I’m quite excited about Immortal Planet . It’s from the same Polish developer as Ronin, a turn-based stealth hack-and-slash, which I played a bit of and really enjoyed (and I wasn’t alone Marsh liked it too ). The new game is a real-time isometric action-RPG that creator Tomasz W
I’m quite excited about Immortal Planet [official site]. It’s from the same Polish developer as Ronin, a turn-based stealth hack-and-slash, which I played a bit of and really enjoyed (and I wasn’t alone Marsh liked it too).
The new game is a real-time isometric action-RPG that creator Tomasz Wac awek describes as ‘Souls-like’. You’re not going to be able to go in and button mash because the focus is on slow-paced, precise combat, where not getting hit is as important and landing a strike.
We now know when it’s coming out some time in July and there’s a new four-minute gameplay video with commentary to enjoy.
The maker of Ronin, the stylish cyberninja turn-based stab-o-platformer which Marsh dug during early access , has announced his next game. Immortal Planet is also big on patience and careful striking, only this time within a real-time isometric action-RPG. Tomasz Wac awek cites t
The maker of Ronin, the stylish cyberninja turn-based stab-o-platformer which Marsh dug during early access, has announced his next game. Immortal Planet [official site] is also big on patience and careful striking, only this time within a real-time isometric action-RPG. Tomasz Wac awek cites the Souls games as inspirations then takes a tangent of obsessing over stamina, making it a key resource to manage and exploit. The game looks quite pretty and all. Immortal Planet’s due later this for year but, for now, check out the first trailer: … [visit site to read more]
Update #9 - fixed wall glitch bug and by fix I mean I forbid you to exploit it and if you do it its now your fault - added Mac and Linux builds - hints!!1
Update #9
- fixed wall glitch bug and by fix I mean I forbid you to exploit it and if you do it its now your fault - added Mac and Linux builds - hints!!1
Update #9 - fixed wall glitch bug and by fix I mean I forbid you to exploit it and if you do it its now your fault - added Mac and Linux builds - hints!!1
Update #9
- fixed wall glitch bug and by fix I mean I forbid you to exploit it and if you do it its now your fault - added Mac and Linux builds - hints!!1
Hey guys - Tomek here. You can watch me on Twitch talking RONIN in 5 minutes :) Here's the link to the stream : BTW - ask me questions - will try to answer any and all!
Hey guys - Tomek here.
You can watch me on Twitch talking RONIN in 5 minutes :) Here's the link to the stream :
http://www.twitch.tv/gogcom
BTW - ask me questions - will try to answer any and all!
Hey guys - Tomek here. You can watch me on Twitch talking RONIN in 5 minutes :) Here's the link to the stream : BTW - ask me questions - will try to answer any and all!
Hey guys - Tomek here.
You can watch me on Twitch talking RONIN in 5 minutes :) Here's the link to the stream :
http://www.twitch.tv/gogcom
BTW - ask me questions - will try to answer any and all!
RONIN is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!* Ronin is stylish a turn-based action platformer following the exploits of a vengeful heroine determined to strike down five prominent figures of a powerful corporation. *Offer ends July 7 at 10AM Pacific Time
RONIN is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!*
Ronin is stylish a turn-based action platformer following the exploits of a vengeful heroine determined to strike down five prominent figures of a powerful corporation.
Need To Know What is it? A 2D stealth combat game with turn-based battles. Inspired by : Gunpoint, Mark of the Ninja, did I mention Gunpoint? Alternatively : Gunpoint (Not reviewed) Copy protection : Steam Price : $12/ 10 Release Date : Out now Publisher : Devolver Digital Develo
Need To Know
What is it? A 2D stealth combat game with turn-based battles.
Inspired by: Gunpoint, Mark of the Ninja, did I mention Gunpoint?
Alternatively: Gunpoint (Not reviewed)
Copy protection: Steam
Price: $12/ 10
Release Date: Out now
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Tomasz Wac awek
Multiplayer: None
Link: Official site
Why yes, Ronin does look a lot like Gunpoint. As a 2D action-stealth game set across the buildings of a stylishly futuristic city, the similarities are numerous. You hack computer terminals, use the mouse to plan and execute jumps, and stick to any wall or ceiling you fling yourself against. But Ronin is less derivative than it first appears, thanks largely to the prominence of combat. It looks like a stealth game and sometimes plays like a stealth game, but there are frequent occasions where you're forced into battle. Ronin is first and foremost about fighting, and the turn-based swordplay is what distances the game from its most visible source of inspiration.
