Team Ninja's latest work, “Rise of the Ronin”, has been available for around two months. The Japanese development studio has also hidden connections to its two older titles “Ninja Gaiden” and “Nioh”.
In the action adventure “Rise of the Ronin” Team Ninja takes us to Japan in 1863. In the role of a Ronin, a masterless samurai, we travel around and get to know the country, which is in a transition phase from the Shogunate to the modern era. During the adventure, you not only have to fend off numerous dangers and overcome various obstacles, but you can also discover various references to older games from the studio.
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More specifically, Team Ninja has made various references to “Ninja Gaiden” and “Nioh” hidden in his most recent work. Fumihiko Yasuda, the director and president of the development studio, recently discussed these connections in an article on the PlayStation Blog But be careful, the following may lead to minor spoilers come to the new samurai adventure.
Ninja Gaiden Connections in Rise of the Ronin
As Yasuda reveals, the development team had already thought about designing “Ninja Gaiden” costumes early on. The result is the Iga Ninja Armorwhich is clearly influenced by Ryu Hayabusa's outfit in the legendary action game franchise. The decision was made “because this was an iconic and instantly recognizable costume for armor in the game.” Historically, this was possible because ninjas are said to have existed in the 19th century.
However, there is no 1:1 conversion because Ryu's armor was probably too modern for the action adventure. Instead, the makers made a modified version of the outfit that fits the time better. In addition, Team Ninja tried to incorporate as many of Ryu's fighting techniques as possible into “Rise of the Ronin.” However, because these would be so fast and powerful, they had to be adapted to the samurai adventure.
With Update 1.05 a new version for Rise of the Ronin is available. You can read about what this includes and what new features and content you can look forward to here:
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Nioh Connections in Rise of the Ronin
Now we come to the aforementioned Spoiler part: Since “Rise of the Ronin” has been available in stores for a good two months now, Fumihiko Yasuda revealed a hidden boss in the action adventure: “Nioh” protagonist William! In this case, too, Team Ninja had already thought about having him appear in the game early on, “because we thought that this would be a nice surprise for players of the Nioh series.”
Yasuda then adds: “Since the game is set in the late Edo period, when Japanese and Western cultures were slowly mixing, and many people like Commodore Matthew Perry came to Japan from the West, I think William's appearance in his armor was done in such a way that it doesn't seem out of place.” Unlike in “Nioh,” William wears black, worn armor that is intended to illustrate the time gap between the two games.
“Rise of the Ronin” has been available exclusively for the PlayStation 5 since March 22, 2024.
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