PlayStation's most important game this year and its most forgotten are both getting PS5 Pro upgrades. These games are, of course, Helldivers 2 and Rise of the Ronin, which have both announced that enhanced versions are in the works. That's two more great reasons to save up some cash for the new and improved version of the PS5.
]]>There's now a premium, extended version of this podcast that you can get as a VG247 paid subscriber - check out our Support Us page for more info. Doing so helps ensure that we can keep making the show! But don't worry if that's not for you, the main show will always be free.
]]>The original Hyrule Warriors is a fun if not particularly revolutionary game, but Nintendo were apparently so worried about it, it almost kept it Japan-exclusive.
]]>You'd be forgiven for not remembering that the storied Team Ninja put out its most ambitious game just a few weeks ago. Rise of the Ronin, the studio’s open-world epic, landed with a bit of a thud.
]]>Big Western style open-world RPGs from beloved Japanese studios who tend to be known for other things (inhale) are like buses: there's none for ages, and then two come along at once! See also: Clinton-era disaster movies about Earth getting clobbered by an asteroid. See also: Clinton-era disaster movies about America getting clobbered by volcanoes. See also: those ones about the White House (former home of Bill Clinton) getting clobbered by some guys with guns. I dunno. You don't read this anyway.
]]>Dragon's Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin are both “western style” open world games from acclaimed, beloved Japanese studios who don’t usually do this sort of thing. On paper, they have a lot of similarities: deep combat systems, vast landscapes to explore, visuals that push current gen consoles to the limit, and an intrinsic love of cats. In practice, despite their obvious crossover appeal, they’re wildly different beasts.
]]>One of the better ways Rise of the Ronin spices up its open world is through the introduction of the glider, or as it’s referred to in the game, the Avicula. This thing works like you’d expect; allowing you to quickly travel in the air over vast distances.
]]>Rise of the Ronin takes place in a much more technologically advanced Japan compared to some of Team Ninja’s other games, like Nioh. With that comes a larger focus on firearms, the air glider we previously covered , and also the brilliant invention of the camera.
]]>Rise of the Ronin is a modern open-world game with a full day and night cycle. But to make better use of that cycle, developer Team Ninja wanted it to mean more than just a lighting change. Certain missions in the game can only be attempted at a certain time of day.
]]>Rise of the Ronin is here, marking a new chapter in the storied history of developer Team Ninja’s games. This evolution brings with it a lot of new expectations, and introduces features and mechanics you may be familiar with from other games, which aren’t typically made by the Japanese team: including horses.
]]>Rise of the Ronin is a Team Ninja game, so there’s really no getting around the fact you can expect a deep layer of complexity here. The game oscillates between not doing a good job at exposing that depth, and not properly explaining it.
]]>Rise of the Ronin is a frustrating game. If you’re familiar with the work of Japanese studio Team Ninja, that sentence may not be surprising to read. This is a team that has long prided itself on creating challenging, and sometimes unforgiving, action games laser-focused on delivering a specific experience. You’re either onboard with that or you aren’t.
]]>Stalking aboard an American ship and assassinating a small army’s worth of the foreign navy is a strong way to start any game. You’re a mix of ninja and samurai, trained and honed into a deadly weapon, pointed at an interfering force set on undermining your country’s autonomy. Switching between your custom-made main character and their ‘blood brother’ blade twin, as you hunt down your admiral target, the stakes in Rise of the Ronin are clearly defined from the off.
]]>Anyone who played Team Ninja’s superb and exacting Nioh games knows their weapon stance system all too well. Stances covered all weapons, offering low, mid and high options for all.
]]>Curious about Rise of the Ronin, but not into souls-likes? Well, VG247 contributor Sherif is here to assure you that if you skipped Team Ninja's games in the past because of their reputation for uncompromising difficulty, Rise of the Ronin might just be your ticket in. Check out our video here:
]]>Most of us probably expected Team Ninja’s follow-up to the Nioh series, Rise of the Ronin, to learn the most from the studio’s earlier action games. While this may yet prove to be true when we get our hands on it, what we’ve seen so far makes it instead look more and more like an expanded version of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
]]>Sony has delivered on its promise to bring those of us starved for Rise of the Ronin news something to chew on. During today’s State of Play presentation, we got treated to a deeper look at gameplay from the upcoming PS5 exclusive.
