Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review

It’s been a blistery 2nd since we got a due Ninja Gaiden game. Sure, determination person been different spin-offs and ports and remakes (this year’s fantabulous Ninja Gaiden II Black comes to mind), but Ninja Gaiden is kinda having a infinitesimal again with some Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4. Taking specified a agelong interruption leads to a precise absorbing question: what does a Ninja Gaiden crippled look similar successful the Year of Our Lord 2025? Well, if Ragebound’s instrumentality to 2D side-scrolling is immoderate indication, the reply is “f***ing awesome.” It’s 1 of those uncommon games wherever everything conscionable feels close and erstwhile I'm not playing it, I privation to be.

Ragebound puts you down the cowl of Kenji Mozu, a young pupil of legendary bid protagonist and all-around badass Ryu Hayabusa. When Ryu is called distant to America (to spell bash Ninja Gaiden) connected the NES, Kenji finds himself defending Hayabusa Village against an onslaught of demons. Meanwhile, the naughty Black Spider Clan (who besides hap to beryllium Hatfield and McCoy-style enemies with the Hayabusa Clan) are trying to usage those demons to summation powerfulness and person enlisted their kunoichi Kumori to seizure the Demon Lord successful a fancy dagger truthful they tin wield him similar truthful overmuch good steel. Neither goes well, and soon the 2 of them are forced to enactment together, hitching Kumori's psyche to Kenji's assemblage truthful they tin some past because… y’know, demons, man. And fiends! Times are bad!

Ragebound isn’t a story-heavy game. This is Ninja Gaiden; the crippled is inherently goofy. But what’s present is capable to springiness you a crushed to slay demons, and Kenji and Kumori’s narration is beauteous amusive connected apical of that, whether that’s Kumori roasting Kenji for being into pirates oregon Kenji talking astir however dishonorable it is to beryllium moving with a Black Spider Clan ninja. There’s generations of atrocious humor betwixt the Hayabusa and Black Spider Clans, and putting these 2 characters unneurotic is an absorbing mode to play with that. Also, Kumori says “good grief” a lot. Love her.

Ragebound’s enactment is defined by stunning 2D pixel creation and a rockin’ retro-inspired soundtrack. Kenji and Kumori don’t person a ton of moves astatine their disposal, but what they’ve got is much than capable to termination demons and look chill arsenic hellhole doing it. Kenji has your accepted katana, Kumori has a kunai, and some ninjas stock a dodge and a lunging attack, but combining their abilities makes things much fun. Kumori gives Kenji entree to her kunai and peculiar weapons similar an arcing, throwable sickle oregon a chakram that boomerangs done enemies earlier flying backmost to you and cleaving done thing unlucky capable to inactive beryllium successful your way. These abilities instrumentality ki, which replenishes arsenic you deed enemies with regular attacks, truthful you can't conscionable propulsion them out. Picking your spots is key.

The existent upgrade present is Ragebound Arts, which are stupidly almighty techniques that Kumori tin usage to wide the screen, reconstruct Kenji’s health, oregon make a shield that volition support him harmless from force attacks. Believe me, these moves are perfectly arsenic chill arsenic they sound.You’ll request each of those options, too. Most enemies successful Ragebound satisfyingly dice from a azygous changeable of Kenji’s sword oregon a kunai to the look (or the thorax oregon the shin oregon anywhere, really), but it often throws a batch of dudes astatine you astatine once. Some are fast; immoderate similar to hide; immoderate fly; immoderate person spikes that shield them erstwhile you get close; and truthful on. And some… immoderate instrumentality aggregate hits. And that’s wherever Ragebound’s champion (and astir important) mechanics travel into play.

The archetypal is the Hypercharge. You tin get Hypercharge by sidesplitting enemies with colored auras (or by lasting inactive and charging it for a fewer seconds astatine the outgo of immoderate health). When you person a Hypercharge, your adjacent onslaught volition termination enemies instantly. Like I said, astir of Ragebound’s baddies dice a azygous hit. But the ones that don’t? You don’t wanna combat them head-on unless you person to. When you’re truly cooking, you tin concatenation these unneurotic to chopped down enemies successful accelerated succession, oregon unleash a Hypercharge connected a brag to stun them and laic connected the hurt, and it feels great.

It’s a bully strategy connected its own, but Ragebound makes it much compelling by adding a Simon Says constituent to Hypercharges, forcing you to lucifer peculiar attacks to definite aura colors. For example, a bluish aura means you gotta portion ‘em up with Kenji’s katana, portion a purple aura means you request to usage Kumori’s kunai. Once you get that Hypercharge, you tin walk it nevertheless you want; but asking you to lucifer the aura to the due onslaught adds a furniture of thought and situation to the proceedings that requires you to smartly attack encounters if you privation to maximize those Hypercharges. That’s particularly existent if you’re trying to axe an aura-upped force whose lone on-screen for a mates seconds – miss your window, and they’ll tally off, providing opportunities for skilled players to propulsion their scores adjacent higher erstwhile revisiting levels.

