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Ninja Gaiden has always been about mastering each game’s mechanics and learning the ins and outs of Ryu’s moveset until you’re truly a world-class ninja. Aside from not playing as Ryu,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundis no different.
Although Ragebound isn’tquiteas painfully difficult as its original 2D counterparts or the 3D games, it’s still mighty challenging. One of the biggest trials you’ll have to face is reaching S-Rank, which can be very tough until you’ve learnt a few tricks.
Ragebound’s Ranking System, Explained
Just like in the 3D Ninja Gaiden games, as you’re playing through levels in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, you’re setting yourself up for an overall score at the end of the level.This score ranges from a D all the way up to S, which is called Ultimate Ninja. If you’re going through Ragebound for the first time, you might find yourself only reaching B and A, despite getting all of the challenges and collectibles.
There is actually a level above S called S+, but we’ll be focusing on the one that most people willactuallybe able to do for now.
It seems that Ragebound’s score system is more focused on the combo level, kills, and time. If you beat the level fast enough and with a good combo counter and overall kills, you’ll be rewarded for it. It can still be tricky to tell how to appease Ragebound’s ranking, but there is an easy way to guarantee success on replays.
Easiest Way To Get S-Rank
Once you’ve progressed through a few levels in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, you’ll unlockMuramasa’s Store, which is where you’ll find Talismans. Most of these special items give you buffs like health being completely restored at a checkpoint, but there are also some negative ones that debuff you, including one that takes you to the beginning of a stage once you die.
You might be wondering why on Earth you’d pick a debuffing Talisman. Well, it’sbecause doing so will increase your Rank by one at the end of a level. If you’ve been playing decently enough to hit B or A,equipping a debuffing Talisman or two might be the best way to ensure an S rank, even with the added difficulty.
You won’t have access to all of the Talismans right away, but nearly all of them come as rewards for D, C, or B ranking levels. Just make your way through the campaign and leave perfection for the post-game.
That just leaves us the question of which negative Talisman to pick. I found thatUnworthy (which causes checkpoints not to recover health) was the best choice, whilePerilousness (which triples the damage you receive) was a good option too. Of course, if you’re getting through stages easily enough anyway, it might be good to balance out the debuff Talismans with a buffing one.
Without a doubt, the best Talisman in the whole game is Blood Frenzy, which lets you recover health each time you kill an enemy after a kill streak of more than three. That happens so quickly that you’ll be recovering health without a care.If you combine Blood Frenzy with Perilousness or Unworthy, you’ll be in for the best chance of an S-Rank beyond literally perfecting each stage.
