According to Koei Tecmo, the planning phase of Rise Of The Ronin’s development began before the release of Nioh, way back in 2017. Its lengthy development time speaks to the grand ambition of this new Team Ninja game, which is by far its biggest production to date, but on the flip side it also explains why it sometimes feel like a project from another time. Team Ninja president Fumihiko Yasuda has spoken of taking notes from the Assassin’s Creed series when Ronin was conceived, and too often the game feels in thrall to others rather than having the confidence to carve out its own identity. In that sense, it cannot help feeling dated.
That Ronin resembles an artefact from another era is appropriate given how much it leans into history. Set in 1860s Japan, during the Bakumatsu period, it portrays a nation coming to terms with influences from overseas. “If we don’t embrace the best parts of the west,” a character says at the beginning, “we’ll be left behind.” That is only one perspective, however, and the entire game pivots on the tension between the shogunate, which wants to grease the wheels of change, and the forces pushing in the opposite direction, determined to preserve Japan’s old ways. Naturally, you’re thrown into the middle, and in exploring the game’s most innovative feature you’re able to build alliances as you see fit, which affects how the story works towards its conclusion, giving you the option to choose where to place your support and who to fight alongside, and even decide the fate of certain key characters.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Edge UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Edge UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
Anyone familiar with the concept of kitbashing is already halfway to understanding what Tomas Sala’s open-world builder is all about.
Children Of The Sun
René Rother’s acrid revenge thriller – an action game with its limbs broken and forcibly rearranged into the shape of a spatial puzzler – is at once a bonafide original and an unlikely throwback. Cast your eyes right and you wouldn’t blink if we told you this was a forgotten Grasshopper Manufacture game from the early PS3 era (we won’t be at all surprised if this finds a spot on Suda51’s end-of-year list).
Post Script
What does Rise Of The Ronin say for PS5 exclusivity?
Rise Of The Ronin
Falling in battle simply switches control to the next person up, and then quick revive fixes everything
Post Script
The pawn and the pandemic
Dragon's Dogma 2
The road from Vernworth to Bakbattahl is scenic but arduous. Ignore the dawdling mobs of goblins, and duck beneath the chanting harpies that circle on the currents overhead, and even moving at a hurried clip it is impossible for a party of four to complete the journey by nightfall.
BLUE MANCHU
How enforced early retirement eventually led Jonathan Chey back to System Shock
THE MAKING 0F.... AMERICAN ARCADIA
How a contrast of perspectives added extra layers to a side-scrolling platform game
COMING IN TO LAND
The creator of Spelunky, plus a super-group of indie developers, have spent the best part of a decade making 50 games. Has the journey been worth it?
VOID SOLS
This abstract indie Soulslike has some bright ideas