Koei Tecmo revises forecast after Ronin underperformes...

https://twistedvoxel.com/koei-tecmo-revises-forecast-rise-of-the-ronin-sales-underperform/

Some news coming out of Japan... Koei Tecmo is changing its projections for the fiscal year due in part to lower than expected sales of Rise of Ronin...

It seems across the board they are expecting a software backslide of 70 million... Which is just so much money. 70 million? Good God... 😳

So I'm gonna ask what's on everyone's mind, including Sony fans... How long before this game is given a chance to recoup it's losses on Xbox/PC and why not switch too? Graphically switch could probably handle it from what I hear.

What say you system wars? Another example of a mid game suffocated by exclusivity...? Only exposed to one install base and unable to meet its likely astronomical budget seems like bad business to me, but who knows maybe watching the industry slowly crumbling to the tune of over budgeted games and a failing exclusive games model is good for gaming?!

Will you be picking the game up on Xbox, pc or switch were it to release there?

Can't believe companies are still going against the current with this ancient, almost archaic "exclusive" model. Only Nintendo can still afford to do exclusives, for everyone else this model is dead.

Oh no, i said the game was gonna bomb, and was called a hater of the game because of it. Now who was right? Well, me of course. Nothing new.

Glad they got handsomely compensated for their exclusivity arrangement 🤭😆😂🤣

You'd think this would be Team Ninja's wake up call, but no, the next game will have the same dogshit writing, same pathetic level design and use the same engine made for the 6th gen. Genuinely a dumb company that doesn't learn anything.

Force, marketed, inorganic and completely unnecessary exclusivity hamstrings yourself. Absolutely zero reason this game could not have been on PC and sold a few million more copies.

Sadly instead of looking inward and blaming themselves for the poor sales, they will blame...other things. The correct lesson will not be learned from this.

Also, this game is basically Assassin's Creed Japan, yes? Yeah that niche has been pretty much carved out, try something else.

I'm still shocked these folks are making the same damn game time after time and expecting BETTER sales.

People want originality. I think consumers are being underestimated while corporations are being greedy. What we end up with is a bunch of crap and the hope that "not-Assassin's Creed but pretty-much-is-Assassin's Creed" will sell as much as "Assassin's Creed".

Poo cows. lol :P

Ghost of Tsushima was the true AC In Feudal Japan, not this one lol.

Nope. Looks lame.

Yup, hit the nail on the head.

The reason why the AAA market is shrinking is that there is no originality. Every game is starting to feel the exact same, it's either some variation on:

• Open world
• RPG
• Third person
• Multiplayer

And features some variation on:

• live service
• mobile tactics (logon bonus)
• skinshop and other microtransactions

Games are constantly fourth wall breaking, constantly remind you you are playing a product, a product that needs to be payed for, and if you're not up for paying you're a peasant (as soon as you want anything extra be prepared to grind or pay up).

This is really starting to drain people.

It's been a while since game clones (COD clones, WOW clones, ...) were a lucrative market.

@R4gn4r0k: this is why I think I enjoyed Outcast: A New Beginning so much. Don't get me wrong, it was a good game...but it wasn't a particularly great game. AAA games often have better quality, for example, at least technically.

But it was original, and it was whimsical in a sense. It was less concerned with impressing you and more concerned about being fun...which was impressive.

We need more games like that. Games where your initial reaction might be to roll your eyes but, if you relax and give in to it, are a lot of fun. Games where you have to take a grain of salt with your reward, that are fun but maybe a little rough around the edges.

First game I've played from start to finish in a long, long, long time.

Ah maybe that's what I was thinking of.

Is Ronin more like a soulsborne then?

Yeah I've been enjoying games that fly under people's radar.

I bring Alone in the Dark as my current example: often touted as a game in the exact same style as the recent RE reboots (the fact that Alone in the Dark has shooting and a TP camera would have you believe as much).

But the game really doesn't have that much in comon with RE, in fact the ideas this reboot brings makes it something totally unique.

It feels a lot like the original game, it nails the horror and adventure atmosphere. It has some of the best sound design in the industry (when you walk over a wooden floor you can really hear every step, every creek...)

It's just an overall fun game, the puzzles aren't overly easy or overly hard. They just feel right, like the recent System Shock remake did.

The shooting and combat is ... lacklustre, to say the least. But EXPECTING bad shooting going in I was actually surprised that the shooting reminds me of a PS3 game at times, just a budget PS3 game which isn't the worst.

