Hands on impressions of the brand new Ninja Gaiden Ragebound demo
by Gamatroid
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:
