Take a slice of Resident Evil and Parasite Eve, add two tablespoons of Tenchu and a hint of Bushido Blade and you've got... one of those tiresome menu-based straps. Onward...
Steve Bradley

The menu's correct though, right?
Certainly. Ronin Blade takes the pre-rendered backgrounds and location-loading elements of the aforementioned Evil and Eve and adds beat 'em up action, adventuresome conundrum solving and more than a hint of role-playing.

All things to all men, eh?
Yup.

What's the story, then?
The title hints at the tale. 'Ronin' essentially means 'a lordless samurai', one whose feudal lord has been deprived of his territory. In relation to Ronin Blade, one of the lead protagonists, Kotara, is said to be one such samurai, a man whose parents were murdered and now their lands have been taken by some fiendish despot or other. Kotara, returning from afar to visit the graves, encounters a fight involving a mysterious, knife-wielding girl called Lin and two samurai policemen.

What's the girl's role?
Good question, well put. The game has a huge, immersive storyline and, suffice to say, you discover more about the characters as you progress. As far as Lin is concerned, she's one of the two characters you can play. It's similar in many ways to Resident Evil in that a rendered introductory sequence tells you the story before dropping you into the situation itself. You play either Lin or the aforementioned samurai Kotara.

What are the differences between Kotara and Lin?
Both have slightly differing skills and, more importantly, both enter the story from a different perspective. The characters' paths move in different directions, although the tale interweaves throughout - again, like Resident Evil. Which is no bad thing, of course.