Dive into an untold chapter of the NINJA GAIDEN saga!
To stand against a new threat, Kenji Mozu, a young ninja from the Hayabusa Village, rises to the challenge! Trained by Ryu, he fights fiercely but soon finds himself in desperate straits. Forced to tap into forbidden power, Kenji sets aside centuries of animosity and forms an alliance with Kumori, a member of the sinister Black Spider Clan, convinced that combining their souls and skills is the only way to protect the world out of the Demon Lord’s grasp!
I've been excited for Ninja Gaiden Ragebound since it was first revealed, so I was ecstatic to play the demo that was recently released for Steam's Next Fest.
NINJA GAIDEN RAGEBOUND
RELEASE DATE: 7/31/2025
MSRP: TBD
DEVELOPER: The Game Kitchen
PUBLISHER: Dotemu, Joystick
PLATFORMS: PS5, Xbox Series, and PC (Epic Games Store)
PLAYED ON: PC (Steam)
The opening cinematic recreates the classic NES opening, albeit without the amazing music from the original.
Even though you can imagine a bunch of ways this recreation could have been improved, I can also imagine a lot of ways it could have gone all kinds of wrong. I think they did a good job finding a middle ground.
After the opening cinematic, the game switches to show Ryu and another ninja discussing their training routine. I already knew Ragebound wouldn't star Ryu, as it focuses on another ninja in Ryu's clan: Kenji Mozu.
The interesting part is that the story takes place at the same time as the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES, but when Ryu travels to America to investigate his father's death, Kenji is left to defend the Hayabusa village.
The first stage acts as a tutorial and has Ryu putting Kenji through various trials that let you learn the different nuances of the game's combat and traversal mechanics.
Then at the end of the tutorial area you face off with Ryu. Of course, you don't have to defeat him, but I've read that it is possible (although difficult and unlikely your first time through the game - think of it like some of those first Dark Souls battles that you are meant to lose, but it is possible to win).
Once combat with Ryu concludes (either through victory or defeat) a messenger arrives and let's Ryu know that his father has been killed, thus kicking off the events of the first Ninja Gaiden. Ryu leaves and Kenji is left behind to defend the village.
I'm sure the full game will better explain the events which lead Kenji on his quest, but the demo is meant to just let you experience different scenarios. The combat is fast and fluid and feels really good, and (as you can see) the graphics look amazing. There is a CRT filter as well if you want an old-school twist to the visuals, and that's what I used for my playthrough (and you can see it in all these screenshots).
From the demo it appears that the regular difficulty won't be too bad, but if you really want a challenge, the harder difficulty level available in the demo proves that it won't be smooth sailing for people seeking a greater challenge.
One of the previous video reveals showed that you also get to play as a second character, a female ninja from a rival clan, but based on the demo gameplay, this is only partially true.
While you do get to play as the other ninja, she appears to exist primarily in spirit form (although its unknown exactly why at this point), and as Kenji you can leverage her powers to throw projectiles and you transform into her to traverse some areas within a specified time limit to unlock doors and solve puzzles.
I'm glad some of this wasn't revealed too early because it might have negatively influenced my opinion going into the demo, but experiencing it while playing the demo makes it seem like a fine extension of the gameplay.
In fact, I might go so far as to say that the Ninja Gaiden Ragebound demo is a perfect example of what a demo should do. It lets players experience select parts of the game, find out additional information in the context of the game and story, and get a feeling for how the game will play upon release, without giving away too much. Even the reveal of the second ninja was carefully staged, so all the changes didn't seem too overwhelming at first, and in hindsight I think that was a genius move.
Overall I really enjoyed the Ninja Gaiden Ragebound demo, and I'm simply even more hyped to get the game as soon as it releases.
You should just go download the demo on Steam and play it now, but if you want you can check out my playthrough of the demo in the YouTube video below:
From the award-winning studio MercurySteam, comes a new action-adventure where you forge your own weapons and face fierce enemies in a unique combat system. You are Aran de Lira, firstborn of the King’s Ward. The newly crowned Queen Nerea has cast a spell that turns steel into stone. Only her army of abominations wield the divine metal against which other blades shatter.
I recently had a chance to play the demo on Xbox Series S, and I came away very impressed by what I saw and experienced.
BLADES OF FIRE
RELEASE DATE: 5/22/25
MSRP: $59.99
DEVELOPER: MercurySteam
PUBLISHER: 505 Games
PLATFORMS: PS5, Xbox Series, and PC (Epic Games Store)
PLAYED ON: Xbox Series S (Demo)
Blades of Fire is a new game from MercurySteam, developer of Metroid Dread, Metroid Samus Returns (3DS), and all the Castlevania Lords of Shadow games (so you could say they have a bit of experience crafting excellent game worlds).
