Many of you who have played Rise of the Ronin may have noticed some elements of our previous works like Ninja Gaiden and Nioh from Team Ninja. Today, we’re excited to share some behind-the-scenes development stories for the first time. Additionally, we are sharing details about the upcoming game update.
Connect Ninja Gaiden
Iga-Ninja Armor is one of the connections between Rise of the Ronin and Ninja Gaiden, an action game by Team Ninja.
From early on in development, we discussed with PlayStation Studio’s XDEV team our desire to include costumes from the Ninja Gaiden series. When considering which outfit and weapon to use, we agreed on the main character’s outfit, Ryu Hayabusa, which was iconic and recognizable for the game’s armor design.
Historically, ninjas are said to have existed during the Bakumatsu period (late 19th century).th century), is the setting of Rise of the Ronin, so it has a high degree of sympathy with the worldview of these games.
One of the fighting styles, Hayabusa-ryu, was originally deployed at the same speed as in the original, but the attacks were so fast and incredibly powerful that we had to struggle to adapt them to suit them. Matches the gameplay speed of this new version for Rise of the Ronin.
In addition to Hayabusa’s iconic moves, such as the Izuna Drop, we also incorporated as many Ninja Gaiden techniques as possible, such as his Ultimate Technique.
Rise of the Ronin marks the first appearance of Ninja Gaiden-related content on PS5, so recreating these features in high-definition 4K was a challenge. Signature Hayabusa-ryu ninja outfits such as raptor-inspired headgear and sleeveless armor are newly designed with images reinterpreting them using weapons and materials from the late Edo period. We believe this fits perfectly with the worldview of this game and hope that our fans of the series will enjoy these references.
Nioh series connection
It’s been almost two months since Rise of the Ronin released, let me reveal a little that William, the main character of Nioh, appears as a hidden boss in this game. We decided to have him appear early in the planning stages because we thought it would be a nice surprise for those who have played the Nioh series.
Since the game is set in the late Edo period when Japanese and Western cultures began to mix, and many Westerners such as Commodore Matthew Perry appeared, I believe that the appearance of William wearing armor was done in a way that doesn’t feel out of place. .
Regarding the Nioh-ryu fighting style, we originally had the idea of making the three signature stances of the series, top, middle and bottom, into independent styles, but because the controls would be too complicated and because they I feel that Nioh is really more about combat while switching between three stances in real time, we implemented it as a style consisting of three stances. Nioh has so many techniques that we had a hard time deciding which ones to include.
The armor he is wearing is based on the Obsidian Armor appearing in the Nioh series and incorporates a distressed design that evokes the passage of time from the Nioh period to the end of the Edo period.
The effect of Blade Flash in Rise of the Ronin is Ki Pulse in Nioh. Flux can also be used, and by holding down the martial arts input, you can perform martial arts moves directly from any position without changing stances. This is a difficult style to master but we think it’s been incorporated into the Team Ninja style action, so we hope you’ll give it a try.
Other than William’s appearance, like Ninja Gaiden, Nioh is unaffected by the story so even those who have never played Nioh will be able to thoroughly enjoy the world of Rise of the Ronin.
Looking back at the inception of this project, Rise of the Ronin has been in development for over seven years. The game takes on many new challenges and pursues Team Ninja’s signature action genre and worldview, and as we explained in this article, we believe the game has many elements that will pleasing fans from previous titles. I hope this article will help you enjoy the world of the game even better.
Additionally, we will release a new update later this week.
New and expanded content
- 5 new ally missions added.
- When replaying a world at Midnight, you can choose to cause public order to deteriorate.
- Level synchronization has been added to quests from Testament of the Soul.
- Two new Set bonuses have been added to Midnight difficulty.
- Additional dojo training partners.
- Added Martial Arts Skill type bonus and raised target point limit.
Gameplay improvements
- When equipping the same weapon type on weapon 1 and 2, the number of styles can be expanded to a maximum of 6.
- Changed the specs to give special equipment even if the player doesn’t confess.
- Changed the specification so that post-breakup character greetings will return to normal over time.
- Adjusted to make it easier to select asynchronous characters.
Thank you for your continued support of Rise of the Ronin!
