Turn-Based Cyberninja Action: Ronin Out Of Early Access
Cut!
I dug the demo of turn-based stealth-o-swordfighter Ronin [official site], and the more-complete Steam Early Access version that Marsh prematurely evaluated sounded even better. It's a clever blend of real-time sneaking with gadgets then simultaneous turn-based sword combat when that goes tits-up, turning fights into careful ballet of thrown blades and dodged bullets. Playing it made me feel like the coolest cyberpunk assassin, which is of course the highest class of murderer.
I've been waiting for the full release before picking it up, and today it finally arrived.
Ronin sees a young lady exacting revenge on a megacorp by murdering people, sneaking into their facilities with a sword, a rope, and a lot of razorwire. She scales walls, swings across ceilings, stringing enemies up into the shadows, smashes through windows, and stabs a whole load of men. It looks a bit Gunpoint-y because that was an initial inspiration, but it's quite different.
I really did enjoy the ballet, carefully plotting the trajectories of my leaps and throws and anticipating what enemies would do next. The end result is awfully cool once you get the hang of it, though tougher and more numerous enemies throw in more problems.
Ronin is available for Windows from Steam only as I write this, but should appear on GOG and the Humble Store too when they update their listings. It'll usually cost £9.99/12,99€/$12.99 but has a 25% launch discount for the first week. A demo's up on Steam as well. Here's the launch trailer:
