Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound was offered by Dotemu for overview. Thanks!
Whereas I play a number of fashionable video games, I take pleasure in going again to the classics right here and there. There are video games which are so closely impressed by them that as an alternative of attempting to make one thing model new, they give attention to enhancing and modernizing them. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes the NES traditional and places a contemporary spin on it with enhanced mechanics, a stunning coat of paint, and quality-of-life enhancements. In the long run, it creates a unbelievable expertise that makes me want extra platformers have been like this, even with some minor flaws.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound follows Kenji Mozu and Kumori, a Hayabusa Ninja and Black Spider Ninja, respectively, who’re compelled to work collectively to cease the Demon Lord from making its method out of hell. Whereas each are on opposing sides, our protagonists can be compelled to work collectively to save lots of all of humanity and cease demons from taking on.
The story is not the principle focus of the sport, however I did benefit from the dynamic between Kenji and Kumori. Their clans are enemies of one another, which makes them foes, however being compelled to staff up and face the menace collectively noticed them begin to heat up. It was a bit heartwarming seeing them develop on one another, and there have been some twists I did not see coming, each with them and heading into the climax of the story. I used to be pleasantly shocked, and whereas it took me round 6 hours to beat the sport, the story was fairly strong for what it supplied throughout that point.
The soundtrack additionally deserves particular point out, because it’s unbelievable. It saved me pumped up as I ran by every stage, and it combines properly with the sound of enemies being sliced in half. It is onerous for me to get into soundtracks of video games, I are likely to get used to taking part in with out sound due to how I grew up, however as quickly as I heard the beat, I discovered it onerous to not play whereas listening in.
If there’s one factor developer The Sport Kitchen has persistently wowed me with, it is how they animate their metroidvanias. Blasphemous 1 and a pair of shocked me with how detailed and fluid every character and their animations have been. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound continues that pattern. Seeing how Kenji and Kumori run or assault, and the way the enemies fall and blood splatters out of them, simply looks like straight eye-candy. Paired with the beautiful pixel-art settings and nice number of enemy designs, there’s so much to like concerning the visuals that I simply adore.
As for the gameplay, it actually does really feel like a modernized model of the unique Ninja Gaiden. They’re each 2D platformers the place we’ve to kill enemies coming at us, whereas climbing partitions and hanging on ceilings to get from one aspect of the extent to the opposite. Most enemies might be sliced down in a single hit, which I really like, and every map is crammed with enemies coming left and proper and small platforming challenges, so there may be by no means a uninteresting second.
The back-to-back motion was so satisfying, and it made me wish to go replay ranges I had already accomplished. It was nice slicing one enemy in entrance, then turning round to slice one other, leaping and slicing just a few extra, and racking up a kill streak to strive conserving the combo going so long as I might. The slicing, throwing kunai, and air assault complement one another, and all really feel pure. It is positively a simple to study, troublesome to grasp state of affairs, and I saved on wanting extra.
We even have Hypercharged Assaults, which may slice a few of the extra highly effective enemies that may usually require a number of strikes or have shields. Getting powered up for these assaults requires killing particular glowing enemies, whether or not it’s blue (slicing or air assault), pink (throwing kunai), or by sacrificing a few of your well being. Having to handle which assault to make use of, planning, and watching these assaults slice the highly effective or shielded enemies in half is kind of gratifying, and I admire that I’ve the choice to sacrifice some well being to energy up in case I unintentionally use the mistaken assault or simply miss my strike.
The boss battles have been additionally equally participating. Each regarded and felt completely different from one another, forcing me to make the most of completely different methods to take them down.
Nonetheless, there have been moments of frustration. I discovered two points with controls whereas going by ranges and combating bosses. There have been occasions that I might latch on to partitions and ceilings robotically, which screwed up my platforming, and altering instructions when dodging did not at all times register. Generally, I might roll forward as an alternative of behind and smack into an enemy or boss. The platforming and controls are in any other case strong, however these issues crept up sufficient occasions to frustrate me just a little.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound makes essentially the most of its quick run time, with the expertise persistently altering. No two ranges regarded or felt the identical, making it really feel contemporary and thrilling all all through. Mixed with the good stage design, it was inconceivable to not really feel engaged all through the entire sport. It is a clear instance of prioritizing high quality over amount. I might relatively have a top quality 6 hour expertise then a mediocre 30 hour one, and that makes this sport good for me.
Every stage has a set of challenges and collectibles, which contribute to the rank you will get, starting from E to S rank. We will additionally unlock Secret Ops ranges and head to the store to buy trinkets and new assaults to enhance our talents. The upgrades and talent adjustments are a pleasant contact, however I by no means felt compelled to enhance or change the talents I had.
These, together with a Arduous Mode that unlocks when you beat the sport, add a pleasant little bit of replayability. There are neat adjustments to Arduous Mode that made some ranges and managers harder, as an alternative of simply giving everybody extra well being or larger assault. Some enemies are quicker, others throw extra shuriken, and boss battles have completely different stage results. It feels extra personalised, and I admire that.
It is a actually strong sport, and one I very a lot loved taking part in by, particularly on the Steam Deck.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound – Steam Deck Efficiency
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is the right match for the Steam Deck. It appears superb on the smaller display and must be a fantastic match for this sort of gameplay. Nonetheless, for these taking part in on an OLED Steam Deck, attending to a strong 90 FPS all through can be powerful. There are areas in ranges, with some in act 1 and act 2 that stand out, which may both drop framerate a bit or trigger battery drain to spike. This led to drops to the 70 FPS vary and round 16W battery drain. It is not essentially the most excessive, however it’s method larger than it must be (regular vary at 90 FPS was round 9W).
Setting to 60 FPS fixes this downside, bringing battery drain all the way down to round 9.5W and conserving a strong 60 FPS.
This additionally brings the final gameplay battery drain all the way down to round 7W – 8W, which can in the end improve battery life by an additional hour or so total. Aside from that, the sport feels and performs completely on the Steam Deck, and there is not a lot else to say about it:
Accessibility
The sport has a selected accessibility tab the place we are able to change hit flashes, controller vibration, and an help mode that permits us to alter sport velocity, harm, and Hypercharged time. We will additionally change language, font sort (together with a dyslexic-friendly font), and toggle gore and blood.
The sport would not help 16:10 resolutions, however it does have cloud saves and controller help. There aren’t any HDR settings.
Conclusion
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound brings again the traditional Ninja Gaiden gameplay in a contemporary method that I fell in love with. The beautiful world and animations combine with the exact platforming and one-hit fight that I could not get sufficient of. Even with a brief runtime, every stage and boss battle felt distinct and pleasant. A few of the dodging and climbing received in the best way of my fights, and I did not make the most of upgrades a lot, however it was a ton of enjoyable the place high quality over amount goes a good distance.
On high of that, it is a gem to play on the Steam Deck. Simply switching to 60 FPS fixes the minor points I discovered at 90, and lowers the battery drain significantly. It is a good sport to tackle the go.
Our overview is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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