Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is an upcoming hack and slash game developed by The Game Kitchen and published by Dotemu under the license of Koei Tecmo. A spin-off of the Ninja Gaiden series created by Team Ninja, the game is set to be released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S in July 2025.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a side-scrolling action video game. In the game, the player assumes control of Kenji Mozu, an aspiring ninja who must protect Hayabusa Village against demons. Kenji wields a katana and excels at melee combat. Most enemies can be killed with one hit, though the game also introduces enemy variants and boss characters who can survive multiple attacks. Occasionally, some enemies are highlighted with either a pink or blue color, requiring players to defeat them using certain techniques. Once they are defeated, Kenji enters a "hypercharged" state, allowing him to kill all types of enemies with one hit.^[1] Kenji is very acrobatic, able to dodge, deflect ranged attacks, climb across ceilings, dash in the air, and clamber onto wall. He can also perform a "Guillotine boost", which allows him to strike and bounce off enemies and projectiles.^[2] After a player completes a level, their performance is ranked using a grading system.^[3]

As the story progresses, Kenji will encounter Kumori, a kunoichi of the Black Spider Clan. Following a deadly encounter, their souls fuse together, allowing Kenji to use Kumori's skill set in combat. Kumori is skilled in ranged combat using kunai and can teleport across short distances, reaching gaps Kenji typically cannot. Players can harvest "Ki" from enemies and used it to summon powerful "Spider Weapons" such as Kama and Chakram.^[4] Players can enter an alternate demon dimension through interacting with demon alters in a level. These segments are timed traversal and platforming puzzles in which players, controlling Kumori, must find and access hidden paths that are invisible to Kenji.^[5]

The game is currently being developed by The Game Kitchen. Dotemu was given the opportunity by Koei Tecmo to create a 2D Ninja Gaiden game, and approached The Game Kitchen as a development partner as they were impressed by their work on Blasphemous.^[6] The studio began working on the project about halfway through the development of Blasphemous II.

A member of the Black Spider Clan was introduced as a secondary playable character as the team felt that it will be interesting for players to control a character who is traditionally an antagonist in the Ninja Gaiden series.^[7] While the team was initially inspired by the 3D Ninja Gaiden games and experimented with combo-based combat, they were unable to recreate them in a 2D game and therefore, quickly switched to the format of the older 8-bit and 16-bit Ninja Gaiden games which have a larger emphasis on keeping momentum and finding ways to dispatch enemies effectively. Team Ninja served as a consultant for the game and provided feedback to The Game Kitchen after playing early builds of the game.^[5] Sergio de Prado served as Ragebound's composer, with contributions from composers of the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy (Keiji Yamagishi, Ryuichi Niita, and Kaori Nakabai).^[8]

Ragebound was announced at The Game Awards in December 2024.^[9] Team Ninja declared 2025 as "Year of the Ninja", as Ragebound, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and Ninja Gaiden 4 are set to be released in the year.^[10] The game is set to be released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S on July 31, 2025.^[11] A phyical edition of the game will be released by Silver Lining Interactive on September 12, 2025 for PS5 and Nintendo Switch.^[12]

• Official website