]]>A Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition is coming to digital storefronts on February 6, per an announcement from Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja.
]]>Team Ninja has come a long way. After stumbling its way into the modern era of action RPGs following years of success with Ninja Gaiden, the Japanese studio finally struck gold with Nioh, a game very much built on the same design ethos that drives FromSoftware’s work.
]]>2023 is almost over, and there’s certainly an argument to be made that it may be one of, if not the best year in video games. That’s based on the number of quality games released over the last 12 months, of course, not the record-breaking number of layoffs - another area where it might also be a “winner.”
]]>Team Ninja has revealed the next trailer for its upcoming game set to release on the PlayStation 5 as a console exclusive in 2024 – the 'sprawling RPG', Rise of the Ronin.
]]>Welcome to The Best Games Ever Show episode 59: The best game with the worst gimmick.
]]>Lies of P and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are teaming up for a collab later this year, although there isn't any word yet on what exactly we'll be getting from this team up.
]]>The dark Three Kingdoms action RPG, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, has sold over one million units worldwide since its March 3 release.
]]>It’s been a really good start to the year, huh? For a while now, the first quarter of the calendar year has been as packed out and quality-filled as the holiday period, but in the age of service games and evolving titles, even the biggest and best games are at risk of releasing directly into consumer quicksand. We’ve had Metacritic-topping titles like Dead Space remake, Octopath Traveler 2, Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Wild Hearts (that everyone else seemed to like except me, apparently).
]]>Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is heading to Steam.
]]>Anyone who played, or is even aware of, Elden Ring will tell you that its open world played a major role in making it more approachable for new players. The linear design of FromSoftware’s previous games meant that your progress was always predetermined by the designers.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Naraka: Bladepoint are getting a little crossover with one another, with things kicking off in the latter game first.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty may look like it has a bit of an unusual setup when it comes to build crafting, point distribution, stats, and affinities but it’s actually fairly straightforward once you get past the convoluted way it’s presented.
]]>The past few hours have been good to legendary developer Team Ninja. The studio just launched Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty on all platforms, but its performance on PC is especially notable.
]]>What are the best Wo Long weapons? That’s what you’re going to be asking yourself as you’re staring down the barrel of Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo’s latest hardcore action RPG that launches on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on March 3. The game is hard, and eschews the ‘turtle-up and wait’ method of play in favour of something altogether more offensive and rapid. Think more Sekiro than Dark Souls, more Bloodborne than Nioh.
]]>Team Ninja’s latest game is finally here! Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the studio’s systems-heavy, mechanically-dense action RPG, and the follow-up to the Nioh series.
]]>Early on in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s tutorial, the game introduces you to the Spirit system, the importance of Qi (for both you and your enemies), as well as the Morale mechanic.
]]>New Game Plus in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is known by a different name, sure, but it continues the Soulslike tradition of giving you a chance to take replay the game with more challenge and greater risk – all in the name of harvesting greater rewards. The setup here isn’t quite like New Game+ in other titles, as you’ll still have access to all the previous levels and their respective rewards, so that can make things a bit confusing.
]]>Much like Spirit Gauge, and Qi, your Morale Rank, as well as its relation to Fortitude are outlined very early in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. All four are linked, so it’s best to familiarise yourself with the intricacies of Spirit, Energy, and Qi before you get to Morale, and Fortitude.
]]>In most games, going into a fight underleveled means almost certain death. Wander into the lair of the Fire Giant in Elden Ring without adequate preparation, and you’ll meet your end before you can so much as raise your blade. Stride into Gehrman, the First Hunter’s arena without grinding out the whole game and eat a face-full of trick weapon. That’s not really the case in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – a curious Souls-like experiment from Nioh and Ninja Gaiden developer Team Ninja. Here, your level does matter… but the game cares far more about your Morale.
]]>We’re just a couple of short days away from the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Team Ninja’s follow-up to the Nioh series. Wo Long is a challenging action RPG with systems inspired by Nioh, Sekiro and the broader Souls-like genre.
