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acquired-stardust · 5 months

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Game Spotlight #12: Nioh: Complete Edition (2017)

Acquired Stardust's latest game spotlight is here! Join Ash as she takes a look at the most recent game featured on the blog so far in 2017's Nioh: Complete Edition! Often misunderstood and mislabeled, let's examine the game and see some of what makes it such a standout title. As usual from an Ash piece there's a long read ahead, so buckle up!

Larsa and I are big fans of Koei-Tecmo's work and are naturally huge history nerds, with two subjects that we love being frequent settings for the company's games. Hearing that they were finally releasing a new IP that was set in a familiar period for the company and its fans definitely had us interested. Rising from the ashes of a decade-plus stint in development hell, Koei-Tecmo's Nioh began development before the two companies had even merged. Starting all the way back in 2004 Koei sought to develop a game apparently based on an unproduced Akira Kurosawa script which meandered through several incarnations before ultimately being handed off to Tecmo's Team Ninja and entering real development in 2014. The resulting project caught gamers by surprise in its evolution of the portfolio of a company often labeled as releasing 'the same game every time' by those largely outside of the fandom. Although it stuck to familiar territory of flagship franchise Samurai Warriors in its setting of late-Sengoku era japan, the tone and gameplay had changed drastically from what had been traditional Koei-Tecmo territory. Gone was the romanticized heroics and melodrama, and KO counts that could be racked up well into a thousand enemies by playable characters that were essentially superheroes. In its place was a dark, ominous, sinister tone that was decidedly more grounded. Although character design remains impressively strong as is tradition for the company, Nioh features a less anime aesthetic than the company is known for for the most part with fairly realisitic depictions of its historical cast. Just as well the game veers significantly into appropriately bloodsoaked horror territory given its setting of turbulent late-Sengoku Japan, a stark contrast from the bloodless battles of Warriors games.

Alongside this tonal shift was a shift in its gameplay. Warriors games are something of a comfort food - they are relatively simple and easy, often described as 'button mashers'. It's true enough that they tend to allow you to coast through them doing just that, though there is a depth to the combat systems that often goes unexplored. Nioh's gameplay mechanics complement its horror very well and have taken a shift towards a style that emphasizes its reframing of the Sengoku. Players are able to select two weapons from an array of seven melee weapons as well as two weapons from an array of three ranged weapons as they take control of William Adams and take their first steps into Japan in 1600.

Gameplay is, at first, a slow and deliberate experience. Attacks are able to inflict fatal damage in just two or three hits, so attention and patience are not only rewarded but demanded on a base level. Players quickly learn the value in blocking and dodging enemy attacks which often come in combos of multiple blows as well as from range. Managing William's stamina meter, in this game referred to as the ki meter, is also important and more involved than one might expect with the 'ki pulse' mechanic in which the player is able to restore a portion of their meter immediately which enables further attacks and dodges with less downtime. Enemies are a wide array of human and demonic yokai who must be fought differently both as individuals (as in, for example, what weapon each may have) as well as a species with the universal stamina ki system functioning differently between human and yokai enemies.

If any of this is sounding familiar to you, you're not alone: Nioh is often referred to as a 'Soulslike', a genre of games that take deep inspiration from From Software's Dark Souls series which itself has roots in From Software's earlier King's Field series. Nioh often lives and dies by this comparison and most players come into it with a lot of preconceived notions of what exactly 'Soulslike' is and either fall in love with the differences or can't get over them and put the game down. That being said, there are indeed differences and despite its similarities Nioh is not a simple Dark Souls clone.

Nioh is most certainly a result of Dark Souls' success, and that much is indisputable. Dark Souls is responsible for reminding the world just how much it really liked cryptic, tense, unforgivingly difficult experiences so much so that even updated ports of things like the 2017 Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was discovered by a generation of gamers and labeled "the Dark Souls of platformers" for its difficulty. In many ways after years of obscurity From Software has fundamentally changed the way we look at and talk about video games as a whole, with even games released well before their Souls series being compared to it.

