Devolver’s latest murderfest RONIN slices into PAX South

Tomasz Waclawek’s nimble assassin has all the right moves

In what seems like an unrelenting torrent of tantalizing announcements preceding PAX South, Devolver Digital has cranked the hype dial up another notch by announcing that it will publish RONIN, a new blood-soaked action/turn-based murder simulator by developer Tomasz Waclawek.

It’s not exactly new in the purist sense of the word, as the early prototype for the game was entered in a Game Jam last year. In any case, its current form seen in the trailer above is a much more refined and contemporary affair. Where the original version of the ninja-like heroine was a minimalistic, pixel-art representation of the assassin, what we see today is slick, modern, and dripping with style.

In RONIN, you’ll take on the role of the vengeful heroine on her mission to assassinate five prominent figures of a powerful corporation. Armed with a lethal katana, razor wire, and a grappling hook, she seems quite capable of making short work of the corporate goons unlucky enough to find themselves standing in her way.

Obvious comparisons are going to be drawn to Tom Francis’ magnificent title Gunpoint, but if my impressions from playing a much earlier prototype build of RONIN are any indication, the comparison would be superficial. The jumping mechanism is admittedly quite similar to Francis’, but it is what you do with it in Tomasz’ game that feels completely fresh.

For example, when entering the turn-based combat phase, you can set your leap’s arc midway between you and your target. There, you’ll be suspended in mid-air and on your next turn you can reposition the arc, setting the trajectory downwards and onto them. An icon will appear on-screen saying you are now in position to initiate the killing blow. Click the icon and enjoy the show as the assassin does her bloody work.

Destructoid will be on-scene at PAX South this weekend covering the convention with our own Brett Makedonski bringing us back a first-hand account of what it’s like to play the most current version on the game.

RONIN is currently slated to arrive on PC, Mac, and Linux sometime in Q3 2015