Ninja Gaiden Ragebound: 7 coolest things
Blog Andrew Joseph 09 Jun , 2025 0
I often get excited when I preview the upcoming game. Who won't? Checking out the game pre-release and then sharing this experience is one of the joys of the job. However, when I implemented a new version of Ninja Gaiden ragebound in my inbox, I was pretty sure I started drooling. Indeed, this is a Pavlov response. See, Ninja Gaiden Sickos has now fixed a while for the good times of the past, but this year is like tripping into an oasis in the desert, only the oasis has air conditioning, your favorite local joints and an ordering menu for the open bar. Ninja Gaiden fans have been wandering for a long time. But this year, it feels like we are going home.
I haven't played the demo I previewed last time, so Ragebound is a new experience for me. But it feels like slipping into an old pair of shoes. It took a second to get back to the swing of things – I haven't played 2d Ninja gaiden in a hot second – but once I did it, it felt like I would never leave. There is a lot to say here, but we've already done a more traditional preview with a focus on the raging experience of meat and potatoes playing, so this time, let's dig out the small toughness. Here are 7 coolest things about Ninja Brutality.
#1: The Guillotine Lift allows you to bounce back (“It” is everything)
There are a lot of cool mechanics in Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, but I started with the guillotine lift because everything else flows out of it. Once you're in the air, you can jump again when you want to contact the enemy to attack them and bounce from them to jump again. Cool, right?
But it's not just an enemy. You can also attack projectiles, or even some enemies. Obviously, you can use the guillotine lift to get to where you could not have done otherwise, but you can also use it to bounce between enemies and keep attacking. As he tried to attack me, I managed to bounce back on Gurthka, the boss who demonstrated the second level, for a few seconds. And those weird samurai spirits and spears? Just bounce their attack and keep moving forward. Is the lift of the guillotine as cool as the izuna drip? No, no. But this is very close.
#2: Excess Fee Is a One-Strike Style
OK, so the guillotine lift allows you to get into hard-to-reach places, keep attacking and style on your boss. But what happens when you need to kill something in a single stroke? Well, that's where overload comes from. You can earn an overweight charge by killing enemies with your halo. Do this and you will get a few seconds of overcharge. When you have it, your next attack will kill the enemy immediately. To be fair, most enemies in most Ragebound are hit in one hit. But what about those not? You don't want to have those cat toes. In an emergency, you can sacrifice some health to charge manually, but you need to avoid it if you can. When you actually cook, you can connect them together to cut enemies in quick succession, or release them on your boss to unconscious them and lie on the damage, which feels great. Speaking of this, this brings me to the next point.
#3: Simon says it's cool now
Many video games really look like the battle designs that Simon said. You know what I mean; the enemy is a certain color, so you use a specific attack (I'm looking at you, DMC:Devil may cry), or they're waving a specific weapon, so you drop the build position to fight this (don't think I didn't notice the ghost of Tsushima). A little boring, right?
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is fighting design with Simon, but it escapes because it does it in a cool way. You can still kill any demo I want in any way I want. But, some of them have a reiki with excess fees? If you want this kind of overcharge, you have to kill these enemies somehow. The blue halo means you have to slice with Kenji's Katana, while the purple halo means you need to use Kunai. Once you get an overcharge, you can spend it as much as you want; however, forcing you to match your aura with the right weapon to fly will add to the welcome factor of the challenge, especially when the enemy lasts only a few seconds on the screen, you have to react quickly.
#4: With Kumori Rocks
In the story of Ragebound, our boy Kenji is fused with Kumori. Like any good member of the Hayabusa clan, he was very frustrated about walking around with the Spider clan ninjas, but he shouldn't have done so. There are many benefits to hanging out with Kumori. First, she lets Kenji into Kunai to deal with enemies in range (and teleport to certain objects in the environment), but also a spider weapon. In my presentation, the shape and arc of the throwable sickle reminded me of a lot of Throwing shaft from Castlevania. She gives you access to clear the Ragebound Arts on the screen. No substitutes are accepted when everything around you absolutely must die. Hey, more toys, right? But this is not the table Kumori brings.
She can also communicate with the Demon Altar to drive other worlds. As her spirit separates from Kenji's body and walks around other worlds, she can go where he can't, opening up new paths. Even without ki, she can access kunai. shortcoming? She needs to keep replenishing a meter to stay in other worlds. Otherwise, it's back to Kenji and you have to do it again. Sometimes this means you will repeat the section a few times. It also breaks down the action and gives you a new way to play. Very cool. Also, Kumori often says “very sad.” I love her.
#5: Exploration is worth your time
One of the things I really appreciate about RageBound is its purity. This is not Rogate in the endless sea of roguelite (thank God); it's a side-scrolling action game of the original trilogy of the series. But that doesn't mean there is nothing worth walking on. There are sacred bars and crystal skulls to find, and while it's unclear what both of them are doing at this time (the scarab is the currency of the Muramasa Shop, which is not available in my demo, so I can only guess what good stuff he will offer), it will surely give you an excuse to explore. One of my favorites “do an optional bit and get a cool thing” part is that I had to navigate a tricky teleportation platform part to Kumori. I spent a few attempts to handle it correctly (I kept messing up at the end), but when I nailed it, I knew something like the back of my hand. That feeling OK.
#6: Reward Mastery
Oh, and when it comes to mastering something, Ninja Gaiden ragebound wants you to play these levels over and over again. After defeating a person, you can access it again from the map immediately. Every time you play the game, you will score on time, collections, the number of enemies killed, and the best combination. And, if not enough, there are optional challenges, from completion level without being subjected to higher tasks, such as killing so many enemies with lunge attacks, or defeating Ryu Hayabusa himself in the tutorial. I… didn't do that. He izuna put my ass down. That's really hell. Ryu, I will give it to you one day.
#7: It hurts so much
Essentially, I wouldn't call Ninja gaiden ragebound easily, but this is not impossible with conventional difficulties. The series has some legacy to maintain during tough times and you have to be a little masochist to see the deepest level of depravity it has to show you. What can I say? I like pain.
So, it's good news for me, as the beat-up demo unlocks a hard version of one of the levels I've just played. And, uh…it’s much harder. There are new enemies! Everything caught fire! The Developer Gaming Kitchen has something for Sickos, which I appreciate.
I came out from the ninja Gaiden ragebound and a man who had just had a good meal part, the part was too small. Thanks, but want more. What can I say? I love action games, especially this series has a special place in my mind. When you're not here, I get the milkshake, Ninja Gaiden. But it's great to have you come back.