Team Ninja’s latest project, Rise of the Ronin, was finally released about a month ago. Reviews have been average to positive, making it an overall success for the Japanese studio. While some players love what Team Ninja did for their first open-world action RPG, others felt it was lacking and could’ve used more time in the oven to cook.
It seems that the studio was busy making sure a certain animation in Rise of the Ronin was spot on. This isn’t a fighting animation or one the player does themselves. Instead, we’re talking about how the cats move in the game.
Rise of the Ronin Brings Too Much for Something Very Little
In a recent interview, the creatives behind Rise of the Ronin talked about the process of making the project. From the influence of certain shows/movies to the setting of 19th-century Japan, the team did as much as possible to ground the Rise of the Ronin compared to Team Ninja’s previous titles.
To make the world even more realistic, director Fumihiko Yasuda admits too much time might’ve been spent on ensuring the cat animations were accurate. He said:
I own a cat myself and there are other members within our team that own cats and we’ve spoken with other media who have enjoyed that aspect of the game. And, of course, we were very particular about the movements that you know about cats in the animations. I wouldn’t say it was too difficult, but maybe we got a little too obsessed with it.
If you can add more of what you love to a project, one can’t blame Yasuda for wanting the cat animations to be on point. However, maybe too much was spent on cat animation; not enough time was dedicated to fleshing out Rise of the Ronin to make it feel like a complete package.
Where Rise of the Ronin Falters
The game doesn’t necessarily do anything new to reinvent the wheel or exceptionally excel at one aspect. The cat animations only add fuel to the fire.
The idea of a custom character is charming but lacks a compelling story. The combat system is fantastic, but the open-world aspect feels cluttered, and nothing players haven’t seen before. The graphics, depending on who you ask, look good enough or outright poor for the current generation.
Rise of the Ronin is an average experience, which isn’t necessarily bad. But if you’re going to charge $70 for a triple-A project, players will expect the utmost in that regard.
The game is currently available exclusively on the PlayStation 5 and is still regarded as Team Ninja’s best game in years.
What do you think of Rise of the Ronin? Let us know in the comments!
