Taka Murayama is one of a several companions you can interact with in Rise of the Ronin, and like so many others, she is destined to meet an untimely fate. And yet, due to the fact that you can save some of the game’s other companions, you’ve been left asking: Can you save Taka in Rise of the Ronin?
Well, for better or worse, we’ve got the answers you’re looking for. Do be warned, though, that we need to dig into some *Massive Spoilers* in the process. Consider this your one and only spoiler warning.
Can You Save Taka Murayama in Rise of the Ronin? Outcomes Explained
Sadly, the answer appears to be no. You can’t save Taka Murayama in Rise of the Ronin no matter what you do or how many times you try to replay the missions surrounding this pivotal moment.
Whereas other characters like Ryoma Sakamoto can be saved through some Testament of Souls hijinks, Taka’s death is scripted and isn’t impacted by your choices. This remains true even if you romanced her, and even if you completed all four of her Companion Missions to get as close as possible to her.
At best, you can get some further insight into what she does in her final moments after the completion of her fourth companion quest, she makes a reference to giving her hair pin back to Lord Ii, which is what she tries to do after the Blue Demon murders her.
It’s definitely bad news for anyone who was swayed to the side of the Shogunate faction during their playthrough, and likely has you tempted to switch sides. After all, there’s little reason to stay on the side of the people who killed what was likely your favorite character, and her absence from the rest of the plot is hard to miss.
Will Team Ninja Make It Possible to Save Taka With an Update?
As for whether or not this will be addressed in a future patch via developer Team Ninja, your guess is as good as ours.
On one hand, there are the aforementioned other companions in Rise of the Ronin that you can save by approaching certain missions in a different way. Doing so even earns you Trophies, which makes it seem like the developers wanted you to figure out how to keep your friends alive.
But then, on the other hand, there’s the fact that the game wasn’t as well received critically as Team Ninja and Sony were probably hoping. This may mean that there won’t be as much long-term support for the game as would have been expected, which in turn means the chances of an update making it possible to save Taka are slim.
Past that, it also feels like this was a conscious decision on the part of the developers. They wanted to make an impact on the player through Taka’s inescapable death, and to undo that would diminish the narrative strength of the plot as a whole.
Stranger things have happened though, and we’ll be sure to update this guide accordingly if it becomes possible to rescue her.
For now though, that’s all we have on whether or not you can save Taka in Rise of the Ronin. For more on the game, check out our other guides on how to get all endings and what the best Blade Sharpening Origins are.
