Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin is an upcoming 2024 action role-playing video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment in partnership with Koei Tecmo for the PlayStation 5.

Rise of the Ronin takes place during the Bakumatsu era of Japan in the 19th century, and follows a rōnin who must navigate through a country in crisis of political unrest, civil war and foreign influence. The game is presented from a third-person perspective and is set in an open-world environment which can be navigated on foot, on horseback or through a gliding tool. Combat features a variety of weapons such as katanas, spears and firearms. The game includes role-playing mechanics, with player decision affecting the story.

Team Ninja began work on Rise of the Ronin in 2015, during the advanced stages of Nioh. Development progressed slow as the studio prioritized other projects. The game was announced in September 2022 at Sony's State of Play presentation.

Rise of the Ronin is developed by Team Ninja with support from its sister-company Kou Shibusawa; the two Koei Tecmo-owned teams have previously collaborated on numerous games, including the PlayStation console exclusives Nioh (2017) and Nioh 2 (2020). Similar to the Nioh series, Rise of the Ronin is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for its PlayStation 5 release. PlayStation Studios production studio XDev is also involved with the game's production.

According to director and producer Fumihiko Yasuda, Rise of the Ronin began production by 2015, while Team Ninja was working on Nioh at the time. Yasuda described developing Rise of the Ronin as "slowly and freely", with the game enduring development while the studio was working on other titles. Yasuda and Koei Tecmo see Rise of the Ronin as "taking things to the next level" in regards to the company's long-running production of games set in historical time period, calling it Team Ninja's "most ambitious and challenging project" at the time of its announcement while taking influence from the studio's experience on games such as Nioh and Ninja Gaiden.

Gameplay

 * Rise of the Ronin is an action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. Players control a ronin in an open-world environment, which can be navigated on foot, on a horseback, or through a gliding device.

Plot
Rise of the Ronin takes place during the bakumatsu (1853-1867), which marked the end of the Edo period (1603 - 1867) in Japan. Team Ninja has described the setting as Japan "facing the darkest of times as it struggles with its oppressive rulers and deadly diseases while western influence permeates as civil war continues to rage between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Anti-Shogunate factions". The lead character is a ronin, a masterless samurai who finds themselves embroiled in the chaotic events.

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Trivia

 * It is the third partnership between Koei Tecmo and Sony Interactive Entertainment following Nioh and its 2020 sequel, with the latter handling marketing and publishing duties.