We’ve played a bit
How many times has Hayabusa village burned down?
Some Ninja Gaiden freaks out there must know.
But in the upcomingNinja Gaiden: Ragebound, it’s going back to 2D, largely without Ryu.
You might, unlike me, even be able to defeat him.
But it won’t matter.
Your village will be burnt to the ground anyway.
“Because what would be a Ninja Gaiden game without it?”
The Game Kitchen are best known forBlasphemousandits sequel, the most metalheaded of metroidvanias.
But other essential ingredients of old-school Gaiden took longer to recognise.
The Game Kitchen were making what might pass for a hacky slashy 2D action demake of moderno-Gaiden.
Combo heavy combat, it’s quite good in open spaces in 3D.
But it’s kind of harder to [reproduce] in 2D."
If you have to hit a bad guy twice, you’ve already screwed up.
The developers call it a “one-hit predominant” game.
But if things come to that, it is heavily implied you are playing as a sub-optimal rube.
Ragebound’s trick is not flashy, but it is effective.
Every so often a “blocker” enemy will appear as you dash through its levels.
Charging them head-on will see you slashing at the big guys repeatedly.
Friends, I have not managed it.
Alongside the one-hit winishers comes the traditional wall-clambering and ceiling clutching of the classics.
There’s your invincible dodgeroll to get through enemies, your frequent checkpoints, your screen-clearing super attack.
The same trick lets you use angry fish or projectiles as stepping stones to close a gap.
Kumori is your secondary hero, a white-haired ghost gal with a pair of kunai.
A shoulder phantom throwing literal shade.
Even if, in the moment, my reflexes didn’t catch it in time.
In some levels you’ll have to strap Kenji to freaky altars.
This will see you take lone control of the spectral Kumori in a mildly altered spirit realm.
Turns out ghosts just spend all day precision platforming while outrunning a cooldown timer by smashing orbs.
It’s a brief dip into (again) speedrunny gauntlets.
But what is any of this for?
What do Kenji and his pals want?
To stop the “Demon Lord”, whoever that is.
Speaking as a stranger to the series (a NinjaGaijin?)
I get the feeling that story and character are very much an afterthought.
From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t go beyond the simplistic hero’s quest.
You literally have to find three crystals scattered across the land.
But maybe there’s some fun friction to be explored in the hero and his haunting hellfriend.
Perhaps a more interesting tale will become clear.
But not until some time later this year, says publisher Dotemu.
Now they find themselves childminding a beloved assassin belonging to Team Ninja.
I’ll wait and see if the devs can knock it out in a single thwack.
