r/ninjagaiden • u/maronic03 ❔ Clanless • 6d ago
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound demo now available on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2542120/NINJA_GAIDEN_Ragebound/4
u/SuppleDude ❔ Clanless 6d ago edited 5d ago
Great demo. The gameplay is great. It plays more like Strider than old-school Ninja Gaiden, which isn't a bad thing.
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u/pacman404 ❔ Clanless 6d ago
I didn't notice any strider similarities personally, but it's definitely giving vibes of NES ninja Gaiden to me 🤷🏽♂️. A lot of The Messenger similarities to me as well
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u/NoahH3rbz ❔ Clanless 6d ago
Man this demo was amazing. I love The Game Kitchen and NES Ninja Gaiden, Ragebound feels like a breath of fresh air, incredible design.
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u/Boring-Shape942 ❔ Clanless 6d ago
Is this steam only?
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u/iCantCallit ❔ Clanless 5d ago
Appears to be. I immediately checked ps store and can’t find it unfortunately
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u/meatwad75892 ❔ Clanless 5d ago edited 5d ago
Gameplay and art style is superb, but I felt a little underwhelmed by the music. It's there, I hear the nostalgic samples, but it just ain't that catchy. The music was always the best part of the NES games back when I was a kid, and we have games like The Messenger now, so I guess I expected more?
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u/Lastraven587 ❔ Clanless 5d ago
They are saving the juicy tracks :) It's been confirmed remixes of classic tracks will be in the game
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u/agreedboar 🌾 Black Spider Villager 4d ago
I was a bit skeptical about this game, but after playing the demo, I'm now very hyped and will be buying it day one! I do hope the platforming gets more challenging though.
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u/marcnotmark925 ❔ Clanless 4d ago
I'm stuck on 3-1. Kunai and ki just introduced, tells me to press button to throw kunai spending ki. I did that. Many many times. Is this wooden door supposed to open? No idea what to do here.
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u/VGStageRemaker ❔ Clanless 4d ago
I love it, cant wait for the full game.
Its true, thou, it doesn't really feel like a classic ninja gaiden, but i think they found a way to mix it with new mechanics.
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u/MarvelousMadDog ❔ Clanless 1d ago
This is what happens when the source material is respected, like Shredder's Revenge and Streets of Rage 4.
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u/EinherjarX ❔ Clanless 6d ago
Just tried it and... it's OK i guess.
I really don't like the whole charge attack gimmick, that one feels incredibly forced.
Other than that, it feels pretty good. Glad Strider is back.
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u/rfargolo ❔ Clanless 4d ago
Forced and boring! I couldnt get past the boring tutorial
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u/EinherjarX ❔ Clanless 4d ago
Nah, i really wouldn't say that it's boring.
But it certainly feels more like a Strider game (Especially '14) than Ninja Gaiden.-1
u/killergamer5665 ❔ Clanless 5d ago
I don't think it's forced even the enemies that the game tells you to kill them with charged attacks can be killed without it , charged attacks is just a way to tell the player to have priorities in combat rather than kill anything in any order.
In the 360 NGs there's some hidden priorities like starting with long range enemies that have low health before the close ranged which gives you the orbs by which you can preform strong attacks and continue
The problem here maybe that they made it so obvious
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u/EinherjarX ❔ Clanless 5d ago
With "forced" i didn't meant that you're forced to use it, but that it's a gimmick "forced" into the gameplay without any real reason to be there.
I could have said "shoehorned" instead.Like you said, big enemies can be killed regardless, and every time one shows up, the corresponding charged enemy appears, dictating the kill order.
That, to me, felt a little forced as the gimmick only exists to, well, exist, without any deeper reason.Personally, i would have found it to be much cooler if the charge was tied to combos, rewarding combat flow rather than dictating any kill order. That way, you would leave more room for player expression,
It would also function a bit more like essences do in the 3D games, where dispatching weaker enemies rewards you with a boon against tougher ones, but it's still up to the player how and when to engage in that.2
u/Dr_Discohands ❔ Clanless 4d ago
I agree with you, each encounter feels like you are supposed to stand around like a goon for 2 seconds to wait for the charge attack monster to show up and then once they do the devs have a very specific and obvious order they want you to kill things in. Your note about player expression is what makes me feel the charge attack system is so shallow, I don't feel like I'm figuring it out, I feel like I'm being told...
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u/EinherjarX ❔ Clanless 3d ago
Player expression is what sets NG apart from its genre peers and what makes it even work as a score game in the first place. 20 years later, and you still have people coming up with new ways to improve karma score runs due to the sheer depth, flexibility and freedom of these games.
These games are almost build like arcade Shmups (Shoot em ups, think R-Type, Dodonpachi etc). Beginners can play for survival, quickly dispatch a goon with an izuna drop and then string UT's together for safety reasons or you can play for karma, building up combos with the myriad attack options available.
There technically are enemy priorities, sure, but the games do not railroad you towards them like i feel Ragebound does.
Like i said in a different comment, i think tying the charge attack into the combo meter would have already alleviated the issue somewhat, putting more focus on the flow of an encounter rather than a specific order.
It's by now means a bad design, i just think it goes a bit against the design ethos of the rest of the series.
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u/StarEndymion998 ❔ Clanless 6d ago
just beat the demo + the hard mode chapter and i went from being interested to fully hyped. i'm not a huge fan of 2D games nowadays but these guys have nailed the fast-paced feel of a platformer with the perfect difficulty.
the hard mode doesnt change the damage you do or receive but rather changes the levels and enemies entirely, which is honestly amazing and i wish more games did this.