The Rise of the Ronin team used Ghost of Tsushima as a "reference," but hopes the open-world RPG's "Japanese-ness" stands out more

gamesradar.com:

Ghost of Tsushima's success encouraged developers at Team Ninja to create the upcoming open-world game Rise of the Ronin.

Comparisons between the two games have been rampant since Rise of the Ronin was announced last year, mainly due to both games' historical Japanese setting, third-person sword-swinging combat, and open-world structure. Director Fumihiko Yasuda has now acknowledged the connections and even cited Sucker Punch's revenge tale as a "reference."

"Ghost of Tsushima was one of the games we used as reference," Yasuda says in an interview with Automaton. "I felt inspired by the fact that a game set in Japan had been researched to such an extent by the developers, and had also received high praise for aspects such as its combat system."

Ghost of Tsushima was, of course, a game about Japan made by an American studio. So Yasuda also wondered why his own studio couldn't make a similar game: "Ghost of Tsushima served as good encouragement for creating Rise of the Ronin."

Producer Yosuke Hayashi adds that Rise of the Ronin isn't just aiming to replicate Tsushima's success, though. "It's not that we weren't conscious of Ghost of Tsushima, rather that we think the most important thing is to foster the unique characteristics of Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja games," Hayashi explains. "I'm confident that when you play Rise of the Ronin, the game's tactile feel, combat, and other aspects of 'Japanese-ness' will seem different and better when compared to other titles."

To further differentiate the two, Rise of the Ronin is leaning further into the roleplaying side of things while seemingly ditching the overwhelming loot system from the developer's previous Nioh games. Our Rise of the Ronin preview also said that the game's rhythmic combat is reminiscent of a 27-year-old PS1 classic, so these roots stretch further back than 2020.

Rise of the Ronin is coming to PS5 on March 22.

For now, keep up to date with everything on the horizon with our new games of 2024 guide.