Although Nioh owes its exit from development hell into the hands of gamers to Dark Souls insofar as its tone and difficulty being inspired by it, Nioh actually owes much to two games that are compared to it far less: Koei-Tecmo's similarly brutally difficult series of Ninja Gaiden games and Blizzard's Diablo. Combat is significantly deeper than Dark Souls' even from the jump with each of the seven melee weapons each having three different stances players can switch between on the fly, each with their own strong and weak attacks and combos. As players explore the RPG mechanics (also a Soulslike staple) they also discover a long list of abilities to unlock for each of the game's seven melee weapons that add new abilities and moves to the combos. The result is a game that almost feels significantly more like 2008's Ninja Gaiden 2 on the Xbox 360 than Dark Souls, with fast paced and tense action that results in either bloody dismemberment for your enemies or a swift death for the player.

Just as well there are also several classifications of armor with many different individual pieces within those classifications, some of which can give the player a bonus when assembled together as a set. Alongside this are countless different weapons within the ten total offensive weapon categories, with gear (all of which have their own levels of quality and stats) frequently being dropped by enemies upon their defeat. Needless to say the loot aspect of the game, itself not entirely unfamiliar for Souslike games, is significantly expanded upon in Nioh especially postgame to the point it much more closely resembles classic PC release Diablo 2.

There are a staggering number of ways to play the game as in addition to all of the gear, weapons, builds and stances there are ninjutsu and magic skills, items and 30 different spirits the player can equip with various different effects, all of which can be summoned as part of Living Weapon mode which sees William manifest the spirit into his weapon for a brief powerup that allows him to devastate enemies. Just as well there is a vast array of clans the player can join, all historical powerful factions of Japan's Sengoku which provide different bonuses and is one layer of the game's multiplayer component. This variety is served well through the base game's brutal difficulty as well as its three DLC scenarios and its equally staggering three additional difficulty levels of new game plus.

Aforementioned multiplayer component comes in multiple forms. Players leave graves where they die which can be summoned as fightable AI-controlled revenant that can drop their gear and glory, a currency used to trade for items or character models of Nioh's vast array of characters that the player can transform into, replacing William in normal gameplay outside of cutscenes. Glory also contributes to the faction wars - a race between the White and Red factions to see who can earn the most in intervals with the winning side awarded discounts in glory-accepting transactions. Players can also face each other in direct player-versus-player combat, and are even able to tackle the entire game together cooperatively.

You might've noticed that the player character I mentioned earlier, William Adams, is most certainly not a Japanese name. And that's because he isn't (duh!). William is a relatively obscure historical figure who was one of the first non-missionary westerners in Japan as well as one of the few and earliest western samurai. William is an Englishman chasing alchemist Edward Kelley across the pacific ocean to reclaim William's personal guardian spirit, stolen in an encounter with Kelley in the game's opening stage. After his search takes him to Japan William finds his familiar tangled web of influence and power between England and Spain has become all the more complex with the addition of Japan's own political turmoil of the late Sengoku period.

Through the course of the game William finds himself eventually aligned with the Tokugawa forces by way of Hanzo Hattori, a bilingual ninja in service of Ieyasu Tokugawa. Nioh's campaign and DLC takes the player through several highlights of the late Sengoku period which are the game's absolute highlights. Although featuring a wide variety of stages set in varying locales such as cave systems, shipwrecks and ruined temples, it is these recreations of historical battles that the game truly shines with. The base game's recreation of the Battle of Sekigahara is one of my favorite parts of any video game for its melding of historical accuracy and dark fantasy elements. For us history nerds there is nothing quite like the haze of that morning's battle and the show-don't-tell approach much of the game takes with its environmental storytelling. One way this is achieved is through the largely unsubtitled gameplay segments (though the cutscenes do feature subtitles), with NPCs uttering Japanese phrases to William who naturally does not understand them. It's a fun little thing that helps convey the fish out of water elements of the story and rewards players who can speak the Japanese language (of which I am one). Another small moment is in the aformentioned Battle of Sekigahara where a small band of men clad in Kobayakawa-clan emblems charge up the battlefield without stopping to tell the player who they are or explain that the momentum of the skirmish has definitively swung in the direction of the Tokugawa forces. It's a small but memorable moment rewarding big history nerds like myself and Larsa that have memorized much of the intricate tumult of the Sengoku that has stuck with me well into my 200-something hours spent with the game in its various levels of difficulty and gear grind.

