The release of Team Ninja‘s upcoming action role-playing game, Rise of the Rōnin, is getting closer and closer, and it’s now been revealed what major Japanese locations players will be able to explore in it.
Rise of the Rōnin is set in late 19th century Japan, and will feature Team Ninja’s first open-world setting. In a preview article from Game Informer, it was confirmed that there will be three main cities to wander around – Kyoto, Yokohama, and Edo (the former name of Tokyo).
Being a fully open world, players will also be able to traverse the countryside between these areas, too. The director of Rise of the Rōnin and president of Team Ninja, Fumihiko Yasuda, told Game Informer that these areas will be rife with bandits, but that they’ll also be teeming with side missions. This likely means that completionists will end up spending a lot of time there if they want to experience everything the game has to offer.
Speaking about the game’s open world, producer Yosuke Hayashi added that despite the studio’s history of creating more linear games, this was something that “we’ve always wanted to sort of do,” and ultimately it was a “natural next step for us.” It’ll certainly be interesting to compare it to the studio’s other works, like the Nioh series, when it releases.
There’s not too long to wait for Rise of the Rōnin, anyway – during The Game Awards 2023, it was announced that it’s set to launch on March 22, 2024. It’ll be releasing exclusively on PlayStation 5, so anyone who doesn’t own Sony’s current-generation console is out of luck.
Looking for some brilliant games to play while you wait for Rise of the Rōnin to release? Be sure to check out our recommendations for the best PS5 games. If you love open-world games, you can also read our picks for the best open-world games on PC.