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In anticipation of the epic launch of Rise of the Ronin, we got an opportunity to interview Yosuke Hayashi and Fumihiko Yasuda from Koei Tecmo and its division Team NINJA regarding the adventures players are about to embark on in the war-torn Bakumatsu era.
Yosuke Hayashi is the Head of Entertainment Business at Koei Tecmo Games, who is also serving as producer for Rise of the Ronin. He joined the formerly-named Tecmo as a new graduate and has been working as a director and producer for various Team NINJA games, including the DEAD OR ALIVE, NINJA GAIDEN, and Nioh series.
Meanwhile, Fumihiko Yasuda is the Development Producer and Game Director of Rise of the Ronin. Since Yasuda joined the company, he has been involved in the development of action games in Team NINJA for many years, contributing to projects such as the NINJA GAIDEN franchise. He also worked as a producer on the Nioh franchise as well as Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
[Interview is edited for clarity]
The Development of the Rise of the Ronin
Rise of the Ronin is arguably the most ambitious project from Team NINJA to date as it is the studio’s first foray into open world. Venturing into unfamiliar territory that is the open world tends to prove quite a challenge for developers and Hayashi recalled back to the development of the game.
“With this kind of large project, we had to start from the game engine, and then create the game, and throughout the development process, I keep looking back and see what adjustments could be made. It was a trial and error process because we weren’t very experienced in creating open world titles.”
“Rather than there being a single interesting moment in the development, it was the entire development as a whole. The kind of approach we had was one of the main characteristics of the development process.’
In regards to whether there were any significant alterations made since the game’s announcement, Hayashi mentioned that there have not been any changes.
Bakumatsu Period
The setting of Rise of the Ronin takes place in the Bakumatsu period, the final years of the Edo period known for Japan gaining strong influence from the Western side. It was also the time when firearms became more common in Japan.
For why Team NINJA decided on the setting, Hayashi said, “The Bakumatsu period was a period of dynamic change. It was the end of the samurai’s age and the beginning of the modernization of Japan. Because of that, there were various types of people living in the period, and that’s why we thought it would be a great setting for Rise of the Ronin, because it would allow players to experience that variety and provide a dynamic experience.
Open World
On the topic of open world, many people are certainly excited to venture into Edo-era Japan with Team NINJA flair. As the studio’s first open world project, we were curious about how big the map would be.
Yasuda openly replied, “This world is divided into three central areas. There’s Yokohama, Edo, and Kyoto, which were very central locales in the Bakumatsu period. Within each of these areas, there are a lot of activities to engage with and a lot of density in terms of content.”
Enemy Variety
Team NINJA is no stranger to historical settings as their previous titles tend to have a fantastical take on notable time periods, such as the Nioh series, another franchise taking place in ancient Japan but in the late Sengoku period instead. Another more recent title by the developers is Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, which adds mythological creatures and magic to the Three Kingdom Wars in ancient China. The crazier monsters from past titles have become synonymous with those franchises and the challenging gameplay, offering encounter varieties.
However, Rise of the Ronin will have a more grounded take, moving away from fantasy elements and instead focusing on real-world weaponry to diversify encounters. As Yasuda noted, “When it comes to providing a diverse action experience, the enemy variety is a key aspect of it. As this title is more historically based, the battles will be against humans. So, we had to make sure to provide that variety to that end”
“We did that through weapon variety as well as combat styles, designed the game in a way to encourage players to utilize those various elements to provide new experience.”
Combat
At a glance at gameplay, the combat of Rise of the Ronin does look similar to recent titles from Team NINJA, such as Nioh and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Yasuda wasn’t shy about that fact, noting that the team looked back to those titles to see what those games did well and how to improve on those mechanics.
What differs Rise of the Ronin from the aforementioned titles is the “sense of freedom in terms of how players want to approach combat scenario,” said Yasuda.
“There is a wide variety of weapons and Combat Styles. Players can also employ stealth as well as utilizing projectiles. In addition to that, there is also the Bond system where players can form relationships with characters in the world. This then allows players to switch and play as those characters. I think altogether, this provides a really rich and diverse combat experience.”
Branching Stories
As Yasuda mentioned the Bond mechanic, we noticed that the story this time around adopts a multi-choice system where players’ decisions can have real consequences for how the narrative unfolds. Regarding how deeply the multi-choice system would impact the overall experience and what level of replayability players can expect, Yasuda responded with the following.
“The game is based on a historical setting, but the players extend to the combat system and the bond you create for several characters. Depending on how much you interact with a character and deepen your bond with them, it will have an impact on that character’s future.”
“In terms of replayability, we don’t want players to retry certain areas, but we do want to encourage the players to replay the game and see how certain choices affect the way the world and story play out.”
Development Experiences
As we mentioned previously, Team NINJA is quite an experienced studio when it comes to action titles, known for creating exciting RPGs with challenging yet rewarding combat such as NINJA GAIDEN, Nioh, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. They are also known for dipping their toes into fighting games with the DEAD OR ALIVE series.
When asked about how the experience of developing all these titles had influenced the making of Rise of the Ronin and how Team NINJA managed to take on such a huge project, Hayashi replied, “As Team NINJA, we wanted to develop as a team capable of creating a title such as Rise of the Ronin, and to that end, we enhanced our development capabilities.”
“I believe that we were able to realize this title as an achievement of the efforts that we made to accomplish. As a studio that’s mainly been focusing on creating ninja and samurai-themed games, we’ve been able to show that we’re able to create that kind of experience and we are excited to continue pursuing ambitious projects going forward.
PlayStation 5 Exclusivity
Rise of the Ronin will be launching exclusively on the PlayStation 5 and take full advantage of the DualSense controller features. Yasuda mentioned, “From the onset of this title’s development, we knew that we wanted to make an open world game, but it also needs to retain a smooth experience with 60 frames per second.”
“To that end, we knew we had to limit the game to new hardware, specifically the PlayStation 5. When it comes to other features such as the DualSense, we worked closely with Sony, who gave us various feedback on the kind of settings and adjustments needed for the most enjoyable experience possible. As such, those are the reasons why we limited the game to the PlayStation 5.”
Message for Southeast Asian Fans
As we concluded our interview with Hayashi and Yasuda, we asked them if they had any messages to share with the Team NINJA fans from Southeast Asia regarding Rise of the Ronin, in which Hayashi said the following:
“Rise of the Ronin is a title that we wanted to create for a long time. Of course, there’s that samurai-esque action, but it is also an open world along with story choices, and I feel that players will be able to enjoy these elements. It might be kind of a novel experience for those living in Southeast Asia, but I really think they’ll be able to enjoy a unique experience of immersing themselves and stepping into the shoes of Ronin. So I really hope they look forward to it!”
We would love to thank Yosuke Hayashi and Fumihiko Yasuda for taking the time to answer our questions about Rise of the Ronin, as well as Sony Interactive Entertainment and Koei Tecmo for the interview opportunity.
Rise of the Ronin is slated to release on March 22, 2024, exclusively for the PlayStation 5.
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