Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review – All Style, but there is no heart

It seems that the year 2025 is the “year of Ninja”. Filter of belief: shadows It was one of the big strikes in the first half of this year, which is the new Shinobi game on the way, and Ninja Gaiden fans are dealt with with a full trilogy: Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, which was released in January, Ninja Gaiden 4, his arrival later this year And Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, arrived on Thursday. However, based on my experience, you may want to overcome this batch: it is charming but far from satisfying.

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound It is a two -dimensional side movement game that praises the original Ninja Gaiden. While reactionary graphics are attractive, the way of playing lacks a meaningful depth. It seems to be a project of the first concept in which the ninja was added after the truth, with the name Ninja Gaiden to sell it.

Interestingly, Ragebound works as a side story of the original NES title. Rio Hayaposa is learning his father’s death in America and leaves his village, and the first match will be held. In his absence, his colleague Ninja Kinji Mozo remains behind to protect the village. Soon after, a demon’s army invades. Meanwhile, you find the Comorian, the ninja from the competing Black Spider clan, its home base under siege as well. He was arrested, he tells Kinguri Kenji using a mystical dagger to connect her soul to him.

This double -charging mechanics is the central hook for Ragebound. Players control Kenji, who uses a sword, while a comorian helps in the form of a soul by throwing the Shorikins. Sometimes, it can take a physical form to reach the areas that Kenji cannot reach. As the duo advances, they open a strong magic attack on the screen.

Smart like this looks, it falls into implementation. Saif Kenji is his only consistent weapon, and Shorekins Comori is connected to a meter that is fill only when Kenji hits. Upon full responsibility, you may get dozens of throws before emptying again. There is an attack based on the jump that feels mysteriously loudly -like in a loud -like, bounced from enemies, but it is often used for the platform rather than fighting. Moveset shallow, as well as level designs.

The stages are repeated, full of endless waves of weak enemies that die in one blow. Sometimes, one drops a force that allows you to kill a greater enemy immediately, but these moments do not change the basic link that is repeated again and again until it reaches its president.

Thanks to the game, Boss battles are highlighting. All distinctive patterns and grow more complicated in its second stage. These meetings forced me to be more tactical with dodges and attacks, and some multiple attempts required due to excessive commitment or fog. But these battles are the only part of Ragebound that seems to be carefully designed.

Ordinary enemies do not think of thinking and mostly to strike you in potholes, which cause immediate death. Otherwise, it is easy to laugh. With healing talismans and a generous checkpoint, it is already difficult to die. In fact, with Dodge’s ability to Kenji, you can exceed most of the level without engaging. You will heal at the next checkpoint anyway.

The levels are set in different regions of Japan, and while one stage is provided in a building under construction a little diversity, most environments lack creativity or challenge.

The difficulty is also a great departure from the legacy of Ninja Jayden. The original NES games were punishing, and Xbox restarting was more difficult. Here, the virtual difficulty looks like “Child’s Mode”. You can adjust the settings to remove healing elements or increase enemy damage, but this is related to it.

Dual -dimensional art is a developer The Game Kitchen, known as the Rowing Series. The style repeats the NES and Sne era well, but the magic fades quickly. Unlike the blasphemy, which the designs of a unique enemy appeared and the animation that led to the mobilization of the character, the Ragebound enemies feel the lazy. They just run towards you, then they appear like water balloons when they are defeated.

With six to eight hours of playing at $ 25, I can’t recommend Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. It lacks anything important other than this side story to the original Ninja Gaiden game, and even then, it only offers different ninja fighting monsters. This game was supposed to be a love message to the original trilogy, but instead, it is more like a bad copy of a love message made by someone who does not seem to be very interested.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is available for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series.