The trend of the game's highlights being the recreations of historical battles is never more apparent than in its DLC scenarios Dragon of the North, Defiant Honor and Bloodshed's End which follow the post-Sengoku struggles against the Date clan as well as the winter and summer sieges of Osaka respectively. Winter's Osaka siege stands out as perhaps the best depiction of war in a video game with the level design and gameplay elements lending itself extremely well to portraying the sheer horror that must've entailed battle in the Sengoku with exhausted enemies surprising each other with their presence in the stage's tight trench corridors before engaging in quick and bloody battles to the death. Defiant Honor's Winter siege of Osaka culminates in a battle against legendary samurai Yukimura Sanada in another particularly memorable moment, featuring a more grounded design than his Samurai Warriors counterpart (although his armor is based on his real historical suit which was also featured as an alternate costume in Samurai Warriors 1), Yukimura wields his iconic traditonal Japanese jumonji spear as featured in Samurai Warriors and even has a few moves reminiscent of his moveset as a playable character in that franchise.

On the subject of further historical matters Nioh furthers the trend Koei kickstarted by reexamining Mitsunari Ishida with his moral fiber and his place in history, featuring a touching moment with retainer Sakon Shima monologuing about him. Nioh was also the first popular modern media, to my knowledge, to feature the obscure historical figure Yasuke, a black samurai associated with legendary daimyo Nobunaga Oda who was recently featured in his own Netflix anime. It was, sadly, also the beginning of Koei-Tecmo's slightly understandable but disappointing nonetheless deemphasizing of historical figure Ranmaru Mori, a popular and enduring cultural icon also featured and beloved in Koei's own Samurai Warriors games.

The game works very well on the level of a slowly paced Soulslike or a more action oriented Ninja Gaiden style action game depending on the build and play style of the player, which is a great testament to its strong gameplay and level design. Just as well the game becomes significantly less hostile with another player in coop, and is a very satisfying exercise in teamwork. Larsa and I decided to play the base game in its initial difficulty level solo before teaming up to take on subsequent difficulty levels, and we can vouch for the fact that it makes an excellent game for gamer couples especially since the nature of coop allows the player duo to help take the load off of each other. It is as excellent an exercise in teamwork as it is a bonding experience thanks to the tense nature of its gameplay.

Nioh also introduces new mechanics consistently through its entire run even into the final difficulty level of new game plus where there is a whole new tier of gear with its own additional abilities which is a very impressive feat. For as much good as there is to say there is a big asterisk which may deter players as health recovery items are a finite resource not indefinitely restored unlike in Dark Souls, and players must conserve and find more lest they wind up with only limited guaranteed healing. This can gate lesser skilled players out of progress without hope of making it through the game without a lot of practice or getting help from a friend. Another small complaint is the minimap which is a featureless circle in the top right corner of the screen that only provides very minimal information to the player without having an ability such as 'kodama sense' attached to their gear, which displays hidden collectables scattered through stages that provide bonuses such as ultimately 25% more experience or a 5% increase in drops to weapons or armor as a green dot on the minimap.

