THIS month is set to see the release of Rise of the Ronin and just like 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, the game is a big release for the PlayStation 5 (PS5).
Set in 19th-century Japan, Ronin will see samurai clashes during the introduction of firearms into Japan during the Edo period.
Like in films, samurais and ninjas have long been in video games, drawing fascination from gamers towards the Japanese culture and history from those feudal times.
As we hurtle towards the release of Ronin, here are some extraordinary games featuring samurais and ninjas that you can try out before developer Team Ninja releases their big historical action game on Mar 22.
The Ghost of Tsushima
The cream of the crop, Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima, was released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 (and then PS5) to critical acclaim.
Thrusting players into the sandals of lead character Jin Sakai, players were given a massive open-world to explore, collect weapons and defeat strongholds controlled by the Mongolian army, as Jin fights towards freeing the island of Tsushima and reclaiming his clan’s lost honour.
Players have the option of using Sakai in whichever way they want. One can choose to fight as a samurai with honour in direct fights or take the path as a “ghost”, using ninja-like tools such as smoke bombs and throwing knives to fight the Mongol soldiers with dirty tactics.
It has a strong, deeply emotional story and it is visually stunning while running or riding a horse through the Japanese countryside and forests.
While it has elements taken from games that came before it, Ghost of Tsushima removes their weaknesses, while perfecting what works.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
A game that has been repeatedly featured in theSun, FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice imports the notorious difficulty from the studio’s previous games to deliver a brutal ninja game.
As the Shinobi Wolf, players are tasked with rescuing Kuro, a child with divine powers running in his veins, from Genichiro, who seeks to use the child’s blood to create an immortal army.
Combat in Sekiro is fast and unforgiving. If players play defensively, they will die and if they decide to go on the offensive, they will also die.
The game lives up to its name. Dying is the way towards improvement and players will find themselves stuck at normal enemies and bosses, staring at the “Game Over” screen for hours until they learn to adapt and play better.
Nioh and Nioh 2
Another franchise by Team Ninja, Nioh and Nioh 2 are more fantastical versions of Sekiro. Very much inspired by FromSoftware’s games, the Nioh games have rather nonsensical stories.
But no one plays the games in this particular franchise for the story. It is the game’s difficulty and gameplay that are the draw.
Players control William or Hide in their respective games and are given various tools to fight demons and creatures inspired by Japanese mythology.
Gameplay involves utilising the huge range of weapons, from katanas to polearms, the different stances that carry out different fighting styles that target specific weaknesses and so on.
Unfortunately, the games are not very good to look at from an art standpoint and the level designs are relatively straightforward, self-contained maps.
There is no open-world roaming, as the games are based around selecting a mission and fighting through that specific mission’s map.
Ninja Gaiden
Very much an old franchise, the early Ninja Gaiden games in the 1990s were developed by Tecmo, while the later games, beginning with the 2004 version, were made by Team Ninja.
Though the franchise had different developers across two separate eras, the one constant was how they are all extremely hard action games, especially compared to the other games in this list.
The Ninja Gaiden games are extremely violent, to the point that Tecmo had to censor one of the games before Germany allowed it to be released in the country.
Despite Team Ninja moving their attention towards the Nioh games and the upcoming Ronin in recent years, three of the last main Ninja Gaiden games are available on the PlayStation Store through the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection.
It is a highly recommended bundle that contains Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge.
