Ninja Gaiden and Team Ninja Explain the Rise of the Ronin’s Connections to Nioh

During the announcement of the upcoming update for Rise of the Ronin, developer Team Ninja also used the occasion to highlight the PS5 exclusive game’s ties to earlier releases in the studio’s back catalog, particularly the Nioh and Ninja Gaiden series. There will be a boss spoiler for Rise of the Ronin, but the developer feels that two months is plenty of time.

Director and game producer of Team Ninja, Fumihiko Yasuda, spilled a lot of ink on the PlayStation Blog, explaining precisely how Rise of the Ronin ties in with two of the company’s other franchises, Nioh and Ninja Gaiden.

Team Ninja was excited to work with the XDEV team at PlayStation Studio to include Ryu Hayabusa’s renowned Ninja Gaiden outfit in the game. At first, Team Ninja intended to implement Hayabusa-ryu, one of the game’s combat styles, at the same pace as in the original, but they were unable to make it work. The Ultimate Technique and the well-known Izuna Drop of Hayabusa were included in the game. Since Ryu’s outfit is the first instance of Nina Gaiden-related content on the PS5, everything had to be recreated in 4K high definition. To ensure authenticity, the team also considered materials that were available at the end of the Edo period when redesigning the costume.

Regarding the Nioh connection, Team Ninja revealed a small spoiler: William Adams, the main character of the first game, makes an appearance in Rise of the Ronin as a hidden boss. Since the beginning of planning, the studio has wanted to do this because they thought it would give players a pleasant surprise. Interesting fact: William Adams was the real-life model for the character of John Blackthorne in the most recent FX adaptation of Shōgun, also known as the Anjin, which is based on the James Clavell novel. Adams, aptly, has been immortalized forever as the face of Team Ninja’s Nioh series, since he was the first Englishman to visit Japan and even helped the Tokugawa Shogunate gain power.