Like the perfect revivals, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound feels prefer it may’ve come from a distinct period. Crafted by Blasphemous developer The Recreation Kitchen, Ragebound is a intentionally old-school motion recreation that captures the essence of the traditional Ninja Gaiden sequence, with sharp gameplay, difficult ranges, and gloriously retro visuals and music that may really feel proper at house on the Tremendous NES. It additionally builds upon this basis with some sensible new mechanics, making it greater than a mere imitation of earlier video games.
Reasonably than placing you in command of sequence mainstay Ryu, Ragebound follows two new protagonists: Kenji Mozu, an untested trainee of the Hayabusa Clan; and Kumori, a mysterious kunoichi from the rival Black Spider Clan. When Kenji steps in to avoid wasting Hayabusa Village from a sudden demon onslaught, the pair’s destinies turn out to be entwined and so they type an uneasy alliance, utilizing their mixed talents to face in opposition to the demonic forces threatening the world.
Like so many different facets of the sport, Ragebound’s plot is pure Ninja Gaiden: scattershot, nonsensical, and finally inconsequential. Of their quest to cease the Demon Lord from being unleashed, Kenji and Kumori journey to numerous websites all through Japan, battling grotesque monsters, commandeering the occasional automobile, and finally turning into entangled within the CIA’s affairs. It is knowingly foolish stuff, and it affords the builders loads of alternatives to whisk gamers via a spread of memorable set items, from historic Japanese villages and castles to busy building websites, flooded pirate coves, and secret army services.
The opening acts shift focus between the 2 protagonists, every of whom has a definite taste due to the completely different talents at their disposal. Kenji performs like a standard Ninja Gaiden hero, counting on his katana to dispatch foes. Kumori, in the meantime, favors ranged assaults, slaying foes from a distance together with her kunai. Each additionally share a number of abilities like a dodge roll, which can be utilized as an evasive maneuver or mixed with the assault button to execute a lunge. The actions are fluid and responsive, and each characters really feel fittingly acrobatic and lethal.
On high of this primary moveset, The Recreation Kitchen has launched a handful of sensible new talents that additional enrich the motion. Foremost is the Hypercharge. By defeating an enemy with a selected aura (or sacrificing a little bit of your individual well being), you possibly can enter a brief, supercharged state that dramatically will increase the energy of your subsequent assault, felling most foes in a single blow. It is a thrilling addition. Carving via enemies with well-timed Hypercharge assaults as you race via a degree is immensely satisfying and reinforces the sensation that you simply’re an unstoppable ninja.
Equally important is the Guillotine Increase, a spinning kick that lets you bounce off of foes and projectiles in midair. This transfer doubles as a defensive measure and a traversal talent; many levels would require you to Guillotine Increase off a sequence of airborne enemies to cross hazards or ascend to a better part of the extent, including a satisfying contact of platforming to the motion.
Partway via the story, Kumori’s soul fuses with Kenji, imbuing him together with her talents and unlocking one other new talent: the namesake Ragebound Arts. These highly effective particular assaults could be unleashed after you’ve got acquired sufficient Rage Orbs, and so they’re notably useful throughout tense conditions, akin to while you’re overwhelmed by enemies or battling one of many recreation’s formidable bosses. You may also buy and equip completely different Ragebound Arts as you progress via the sport, supplying you with a little bit of freedom to customise your play model.
Regardless of merging collectively, the sport ceaselessly splits Kenji and Kumori aside, requiring you to make use of each characters to progress. At sure factors in a degree, you may encounter a Demon Altar. Getting into these will shift management over to Kumori, who should navigate a portion of the stage on her personal to succeed in an in any other case inaccessible change and open the trail ahead for Kenji. Nonetheless, the kunoichi is tied to an power bar that regularly depletes as you discover, supplying you with solely a short window of time to finish your goal. It provides a satisfying puzzle-platforming ingredient to the sport, as you must shortly maneuver via a winding part of the stage whereas additionally heading off enemies. Happily, there is not any penalty for failing, so these segments by no means turn out to be irritating.
That extends to the sport as a complete. Like earlier Ninja Gaidens, Ragebound is a difficult title, but it surely by no means feels unfair. Every stage is a gauntlet of enemies to chop down and hazards to navigate, usually in fast succession, and you may die ceaselessly en path to the top. Crucially, enemies and traps are by no means cheaply positioned, so any setback you expertise looks like your individual fault. Checkpoints are sprinkled generously all through the levels, guaranteeing you will not should retread a lot floor while you do fail.
The sport additionally offers compelling incentives to replay ranges. Tucked all through are varied collectibles like crystal skulls and golden scarabs, the latter of which can be utilized as foreign money to buy equippable talismans and Ragebound Arts. You are additionally ranked on the finish of a stage relying in your efficiency, with new objects unlocking within the store for those who obtain a sure rank, encouraging you to revisit earlier ranges to enhance your rating.
For all of Ragebound’s profitable qualities, there are a number of blemishes. As nice because the pixel artwork visuals look, it is sometimes tough to differentiate which elements of the stage are surroundings and that are hazards, so there will likely be instances you unwittingly wander into hurt’s method. Furthermore, some levels, notably within the again half of the sport, drag on a bit too lengthy, taking you thru the identical hazards and repeatedly throwing the identical sorts of enemies at you. This makes a number of of the degrees really feel extra repetitive than difficult.
The general journey is on the brief facet as nicely, spanning fewer than 30 levels between its foremost missions and secret ops ranges. The hidden collectibles do add some replayability, and also you unlock an much more difficult Laborious mode upon clearing the story, but it surely finally looks like the sport ends prematurely. There may be additionally occasional slowdown within the Xbox One model, notably when too many enemies are onscreen without delay. It would not have an effect on playability, but it surely’s noticeable simply the identical, so the best option to expertise the sport is on a current-gen platform.
Finally, these complaints do not detract from the general expertise. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is an exhilarating revival that efficiently channels the spirit of the traditional sequence whereas additionally constructing upon it with some impressed new mechanics. It stays to be seen if the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4 will likewise stay as much as the sequence’ requirements, however Koei Tecmo’s Yr of the Ninja is off to an excellent begin.