With NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound, players plunge into a blistering tapestry of pixel-perfect vengeance and demonic warfare, sewn from decades of ninja lineage. This in-depth dive into Kenji Mozu’s desperate alliance and blade-fueled fury feels like rediscovering the very soul of 8-bit agony only remastered with haunting beauty and precision. From its soul-bonded combat mechanic to the dual protagonist chaos, Ragebound is a kinetic fever dream, a thrilling reinvention that sings in every slash, shadow-dash, and cursed crescendo.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound Review Pros

• Awesome modern pixel art graphics. 
• 906.4MB download size. 
• Platinum trophy. 
• You get the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game, so you can potentially earn two Platinum trophies. 
• Game settings – language, font (standard/HD/dyslexic), and gore and blood can each be turned on and off. 
• Accessibility options – hit flash, assist mode, game speed, incoming damage, incoming knockbacks, hypercharged time, and guillotine boost size. 
• Action platformer gameplay. 
• Tutorial signs and pop-ups as you play. 
• Using ANY accessibility option DOES NOT DISABLE TROPHIES. 
• You can remap the controls. 
• World map level select, and you can replay levels. 
• Find scrolls hidden in levels to unlock unique special ops for rare rewards. 
• Shrines act as a respawn point and heal you. 
• The Muramasa Store is where you can purchase items and gear for your character using the golden beetles you find in the levels. 
• Many hidden rooms and alternate paths to find. 
• Each level has a set of collectables, from skulls to golden beetles and scrolls. 
• In the world map, you can see level progression, best time, best kills, max combo, and collectables percentage. 
• Two playable characters – each plays differently as one is melee and the other is ranged. 
• Each character can have two items equipped that can enhance or add buffs and abilities to them. 
• Fast-paced gameplay, and it’s a very chaotic game. 
• Hack and slash combat, and you can do a jump spin attack that lets you catapult off that enemy and onto another, or use it so you can jump between platform sections. 
• 2D game world with animated backgrounds and foreground. 
• In-game cutscenes and character interactions, you can skip cutscenes, amd fast scroll or skip interactions. 
• Earn ki from melee attacks and smashing ki orbs. This allows you to throw ninja stars and the like. 
• Puzzle elements pop up from time to time. 
• Charged guillotine attacks do mega damage, and you can kill marked enemies to do it or sacrifice health and charge yourself up. 
• You can shoot ranged weapons in four directions. 
• Action-wise wise you can wall jump, jump, roll, climb certain walls and ceilings, and of course, attack. 
• Cool slowdown effect when doing mega damage. 
• Full combo counter that pops up as you kill fools. 
• Many enemy types and learning patterns are key. 
• The game is a real challenge and is still tough if you use accessibility options. 
• Massive boss encounters, and you can see their health bars. 
• Fast loading times. 
• Each level has three optional challenges to do, and they will pop up on screen when you either pass or fail them. You can see the challenges in the pause menu. 
• The powerful guillotine attacks have a short timer to use them before you have to get the power back up. 
• I like that in sections where you have to do a particular attack or have ki, it will respawn enemies to help you get that. 
• Auras start to play a part in what you can and cannot do; there are blue and red auras. 
• Amazing animations as always. 
• I love the bouncing off enemies mechanic, as you can do it off projectiles, allowing you to get quite sneaky with your attacks. 
• It’s a game you can get into very quickly and have fun smashing and mashing your way through. 
• Excellent level design. 
• The music is every bit as good as the graphics and atmosphere they create. 
• Build up your rage orbs, and getting all of them can let you trigger a huge screen-killing attack. 
• Demon Altars is where you get encased, and this lets you play as the other character with timed platforms. 
• The game is always trying to mix it up, and I appreciate that. 

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound Review Cons

• No leaderboards or score-chasing aspect to the game. 
• The game does get very reflex-heavy heavy which can be a problem for some. The visuals can get a bit much and make simple things like seeing enemies’ attacks difficult. 
• You are a very sticky ninja; it’s actually annoying how many times you will just stick to the side of platforms and walls. 
• Boss battles are huge jumps in difficulty. 

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NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound

Official Website:

Developer: DotEmu

Publisher: Dotemu

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PlayStation