We shouldn't expect every game to look and run like GTA VI, we shouldn't expect every game to offer 80-100 hours of content, it's not good for the industry.

From what I've been reading on reddit, it tries to be a lot more like AC and GOT than it tries to be like Souls or Nioh.

The combat is a lot easier and less punishing than in those games.

The combat mainly relies on nailing the "parry" input button.

It was an okay-looking game releasing in a crowded release window from a studio whose reputation has fallen slightly in recent years.

It was always going to struggle.

Pretty average game that really didn’t stand out in any way, an exclusive game limited to one system, and released at the same time as the highly anticipated Dragon’s Dogma 2. Seems like a logical outcome.

Kinda bummed because I like the culture.

Team Ninja don't know how to do an open world. Ofc it's going to bomb. Seriously if they made it like Ninja Gaiden it would have sold better.

Solid game. Enjoyable combat.

You think its just open world? Their level design since Nioh 1 has been pathetic.

I haven't played it and may not. Does it make you pay for fast travel like Dragon's Dogma 2?

Dude, the game was uninteresting from the start. Yet another Nioh game in disguise. They've made the same game 4 times in a row now. But yeah, lets blame "exclusivity" despite, more than probably, it would sell even worst on other platforms not even justifying the costs for porting

*rolls eyes

Team Ninja should just listen to the fans and make Ninja Gaiden 4 already

Sony paid for an exclusive flop.🙃

@Pedro: that's all they can do when they not producing any games for themselves.

Why would you even ask this kind of questions? DD as an IP is very unique. They do things that most games don't, and some might like that, while others don't. Rise Of The Ronin is made by a developer that is utterly incompetent in everything they do but the combat system. They look at what other popular games do, and try to mimic it in hopes to strike gold. In this case, Ghost of Tsushima and AssCreed. Do you pay to fast travel in those games? Of course not, its made for the mega casual demographic. They even casualized the shit outta their combat system since Nioh 2 just to be more in line with the likes of AssCreed/GoT.

You don't pay to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2.

@Pedro:

https://www.ign.com/articles/dragons-dogma-2-breaks-capcom-steam-records-amid-microtransactions-furore

They have deliberately limited the ability to fast travel but offer an alternative at $2.99. It is scummy behaviour and a reason why I will not buy the game. That and it sounds it is as crap as the first POS game.

I think they'll go belly up before they make a Ninja Gaiden 4.... so I'll just take another Nioh game...maybe set it outside of Japan.

Sonys money hat wasn't enough

Shame

Charging for a feature like fast travel is just a d*** move.

I'll buy DD2 when it's $10

Honestly just sounds like you describing gaming pre 2014

I get exactly what you mean though. AAA gaming is soulless nowadays. These big studios take 0 risks. It's always very polished but also sterile. Creatively is lackluster to say the least. Thank God for smaller indie games. And atleast we have all the games from the past to play.

I want to try outcast, it's on my wishlist. Looks like a mix of Elex and Just Cause. Looks cool.

Soulless is the right word.

I played Suicide Squad for example and eventhough there is a lot to do in the game:

It's all design by committee, it all feels like they were crossing off some sort of checklist.

They already did with Wo Long. Maybe it's time they tried something else.

Flop Of the ronin....... another Sony money hatted shambles

@Litchie:

Wo Long plays very different from Nioh. It's more like Sekiro

@jcafcwbb: It is clear you have not played the game nor have you played the original. Fast travel is identical to the original game and you don't need to pay to fast travel.

Pretending to be surprised

@Pedro: Well your days of being wrong has certainly reached a middle.

I have tried to play the original game twice. Got it as a PS Plus game on the PS3 (I think), played it a bit and got bored by the garrison bit you cannot get past until you kill the first boss and gave up.

Bought it on the PS5 when it went on sale and tried it again - got past that bit to where you escort that first boss but was still bored by it - so gave up a second time.

Combat was awful, story-telling awful. Not my cup of tea.

This wasn't a debate on whether you like the game or not (don't really care). I was correcting your misinformation. 🤷🏾‍♂️

@Pedro: So you are telling me you cannot pay for devices that will add to the amount of places you can fast travel to?

You either live by the design of few fast travel points or you add extra in for free. You do not charge for them. That is money-grabbing scumbag behaviour.

You get the port crystals in the same manner you did in the original game via quests. If you or any gamer want to skip normal game progression you have the liberty to pay. Sometimes gamers forget that developers cater to a wide net and if gamers want to pay for progression in a game, they will facilitate. That is why DLCs and micro transactions exist because gamers want it.🤷🏾‍♂️