Team Ninja and Sony have released a new extended Rise of the Ronin video that provides extensive detail regarding the game's signature Team Ninja-style combat.
Titled simply "The Fight", the behind-the-scenes video shows off Team Ninja's development process when it comes to crafting the open-world action RPG's combat style. It's much more in-depth than the world vignette released a few days ago.
As the trailer opens, we hear director Fumihiko Yasuda telling us that action "remains at the core" of Rise of the Ronin, describing the new game as "the culmination" of Team Ninja's previous work on high-speed, high-difficulty action games.
Yasuda-san also tells us that "authenticity" is one of Rise of the Ronin's cornerstones, and we get to see him studying period weaponry and artifacts at a museum.
Combat design director Takeo Fujisaki says that it was important to convey the major factions of the Bakumatsu period in Japanese history, and that doing so entailed accurately depicting their fighting styles and the weapons they used.
Kosuke Wakamatsu, animation lead on Rise of the Ronin, agrees, saying that the fighting styles of the game's different characters embody how they lived their lives "through the katana".
Wakamatsu-san goes on to say that the development of firearms during this period meant it was important to balance close combat with ranged weaponry, developing a combat style that incorporated both without heavily favoring one or the other.
Filmmaker Keishi Otomo, with whom Team Ninja is working on Rise of the Ronin, says he wanted to create action that was grounded and realistic "rather than people just flying around".
We do get to see characters dodging and deflecting bullets, though, so it won't be an overly realistic game, in keeping with director Yasuda-san's intent to avoid making Rise of the Ronin feel like a "history textbook".
The new deep dive also shows off Rise of the Ronin's bond system, which not only allows you to create relationships with key historical figures, but also to switch to them in combat.
If you're interested in Rise of the Ronin, it's well worth watching the new deep dive video, especially if you're excited to get stuck into the game's combat. Rise of the Ronin launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 on March 22nd.