Nioh indeed has much to gush about, and in many ways it represents the maturation of Tecmo-Koei's library of games. A fun alt history romp through the Sengoku that the company is very familiar with coupled with a fresh coat of paint in its action-horror dark fantasy elements that hearkens back to a little-remembered in today's zeitgeist game in Ninja Gaiden as well as megahit Diablo, the old meets the new in so many satisfying ways making Nioh a joy to have 100%ed (taking roughly 100 hours to have unlocked all achievements). It may owe its existence as a finished product to Dark Souls, but it is far less of a Soulslike than you may have heard or expect and has so much to offer on its own and as an extension of some of the gameplay featured in Ninja Gaiden. It is a joy to play on its own or with a friend/loved one and rewards your time spent with it considerably even far later into the experience than one might expect.

Nioh is immediately available via Steam and the Playstation Store on PC, PS4 and PS5.

A gem hidden among the stones, Nioh is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Ash

#gaming #video games #acquired stardust #ash #game spotlights #gaming spotlights #nioh #koei tecmo #ninja gaiden #samurai warriors #soulslike #team ninja #ps4 #playstation 4 #ps5 #playstation 5

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moosethren · 4 days

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A new Beginning

This is my Nioh/Rise of the Ronin crossover fanfic, about my Hide and his time in Rise of the Ronin.

In my AU, the Sohaya continued to thrive and became guardians of the Spirit Stones, in order to keep them safe. I'd really recommend giving Hide's page on my character carrd a read, as it contains info about him and a summarized timeline. Since I will not go into details about that in the story itself.

***

Hide awoke from his sleep in a manner that would have terrified everyone around him. Rasping for breath, he sat up instantly, clutching at the shirt over his chest. His heart pounded wildly, but was quick to slow down once he realised it was just a nightmare. One of the usual ones, where he was stabbed in the chest by Tokichiro. Even centuries later that one still came around to haunt him. The utter look of hatred in his old friend’s eyes.

It wasn’t how he wanted to remember him. And most of the time, it wasn’t. He still fondly recalled everything good Tokichiro had brought in his life. A sense of purpose after 25 years of being alone, ever since his mother’s death at Kashin Koji’s hands. A powerful friendship and someone who helped Hide to be able to speak at all again; something he had struggled with ever since childhood. Though, he still found it highly uncomfortable and nearly impossible to talk to strangers still.

Leaning forward enough to rest his wrist on his bent knee, he used his free hand to run it through his short, coarse hair. Then he pressed his index finger and thumb against his temples. A loud sigh escaped him.

Mornings like this were just awful. Because his mind always spiralled about his past. The grief. How much things had changed. How much he was losing of those he used to know. Tokichiro’s voice still carried strongest. He still saw his mother’s face in his dreams. Everyone else was starting to fade with time.

Mumyo still remained, or Minami as was her actual name, though she was still known as Mumyo to everyone within the Sohaya clan. She was still trying to guide the clan along the right path, despite the numerous times the Shogunate had tried to take them out. In ignorant fear. All the clan ever did was keep artefacts and Spirit Stones safe… far away from the hands of those who would misuse them.

Hide knew she was nearing the end of her life though. Ever since 1810 she had decided to no longer extend her life, settling down with her husband and later giving birth to Reyse, a promising member in the Sohaya. Sooner or later, she’d join the faces he’d start to forget as well.

And Tenshin… the other shiftling he’d found around two decades ago. Now he’d become like a little brother to him and then he’d lost him just like that back on the Black Ships. It was only through Tenshin’s Guardian Spirit that Hide knew he was still alive at all… and why Hide had sought to try and find him. He owed him that much.

Suddenly he wished William was back in Japan. He could have needed his help now and he’d be a familiar face in Yokohama. But the man was busy travelling the world. Something he had done since he’d faked his death centuries ago, in order to protect his family. After all, someone would notice eventually that the man just didn’t age… and it brought uncomfortable questions from dangerous people.

Hide’s hands had travelled up to nearly tug at his hair by now, trying to focus back to reality. To the current time. Dwelling that deeply wasn’t good. For a shiftling like him, negative emotions were a danger… and too much of it could very well turn him into an aratama.

