The Game Kitchen Cooked With the Ninja Gaiden Ragebound Demo
July can't come sooner.
When it was announced that The Game Kitchen would be developing the first 2D Ninja Gaiden in 33 years, I knew the series was in good hands. Following the success of the incredible Blasphemous series, The Game Kitchen has cemented its place as a leading developer in the 2D space.
Enter Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a return to the roots of a franchise now best known for its 3D action titles from Team Ninja. The original 2D entries have long been forgotten, largely due to their absence from modern platforms. Ragebound brings back the signature one-hit-kill combat, rewarding precision, smart positioning, and mastery of Kenji’s moveset.
Impeccable Pacing
While the Blasphemous series has its fair share of platforming, the pacing is much slower with a larger emphasis on combat and exploration. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound doesn’t follow that ethos and is a lightning-fast game that seamlessly blends combat and platforming. The demo features two full levels, a boss fight, and several challenges.
Once you’re comfortable with the mechanics, which are taught to you by none other than Ryu Hayabusa, you’ll be flying through levels, jumping over obstacles, and dismembering demons before they even touch the ground.
All of this is possible thanks to a fairly simple control scheme and tight and responsive controls. Every mistake I made was my failing, and that’s the sign of a hard but fair action platformer.
If you’re like me and want to master each level, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s demo encourages that with plenty of optional challenges, a ranking system, and various unlocks to obtain. It doesn’t end there, but after completing a level, you’ll unlock the hard mode variant for it and do it all again for an even higher level of challenge.
Filled with Confidence
The Game Kitchen could have easily turned Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound into a Metroidvania like the Blasphemous games, and you know what? That might not have been so bad, but instead, the developers stayed true to the core of what a 2D Ninja Gaiden game is: mastery of levels, precision attacks, and overcoming a high degree of challenge.
They are not playing it safe, and that’s evident from this demo. This isn’t a rogue-like/lite with tacked-on RPG mechanics, but a demanding action platformer that doesn’t waste a second of your time. To say The Game Kitchen cooked is an understatement, and I hope that this quality is maintained throughout the entire game.
Your time spent in the demo will only contribute to honing your skills for the full release next month. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on July 31, 2025.
