Within the grand spirit of Christmas, I would like everybody to know that for this yr’s RPS Creation Calendar, I nominated a bunch of video games about Japanese assassins and not less than one level and click on thriller that includes a netherworld of torture units. A few of these assassins appeared on the ultimate calendar, however not all, and the purpose and click on did not make the lower.
To rectify this unhappy state of affairs, my choice field selections are under! Learn them, and picture Santa in a shinobi go well with, fiddling along with his stock icons to search out the correct antidote to diffuse the poison-laced milk and cookies I’ve not noted for him.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
In a grand act of stealth, I stacked this yr’s Creation Calendar with not one, however two Ninja Gaidens. Imagine me, I confirmed restraint, as a result of I may have caught Ninja Gaiden 2 Black in there too. Launched on the very starting of this yr as a shadow drop (appropriately), this remaster takes the Xbox 360’s 2008 Ninja Gaiden II and slaps a splendid new coat of Unreal 5 paint on it.
You can also make the argument that that is technically only a shinier variant of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the model that is already on Steam, and lacks the dense enemy placement that dominated the Xbox 360 unique. (Sure, there exist three editions of Ninja Gaiden II, every with minor variations.) I will not deny that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black additionally feels dated, from its easy degree design to its half-naked feminine protagonists. (An enemy even declares how “scorching” one in every of them is as she launches an assault on his airship. Actual dudebro power.)
However except for booting up outdated {hardware} or tinkering with emulation, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black stays probably the most accessible tackle Ryu Hayabusa’s second Xbox-era mission, and it is nonetheless emblematic of the beautiful locales, fast-paced hack ‘n slash combos, and extreme dismemberments that outlined among the finest video games of 2008. Even higher, it does not star a bleh new man on the helm, like Ninja Gaiden 4, so give this one a go when you’ve acquired a excessive tolerance for 2000s-era video games.
Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer
As anybody who learn my overview of Kathy Rain 2 will know, I contemplate this recreation the true successor to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, which by the way made our latest 100 greatest PC video games listing. Starring a sassy non-public investigator/journalist who first made waves virtually a decade in the past in a flawed-but-compelling effort clearly influenced by Twin Peaks and Silent Hill, Kathy Rain 2 sands down the tough edges of its predecessor with well-constructed puzzles, a few of the prettiest pixel artwork I’ve seen in 2025, and a mature story that begins with a serial killer and ends with an examination of trauma and our willingness to rely upon others. Oh sure, and there is that aforementioned netherworld of torture ins and outs.
I’ve heard rumblings that Kathy Rain 2 may’ve offered higher, which pains me, as this form of recreation is what I imagined level and click on adventures of the longer term to appear like once I was a child. Play it when you’re lusting after a Gabriel Knight revival, although be warned that it is not fully standalone (actually the one motive why I did not give it a Bestest Finest in my overview), and the plot makes extra sense when you’ve accomplished the Director’s Reduce version of the primary recreation.
Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance
Oh look, it is one other ninja recreation to make a sandwich of the purpose and click on goodness. Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance is not fairly pretty much as good as Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, which launched solely a month or so forward of it. (Two retro-infused franchise revivals in such a brief span of time? Be nonetheless, my katana-impaled coronary heart.) My quibbles with it are admittedly minor, although – the extent design channeled PS1-era block pushing puzzles an excessive amount of for my style, and I used to be usually reminded of Doom Everlasting in how this recreation continually sticks Joe Musashi in locked arenas stuffed with enemies he must defeat.
However the fight and combo techniques letting Joe knock heads collectively are not less than fantastic to fiddle with, and Lizardcube’s chic hand-drawn artwork is on full show right here, bringing this tech-infused ninja world to life with vivid color and animation.
Anybody who learn Sonic the Comedian as a child would possibly recall the Shinobi tales inside. Properly, Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance is like these however even grander, with each section resembling a residing portray, urging you to sprint, bounce, and surf with grim gusto as you toss a nonstop array of kunai at every thing in your path. Whereas Artwork of Vengeance did not woo me as properly as Lizardcube’s earlier Sega work (that may be Streets of Rage 4), it is nonetheless a refined revival. Give these guys Golden Axe subsequent, I say.