A knock on the door made him look up abruptly. That pulled apart the clouds in his mind easily enough. Standing up, he wrapped the blue yukata he had slept in closer against him, before moving over to open the door. He wasn’t too surprised to see Ryoma standing outside. Chipper as ever and fully ready for the morning, it seemed.

“Hello!” Ryoma started before looking over the man quickly. “Oh, uh… rough night?” Hide’s skin was coated in sweat and his hair looked like a mess despite his previous attempt at correcting it. What stuck out the most was his eyes though. Ryoma was so accustomed to the man’s choice of black eyeliner and eyeshadow, that he could immediately tell when it was off. It was still there but less of it and it somehow looked more natural. As if it was just part of the skin around his eyes.

Hide noticed where Ryoma’s eyes travelled and turned quickly enough, to allow the man to step inside instead. People finding him like this, before he could get a chance to tidy himself up was a small nuisance normally. It was when they started to notice that his eyes just were dark like that and his hair had an unnatural texture to it, that the shiftling grew nervous.

Those were all signs of his half demon side, physical features he couldn’t do much about beyond hide with properly applied makeup. And he was one of the lucky ones. Tenshin’s grey skin and red eyes had attracted a lot more attention than Hide’s blue eyes or his eye markings. Not to say the few slivers of teal in his hair.

“Katsura wanted me to fetch you,” Ryoma explained once he paused inside the longhouse, looking around with an interested expression. “Seems he’s got big plans for tonight. So, I figured I’d get you a nice breakfast before he drags you into one of his schemes.”

Hide, who had been milling about with his belongings, stopped long enough to roll his eyes. Using the hairwax he kept in a locked box, Hide dragged it through his hair, in order to straighten it out into the mohawk he usually had. Digging into the bag again, he pulled out another box and applied the eyeshadow and eyeliner with practised movements. He’d been doing this every morning for centuries by now. The man didn’t even need a mirror anymore.

Ryoma had been politely quiet the whole time, patiently waiting for Hide to get ready. Watching with some fascination at how quickly and easily the other man went about his routines. Something else caught his attention though, and he was unable to comment this time.

“Huh, I thought you painted the blue streaks into your hair but… they’re just there, aren’t they?” Before Hide could react, Ryoma had stepped up to him to inspect his hair closer, tilting his head to the side to see better. Ryoma’s inane curiosity was entertaining… when it wasn’t aimed at Hide himself. Plus, the man had an attention to detail most humans didn’t.

“Just like your eyes before,” the ronin continued before Hide looked at the very short distance between them. Putting his finger on Ryoma’s chest, he slowly pushed him away from him, his expression a tad uncomfortable. Ryoma let out an awkward laugh suddenly, lifting his hands, palms out.

“Apologies. Curious mind, you know,” he explained, crossing his arms over his chest instead. As if to contain his curiosity that way. Hide was an enigma he really wanted to know more about but the man was very secretive. Which just made things worse for the shiftling, because that just made Ryoma even more curious.

Hide’s unnaturally blue eyes had been intriguing enough the first time he had seen him, but the hair and the dark markings around his eyes? Oh, how his mind chewed at the reasons.

Ryoma wasn’t ever going to push the man for answers though. Even after four months of knowing him. And it was just the last two weeks that Hide had started to speak back at all. Childhood trouble, as he had explained the first time he had uttered a word and Ryoma had… unfortunately been very shocked but happy about it.

As well as becoming even more curious, because of course Hide hadn’t expanded on that little tidbit.

“It looks very nice,” Ryoma continued, trying to save face now after having made Hide uncomfortable. Hide’s eyebrow shot up, in a doubtful manner. There was no need for Ryoma to be socially polite around him.

“No need to lie,” the shiftling shook his head, a little bemused. “I know I look strange.” He cleared his throat, realising how hoarse his voice was after the night’s poor rest.

