IN less than a fortnight, the next big PlayStation 5 exclusive is set to drop, with Rise of the Ronin looking like it will rival Sekiro and Ghost of Tsushima’s spots as the console’s best samurai-ninja action games.
Detailed in its behind-the-scenes video on Ronin’s combat, developer Team Ninja covered a fair bit of what the game will entail in the 10-minute demonstration.
Before covering Ronin’s gameplay and its mechanics, theSun takes a look at the difficulty modes.
As gentle or as hard as possible
Ronin will launch with three difficulties: Dawn (easy), Dusk (normal) and Twilight (hard). At any point, players will be able to switch from one difficulty mode to another.
Taking too long on a boss in Dusk or Twilight? Drop the difficulty. A few hours in and want to enjoy the story or have a breeze doing mindless exploration? Switch to Dawn.
According to the developers, Dawn will have additional settings, such as the options to increase health recovery through medicinal items and the reduction of Ki (stamina) expenditure during fights.
There may be hidden or harder difficulties in the future, but that is just conjecture, as games such as Ronin tend to have hardcore players that want difficulties more punishing than what exists in the game’s base version.
Fight like a samurai
In Rise of the Ronin, players control a – surprise – ronin (a samurai without a master).
During Game Informer’s preview of the game, Team Ninja called the character “Veiled Edge” with no official name, if there is one. For this article, the character will be referred to as Ronin.
Every enemy in the game and the player will have a health bar and a Ki (energy) bar. Fights will involve a delicate, figurative game of chess, as both the player and enemy AI will seek to break the other’s Ki bar, causing damage to the health bar.
Defending against attacks can be done by guarding with the L1, but for players with fast brain processing power and reflexes, the game offers an option to parry and directly reduce the maximum Ki of enemies.
Timing the attack of enemies, players can press the Triangle to “counterspark” their enemies’ attack. If timed correctly, this manoeuvre will deflect the incoming blow back at the enemy, reducing their Ki and stunning them.
That said, what the Ronin does to enemies, they can do back to him. If the player’s Ki is depleted, they will not be able to run away or attack. Like any “Soulslike” genre game, Ronin will reward aggressive, smart play, and punish players that play defensively too much.
An invisible arsenal
Like every similar game in existence, the Ronin will carry an invisible bag that contains an entire armoury of weapons, switching between them depending on what the situation calls for.
Team Ninja says that Ronin will have katanas, spears, dual blades, bayonets, sabres, bows, and firearms for players to utilise.
Each weapon will have its own style, incorporating martial arts from different schools and disciplines, and each will have its own version of regular attacks and unique fighting skills.
According to the PlayStation Blog, new combat styles will be acquired throughout the game as players meet and bond with characters they come across.
Similar to Team Ninja’s previous two Nioh games, the varied enemies in Ronin will carry different weapons, and players will need to know how to react and counter each of them. In huge fights, with multiple enemies using different weapons, adaptability will be critical.
The game will have three stances called Ten (sky), Chi (earth) and Jin (human).
Rise of the Ronin looks like it will be a typical Team Ninja game, and that is a compliment. The game looks like it has combined everything that made the developer’s previous games stellar and melded it into a singular being with robust gameplay and deep mechanics.
The game will release exclusively on the PS5 on March 22.