In it, you play as a warrior who gains the power of a mystical Forge Hammer that you use to craft weapons to fight back against the evil Queen and her armies who march unchallenged across the lands.
The weapon crafting mechanic is surprisingly deep, and allows you to change various aspects of the weapons, including the blade/head, hilt, shaft, and materials used in each component. Once you make your selections you then play a minigame where you try and hone the blade as closely to the ideal outline as possible, with as few hits as possible, which gives the weapons enhanced characteristics. It's very interesting and lends a different feeling to Blades of Fire than your typical Souls-like.
The combat is also different enough from other Souls-like / GOW-like games that I thought it truly stood out. You of course have a block button and a dodge mechanic, and if you block at just the right time you trigger a parry which leaves the enemy open to counter-attacks, but your attacks come in four different forms, a left-sided attack, an overhead attack, a right-sided attack, and an uppercut-style attack. Depending on the type of weapon you have equipped, the exact attack may vary.
In addition, most weapons have at least two stances you can assume. For example, a sword has a slashing stance, where you attack with the side of the blade, or it has a stabbing stance, where you attack directly ahead by... stabbing. This matters based on the type of enemy your facing, and what kind of armor they have. Some enemies are more susceptible to stabbing attacks, and others to swinging attacks.
On top of that, your weapon blade will start to dull, so you may need to switch from stabbing to slashing, or vice versa, to take advantage of the sharper part of the blade of your weapon. Should you happen to die then you drop your weapon where you fell and you need to make your way back to that area to retrieve it.
It may sound a bit overwhelming (it was overwhelming just to type all that) but the game does a great job easing you into it.
I was also very impressed with the overall visual look and style of the game. I didn't know anything about it going in, and it immediately reminded me of the art style of Fable, but dramatically improved for current gen consoles. Honestly if the new Fable game were to look like this, I would be totally happy with that. Blades of Fire is out now and available on PC (via the Epic Games Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. I played on my Series S and it looked fantastic. I believe there are also enhancements for PS5 Pro as well.
CRITICS CORNER
In looking at critic reviews and user ratings, the scores for Blades of Fire are mostly good, with the exception of IGN's strange troll score of 5/10. Seriously, what the heck are they thinking? Clearly Blades of Fire isn't a perfect game and it must have some challenges, and perhaps the full game experience isn't as smooth as the demo, but it has a lot of potential and I'm excited to play more of it.
As Kulebra you’ll explore Limbo, a vibrant, Latin American flavored afterlife full of danger, intrigue, humor, sneakery, and deep, dark mystery. You’ll be using many tricks and skills to help the colourful (literally) residents of Limbo accept and embrace their issues of loss, trauma, and the consequences of not letting go as they repeat their days again, and again.
KULEBRA AND THE SOULS OF LIMBO
RELEASE DATE: 5/16/25
MSRP: $19.99
DEVELOPER: Galla
PUBLISHER: Fellow Traveller
PLATFORMS: Xbox, Switch and PC(Steam)
PLAYED ON: Xbox (Gamepass)
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo recently released day one onto Gamepass, just a few days after DOOM The Dark Ages launched, and frankly it's a miracle I even downloaded it and gave it a chance.
I'm so glad I did.
In Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, you play as Kulebra, a "shining bright soul" who helps those lost in Limbo to resolve their dilemma's and help them move on.
Screenshots don't do Kulebra justice, as it looks to have the same 2-D art style that tons of modern games seem to have, and if it was a strictly two-dimensional game, that might have been the case.
Luckily, Kulebra has more in common with Paper Mario's visual style than it does anything else. This means that each character and set piece looks like a decorated cardboard cutout moving around the beautiful world they designed, but you really have to see it in motion to fully appreciate it.
The game is what I would call "gameplay-lite" meaning it has much more to do with dialogue and unlocking the next bit of story than with hardcore gameplay, puzzle-solving, or platforming. The gameplay that does exists consists of moving around the environments, solving light puzzles, doing fetch-quests for the various characters you meet, and defeating bosses through a quiz-like format that calls on you to remember various bits of information about the characters of the current level you are on. Of course, you can refer to a diary in case you don't recall a specific fact. This is certainly a game where its more about the journey than the destination. I recommend taking your time, and if the gameplay starts to feel a bit tedious, just take a break and come back to it later. I powered through it to complete the game and be able to review it, but I don't recommend that approach.