]]>Team Ninja has launched the last demo for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the studio's follow-up to the Nioh series. Like Nioh, Wo Long is a challenging action RPG with layered mechanics and a fantastical take on Late Han Dynasty China, as opposed to Nioh's Japan.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is getting one last demo ahead of its release in March, giving you another opportunity to try it out for yourself.
]]>^Check out our preview video of Wo Long, coming to Game Pass soon!
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was always going to be one of 2023’s most interesting games, even in a year as stacked as this one. It’s the next game from Nioh and Ninja Gaiden maker Team Ninja, so game mechanic fiends like me were always primed to be hooked.
]]>Starfield. Redfall. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Minecraft Legends. Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, Monster Hunter Rise, Lies of P, Routine, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Atomic Heart, Warhammer 40K: Darktide, Ark 2, Flintlock, Guilty Gear Strive, Valheim on console, GoldenEye 007. And many, many more.
]]>It sounds like both the Dead or Alive and the Ninja Gaiden series are on track to receive respective reboots.
]]>Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo announced a release date this morning for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the new action RPG from the makers of Nioh, and Ninja Gaiden. The game arrives March 3, which is right around the release times for the Nioh games.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is following the long tradition of difficult games not having any difficulty options.
]]>We’ve not even known about Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – the next game from the creators of Nioh – for that long. It was announced back at Xbox and Bethesda's Games Showcase in June, and immediately caught the eye of everyone that’s got even a passing love for all things hardcore action-RPG.
]]>It's a banner week for Team Ninja: as well as debuting the stunning Rise of the Ronin at Sony's State of Play showcase earlier this week, the Japanese developer has also launched a demo for its more immidiate upcoming game, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
]]>Team Ninja has revealed another game coming to PlayStation 5 as a console exclusive in a few years time – the 'sprawling RPG', Rise of the Ronin.
]]>Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is no stranger to downloadable expansions, with the Trials of the King DLC launching back in July to a mixed audience. For a start, it was locked behind the hardest difficulty in the game, Bahamut.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a slow burning title that’s slowly heating up and bringing the hype to fans of third person action titles. One of next year’s most dynamic and aggressive titles has just gotten a new gameplay trailer, giving us a brief glimpse of what we have to look forward to.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the next game from the creators of Nioh, is set to receive a demon "in the near future."
]]>On July 20, we get to continue the story of Jack Garland and his unlikely bunch of allies in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Following on from the events of the main game, you have now assumed the mantle of Chaos, and as such there are some very familiar faces coming to challenge you in the DLC.
]]>If, like me, you can't get enough of the unlikley collaboration of publisher Square Enix and developer Team Ninja, you're probably counting down the days until the new Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin downloadable content.
]]>Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was low-key one of the bigger surprise reveals in Sunday's Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. Wo Long is the new game from Nioh developer Team Ninja. Not only did the announcement make Nioh fans giddy with excitement, it was also unusual to see the studio's new game unveiled on an Xbox stage.
]]>Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes tells a new story set in the same universe as 2019's Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and will release on Nintendo Switch consoles on the 24th of June 2022.
Fire Emblem first started all the way back in 1990 with Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Since then, there have been 15 core entires of the fantasy tactical RPG, and after the success of Fire Emblem: Three Houses a 16th entry was quickly announced. Now players will return to Fódlan, a land governed by those three powers, and discover new stories.
After three years of waiting, the release of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is almost here, so if you're excited to play it on day one you can find all the best places in the UK and US to pre-order it down below.
]]>Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has difficulty modes. So, if you're just playing through the game to experience the (admittedly awful) story, you can just hit Casual mode and then dilute it even further with Story mode. But if you're hungry for a real challenge, there's Hard and Chaos modes to sink your teeth into, too.
]]>Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious piece of the celebration so far is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, a new spin-off that’s both forward and backward-looking at once.
]]>It's Chaos out there. But you knew that already, didn't you? Team Ninja and Square Enix's latest baffling collaboration – Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin – launches soon, and today a slew of reviews from across the industry have gone live. And the scores osciallte as wildly as you'd expect for a mid-budget final Fantasy spin-off.
