Review of NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound for PlayStation 5

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound, huh? So, there I was, minding my own business, when bam! Suddenly, a brand spanking new game lands in my lap. It’s all shiny and pixel-loaded—like, you can almost feel the nostalgia poking at you, y’know? Anyway, this whole shebang starts with Ryu Hayabusa. He’s off in America doing his thing—something about his father’s will—when chaos erupts back home. Typical, right?

Meanwhile, in Hayabusa Village, the world’s gone upside down. Demons everywhere! It’s like Halloween but without the candy. Kenji Mozu, the new kid on the ninja block, has to step up, and somehow, he buddies up with the Black Spider Clan. Enter Kumori, the assassin who’s now part of the squad. The whole game’s intertwined with the original NINJA GAIDEN. Parallel stories? Wild stuff.

Oh, and get this, I reviewed Blasphemous 2—a ride and a half!—so I was pretty hyped for this gig. The controls in this game? Old school. It’s like they took a time machine back to those joystick arcade days, but you know, with a modern twist. Jump, slash, wall crawl—you name it. Not gonna lie, kind of made me feel like a ninja in training. The cool kind, not the spill-coffee-on-your-robe-at-5am kind.

There’s this guillotine move – midair mayhem at its finest. Kumori’s got kunai throwing down pat, too. The battles get intense; you dodge like your life depends on it—cause, well, it does. Press a button here, something explodes there. It’s chaos in a very satisfying, pixelated way.

Ever play a game where you feel like you’re juggling a million things at once? This is it, my friend. You’re on missions, dodging spikes, doing perfect runs, and collecting stuff. Golden Scarabs, Dragon Talismans—you’ll find all kinds of goodies to boost your play. Each one has its perks, like health recoveries and checkpoints boosts. Very handy for a ninja on the move, or a stressed-out gamer.

The trophy list? Long. But in a good, “yay more stuff to do” kind of way. You’ve got your Bronze, Silver, and Gold ones, and that illustrious Platinum is waiting. It’s like a gaming treasure hunt, honestly.

And oh boy, they didn’t skimp on accessibility. The assist modes are there if you need ’em. Slow the game, tweak the damage—it’s all customizable. Ragebound is set to launch as a Cross-Buy, which means you’re getting quite a bang for your buck with both PS4 and PS5 versions. Double whammy!

Anyway, this whole NINJA GAIDEN saga feels like slipping into a comfy pair of old sneakers… with rockets. And yet, there’s plenty of new stuff to keep your adrenaline spiking. Whether you’re sneaking, slashing, or just soaking in that sweet pixel nostalgia, it’s a wild ride. So yeah, suit up, sharpen those reflexes, and dive into the chaos. Who knows, you might even save the world—or your sanity.