The new side-scroller from the developer of Blasphemous isn't as brutal as you might expect—but it is a seriously satisfying slice of retro ninja action

As I played through the tutorial of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, I started to feel a fear very specific to videogames. You know the one: 'If I'm already struggling in the training level, what chance am I going to have in the rest of the game?'

I know, I know, get all your games journalist jokes out of the way now. But I did have reason to be nervous with this one. It brings together the developers of unforgiving soulslike Blasphemous with the notoriously hard Ninja Gaiden series—a potentially lethal combo.