Okishima 1336 Ronin vs Shogun: What's the Difference and Can You Switch?

Whether you start as a Ronin or a Shogun in Okishima:1336, the island's activities stay the same — what changes is which side of the law-and-outlaw conflict you play. The game's own description sums it up: "Choose your path as a Ronin or Shogun, switching freely between both." That last part matters: switching is free, and player guides describe swapping roles even in the middle of raids, heists, or Oni fights.

Quick answer

Yes — you can switch between Ronin and Shogun freely, and the official game description advertises exactly that. The difference is your side in a cops-and-robbers style conflict, not a separate set of activities.

• Ronin: the outlaw side — robbing, killing, earning a bounty and working toward becoming renowned in the land.
• Shogun (the Shogunate): the law side — running the map, hunting Ronin, enforcing laws, arresting players and stealing Ronin bounties and money.
• Switching is free: guides describe swapping roles during raids, heists, or Oni fights, or whenever you want a different perspective on the island.
• Both paths share the same core activities: raiding villages, robbing homes, fortress heists, bounty hunting, Oni battles and dueling other players.

What actually differs between Ronin and Shogun

Okishima:1336 splits the island into two opposing roles, much like the two sides of a cops-and-robbers game. Every activity in the official description — raiding villages, robbing homes, executing fortress heists, hunting bounties, battling Oni and dueling other players — is listed for players on either path. What flips is your relationship to the law: as a Ronin, a bounty is something you earn and then get hunted for; as the Shogunate, it is something you take off the outlaws you catch.

Ronin vs Shogunate at a glance

Ronin vs Shogunate at a glance

What differs	Ronin	Shogun (Shogunate)
Your side	The outlaws, the robbers	The law, the cops
Typical play	Robbing, killing, earning a bounty, becoming renowned in the land	Running the map to hunt Ronin, enforcing laws, arresting players, stealing Ronin bounties and money
Who you are up against	The Shogunate, which hunts Ronin down and can steal their bounties and money	The Ronin outlaws you chase

One naming note: the official description calls the second path Shogun, while on the starter screen the same side appears as the Shogunate — the faction you actually join. Both names refer to the same path, and both get used interchangeably below.

Playing as a Ronin

The Ronin path casts you as the robbers. In a pre-release walkthrough of the starter screen, a gameplay creator laid out the expected Ronin loop: robbing people, killing, earning a bounty, and building a reputation renowned across the land — Miyamoto was the name he dropped for the kind of fame to chase. Setting buildings on fire was also on that expected list, though he flagged that he was not sure the ability would be in the game at release.

The catch is that everything on that list paints a target on your back. Bounties make you exactly the kind of outlaw the Shogunate is built to hunt, and a Shogunate player who catches you can walk away with your bounty and money. If that outlaw loop sounds like your kind of game, the Okishima 1336 ronin guide goes deeper, and the Okishima 1336 bounty hunting guide covers how bounty play works across the island.

Playing as the Shogunate

The Shogunate is the opposite side — the cops. Shogunate players run around the map, hunt Ronin down, enforce laws and arrest players, and they can steal Ronin bounties and money for themselves. Where the Ronin carries the risk of being caught, the Shogunate is the one who profits when it happens. The Okishima 1336 shogun guide breaks this path down further.

Picking your path on the starter screen

Your first choice happens when you spawn in. The starter screen presents Shogunate and Ronin as the two selectable paths, and you can pick either one — "you can pick whatever you want to be," as the creator showing the game put it. In that same pre-release look at the menu, he also noted "There's no difference right now" between the path options themselves; picking one side over the other showed no stat split at that point.

The differences he pointed out were elsewhere: between the character slots, which vary by height. Height is a real trade-off — shorter characters are faster but have less range, while taller ones are slower but reach further. Treat your path and your character build as two separate decisions on that screen.

Switching between Ronin and Shogun

Switching is free. The official description advertises "switching freely between both" paths, and third-party guides echo it: you can swap roles during raids, heists, or Oni fights, or simply whenever you want to approach the island from a different perspective. Your first pick is not a commitment — if life as a hunted outlaw stops being fun, the other side of the law is open to you, and vice versa. For a dedicated walkthrough of changing paths, see Okishima 1336 how to switch paths.

So, Ronin or Shogun?

Pick by playstyle. If the appeal is the outlaw fantasy — stealing, duels, a price on your head and being hunted — Ronin fits. If you would rather patrol the island, enforce the law and run down the outlaws everyone else is wary of, the Shogunate is your side. Because switching is free and both paths share the same island activities, it is a low-stakes choice: start with whichever sounds fun and try the other when you want a fresh perspective. New to the island overall? The Okishima 1336 beginner guide and our Okishima 1336 things to do overview cover the basics beyond the path split.