Given the size of the team and the projects already running, it was difficult to wait for Rise of the Ronin to arrive. Team Ninja, to think that it could be a project of this breadth even more. The announcement came as a total surprise at last night’s State of Play with a gorgeous promotional trailer, with everyone thinking the Koei Tecmo team was completely taken over by Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, another very interesting game, but that point seems almost secondary. to this other topic.
The first video gave an opportunity to show a bit of the atmosphere and tone that the developers were looking for with this game, but the idea that it was a real game open world action RPG and the fact that Koei Tecmo aims to make it a remarkable million seller puts everything in a different light. It seems that development has been going on for 7 years and considering the release is planned for 2024, we will be talking about massive processing times comparable to major Rockstar Games projects.
Of course, it is likely that production went very slowly during this time and the game gained significant dimensions, perhaps sometime, perhaps once. Partnership with Sony this will do the job of publishing and probably pump a decent amount of money into the project, but the truth is, on purpose, it’s perhaps the most ambitious game ever seen by Ninja Gaiden and the Dead or Alive team. So certainly of great interest, but also a few questions, especially regarding the actual ability to complete an open world of this size and at the same time characterize it with a good original edition, but at the same time, looking at Nioh’s example, hopes are rising. considerable.
then let’s repeat Everything we know about Rise of the Ronin.
Feudal Japan is back in fashion
Now we can talk about a real trend: feudal Japan (or there) is back in vogue: In a few days we attended the presentation of Assassin’s Creed Codename RED, Like a Dragon: Ishin! and Rise of the Ronin to be exact, the last two even share the same ten-year reference in terms of temporal collocation. But compared to games like Ghost of Tsushima and the aforementioned Ubisoft game, the two Japanese productions address an even more interesting era as they are characterized by different levels of political and cultural upheaval. In fact, it speaks to the end of the Edo period, when Western “land ships” – as the Rise of the Ronin trailer tells us – emerged in Tokyo Bay and imposed and ended the opening to the West. for sakokuTwo centuries of Japan’s isolation.
came bakumatsuIt resulted in the end of the shogunate of the social organization known as bakufu and the return to the central structure of the empire with the Meiji Restoration.
This is special transition period It can also be clearly seen at the beginning of the Rise of the Ronin trailer with the crow’s flight overview highlighting the strange mix of classical Japanese architecture and new structures popping up in cities. In all this, the function and role of the samurai was also lost: some of them became bureaucrats firmly integrated into the new imperial structure, while others became ronin or vagrant warriors with no particular purpose in life. One of them is the protagonist of the game, a warrior who has no ties but seems to be able to influence the chaotic course of the country.
An unruly fighter
For a warrior who dedicates his life to the defense of certain ideals, the collapse of the established order is a blatantly dramatic event that leads to the loss of reference points. this hero Rise of the Ronin finds himself in this situation, but he can still rely on some key points: great fighting skills and a certain sense of justice that will likely lead him to fight some of the distortions of modern society. In fact, the title suggests a form of organized rebellion, a form of rebellion, which, we guessed, might have something to do with the Satsuma Rebellion. Instead, considerable security is achieved. battle system, this is a feature that Team Ninja has historically excelled at. Again, it seems like a lot of attention has been paid to this element of the gameplay, which will be fundamental in this open world action RPG.
After Nioh’s experience, however, we can expect some attention to be paid to combat technique and tactical use of weapons, with some additions that seem to add significant dynamism to the action. By making important concessions from the state bushido, the protagonist goes far beyond his katana and can also wield a variety of firearms, as we have seen in combat, where he uses a bayonet rifle using knives and bullets at the same time. draws a powerful pistol that cools the enemy, which can be quite surprising given the classic clichés of this type of environment. The Ronin’s path is, in essence, also revealed in the freedom to approach war, with the protagonist breaking away from the strict moral codes and customs imposed by Bushido, which can vary between customs. different techniques and weapons.
freedom of movement
This freedom offered by the role of the ronin, which allows the hero to create the warrior’s own morality and ethics, must be briefly reflected in the game at various levels. We’ve seen how this has significant implications in the combat system, which relies on a range of weapons and techniques that can be used to deal with different situations, but it also needs to assert itself in combat. displacement system your hero in the open world. Symbolizing this unpredictability in movement are the grapple and the glider, two tools we’ve seen successfully associated with traversing major settings. In addition to their use in conflicts, they can allow for new ways of interacting with scenarios, they can also pave the way for particular exploitation of the verticality of the landscape, while also considering how different architectures of the considered time can offer ideas for exploration. In this sense..
Added to all this is the open world, which demonstrates the immense ambitions of Rise of the Ronin, but also represents an important obscurity for a team that has so far focused on different and more rigorous builds. an ability to explore wide open world It is in itself a symbol of the freedom given to the player, and there is no better way to step into the role of the ronin, an itinerant warrior seeking adventure and a purpose in life.
When such a fascinating environment is added to these features, the potential of the game reaches remarkable dimensions and also explains Koei Tecmo’s ambition towards this project. It’s still a long way off, but the features are very promising and well summed up from the first trailer: Considering that even the video reveals a few edges that need fixing, we’ll have to see how Team Ninja manages a production of this magnitude. It is a technical point of view, but it will be one of the topics to be considered until 2024.
Source: Multiplayer
