Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review - A Tale of Two Ninjas

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One series that is always exciting to play but also brings a hint of fear is Ninja Gaiden. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I played a few when I was younger, and while I could never beat one to boast to my friends, I enjoyed Ryu’s adventures. But now, as the fully-fledged gamer I pretend to be, I can confidently get into any Ninja Gaiden title and beat it with ease. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound might not feature the iconic ninja we all love, but it is one of the best games of the series that brings gameplay reminiscent of the old NES days with a lot of modern elements that make it stand out above other ninja adventures.

The Dragon and the Spider

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound follows the story of Kenji, a disciple of Ryu, and Kumori, a member of the Black Spider Clan. The story happens at the same time as that of the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES. Ryu leaves for America, and Kenji stays behind to protect the village from the demon invasion. Now, the plot isn’t that groundbreaking, but what makes the narrative stick the landing is its two protagonists.

As you may imagine, putting a Hayabusa ninja and a Black Spider ninja together is like mixing oil and water. And that is what happens here. After certain events happen, Kumori fuses with Kenji, as they both try to stop the invasion for their own goals. While you’ll spend most of your time playing as Kenji, Kumori has her own levels. They are among some of the most challenging platforming sections, but I’ll leave that for later.

The interactions between Kenji and Kumori are terrific. They start as unlikely allies, and slowly but surely become friendlier with each other, as they realize their conflicts are smaller compared to what’s happening in the world. I won’t spoil the whole thing, but the entire journey has excellent pacing that showcases both the good and bad aspects of both clans. I loved seeing Kenji being the heroic and well-intended ninja, only for Kumori to shut some of his heroic antics down to bring Kenji to a more grounded level. Yet, if you are playing Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound for the gameplay, that is where it truly shines.

Deadly Levels

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound moves away from a 3D environment and brings us to retro-inspired 2D scenarios. It boasts the most stunning pixel art I’ve seen in recent years. If there’s something that deserves all the praise in the world, it’s the art style because it nailed every single aspect. From the Hayabusa Village to the Black Spider Clan HQ, and even the iconic Japanese castles, everything is a treat to look at. However, these levels being beautiful doesn’t mean they are a breeze to traverse.

As I mentioned earlier, Ninja Gaiden as a series has always been challenging. You might face the same enemies repeatedly, but they’ll find a way to kill you and make you slam your head on the wall. In that regard, Ragebound is the same, and something I thoroughly enjoyed.

As a 2D platformer, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is among the most challenging. You can instantly see The Game Kitchen’s trademark style when it comes to level design. All of them are intricate and full of traps and enemies. However, contrary to Blasphemous, you have your ninja skills to help you traverse faster and kill enemies in quick succession.

Kenji’s moveset is amazing and has many iconic moves from the series. He can climb walls, move around while holding on to the ceiling, and perform the always-exciting-to-pull-off Guillotine move, where you jump on an enemy to damage it and then chain that move to keep defeating foes or reaching a higher location. Yet, he isn’t the sole start of this journey.

Kumori has her own platforming sections. As a spirit of sorts, she can enter the demon dimension where new platforms spawn. Kumori is always on a timer, so these parts are among the most challenging yet rewarding ones. She can use kunai to hit objects that will teleport her far or even shoot some objects that will open a path for Kenji. I enjoyed how her sections were often mandatory but also led to new unlockables or even things that opened up secret levels.

Another thing worth mentioning is the enemy variety—it is terrific, and terrifying. You start fighting foes that die with one hit. But in the end, you start facing enemies and abominations that require you to pull off some top-level ninja moves. Also, each boss is unique and extremely challenging, and I faced them more than once because they are at soulslike levels of difficulty or even higher.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound features superb platforming gameplay that only gets better as you progress through the dozens of levels. Furthermore, the controls are so snappy, which makes traversal much easier and enjoyable. It is definitely challenging, so you’ll need a lot of patience to complete each of the stages. Even more so if you’re looking to do so with the highest rank.

Simple Yet Deep Combat

Combat in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound might seem simple on the surface, but it has a lot of deep layers. At all times, Kenji and Kumori have the same moveset. Kenji can perform melee attacks in quick succession, while Kumori can launch as many kunai as her resource bar allows her to. Both can also use the Guillotine move. However, the variety comes from the powers you can equip.

Once Kenji and Kumori fuse together, you’ll get an energy bar. You can use this energy to perform different techniques, such as launching a blade that travels in a curved arc to hit enemies, or even have four blades spin around you. You can unlock more of these abilities by reaching specific ranks in some levels.

Also, there’s the hypercharge mechanic. You’ll encounter enemies that have a blur or pink glow. You can only defeat the former with melee attacks and the latter with kunai. If you do so and hit them with the right attack, you’ll get hypercharged. This allows you to kill any enemy on one hit. Initially, it seemed like an optional mechanic, but in truth, there are many enemy puzzles that require you to chain your attacks correctly to beat them.

For instance, you might encounter a part of the level that is full of elite demons. To defeat them, you need your hypercharge or to spam several normal attacks until they die. The latter is ill-advised. Yet, many smaller glowing enemies will appear, and here’s where combat gets engaging. You need to defeat foes in the right order so you can deliver the final blow to the strongest demons. I loved how everything in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound felt like a puzzle, from traversal to even the most common enemy encounter.

Beyond that, there’s the rage orb mechanic, which serves to perform your ultimate attack. When you fill up all your orbs, you can press a combination of buttons to launch a powerful move. Some of these arts will heal you, and others will damage the enemy. While the look of them and their actual use is great, I didn’t feel encouraged to change my build.

You can equip different passive and active abilities, and I finished the game without swapping the ones I picked. One allowed me to restore HP after killing an enemy if my kill counter was above three. Then, I equipped one that removed all HP orbs from the map in favor of increasing my rank at the end of a stage. In terms of attacks, I had one art that summoned spinning blades and the first ultimate you unlock.

Even if the variety is great, I would’ve loved to see enemies with different weaknesses. Or even some mechanics that encouraged me to experiment with varied moves. It isn’t something bad, but I feel these skills are more of an extra instead of a relevant part of the game. Still, it is nice to have many options there for builds, especially since the game is highly replayable.

The Ultimate 2D Ninja Experience

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is, without a doubt, the ultimate 2D Ninja Gaiden experience and the best platformer of the year. It features some of the most challenging levels with a superb pixel art style. Combat, while simple on the surface, offers a wide range of build options. Even if it didn’t encourage me to try all the skills, I loved how every stage presented me with combat puzzles alongside platforming challenges.

While I’m excited for Ninja Gaiden 4 and the recent remaster was terrific, Ragebound easily became one of my favorite Ninja Gaiden titles. Additionally, the collaboration between The Game Kitchen and Dotemu is one of the best things out there, and I hope these two teams continue to work together. Whether you’re a veteran shinobi or a fledgling one, you must play Ragebound, as it delivers one of the most outstanding platforming experiences of recent memory.

Review copy provided by the Publisher.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (PC Reviewed)

9 Superb!

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is the best 2D platformer of the year and one of the greatest Ninja Gaiden titles out there. While it isn't the longest, it is highly replayable and it will keep you occupied until Ninja Gaiden 4 launches.