-air overhead attack.
The last thing to mention about combat is a really surprising one; you will be able to switch between characters mid fight. This is again, uncharted territory for Team Ninja and not very common in Third Person ARPGs in general, so it will be interesting to see exactly how they pull this off.
All in all though, the combat seems amazing as expected, with some elements reminiscent of Nioh which is definitely a plus.
Given the considerable amount of time that Team Ninja has invested in the development of Rise of the Ronin, I think it’s safe to say that whatever is coming will be worth playing. Team Ninja generally has a great reputation for delivering polished games characterised by well-executed gameplay mechanics and engaging narrative settings, so I expect nothing less in this case.
The only potential challenges I could see arising are from the introduction of features outside their traditional scope, such as crafting a branching story with multiple endings and creating an open-world environment. Nevertheless, I will definitely be checking the game out this coming March if just for the combat alone, and I’m hopeful that Team Ninja can meet the community’s high expectations.
If you enjoyed this article be sure to check out more upcoming games inGranblue Fantasy Relink End-Game – What It’s LikeandAvowed – What We Know So Far.
Tyr
て んじよ うてんげ ゆいが とくそん
