Team Ninja Has Found Its Footing
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since Team Ninja was plunged into the wilderness. It was clear at the time that the company would be lost without the guidance of producer Tomonobu Itagaki and several other development staff at Tecmo (before the merger with Koei), with Itagaki himself being fired after a pay dispute. (Itagaki himself being accused of sexual harassment helped there, I’ msure.) Team Ninja’s attempts to claw their way out of the abyss have since been inconsistent.
The combination of Ninja Gaiden 3 and the outsourced Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z were enough to put the Ninja Gaiden franchise in the grave, where it’s remained for nearly a decade. While Dead or Alive 5 was a solid effort, better than those while Itagaki was helming the franchise, Dead or Alive 6 might have been enough to kill that series outside the Beach Volleyball games. There was a noticeably bad trend there, and the “Team Ninja Dog” name was sadly earned.
Fortunately, they’ve found the franchise that’s helped them find their way out: Nioh. The first installment showed how Team Ninja still had talent, displaying their ability to craft a quality action game that took inspiration from FromSoftware’s Souls games (and Bloodborne) with a spec of Ninja Gaiden through its action flow. The combination of the game’s quality and Sony’s marketing and publishing money in western territories elevated it to great success. Sequel Nioh 2, a prequel chronologically, also performed well.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin may be more known for the memes, but it was a worthwhile preview of how Team Ninja’s titles are now being driven by very visible Nioh DNA. They’re well aware that the franchise helped them regain stability. Now, both of their key upcoming titles show how they plan to run with this as far as they can.
One such game is Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Gameplay videos released for the game, as well as those taken from fans who’ve played the demo that was available for new-gen platforms until yesterday, show that Wo Long is very much a spiritual successor to Nioh, albeit in a world based off Three Kingdoms-era Imperial China.
The fully-customizable playable character moves similarly to those from the Nioh games, and ventures through linear levels full of enemies and mini-bosses that will require skillful usage of the repertoire players have at their disposal to defeat. The playable character is more mobile this time around, with the ability to jump and dash, and won’t be hindered by a stamina meter. Stealth is a more viable option alongside fighting enemies head-on. As compensation, enemies can use a wider variety of attacks, with the player needing to rely on well-timed counters to take out more powerful opposition scattered throughout each level by at least the half-dozen, if the demo level is a good indication. Those features sound reminiscent of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which inherited some Souls DNA with added mobility options and a bigger focus on direct combat, but Wo Long is still more Nioh than anything.
But it’s tough not to note how the line from Nioh to Wo Long is reminiscent of that from FromSoftware’s Soulsborne games to Sekiro, in how the latter titles are successors in which the players have added mobility options. The key difference here is that Wo Long will still allow for players to earn EXP for their characters, meaning there will be more options for when the player reaches a roadblock that go beyond learning enemy patterns and how to rhythmically counter and dodge in a near-perfect manner.
Wo Long will release early next year for all current non-Switch platforms. The lead-up to the release is also mimicking Nioh in how Team Ninja is taking advice from players who experienced the demo, for elements that will receive polishing before the final release.
The other upcoming title is Rise of the Ronin, for which Team Ninja hasn’t revealed much outside the reveal trailer. It’s an open world samurai game that will take place near the Edo Period’s end in the mid-1800s, the time when the samurai’s reign was nearing an end with westernization creeping onto Japan’s shores. The trailer shows how the combat will take cues from Nioh’s through its action and animation flow, though I’m sure the development team is in the process of making adjustments for the action to flow better in an open world setting as opposed to a linear one. It’s too early to say whether this will be Team Ninja’s equivalent to Elden Ring, but the comparisons will be made regardless. The game will be published by Sony, continuing the relationship established with Nioh, when it arrives in 2024 as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive.
It’s a pity that Ninja Gaiden and perhaps Dead or Alive as a fighting game franchise had to die, but sacrifices must be made for new franchises like Nioh to flourish and establish a new way forward for Team Ninja. Nioh director Fumihiko Yasuda mentioned that the studio would be open to outsourcing a new Ninja Gaiden game, which could turn out fine if they make sure it’s not another Yaiba. They should go for maximum hilarity and hand it to Soleil (where several ex-Valhalla developers went), if some staffers there still get along with modern Team Ninja members. In any case, it’s good that Team Ninja is on stable ground for the first time in two console generations again.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
