What do you think when you hear about the action game made by Team Ninja under the banner of Koei Tecmo? With the track record they have built so far, the attraction of Ninja Gaiden and Nioh, which have a high level of difficulty, seems to be something we can anticipate. However, for this title, it is different. Not only because the focus seems to be much more on injecting stories like Japanese dramas in the feudal era as a selling point, but also the open world concept which has not been explored much by Team Ninja before. That's right, we're talking about Rise of the Ronin for Playstation 5.
With the release just hours away at the time this article was published, we also had the opportunity to chat directly with the two frontmen of Rise of the Ronin – Yosuke Hayashi (Producer) and Fumihiko Yasuda (Game Director) regarding the open-world game which, it must be acknowledged, came with the process. Marketing is quite effective through cool trailers and screenshots. Many of our curiosities were answered, from the problem of the faction system that he brought up, the “strangeness” of the presence of gliders in a game like this, and of course the choice of difficulty level that he presented.
So, what questions do we ask both of them exclusively? Here he is:
JagatPlay: From the behind the scenes video released by Team Ninja, it is clear that there has been a strong effort to pursue an authentic classic experience in Rise of the Ronin. But on the other hand, you also present content such as gliders. Is this glider really based on something that actually existed in history?
Yasuda: The glider you use is indeed something designed by an inventor in the Bakumatsu era. Of course we want to maintain a realistic setting and experience with this game, but we also want to inject innovation to make the gameplay more interesting.
JagatPlay: Isn't there a fear that this glider will ruin the immersive sensation of this game? Has the team ever discussed these concerns?
Yasuda: During the development process, we didn't have any worries at all. I know gamers who just watched the trailer will immediately assume that this glider makes Rise of the Ronin not feel realistic. But we are sure that gamers who have played and experienced this game will feel that this element mixes very well with the existing gameplay. He will not make this historical experience messy.
JagatPlay: Is there a reason why you suddenly decided to offer a choice of difficulty levels in Rise of the Ronin?
Yasuda: Yes, for Rise of the Ronin we provide three difficulty level options. We have prepared HARD MODE for gamers who have tried previous Team Ninja titles and who want the sensation of tense action. But we also prepared EASY MODE for gamers who are not too familiar with action games. For this title, we not only offer the action side, but also an open world via an open-world scheme and story. So we certainly want more types of gamers to be able to enjoy the experience that we have provided via Rise of the Ronin.
JagatPlay: We know that this game will feature 3 factions in it. Can you explain how this system works? How early will this story branch appear based on this system? And can we finish the game as a neutral RONIN who ends up not siding with anyone at the end?
Yasuda: Indeed, there will be characters in the game who side with certain factions, and depending on who you build a relationship with (Bond), your alignment with a specific faction will also change. This will also work dynamically, where if you build a Bond with one character from a certain faction then it can also influence your Bond with other characters from the opposite faction.
Meanwhile, for the “neutral” problem, you will be able to play the entire Rise of the Ronin without having to care much about this faction system. But later there will be a big battle moment in the game involving two factions, and there you still have to choose one of them.
JagatPlay: Will a gamer be locked out of one particular faction's missions if he chooses another faction, especially an opposing one?
Yasuda: Yes there will be moments like that in the story, but they won't happen often. But we did design, as much as possible, so that gamers can enjoy as many possibilities as possible.
JagatPlay: Rise of the Ronin can be said to be one of Team Ninja's first open-world games. For Team Ninja, what was the most difficult challenge when developing it? And what do you focus on?
Hayashi: When talking about open-world, we of course have to think about what kind of gameplay elements we want to inject. This will be very important to determine the direction of the game itself. Our previous games were known for their action and difficulty, so we wanted to maintain that but now apply it to the open world. There are indeed big questions: what would happen if Team Ninja made an open-world game, how would it look, and that was our focus for this game.
Meanwhile, for challenges, open-world games actually offer the potential to be able to move anywhere. So determining what we wanted was the most important part of determining the direction of Rise of the Ronin.
JagatPlay: Talking about English voice acting, which incidentally is often difficult to apply in games with heavy historical drama content like Rise of the Ronin. Does Team Ninja supervise this process? Or just leave it completely to the agency?
Yasuda: As for VA Japan, we are directly involved in the briefing process. But for English VAs, whether recording or talent, we leave it entirely to Sony for this matter. We believe the results are of high quality.
JagatPlay: Rise of the Ronin carries a loot system similar to Nioh. Does this game really need a loot system like this? And how do you ensure that it doesn't feel “too much” for gamers who play in Easy or normal mode?
Yasuda: When it comes to loot, it's not just for the fighting system but also for the exploration side. To fight, players can choose and use weapons that are more advantageous to them when compared to enemy weapons. We ourselves have reduced the quantity of loot in Rise of the Ronin compared to Nioh. So it's not as “crazy” as Nioh.
JagatPlay: I haven't tried it myself because the server itself wasn't online at the time of this interview. But I'm curious about how Rise of the Ronin's co-op system works, considering there are differences in difficulty here. Can EASY gamers join HARD? How is the balancing done?
Yasuda: The matching process will definitely implement Level Sync in it. Meanwhile, for the difficulty level, the gamer who hosts the mission will choose and determine the level of difficulty. Meanwhile, players who join can also search for missions based on their choice of difficulty level.
JagatPlay: So what are the advantages of playing HARD multiplayer?
Yasuda: The amount of experience, equipment quality, and drop rate will be higher in HARD multiplayer.
JagatPlay: OK, for my last question. According to Team Ninja, what is the main attraction of Rise of the Ronin compared to other open-world games? Especially for those with ancient Japanese settings too?
Hayashi: For this title, the main attraction in our opinion is the opportunity to live the story as a Ronin. A Ronin who is of course “free” in the Bakumatsu era, complete with the Team Ninja game identity so far in it. We are sure that when gamers try it, they will find elements that they cannot find in other games. So hopefully they enjoy Rise of the Ronin!
Rise of the Ronin itself is planned to be released on March 22 2024 for Playstation 5. Interested?