]]>I am unapologetically a fan of the Nicholas Cage and John Travolta movie, Face/Off. Something about the unbelievable dance between lawman and outlaw Freaky Friday-ing their way into each other’s lives is endlessly watchable, despite its shaky premise and questionable performances. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin might well be the Face/Off of games, then. It’s stupid, the performances are laughably bad, the levels are irritating, the gear system is convoluted, and the bosses can flit from unmemorable to infuriating. So why the hell can’t I put it down?
]]>Another demo for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has been made live this evening, as Sony showed off more of the game at the March 2022 State of Play showcase.
]]>Like many others right now, I have been having an absolute blast getting stuck deep in Elden Ring and the many challenges it presents. If you thought Margit was tough, hooo boy, you won’t believe what FromSoftware has cooked up elsewhere in the game.
]]>The latest trailer for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin confirmed that the game will launch on March 18, 2022 and also appears to confirm that the title will be an Epic Games Store exclusive at launch.
]]>Square Enix's TGS 2021 show just wrapped up, and one of the bigger highlights has been a new trailer for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Outside of showing off a new slice of gameplay, the trailer also revealed the game's release date.
]]>There's going to be quite a lot to digest at this year's Tokyo Game Show, and Square Enix wants to make sure you're primed and ready to learn more about chaos before the event kicks off from October 1.
]]>One month after the Ninja Gaiden PC trilogy of ports arrived, developer Team Ninja has finally added some basic graphics and resolution options to the game.
]]>Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's concept is based on Final Fantasy 1, but is a story all its own.
]]>It’s fair to say that Square Enix didn’t have the greatest E3 conference ever.
]]>It took a few days, but you can now actually play the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin demo.
]]>Square Enix showed off Team Ninja's Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin during its E3 2021 presentation today.
]]>Even those used to Koei Tecmo's PC ports will be surprised by the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection.
]]>Square Enix and Team Ninja are working together on Final Fantasy Origin, a spin-off that's more in line with the likes of Dark Souls or Nioh than a classic RPG experience.
]]>It could just be hiding?
]]>The anticipated Nioh 2 patch has arrived this morning on PC.
]]>That's according to Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection developer Team Ninja.
]]>Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will run at a 4K resolution and at least 60fps, a new listing on the Microsoft Store confirms.
]]>Nioh 2 players on PC will have to live with crashes a little while longer, but there's good news.
]]>There's a new Nioh 2 patch on PC, and it's a good one.
]]>Nioh 2 has received the long-awaited DLSS patch, alongside a batch of fixes.
]]>Ninja Gaiden fans will be pleased to know three entries in the series are being bundled in one nice collection.
]]>Hear me out.
]]>Nioh 2 gets its first post-launch update on PC, and it's a good one.
]]>Frame rate issues and some problems with on-screen inputs are prompting some Nioh 2 PC players to leave negative feedback on the Steam game.
]]>Nioh 2 has done much better than its predecessor on Steam from the off.
]]>We're very close to the release of Nioh 2 on PS5, and it's time to back up your saves.
]]>Koei Tecmo has revealed sales figures for some of its most recent releases.
]]>It looks like Team Ninja is ready to take on something new.
]]>Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja have released some more specific details about what the PC version of Nioh 2 will offer when it launches in February.
]]>Team Ninja looks to be teasing a big year for the Japanese studio.
]]>Looking for something to scratch that Demon's Souls itch?
]]>The second DLC for Nioh 2, Darkness in the Capital, will be made available next month.
]]>We may not have gotten a new Ninja Gaiden game this generation, but a remaster of the classics is on its way.
]]>The first DLC for Nioh 2 called The Tengu’s Disciple, releases tomorrow and you can check out some gameplay ahead of time.
]]>Team Ninja is celebrating Nioh 2's success with free content.
]]>A patch for Nioh 2 has been released, and it adjusts sub-mission difficulty and contains plenty of fixes.
]]>A patch for Nioh 2 has been released, and it comes with plenty of fixes.
]]>This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
]]>In Nioh 2, your Guardian Spirit not only imbues you with powerful abilities but protects your grave when you die.
]]>Everyone loves the cheery little green Kodama in Nioh 2.
]]>Nioh 2’s massive array of skill trees can be confusing.
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