Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin blends Nioh's combat with Assassin's Creed-style exploration

Well look at that, a new trailer for Rise of the Rōnin - the fancy samurai action-RPG from Ninja Gaiden household Team Ninja. Set in 19th century Japan's Bakumatsu era, the game is a mixture of open-ended exploration, sneaking and agile traversal that puts me heavily in mind of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series. Unlike most Assassin's Creeds, however, this one has a pretty in-depth, rigorous melee combat system, with bosses that look like they're going to grind my gears no end. Will it be as vicious as Nioh 2? I'd better start stocking up on comfort food.

Rise of the Ronin - Gameplay Overview | PS5 Games

The trailer begins with a relatively bloodless stroll through the port city of Yokohama, which is described as a mixture of native and overseas architectural influences. The main character is - or at least, can be customised to be - pretty great at the old urban free-running, with a brace of traversal gadgets to call upon.

These include a grapple which can also be used to yank enemies towards you, and a hang-glider or "avicula" which you can use in combination with the grapple to sail indefinitely above the streets, Batman Arkham-style. We're also shown a bit of stealth, which seems relatively generic - crouch to sneak, and watch the red dots on your horizontal radar. It looks like there are chest-high shrubs you can hide in. Where would we all be, without chest-high shrubs in games?

Combat is the real heart of the experience, needless to say, with fights that range from alleyway scuffles and waterside duels to full-on cavalry battles through snowy countryside, with fireballs crashing down around you. We're shown a couple of bosses as well, including a large man with claws who reminds me of Soulcalibur's Voldo. These prizefights hinge on expert parrying and florid combos that only serve to depress me, an elderly games journalist who occasionally struggles to tell left from right. I suspect I'll fare better with the firearms, which include primitive flamethrowers and muskets with bayonets - there's an inventor, Isagachi, you can buy them from.

Rise of the Ronin hits consoles on March 22nd 2024. I have a lot of time for Team Ninja's creations, despite all the damage they've done to my self-esteem, and while the relatively "pure" historical setting here feels a bit washed-out next to the studio's fantasy confections, I dare say I'm holding out for a PC port. Sony are obviously putting the emphasis on PS5 right now, but the game was tipped for PCs as well when they announced it in 2022.