Ronin: Legacy of Ash WIP (Working Title)

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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.

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

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

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Current progress:

Changelog

Update 1 9/25/2025

  • Chapter 1 complete: 4400 words excluding commands. Establish your character, survive the fall of Castle Takeda, and rally the first soldiers to your banner.

Update 2 10/1/2025

  • Fixed the stats page so it isn’t so tedious to click through
  • Balanced some stats for chapter 1, implemented reader suggestions
  • Chapter 2 complete: 7900 words excluding commands. Balance a tense village where rival parties vie for power. Survive the Ishida counterattack.

Update 3 10/7/2025

  • Quality of life update
  • Fixed a couple bugs
  • Updated the stats screen

Update 4 10/22/2025

  • Chapter 3 complete: 5500 words excluding commands. Stabilize the village, go on your first mission outwards, spend time with the ROs
  • Chapter 4 complete: 5200 words excluding commands. A trade lord comes to visit. Make a deal that changes the course of the game.
  • Stat screen updated
  • text added to both chapter 1 and 2 that needed some cleaning up and clarifying
  • ate a bug
  • Word count: ~23,000 words (not including code).
  • Chapter 5 in progress: consolidate your personal power, reclaim Takeda villages.

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 and for character inspiration in this post, but that’s it. Writing is for people with souls.

Yes — This project contains the output of Generative AI

63 Likes
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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!

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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

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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…

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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!!!

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

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

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@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

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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

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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:

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Played the demo and I must say its really something!

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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

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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.

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

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@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

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Chapter 2 is wrapped up and posted! Almost tripled the average playthrough word count. Now with the main cast introduced, I’m really looking for feedback on if the characters sound distinct and if they are consistent. Also, how does the flow of battle feel to you? Is there enough weight given to your choices?

(I am 100% aware there is some weird formatting in some parts of the text, I’m messing around with it and trying to fix it :face_with_peeking_eye: )

Enjoy!

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So does the MC lead the clan or do they become a general, because the heir is still alive and in the description it sounded like the MC took over the clan?

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Correct, the heir is still alive, as is the lord’s widow, so you do not officially lead the clan. At least up into chapter two, you only lead a small band of followers, but the clan as a whole is broken. You’ll have to see what happens

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Really interesting so far I will say the lack of stats does make the decision have less impact sense you kinda win no matter what (atleast from what I saw)granted it is the second chapter so that is kinda expected but still

And I don’t don’t really understand why lady Kaeda is upset when you go for the scouts being you only take 30 men they could still prepare the village pretty well without them and dispatching the scouts defiantly worth it

But besides that really interesting and loving the fast updates

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There are stats which determine how events play out, but its mostly under the hood. Still deciding if I want the reader to know or not… but just so you are aware, depending on if you pass hidden skill checks, your men and your allies can lose significantly more men, the village is left in a worse state, and relationships worsen. There are no true fail states as of now as it’s too early, but if you screw up a whole bunch, you’ll be walking into the last chapter with one guard and a bag of rice. For example, just in chapter 2 you can finish with 12 men alive under your command, or zero. Ryo can lose 20 troops if you screw up.
Reasoning for Lady Kaede being upset is more that you are choosing Ryo over her. You are spot on, she does have enough men to fortify the village somewhat, it is more of a symbolic decision than anything.

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