“Now that right there is a serious accusation,” Ryoma waggled a finger at him, his voice rising in pitch a little as it always did when he sounded indigent. Faking it or not. “I won’t stand for such hearsay. Now I simply must buy you breakfast, so you won’t go around telling others that.”

Hide had moved away by now, reaching for his clothes. He gave Ryoma a soft look over his shoulder, his usual indication that everything was fine and he should just relax.

“It does look nice,” Ryoma insisted, his voice a little calmer now. “Even so, I’ll stick to just keeping my clothes in order I think. And hair. Got enough trouble keeping that tame.” He gave a wry smile. “All of it.”

Hide didn’t know how to read the last comment. But he could see why Ryoma’s hair would prove troublesome for him. It currently looked like it wished to escape the hair tie it was trapped in.

Ryoma started to talk about an encounter he had on the street on the way to the longhouse, as he gazed out over the garden while Hide got dressed. At some point Ryoma glanced over his shoulder as he talked, just in time to spot the koi fish tattoo on Hide’s left arm. He’d never seen that before either, he realised. Well, obviously, the man had never taken off his shirt around him.

The man carried more secrets than a dozen men would, it seemed and it intrigued him more than he cared to admit. As if knowing he was being watched, Hide slowly turned his head to look back at Ryoma who quickly fixed his gaze back out in the garden. Hide shook his head, finishing up with putting on the clothes.

“What’s with the tattoo?” the ronin asked, unable to really be quiet for too long. The fact he had a tattoo at all was curious. Hide didn’t exactly look like a hardened criminal, which were the usual subjects.

“Rough childhood,” the shiftling finally shrugged, looking rather unperturbed. The tattoo was his own choice, so the questions regarding that didn’t bother him. Only those referring to things that hadn’t been his choice. Ryoma groaned quietly, smacking himself in the forehead, even as Hide approached him, resting his hand on the hilts of his dual katanas.

“Today isn’t one of my finest moments, huh?” Ryoma sheepishly asked him now.

“You’ll live,” Hide smiled easily, before gesturing with his hand towards the door.

Ryoma did keep true to his promise and bought Hide a proper breakfast at a nearby tavern. Here Hide was told everything Ryoma had been up to in the last week since they’d last seen each other. He didn’t have a great need to talk much himself, listening to others was by far more enjoyable.

It was Ryoma’s turn to surprise him though, when they left the tavern again. The ronin had pocketed some bread from the breakfast and Hide watched his pocket for a few moments afterwards. Searching for the man’s gaze, he furrowed his brow slightly, before pointing to his pocket.

“Oh, that.” Ryoma smiled broadly, as he patted the pocket once. “You’ll see. We’re taking a little detour on the way to Katsura’s.” Hide’s frown grew even more puzzled.

“If you can have secrets, I can have small, short secrets,” Ryoma pointed out, quickening his walk through the streets. Clouds hung over the city, darkening the grey streets.

He brought Hide to a quiet spot by the ocean, in Yokohama’s outskirts. More trees grew here, as the city hadn’t quite taken over this corner yet. Something else seemed to roam here in numbers too. Crows. They gathered around them, seemingly recognising Ryoma. They kept a wary eye on Hide however, delivering a few sharp caws his way.

They sat down on a bench there, overlooking the ocean… and the black ships docked in the harbour. Hide’s frown grew deeper at the sight of them, lost in the bad memory of losing Tenshin on one of them.

“Ah, don’t tell anyone but I quite like crows,” Ryoma chuckled suddenly, almost startling Hide out of his dark thoughts. He was tossing pieces of bread to the birds, who seemed to enjoy the attention. Even if they occasionally bickered with each other about the food.

“I know, messengers of death and all that but they’re more than that, I think. There’s a keen intelligence behind those eyes.” Ryoma pointed to his eyes while smiling broadly, before tossing out more bread. “I’ve watched them a lot. They bicker just like we do. And they take care of their injured ones. Just like we do.”

