Ronin: Legacy of Ash WIP (Working Title)

Ronin: Legacy of Ash (Working Title)

The Takeda clan is burning. Enemies move like shadows through the halls of your ancestral home, and the weight of survival falls on you… a distant cousin, a disciple of the sword, and now a leader by fire and chance.

In Ronin: Legacy of Ash, you will:

  • Shape your path through honor, cunning, or ferocity, with every choice carving a reputation others will rally behind, you decide if its because of loyalty or fear.

  • Lead survivors through ambushes, skirmishes, and intrigue as the Takeda fracture. Power rests not only on the battlefield, but in who follows you.

  • Navigate the delicate balance of loyalty and betrayal among rival heirs, courtiers, and outlaws.

Romance Options (Potential Spoilers)
  • Takeda Aiko — the disciplined officer who fights with quiet steel.

  • Michinaga Ren — a silver-tongued courtier whose loyalties are as sharp as his wit.

  • Mei — a bandit queen with her own crew, her aid as dangerous as her defiance.


Current progress:

Update 1
  • Chapter 1 (“The Night of Fire”) complete: establish your character, survive the fall of Castle Takeda, and rally the first soldiers to your banner.
  • Word count: ~4,400 words (not including code).
  • Chapter 2 in progress: the fallout, shifting alliances, and the first sparks of a divided clan.

This is still early days, but the foundations are laid. Player stats, relationship tracking, and a living “force ledger” that records the balance of troops and villages under each faction. Your feedback on pacing, choices, grammar and immersion will help shape what comes next!!

[Play the Demo here → CoGDemos ]

AI Disclosure:

AI used for the cover image, but that’s it. Writing is for people with souls.

Yes — This project contains the output of Generative AI

43 Likes

First bit of writing I’ve done in… 4 years? :grimacing: Good to be back!
Trying to do it right this time, keep the scope creep to a minimum, have the entire book plotted out with main branches… I’m feeling good about this one haha. Thanks for your reading/support!

7 Likes

this was such a great, thrilling start to this game. the first few choices were excellent, i’m already curious how all the options are weighed behind-the-scenes to impact the game. big fan of how action-packed and concise it was as well; this type of clear, direct, powerful prose is some of my favorite style to read and play.

listing a few notes i had, i think all grammatical and clarity concerns. please don’t take them as me being super critical—just the opposite! just a few thoughts i had in case they’re useful to you.

“Years spent on palace walls and behind closed doors developed your intuition of what other’s true intentions are…”

other’s should be others’ i think

“A crash came from off to the side, drawing both of your attention away. The fire was spreading inside, the eaves starting to singe black.
Shin makes eye contact again.”

changing from past to present tense is a little immersion-breaking for me

“You grab the wood one more time, yelling at the pain.
You lock eyes with Shin one more time before averting your eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’ Shin’s eyes widen. ‘No, no! You can’t leave me! I saved you!’”

the way the paragraphs and dialogue are split here is confusing, also it’s unclear (to me, at least) what exactlt is happening, i had to read over a few times to realize the PC was leaving Shin

“‘You kept them together when fear should have broken them.’ She shakes her head. ‘They followed you. I only shouted what they needed to hear.’ Her gaze lingers on the men regrouping around you. ‘They’ll keep following, so long as you give them reason.’”

same note as the previous, the way the dialogue is structured is confusing. i would cut it into separate paragraphs for clarity

2 Likes

It’s been a long time for samurai related my favorite author is still working on his book and he made to 30 chapters I wonder how ambitious you are with your work and see your idea of Ronin…

2 Likes

I’ve yet to play but.

L Takeda, Useugi gang forever!!!

Jokes aside. I’m excited for more historical fiction and particularly Sengoku period ones!!!

5 Likes

Still playing but saw something g that got me curious is there no way to save shin?

2 Likes

I really enjoyed the writing and unique setting. Very eloquent and descriptive poetic writing. Can’t wait to see what comes next!

2 Likes

@raywilson Thank you for the feedback!! The clarity suggestions are fantastic. Obviously the author knows what is going on, so it is good to know when the reader’s and author’s visions don’t match.

@Takashi_Shin i have 12 chapters plotted at the moment, not quite 30 haha. Hopefully still a lot of story and content to dive into!!

@Valixon as of right now, no :sob: Shin is doomed to the flames here… sorry po

4 Likes

Wow great so far already top three most anticipated only real complaint I had was how small the word count is right now

I do have a couple questions being are there going to be personality/skill stats just implemented later or?and is ren really dead it seems very much like a “he’ll return your enemy”type situation

2 Likes

Yes! There are already a few hidden personality trackers and skills, the reader just isn’t privy to them. Know that your actions are being tracked…
And yes, as of now Shin is pretty dead. At the very least, he’s cooked both metaphorically and literally :man_shrugging:

2 Likes

Played the demo and I must say its really something!

4 Likes

The feel of this game remind me of old unfinished wip about shinsengumi, it’s sad not many a game about historical japan like this. See you on next update stay healthy

3 Likes

Bookmarked it for now! I’m curious to see where the story goes when chapter 2 comes. I also looked at the code and it looks like the stats are in the background. There are a few flavor text variation depending on honor, resolve, ferocity, etc. Are there plans of eventually showing these stats in the stat screen or are they strictly just background stats? Also curious to see how the haiku (if grabbed) will come into play. The shortblade is the only item I’ve seen a use for in chapter 1 (I might be wrong).

My only real feedback is that checking the stat screen becomes cumbersome fast. I liked the whole unfurling the scroll text that shows, but it’s a bit of a hassle when trying to check multiple things in the stat screen as there’s an in between text you have to click next on before actually showing the information I want.

4 Likes

Bro any Tumblr we can follow for your update or insta?

2 Likes

@TonyG thank you for the feedback! As of now, the stats are hidden on purpose, more to try and build immersion instead of having players min/maxing stats. Very open to suggestions though if people would rather see more stats than less.

And great call on the stat screen, I’ll implement a variable where it only shows the unfurling once instead of making you click through several times :sweat_smile:

@Bibas_Achhami at the moment I dont have this game marketed anymore outside of right here haha. Perhaps in the future

1 Like