NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound - Full Game, S+ Rank (Hard Mode)
536Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound came out just over a week ago, from The Game Kitchen, the makers of the Blasphemous series. When this was announced, I didn't know what to expect from it - I was a little worried it would play like the Blasphemous games, which seem well made for what they are, but they're practically the polar opposite of what I would want out of a game with the Ninja Gaiden name on it. And I'm glad to say that Ragebound is exactly what it should be - a linear, fast paced, challenging, no nonsense action game. It has two playable characters: Kenji, a trainee of the Hayabusa clan, and Kumori, a member of the Black Spider clan who specializes in ranged attacks. You play as Kenji for the vast majority of the game, and he plays as you'd expect. Kumori typically acts as more or a support character - after she joins Kenji, she gives him the ability to throw kunai, use support weapons like the chakram, and use Ragebound attacks (ninpo, basically). She has her own sections in every stage though, where she leaves Kenji's body and has to do some platforming to unlock a door, etc. It all works together perfectly.
Ragebound is a lot different from the classic NES games, but not in a bad way. Those are pure 30~ minute long arcade-like action games. Ragebound has an overworld map and non-consecutive stages, like a Mario or Donkey Kong game. I think this direction gave them freedom to make more stages than anyone would want in a more arcade-like game, and it lets then make every stage as hard as they want. In my first playthrough, I started getting worried that the game would be too long, but then it ended right at the perfect time. After you finish the game, you unlock Hard mode, which has everything you'd expect out of a higher difficulty - more enemies, more complex bosses, and there's more traps and hazards throughout every stage. Hard mode also has an additional stage, which serves as the true ending to the game.
Finally, there's a ranking system that grades your performance on each stage, and if you want the highest grades, that's where most of the difficulty will come from. If you just play normally, checkpoints are pretty frequent and you've got infinite lives, so it's not hard to finish the game. In order to get an S-rank, you'll have to complete every objective in the stage in one run. That means finishing under the target time (which usually forces you to move quickly), killing most of the enemies, getting a certain kill combo, getting every collectible, and completing the three extra challenges that each stage.
If you want to go beyond that, you can get S+ and S++ ranks, which is what I've done here. In order to push your grade further, you have to use the debuff talismans. There are a few to choose from, with one that make enemies do triple damage, checkpoint statues no longer healing you, or one where dying sends you back to the beginning of the stage. Having one of these equipped makes an S+ possible, while two of them lets you get an S++. I started out aiming for S++, but I knew right away that it would be really hard to get on some (probably most) of the stages, so I settled for S+ for now. That way I could at least keep the talisman that heals you after each enemy kill, otherwise you'll have to complete every stage with no healing at all, forcing you to memorize every inch of them. That's the ultimate challenge, so if I go for it, it's going to be further down the road lol. S+ is already plenty hard.
I always used the talisman that sends you back to the beginning of the stage on death, because dying in a segmented challenge like this is absolutely no bueno for me.
Overall, the grading system is pretty well made, which is a first for a Ninja Gaiden game. I don't like that dying has no penalty besides the time loss (sometimes it even saves time...), and I feel like some stages might be impossible to get an S++ on. There's one in particular with Kumori that has an incredibly high kill target, and I have no idea how you can reach it under the par time. For that one I ended up using two debuff talismans because I couldn't even find enough enemies to kill. Maybe that was an oversight from the developers, or I'm just missing something?
I'm nearly at the character limit so I better stop here. Bottom line, Ragebound is an instant classic, and the best game of 2025 so far. I can only hope Ninja Gaiden 4 dethrones it!
I can only do basic chapter timestamps right now because I'm writing all this at work. I'll fix it up when I get home.
0:00 Intro
3:40 ACT 1
22:52 ACT 2
39:20 ACT 3
1:30:28 ACT 4
2:26:58 Last Boss
2:25:21 Special Ops
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Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight): • Beat 'em Ups
2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug): • 2D Action
STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi): • STG Replays