First, the story. Don't worry, it won't take long. Ronin is about revenge; about a lone figure hunting the five corporate executives responsible for the death of her father. That's about it. Each of the game's five chapters consist of three levels: two in which you infiltrate buildings to hack computer terminals, and a third where you confront and kill that boss.
Levels are set across sprawling office buildings, each comprised of a number of self-contained sections. At first, you're unseen—free to lurk in the darkness, taking our guards and planning your opening strike. Sooner rather than later you'll need to jump into the light, at which point you'll be spotted and the action will pause. Each turn of the combat is defined by the enemy's actions. If a red laser sight is pointed at you, on the next turn they'll fire. If they've fired, on the next turn they'll re-aim.
That's a bit on the nose, isn't it?
You have limited movement potential between each turn. Hold down the left mouse and you'll be shown the arc of your planned jump. If it's fully white, you'll land the jump in a single turn. If there's a red section, that's where you'll stop when the enemy turn begins. The next turn, you'll be suspended in mid-air, forced to either complete the jump or use your grappling hook to transition into a swing.
It sounds complicated, but I picked up the flow quickly. The trick is to always be moving. It takes two turns to down a guard: one to land near them, and one to strike them down. Conversely, it takes two turns in the same position to get yourself killed. That's the central puzzle of solving each encounter. The easiest solution is to jump into guards, knocking them down and giving yourself a couple of turns before they recover. This can buy you enough space to start whittling down their numbers.
After that, it's a case of learning the system's tricks. The safest way to take down an enemy, for instance, is to plan a turn that ends with you suspended above their head. The other guards will take aim at your mid-air position, but, as long as you're within range of the kill, your character will land and perform an execution in one swift movement. With your elevation now changed, the bullets will fly harmlessly overhead.
At a basic level it's an enjoyable system to manipulate, and enhanced by a number of unlockable skills. These are tied to a limit break meter that builds as you stun and kill guards. Let it fill completely, and you're given a free action. More often, it's worth spending your accrued points on a potentially life-saving special move. By the end of the game, I could create decoys, throw my sword, and send out a circle of daggers that would temporarily down all visible guards.
There's some slapstick in there, too. A teleport skill lets you instantly slam into any visible enemy to send them flying. If they're stood by a window, this skill is an instant defenestration button—a fine thing for any game to have.
As I grew more familiar with the combat, inconsistencies became more apparent. For starters, you don't always have enough information to effectively plan a move. The jump tracer doesn't account for enemies, so it's difficult to know where you'll end your turn if you go for a stun—an omission that led to my death on more than one occasion. Invisible, Inc proved the worth of complete transparency in turn-based feedback, and it's a lesson I wish Ronin had learnt.
More frustratingly, the inflexible turn times mean it's difficult to fine-tune your approach. It's something that would be less annoying if Ronin wasn't so generous elsewhere. Ronin runs in real-time outside of combat, but lets you pause at any moment to plan and execute moves. This enables some spectacular feats of acrobatics, absolutely achieving the game's attempt to express balletic, fluid action through stop-and-start systems.
It's so compelling that I found myself staying in stealth as long as possible, using (and arguably abusing) the real-time pause function to leave macabre monuments to silent execution. Outside of combat, I can pause, plan a jump, pause, place the grappling hook, pause, instantly reel myself in, pause, plan a new jump. In this way, I'm able to traverse small slivers of darkness to remain unseen. In combat, I can pause, plan a jump, and then can make no further tweaks until the next turn. It has to be a jump, too: there's no running or climbing in combat.
I suspect the limitations are a necessary trade-off to keep the difficulty intact, but they seem to undercut the game's own fantasy.
There are some structural issues, too. Each level has three optional objectives: don't kill a civilian, don't trigger a lockdown, and kill all guards. Except, they're not really optional. You need to complete all three to earn a skill point used to unlock Ronin's best toys, and that means you're incentivised to re-try each checkpoint until you've completed that section of level perfectly. It's the skills that give Ronin's combat its tactical diversity, and keep it worth playing across fifteen levels of largely similar encounters.