Hide’s eyes were wide with intrigue as he watched and listened to Ryoma gush about the birds. Something stirred in his chest, a painful reminder of what once was. Ryoma wasn’t the first man he had encountered with a fondness or even connection to crows in particular.

The Shiftling felt a physical weight on his shoulder suddenly, turning his head slightly. One of his Guardian Spirits, Yatagarasu, was perched there, as it often did when his thoughts strayed to Shigehide.

It had been such a long time since his death. 100 years, give or take. Hide’s memories of him had grown dimmer over the years, as time had a habit of doing. The sound of his voice was a mere echo now. His scent almost lost to him. His face… only the occasional dream provided a clear picture now.

Hide withdrew into himself, while Ryoma kept talking about the crows. That awful, heavy feeling had returned to his chest. Not even Yatagarasu pressing his head against Hide’s cheek seemed to help. There was a hollow space in his chest. A space that the demon within him would be more than happy to fill. To let all that sorrow out and lose himself to it. Something Hide could never allow.

That’s why he had entered a strange hibernation for almost a century after Shigehide’s death. As if his body knew and wanted to protect him from falling to corruption. He wasn’t sure if it had actually made the grief easier or not. Now, almost fifty years after waking up again to a new century, he was starting to live with it much easier than before. Or as easily as he ever would.

“Hey, are you alright?” Ryoma’s voice actually made him jump this time. His hands were almost white from having pressed them so hard together. Looking down at them, he carefully stretched them. He wasn't worried about Ryoma spotting the Spirit on his shoulder. Unless he knew what to look for, he’d never find it. Most people alive in this day and age, didn’t. Not since the Yokai invasions had faded and the spirits had calmed down enough that they were mere whispered stories now.

But the Guardian Spirit moved suddenly. With an elegant swoop, it landed on Ryoma’s other side on the bench. Looking at the crows, it then jumped up on his shoulder instead. Tilting its head towards Hide as it perched comfortably. For a moment, it looked like it belonged on Ryoma’s shoulder. As if it wanted to be there.

Hide’s expression relaxed in a strange understanding. He squinted slightly suddenly, as the sun made its way through the clouds, dispelling them. When he looked back towards the Guardian Spirit, it had disappeared.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ryoma continued, lifting his hands to wave it in front of Hide’s face. Hide let out a quiet grunt, quickly looking back out towards the ocean, which was now glittering in the sun.

“You reminded me of someone I lost a long time ago,” he quietly said, looking down between them instead. “He too liked crows.” Ryoma leaned back a little, lifting his eyebrows.

“Ah, a man of taste then,” he gave a nod, scratching his own beard as he looked back at the crows. Still, the forlorn look on Hide’s face gave him some thought. “A friend of mine used to have a tame crow, you know. Clever little bastard. Mischievous too. Caused a lot of ruckus for my friend. But…” he paused, giving Hide an earnest look, as he shuffled over enough to put his arm over his shoulders and gently jostled him. “Whenever my friend was sad, the crow was the first to be there by his side.”

Hide let out a bemused snort through his nose, before shaking his head.

“Caw caw,” Ryoma continued then, laughing as Hide shoved him away but it was too late. There was a smile on Hide’s face and that’s all Ryoma needed.

“Ah, see!” Ryoma lightly punched his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s see what Katsura’s up to, shall we?Ryoma was quick on his feet, which did scare away the crows. They landed on the nearby roof with indignant caws. When Hide didn’t immediately move, Ryoma grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, as he set them both into a walk. And the ronin set to talking again, much to Hide’s amusement.

#I'm posting the first chapter here but I'll probably just put links on tumblr to the Ao3 version after that #rise of the ronin #nioh #ryoma sakamoto x oc #plus i know the fandoms are near non existent on tumblr so D:#i'm just uploading it at all in case someone else finds it interesting

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