RETRO ROOTS
While the gameplay of Kulebra is rooted in light puzzle-solving, the look and feel of the game seems to be very much inspired by Paper Mario, which started on the Nintendo 64 back in the year 2000.
Paper Mario
Paper Mario is just the graphical inspiration for Kulebra, however, since its gameplay was quite different, being more RPG-like than the way you play in Kulebra. The way the characters are made out of paper cutouts in Paper Mario, is also much more pronounced than in Kulebra, since the characters in it have a little more depth to them; think of it like Kulebra's characters being made out of cardboard, while Paper Mario is made out of thin paper sheets.
REVIEW
SCORES OUT OF 10
Gameplay & Mechanics: 7
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is what I call "gameplay-lite". It consists of moving around the environments, bumping into things to knock items loose, doing a lot of talking with various characters, solving some
Visuals & Art Direction: 9
One place where Kulebra really excels is its visuals. The whole game looks beautiful, and its cardboard cutout aesthetic is really great. Screenshots really don't do this game justice. Make sure to check out my video to see it in action.
Audio & Music: 8
The music in Kulebra fits the theme and story very well. While its OST isn't anything I'm going to rush out to buy, it does a great job supporting the narrative, and in its way is beautiful and well designed. The "spoken" audio of the NPC characters is great as well. The characters speak in gibberish that gives you a sense of the character's voice and tone, yet it isn't fully spoken audio, so you still read the dialogue and don't risk janky voice acting ruining an otherwise great experience.
Story & Narrative: 8
The primary story of Kulebra isn't anything that special, as you are a spirit in limbo helping other spirits resolve issues and move on, however it's the style of the writing and its wit and humor that really elevate what could otherwise being a pretty bland story. Since Kulebra is rather light on gameplay, you could say this is one of the most important parts of the game. I genuinely really enjoyed seeing each character's story play out, and the silly twists the writers would throw at you. I would say that it's really good, but not especially ground breaking.
Technical Performance: 9
I played Kulebra on Xbox Series S via Gamepass, and I didn't encounter any issues with it at all. In fact I can't recall a single glitch or situation where I had any problems. Very solid overall.
Innovation & Originality:7
As I discussed a bit in the story section, the overarching story in Kulebra is a well worn trope of spirits being trapped in Limbo, and someone helping them to resolve the issues keeping them trapped and let them move on. The gameplay is rather light as well, and I wouldn't call it especially innovative (except for the lockpicking mechanic - which was surprisingly fresh). But the way the narrative throws you funny curveballs for each story, and the humor injected, does form the foundation for Kulebra's originality, and it does a good job at that.
Value: 7
Kulebra retails for $19.99, but it was also available Day One on Xbox Gamepass, which is how I played it. On Gamepass, this is exactly the kind of game I like to see on subscription services, since the barrier for people to try it is very low, and only a download away. More opportunity cost than anything else, and I might not have given this game a try if it hadn't been on Gamepass. So if you play Kulebra on Gamepass I think it's an outstanding value. The game is still really fun even if someone pays the full retail price, but of course this puts a bit more pressure on the experience since there are a lot of games you could buy for $19.99. If I had to pay retail price, I would probably wait for a sale.
Score Summary
7 - Gameplay & Mechanics
9 - Visuals & Art Direction
8 - Audio & Music
8 - Story & Narrative
9 - Technical Performance
7 - Innovation & Originality
7 - Value
OVERALL SCORE: 7
Kulebra is beautiful and its narrative is funny and engaging, but its gameplay is somewhat uninspired and can feel tedious if you play it for extended periods of time (at least that was my experience). My biggest regret is that I tried to power through the game quickly so I could write this review, and as a result I got a bit fatigued in certain parts and it started to feel more like homework than an enjoyable experience. What I would recommend is to play Kulebra in shorter sessions and really take your time with it. It's not a long game, and the gameplay is fine as long as you don't do it for too long at any given time. The gameplay is not bad, but it's not really great either. Still a very enjoyable experience, and if you have Xbox Gamepass I 100% recommend you download it and give it a try. It's totally worth it.
CRITICS CORNER
In looking at other critic reviews and user ratings, the scores for Kulebra are very similar to my own, right around a 7, which is Average/Solid. I would scored it higher if the gameplay didn't get rather tedious after a while.
(Gamatroid's score compared to other critics and user ratings publications - normalized score out of ten shown first, followed by raw score if applicable)
