Ninja Must Die review: A Symphony of Blades

The inclusion of Ninjas isn’t quite unknown in the gaming industry and neither are runners. However, the fusion of both as developed by Pandada Games adds a new element to the familiar yet unique formula with the title Ninja Must Die, which quite aptly describes the media. Ninja Must Die on mobile strikes a balance between action and collectable runners in an action-oriented runner genre. The title and the art style of the game right from the get-go strikes a chord with anyone playing this game as a quality piece of art however, the depth of this well-garnished beauty and the way it might go along with gamers will be something we’ll focus in our Ninja Must Die review.

An unexpected thread that keeps it all together

Narrative in mobile games are sadly one of the most neglected parts especially in this modern era of gaming, However, while not being quite a masterstroke of writing this game actually does its job pretty well, at the very least much better than expected from an action-oriented runner.

The Game boasts beautiful visuals unique art style and a surprisingly well-done sound design as even the voiced lines that unfortunately are few and far between however, The unexpected quality in these often neglected parts brings out a unique charm in this game.

The player starts the game as a Ninja graduate who upon returning to Ninja village finds out that the village was attacked and u[on further investigation finds out that the village was attacked by the Samurai and this genuine conflict forms a pretty good narrative thread for Ninja Must Die that really keeps it all together.

The fluidity of animation is the cherry on top

In a game so rich in atmosphere and unique in art style the only thing that can improve the quality ten folds is the animation segment and I’m glad to report that the animations in this game are top-notch. The icing on the cake will be if your device can run this game with a higher frame rate, mostly Ninja Must Die remains pretty stable, however, with only one stutter in my entire playthrough. The fluidity of movement in this game definitely brings the Ninja eshque flavour to the mix.

Every character in this game is nimble and almost always are accompanied with fluid animation and a movement of the backgriubd, on par with the main character animation

The gameplay features ring a familiar tone

The Gameplay features in this game are mostly seen at this point in gaming as there is a dodge move accompanied by a special move and a primary weapon attack that charges up over a specifically mentioned time. To the credit of this game, the movesets are well-animated and does provide a reliable experience coupled with dash double jump and ability to pass through portals with looks dope.

However, the lack of challenge and mission variety in the story mode is something to worry about as the game doesn’t introduce enough different movesets or set pieces to keep things exciting for players. However, the gameplay does break up a bit with the occasional Flying levels and one or two unique ones but the game uses all the tricks it had up its sleeves too early in the game

The online component feels as old as Ninjas

The online component seemed the one lazy step in this game to make this a jack of all trades. However, the additions in this game as online components are seen in every online game and Ninja Must Die does not do much to differentiate it from the others. The online component does contain a bit of variety and challenge as compared to the story with a good few characters and weapons.

The game mostly contains a lot of conventional online game staples that aren’t too exciting such as randomised gifts and shops that sometimes might fare out some unfair advantages.

The atmosphere-rich delicacy saves the grace

Ninja Must Die is one of those games where sometimes you just take the melodious tunes with the brilliantly handcrafted background just for the aesthetic feeling it emits. The game admittedly has a few more advantages to its name however, the most commendable job that the developers a Pandada Games have done, has to be its atmosphere. The rich art style mixed with the tune and the action on screen makes the experience pleasing and worthwhile.

Even the online component has its fair share of different ambient tunes with different visuals with various powerups which does improve even the stale online mode a bit.

Verdict

As the Ninja Must Die review might suggest the game looks pretty appealing both visually and as a narrative. Even the combination of action and runner also works well in terms of fun and gameplay. Overall the game sets the stage quite perfectly even narratively as the sleek presentation does more than enough to maintain the quality of the game. While some repetition is bound to kick in during the story mode and some dull online components might be a bit sub-par, however, the game does bring a lot of fun action and is definitely worth a playthrough,

Hope this review helps you to decide if Ninja Must Die is the game for you, Let us know in the comment section!

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