Review – Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

What a time it is to be a ninja fan, with the fantastic Ninja Gaiden 2 Black earlier this year and the resurrection of 2D Ninja Gaiden with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. There is also the fantastic looking Ninja Gaiden 4 in a month, but in between that just launched one of the best games this year, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. If you’re feeling like you’re burnt out on the 2D style, don’t worry, Shinobi does enough different than Ragebound to stay fresh. It’s time to step back into the shoes of the legendary Joe Musashi.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance follows Joe Musashi, leader of the Oboro Clan, as he tries to take down the evil ENE Corp as they seize control around the world. Lead by the twisted mastermind Ruse, ENE are plotting a devious plan to create deadly monsters to spread fear and take territory. Knowing his greatest threat is the Oboro Clan, Ruse launches an assault on Oboro Village. Joe must now make his way through Ruse’s Generals, grow in power, and finally end his reign of terror.

The story itself is pretty standard and nothing to write home about, but it’s enough setup to get things going. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance really shines with its level design, and combat, which the story lends to setting up great set pieces. Each new level I find myself in awe from the art design, because it’s truly something special. Even from a gameplay perspective, each level offers something new and different that will keep you anticipating the next one.

Shinobi is a metroidvania in design, which if you aren’t familiar means areas of levels will be locked off until you acquire a certain skill. I absolutely love metroidvanias when they’re designed well, despite sometimes being a bit too annoying if the backtracking is long and areas are too hidden. Luckily, Shinobi solves this issue in a couple of good ways. First, areas that will need a specific move are designed to be pretty obvious and the map of the levels will show a purple hue to the area to signify this is a hidden area. Second, there are a decent amount of fast travel spots to get you back to these areas once you unlock the skill so backtracking isn’t an ordeal.

The map will give you plenty of indication on where to go back to for secrets.

Because of the metroidvania design, the gameplay does start off a bit barebones. It still has responsive and quick combat, but it really starts blossoming into its own about midway through the game. There are a couple different ways that you will unlock new moves, obviously the main skills are done by progressing in the game. These are called Ningi and they are skills like wall climbing, dashing, ground slam, gliding etc. These will be your metroidvania moves that unlock the secret paths you have seen in previous levels as well.

Ninpo skills are your basic ninja skills that you will use as heavier damage or to build up an enemies break meter. Each use will use a Ninpo Cell which regenerates whenever you hit enemies, and you can get more Ninpo Cells from secrets, and buying them from the store. Ninpo skills are great to mix in during your regular combos, but you can only have four equipped at a time. Depending on what kind of enemies you will be fighting, some skills are better to use than others.

Breaking an enemies guard will leave them open to an execution which gives more gold as well as health and shuriken refills.

Fire Ninpo breathes fire for damage, Water Ninpo for a defensive counter strike attack, and Thunder Ninpo for a lighting dash that hurts enemies. There are also weapon Ninpos like the Shuriken, where you throw a massive shuriken that shreds enemy armor. Wind Slash which can only be used in the air, but will unleash a wave of energy hitting any enemy in its path. Combining these moves with your regular Combat Moves means you can pull off some pretty awesome juggling combos. You will also be able to purchase new Combat Moves from the store which are ideal to unlock as soon as you can. There are a nice amount of fun combos you can do with your basic attacks that keeps the combat fresh and fun.

There is also a rage meter to fill up so you can unleash the Ninjutsu special moves. These are fight changing moves that should be saved for a specific time. Rage builds slowly by collecting rage orbs from enemies and executions, but they aren’t plentiful so using these moves on smaller fights isn’t recommended. The Karyu Ninjutsu move does extreme damage to all enemies on screen. Shisui will restore a massive portion of your health. Raijin creates and temporary lighting shield that also boosts the Execution gains. Then there is Mijin that will drain most of your health to do extreme damage to everything on screen.

The Ninjutsu moves are powerful abilities that can change the fight.

 With all of that laid out, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has fantastic combat that is rewarding and satisfying. Using combos to build up their break limits to pull of executions is never dull. However, even if you have all this at your exposal, this is not an easy game. Certainly not as tough as the old school Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden titles, but there will be fights and platforming that will challenge your skills. Fortunately there is a difficulty option for those that want something easier or absolutely punishing, but for me the middle ground felt just right.

None of the flashy combat moves or Ninpo would mean anything if the boss fights and level designs weren’t good. Luckily, for the most part the boss fights are great. Some are definitely easier than others, but all will have their own cool designs and will incorporate some of the new unlocked moves. I already touched on above how much I love the level designs, and they even brought back the “travel” levels where you’re riding a wolf and surfing. Each level is a treat and it always left me wanting to see what was next.

The desert level has an awesome skull dust storm that you’ll need to evade.

The art direction in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is something special. I absolutely love the hand drawn illustrated look of it all with its vibrant color palette and its hand-painted backdrops. There is so much detail here with every level and the way the settings and backdrops help sell that specific levels story and location is perfectly done. The mix of traditional Japanese nature with the over the top robotic designs is beautiful. Couple this with its flawless performance, this is truly a treat to look at and play. I played all of my time on the Steam Deck and it ran perfectly. There were no hiccups or slowdowns, and even the fast travel loading is quick.

Sound design and soundtrack are equally as impressive. The general combat sound effects are well done offering unique soundbites for each move so you can hear what attack the enemy will be doing. Between the sound and visual cues there are a lot of ways to know what is coming. The voice acting is also well done, while Joe himself only responds in grunts, the other cast around him do a great job with their lines. However, the thing that stands out the most is the soundtrack. Tee Lopez is the lead composure who did Sonic Mania, Streets of Rage 4, and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge as well as the legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro. They absolutely nailed it with the general ambiance of each level as well as the fast intense combat and boss battle music.

The classic traversal levels make a comeback offering a fun if not shallower break from the rest of game.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is not only a fantastic revival of the old school 2D Shinobi series, it might be one of the best 2D action platformer metroidvanias I’ve played in a long time. That’s been said even without a shortage of these kinds of games currently. The blend of fast paced combat, challenging platforming, and the fantastic art and sound design really make this game something special. It is a must play for any ninja platforming fans.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Reviewed on Steam Deck.

A copy of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was provided by the publisher.

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