One thing has became very clear to me after I finished up this video game. Games that inspire to be like the classics don’t need to test your reflexes or platforming skills in a tough way to still be fun. Being able to finish off a boss the first time may sound to easy yet this keeps the pace going. Which is a fun way to experience a game sometimes. Similar to how older games that were set up for the player to finish like Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers. I hope to see more games like this in the future. Now let’s set up whats going on in this fantasy world.
Our hero slacker ninja is the last in the clan of humans that live on a island. They are the last line of defense against a never ending horde of demons that arrive every 500 years. Thanks to a brave warrior from the east demons are stopped but it is now up to slacker ninja to take the message up to the mountains. This will somehow help the last of the humans but the rest of this island is full of foes that wish to hinder his progress. Only time will tell if he manages to finish this foolhardy request.
This plays like a classic action game. Starting off with just being able to run around the slash things with a sword. The most notable new ability is access to a extra jump after slashing a enemy. Which gets used a lot later on. Along the way new items will be obtained that power up the Ninja in different ways like a glide or a grappling hook. All of them help the player get around the world in a better way. This also lets the game switch up how each section is laid out. Almost every zone is laid out in a way to teach you how to use the new thing you got. I’m always impressed whenever a game does something like that.
So yeah while this game appears to be linear a big twist does happen about 3 hours into this adventure. Being able to more freely explore the environment is cool at first. Yet it also lead to me just running around into different directions without seeing all the cool new levels till hours after I started exploring. This lead to a bit of a lull even though it was thanks to me just somehow missing all the cool new sections for a while. But that was still a bit of a bummer.
Most of why you’ll want to play this game is just the fast paced action. Yet all the interactions with the shopkeeper and whenever it spells out some lore is amusing. Maybe a bit focused on internet humor but it isn’t overdone. Each of these moments are done well enough that I wanted to see more moments like this when it starts the dry up in the second half.
Oh well overall this is a well crafted game that I enjoyed. It keeps a momentum that never really stops till the credits roll. Lead to a few long sessions at first. Yet later on it does slow down but not enough to really keep anyone from wanting to search out the new zones. This is a game that makes good use of every power up the Ninja gets throughout the adventure. I was always using everything at my disposal to proceed constantly which isn’t something I can say of every game. Honestly if you like action platformers then this is a game for you.