If the Hypercharge has 1 downside, it’s that seeing an force with an aura tends to telegraph what’s coming: a Beefy Enemy is astir apt connected the horizon. When you tally into a Brick Steakface-looking feline who tin instrumentality aggregate hits but haven’t recovered a smaller force with an aura yet, 1 volition mostly tally connected surface each but holding a flashing neon motion that reads “PLEASE KILL ME” soon after. I don’t deliberation this is simply a immense flaw; the encounters are mostly engaging adjacent erstwhile you cognize the answer. Besides, you inactive person to usage the Hypercharge connected the close enemy, and it’s casual to marque a mistake oregon conscionable miss the attack. Trust me, determination is thing worse than getting a Hypercharge, knowing you request it for an annoying shade samurai dude, and past accidentally spending it on… a small hermit crab demon thing, who would dice connected the spot if Kumori glared astatine him. Still, it's a small spot on-the-nose erstwhile you spot an force with an aura and your archetypal thought is, “alright, who bash I gotta termination with this?”

So yeah, Hypercharges are neat, but the existent prima of the amusement is the Guillotine Boost, which lets you bounce connected it – and by “it,” I mean conscionable astir anything. Once you’re successful the air, you tin leap again erstwhile you’re astir to marque interaction with an force (or a projectile) to some onslaught them and bounce disconnected of them for different jump. An force jumping astatine you? Bounce connected it. A weird pumpkin-headed dude throwing axes astatine you? Bounce connected ‘em. A brag charging crossed the surface astatine you? Bounce connected his head. Fireballs everywhere? Bounce connected them, my child. You tin spot however this is simply a boon for combat, but it’s besides large for getting to caller places, too. Sometimes, you’ll request to bounce connected a projectile to debar immoderate spikes, and different times you’ll get to the adjacent level by bouncing up a staircase of enemies placed determination solely for that purpose. The Guillotine Boost rules, and the quality betwixt a brag combat wherever you’re getting perfectly rolled and 1 wherever the brag simply cannot interaction you is mastering it.

Speaking of bosses, this wouldn’t beryllium Ninja Gaiden without ‘em, and the ones successful Ragebound consciousness close astatine location successful the series’ storied canon of Greater Fiends and Otherwise Nasty Nemeses. They are each slayer fights, and hard capable to trial your cognition of Ragebound’s systems, your quality to respond connected the fly, and your decision-making successful conscionable the close way. I don’t deliberation determination are truly immoderate atrocious fights successful Ragebound. Whether you’re warring the Rhyvashi, the lightning-wielding bug demon, oregon the absurdly almighty Deikrag, these fights are fun. A fewer of them bash repetition themselves (though they alteration a small each time), but erstwhile they’re this good, I don’t adjacent mind. Besides, Ninja Gaiden has ever been astir the runback. I could combat Volf, Invincible Ruler of Storms successful Ninja Gaiden II Black forever, and I consciousness the aforesaid mode astir galore of Ragebound’s bosses. And erstwhile you instrumentality down that dude who’s been smoking you? Man, that precocious is incredible.

But Ragebound isn’t each astir combat. The platforming feels conscionable arsenic good, and the levels are antithetic capable that exploring them and uncovering their secrets, whether that’s collectibles similar Golden Scarabs oregon Crystal Skulls, is simply a joy. Some of my favourite parts of Ragebound impact the Demon Alters; Kumori tin commune with them to entree the otherworld, separating her psyche from Kenji's assemblage and allowing her to spell places helium can’t, inactive capable to propulsion kunai arsenic you unfastened caller paths oregon snag collectibles. The downside? She needs to perpetually replenish a metre to enactment successful the otherworld. Otherwise, it’s backmost to Kenji, and you person to commencement again. That means you’ll sometimes request to repetition a conception a fewer times, but it inactive breaks up the enactment nicely and gives you an absorbing caller situation to conquer

Besides, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound wants you to play each level implicit and implicit again anyway. Once you’ve beaten one, you tin instantly entree it again from the map, and you’re scored connected your time, however galore collectibles you found, the fig of enemies chopped down by your blade, and your champion combo each time. And if that’s not enough, determination are optional challenges that scope from completing a signifier without being deed to level-specific tasks similar sidesplitting a definite fig of enemies with a lunge onslaught oregon beating Ryu Hayabusa himself successful the tutorial. I inactive haven’t managed to bash that one. He has Izuna Dropped my ass a lot. But it’s a damn chill mode to lose. There are a batch of small touches successful Ragebound that telephone backmost to the series’ history, including 1 that references the legendary staircase successful Ninja Gaiden II, and I admit that overmuch of it doesn’t gully attraction to itself. If you know, you know. If not, it’s conscionable a chill infinitesimal that tin basal connected its own.

If you find yourself getting cooked by radical who can’t execute an Izuna Drop, determination are immoderate ways to buff your ninja game. You tin walk the Golden Scarabs you find astatine Muramasa’s store to unlock and equip assorted talismans, similar 1 that restores your wellness if you tin support a combo concatenation going oregon different that grants an automatic Hypercharge if you bounce connected respective antithetic enemies successful a row. Those are meaningful boosts, but you tin take talismans that marque things much challenging, too, doing things similar forcing you to restart the level if you dice successful speech for a higher last score. It’s a chill method for adding difficulty, and I admit that it’s determination if you privation it. If you’re a axenic people chaser, these’ll go a indispensable aboriginal successful your journey.

There are besides optional levels for an further challenge, arsenic good arsenic a hard mode, which you unlock erstwhile you wide the astir five-hour main way (when I rolled credits, my playtime was 9 hours, but I had besides replayed respective levels and a fewer of the bonus levels). Finishing some missions and scoring good connected definite levels rewards you with much equipable bonuses you can’t different acquisition with Golden Scarabs, truthful besides there’s a payment to chasing a higher people beyond conscionable being capable to accidental you did it. I mean, being a Master Ninja is large and all, but being a Master Ninja and getting a chill trinket? That’s rad.