Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch, & PC)

Ninja Gaiden 4 is underway, slated to launch on October 21, 2025. But first, fans have Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound to keep them busy. It may very well be a marketing ploy to attract more followers to the Ninja Gaiden franchise. However, Ragebound has far outdone itself. In fact, it may very well rank highly among the considerations for Game of the Year. 

It’s simply that good, which frankly, is to be expected from the renowned studio, The Game Kitchen. You probably know of the studio from the Blasphemous series, a most brutal action-platformer with striking pixel art. Ragebound pretty much follows the same recipe, taking you back to the NES and SNES era of the Ninja Gaiden franchise. 

Over ten years since the current Ninja Gaiden 3, and three decades since the reign of the tight action-platforming classics, is there a better time to revisit the themes and ideas that made the franchise so immensely popular? Here’s everything you can expect from Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, coming July 31, 2025.

Hell Breaks Loose

Wasting no time at all, you’re inducted into Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s gameplay systems via the tutorial mode and a boss fight. This shouldn’t be an entirely unfamiliar orientation to veterans, those who began their Ninja Gaiden journey as early as the ‘90s. Newcomers, on the other hand, will want to be keen to grasp Ragebound’s trickier combat and platforming mechanics. 

Once you’re all set, Ryu Hayabusa takes his leave, seeking vengeance in America based on the events of the first Ninja Gaiden game. He leaves his protege Kenji Mozu in his stead, whose first order of business becomes eradicating a demon invasion from the face of the Earth. And so, your ruthless pursuit of waves of enemies begins, traversing across mountains, forests, trains, underground labs, construction sites, etc. There is no shortage of environmental variety here. 

It’s all overwhelming for a newbie. Not so much a veteran of the Ninja Gaiden series, who should already be familiar with the brutality of the gameplay. Surprisingly, you’ll find Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes it easier on your frantic button presses. While still demanding precise action-platforming, you do have leeway to make mistakes.

What matters most is your quick reflexes in the face of endless streams of enemies. And of different types, I might add. Bugs, ghost soldiers, heavy-armored soldiers, the Celsus fiends, etc. There’s no shortage of enemy variety either.

It’s helpful, then, that most enemies can be disposed of via a one-shot kill. Simply slash through them in close range, and “poof,” they’ll be gone.  They come in waves. So, you barely have the time to catch your breath before the next enemy spawns on screen. But hey, simply slicing enemies is bound to grow bland over time. So, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound introduces a neat twist. 

Till Death Do Us Part

While navigating deep in the trenches of demon-infested lands, you tango with skilled assassin Kumori from the antagonistic Black Spider Ninja clan. She has her own motive for wiping out the demon invasion. However, with the demons proving more powerful in size and numbers, you make the misguided decision to merge your bodies (and souls). 

If you have your eyebrow raised, keep in mind that the Ninja Gaiden’s strongest suit has never been compelling, let alone logical storytelling. Many gamers, I suspect, will be looking for tight action-platforming, and Ragebound delivers beyond expectation. Yet, there’s commendable effort here, where the story does incorporate occasional surprising twists. Even more is the shockingly sweet banter between frenemies Kenji and Kumori, the former mocking the latter for their undying loyalty to a misguided mission. In contrast, the latter makes fun of Kenji’s strange affection for pirates. 

It works as a distraction, a breather, a change of pace, whatever soothes your fancy –it just works. It does seem concerning, though, that it’s the peak of the story, with the plotline plateauing interest or intrigue for most of the mid to late stage of the game.

Helping Hand

Anyway, with Kumori in the picture, she affords you a more diverse set of tools. She gives you access to her kunai and special weapons, launching a sickle or chakram at distant enemies. The throwable weapon can boomerang back to you, slicing through any enemy still left standing. Together, they alternate between melee and ranged attacks seamlessly, without breaking the speedy pace of combat. 

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s fast-paced combat is made more so by the movement options. You can dash forward, dodge roll out of harm’s way, wall climb, latch onto ceilings, and double jump via the Guillotine boost. This mechanic makes all the difference in the fluidity of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. It enables you to essentially bounce on anything of matter, be it projectiles, enemies themselves, moving platforms, and more. 

As a platforming move, it lets you reach higher platforms and enter inaccessible areas. As an action move, though, it can destroy projectiles and inflict damage on enemies. Given such versatility, it makes sense that Guillotine takes a minute to master and string together. Once you’re able to, you can go without lifting a finger at enemies, including bosses, merely bouncing on them until their health bars are drained out.

Given that most enemies go down in a single, precise strike, it’s welcome that you occasionally run into stronger enemies who take multiple strikes to whittle down. But that’s where Hypercharge comes in. You’ll encounter color-coded enemies, either blue or purple, who require taking down using Kenji’s melee sword slashes or Kumori’s ranged kunai. Otherwise, you won’t gain the Hypercharge, which is a short-term overpowered attack that can destroy stronger enemies, and even bosses, in a single strike.

More Tricks Up Your Sleeve

And The Game Kitchen has been clever in integrating Hypercharge’s use in the flow of combat. That way, you won’t wait too long after gaining a Hypercharge before a heavy-armored or shielded enemy requiring its use appears. The trick is how long you will dodge roll out of the way of the weaker enemies that come before, saving the Hypercharge for the stronger enemy it’s meant to kill. This is where the tactical play of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound comes in, ensuring that you’re not just button-mashing your way through combat and wiping out enemies mindlessly. There’s a level of planning involved in launching attacks, prioritizing the skillsets at your disposal.  

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound emphasizes above all else the uninterrupted flow of combat. Even when you die, it doesn’t take long before you respawn at pretty generous checkpoints. You’ll definitely make mistakes, perhaps take a few hits you can’t recover from, or fail to maximize a combo attack. Some bosses are pretty tough and will take a while to master their attack patterns. More often than not, you’ll be reacting to encounters faster than your brain can process. You’ll be lunging sword slashes through frail enemies, dodge-rolling past stronger ones for brief invisibility, and bouncing off enemies to execute aerial attacks. And it’ll all sync together so perfectly that it’ll feel like second nature by the time you reach the bosses, who then challenge you to reach mastery level, at which point all the dopamine boost you need will have been quenched. 

Do Over

Before closing, those who feel Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s roughly five-hour runtime is hardly enough will appreciate the numerous excuses for a second run. Speed runners will certainly want to beat their own high scores, while completionists will be looking to unlock every secret level there is. 

Collectables are in plenty, rewarding you with not only upgrades and new abilities, but also ways to tweak the rules of the game. You might unlock health boosts upon consecutive kills, for instance. Alternatively, you might multiply damage intake three times to make your next run tougher. There’s also a hard mode for those who want even more challenge, reminiscent of the classics. 

Verdict

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s story is its weakest point. And even then, it’s not particularly terrible to toss in the trash. It has its moments, with the playful connection between protagonists Kenji and Kumori fueling most of the campaign. Still, the story is hardly the spotlight that makes Ninja Gaiden games must-plays. It’s the sheer addictive and satisfying feeling of combat, perhaps the brutality that comes with it, too.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound isn’t the toughest game you’ll play. But it’ll surely make you feel giddy about pulling off sick ground and aerial attacks against all kinds of enemies. It’ll make you feel like a lightning bolt, breezing across the 2D sidescrolling platform with your sword in hand and occasional throwables launched by the Kumori soul within you. It all feels so smooth and fluid, and so much fun, too, that you can’t help returning for multiple runs. 

This one’s a retro title perfectly brought into the modern age by a renowned developer whose brilliance at designing tight action-platformers and striking pixel art remains untarnished.