With a growing collection of skills, Ronin stays interesting and engaging. The level design is largely excellent, and offers plenty of varied scenarios across the fifteen missions. But there are only a handful of different enemy types, and so it seems counter-productive to lock away the best toys behind ostensibly optional and occasionally frustrating objectives.
Ultimately, Ronin doesn't live up to the quality of its inspirations, but then, it doesn't really need to. It's an entertaining, violent and stylish romp; the schlocky B-movie to Gunpoint's more cerebral stealth-puzzling. The combat feels fresh and distinct, and, while it's not an unqualified success, it does enough to make for a fun four-to-six hour campaign of gratifying swordplay.
RONIN exits Early Access in a few hours and we wanted to share the launch trailer that will go out tomorrow. Enjoy and thanks for all your feedback and support!
RONIN exits Early Access in a few hours and we wanted to share the launch trailer that will go out tomorrow. Enjoy and thanks for all your feedback and support!
RONIN exits Early Access in a few hours and we wanted to share the launch trailer that will go out tomorrow. Enjoy and thanks for all your feedback and support!
RONIN exits Early Access in a few hours and we wanted to share the launch trailer that will go out tomorrow. Enjoy and thanks for all your feedback and support!
When Devolver Digital released Ronin on Early Access last month the publisher promised it would only stay there for a month. It looks like they've kept their word, because the stealth/platformer/turn-based combat hybrid is set to release officially on June 30. Ronin will hit Stea
When Devolver Digital released Ronin on Early Access last month the publisher promised it would only stay there for a month. It looks like they've kept their word, because the stealth/platformer/turn-based combat hybrid is set to release officially on June 30.
Ronin will hit Steam, GOG and "other digital services" with a 25 percent discount, as well as a digital special edition including a digital comic and the game's soundtrack in both MP3 and FLAC formats. Chris Livingston enjoyed his time with the game back in March, noting that the stealth elements work much better than the violent confrontations.
If you're not convinced and aren't willing to pay entry for the Early Access version (which is still available), there's a playable demo, too.
Devolver Digital has announced that the turn-based stealth-action-platformer Ronin is now on Steam Early Access . Tweaks to difficulty, controls, and other aspects of the game will be made during the final pre-launch phase, which is expected to last about a month, but otherwise i
Devolver Digital has announced that the turn-based stealth-action-platformer Ronin is now on Steam Early Access. Tweaks to difficulty, controls, and other aspects of the game will be made during the final pre-launch phase, which is expected to last about a month, but otherwise it's "99 percent complete" and ready to play.
Ronin is an unusual thing. It's an action-platformer, in which you play as a modern-day ninja seeking vengeance against the heads of a powerful corporation, and it's turn-based, meaning that every move you make can (and must) be carefully planned to ensure you don't leave yourself overly exposed in one of the game's plentiful combat bits. A demo was released last month, but now you can leap directly into the (almost) full game.
"Ronin is a game of precision and timing so our team has worked with beta testers, other developers, and third-party testing studios to really test and tweak the near-final game," developer Tomasz Waclawek said. "Our goal is to extend this type of testing and iteration to a much larger audience to hopefully perfect Ronin, and Steam Early Access is the perfect method and forum for honest feedback."
In his March preview, Chris Livingston said it was sometimes tricky to determine what actually constituted a turn—something that will hopefully be addressed prior to launch—but described the game's combat as "fun and challenging." The Early Access release of Ronin is available for ten percent off the regular price of $13/ 10 until June 3.
Now Available on Steam Early Access - RONIN, 10% off!
RONIN is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 10% off!* Ronin is stylish a turn-based action platformer following the exploits of a vengeful heroine determined to strike down five prominent figures of a powerful corporation. *Offer ends June 3 at 10AM Pacific Time
RONIN is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 10% off!*
Ronin is stylish a turn-based action platformer following the exploits of a vengeful heroine determined to strike down five prominent figures of a powerful corporation.
It used to be ronin were the masterless samurai of Japan's feudal period. Now they're riding motorcycles, sneaking through office blocks, hacking terminals and hanging in mid-air to perform turn-based combat. At least, they are according to Ronin. The 2D stealth action game is ou
It used to be ronin were the masterless samurai of Japan's feudal period. Now they're riding motorcycles, sneaking through office blocks, hacking terminals and hanging in mid-air to perform turn-based combat. At least, they are according to Ronin.
