Aside from players getting a new 2D Ninja Gaiden, one of the most exciting parts of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound‘s reveal was learning that The Game Kitchen would be handling development. The Game Kitchen has steadily made a name for itself as an adept studio within the Metroidvania genre, thanks to both Blasphemous and its sequel, and one of the many questions about Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound was whether the title would be a Metroidvania or a more traditional action platformer. While Ragebound is more akin to the classic Ninja Gaiden games on the NES, The Game Kitchen has learned plenty of lessons from its experience on Blasphemous that it brings to the title.
Following a preview event where we got to go hands-on with an early build of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, we sat down with the game’s director and lead pixel artist to discuss how the title compares to The Game Kitchen’s work on the Blasphemous series, among other topics. Notably, the leaps made in the company’s art pipeline and design processes between Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2 helped Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound be a title that remains faithful to its old-school roots while still implementing modern touches, resulting in an action platformer that should feel right at home to fans of the classic 2D Ninja Gaiden games, the Blasphemous series, or both.
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Why The Game Kitchen Opted to Make Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound a Traditional Action Platformer
The prospect of the Blasphemous developer handling a Metroidvania game within the Ninja Gaiden universe seems like a natural fit. According to director David Jaumandreu, the team realized early in the development process that a more traditional, level-based structure would be essential to honoring the Ninja Gaiden series’ legacy. Speaking on the decision to make Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound a traditional action platformer versus a Metroidvania game like Blasphemous, he notes:
“Taking the series back to its 2D roots, it was clear to us from the very beginning that a traditional stage-based structure made more sense than the Metroidvania style we explored in Blasphemous. The Ninja Gaiden series has always been defined by its incredibly fast-paced movement and combat, constantly pushing players forward, and we wanted to preserve that momentum. While our experience with Blasphemous certainly influenced aspects of level design, our goal was to capture the essence of the originals while modernizing them for today’s players.”
The slower, more methodical pace of the Blasphemous games that applies to both its combat and progression would have potentially felt too slow for a Ninja Gaiden game. Accordingly, combat is another area where Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound marks a departure for The Game Kitchen from its work on Blasphemous, with Jaumandreu admitting that the switch from a weightier, more deliberate flow to something faster-paced was “definitely a challenge.” He elaborates:
“Adapting to a much faster, more immediate combat style required rethinking our approach, focusing on animation canceling and ensuring every player action had an instant, responsive feel. We went through multiple iterations of the character’s attack animations until we were fully satisfied with how the moves flowed together, creating a combat system that felt both fluid and impactful.”
While combat might feel much faster in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, it retains the same fluid animations and vibrant pixel art that the Blasphemous games are known for, definitively marking it as another project from The Game Kitchen.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
- Released
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2025
- Developer(s)
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The Game Kitchen
- Number of Players
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1
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Unknown
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