The 2D stealth action game is out next month, but has a demo available to try right now. It gives you three levels of jumpin', swordin' 'n' grapplin'.
Outside of combat, Ronin plays a little bit like Gunpoint (albeit with a grappling hook). Combat is where it truly stands out. You move, and then hang in the air as each guard's laser sight points in your direction. From there, you have to dodge—weaving up and around as you systematically take out your foes. It's very stop and start in-game, but still offers the feeling of fluidity.
To download the demo, head over to the game's Steam page and click "Download Demo". Ronin is due out next month.
I'm feeling pretty cool about being a ninja today. Leaping from a roof, I pause in midair to fire a grappling hook into the building I've just jumped from, then I swing in the other direction through a window, knock a guard down, and slice him with my katana before he can regain
I'm feeling pretty cool about being a ninja today. Leaping from a roof, I pause in midair to fire a grappling hook into the building I've just jumped from, then I swing in the other direction through a window, knock a guard down, and slice him with my katana before he can regain his footing. Springing to the ceiling, I hand-walk across the room and yank two more guards into the darkness with piano wire nooses, leaving them dangling out of sight.
Later, I encounter another ninja. An armored ninja. An armored, teleporting ninja. It makes me feel a bit less cool about being a ninja, especially when the much cooler ninja kills me for the tenth time.
I've been playing a handful of levels from Ronin, an upcoming 2D platformer with turn-based combat. Comparisons to puzzle-platformer Gunpoint are understandable—Ronin's creator even described it as a Gunpoint ripoff—and there are more than a few similarities. In both games you slink around in a series of multilevel buildings stocked with armed guards and hackable computer terminals. You unlock doors, ride elevators, and climb staircases to get around. You use your mouse to draw parabolic jumps onto enemies and through windows.
The rest is considerably different, with a strong focus on combat, even over stealth. While you can hide in shadows and perform stealth kills, there are large portions of the Ronin levels I played that dispense with lurking and creeping and simply deliver you into a room full of bad guys who absolutely know you're there. Sometimes you have no choice but to simply ride an elevator up into a room where a collection of thugs are waiting, staring right at the door. Ronin doesn't appear to be a game with a 'ghosting' option, at least not in the levels I played.
I think they see me.
The thing about the turn-based combat is that it's a little hard to determine what constitutes a turn. Guards will aim at you, their laser sights showing the paths their bullets will take, and then it's your turn to decide what to do. You can try to leap or grapple to safety, or pounce on them and prepare for a killing blow. Thing is, sometimes your leap will constitute a full turn, and sometimes only a half-turn: you may wind up paused in mid-air while the guards readjust their aim. Then again, sometimes you'll be allowed to complete your leap in full. The rules are not entirely clear, but it's still fun, as you leap from floor to ceiling, then back to the floor, then onto your enemy as his bullets pass through the space you occupied a moment ago, a turn too late.
Finally, an enemy I can handle: an old man with a cane.
You have a few special moves: sometimes you can fling your sword (though you have to retrieve it), and you can occasionally use a holographic projector to make baddies think you're in a different spot. A single bullet, or the slash of a teleporting robo-ninja's sword, will immediately end your life. Turn-based escape is difficult, sometimes impossible, depending on where you are—fleeing back down a staircase during combat doesn't seem to be allowed—so it's quite challenging in rooms where there are numerous enemies and you can't simply melt back into the shadows. Clearing a room doesn't mean you're done, either, as often times more enemies will appear from one-way doors without warning.
The big combat sections are fun and challenging, and considering how often I died I'm grateful the checkpoint save system is done well. Still, I much prefer the parts of Ronin that let you slither around from shadow to shadow, dangle from ceilings, drop onto baddies, and clear out buildings one thug at a time. It feels a bit more ninja-like than riding an elevator up to a room full of bad guys who are all staring right at the elevator door. I bet even that teleporting ninja would agree with me.
The finished game, due to be released later this year, plans to provide 15 missions in which you stalk and assassinate five different figures at the head of a shadowy cabal.
Guarding a skylight in the rain is a bad assignment for several reasons.
