Within the Blade Switch Review – The Element of Surprise

Many games over the decades have attempted the “ninja” feel. Top-tier titles like Ninja Gaiden, Sekiro, and Nioh have given players a AAA feel for what the ninja life is like. However, indie titles have taken different approaches, and we have seen some excellent iterations over the years like Cyber Shadow, The Messenger, and even one of my favorite games of all time, N++. Within the Blade is another approach to the ninja video game market, and this is surprisingly a much bigger and deeper game than I initially expected.

However, does Within the Blade bring the soul of the ninja like others before it? Or is this a failed attempt at staying within the shadows? Let’s find out!

Within the Blade is aesthetically pleasing. The simple pixel art compliments the retro look and gameplay, and honestly, this feels like a more sophisticated version of Ninja Gaiden from the NES. You play as Hideaki, a ninja of the Black Lotus, and there are lots of problems befalling his village and area. He is asked by his sensei to investigate, and this is when you find out that these are no ordinary enemies: a giant skeleton, a spider-woman, and a boorish drunk are just some of your targets over the course of your investigation.

It is a simple and effective story that very quickly puts you into the shoes of Hideaki as you learn the way of the ninja. The village starts off quite barren, but after some efforts by Hideaki, it begins to flourish and open up. It is awesome watching the villagers practicing their ninjitsu, and the supporting cast is quite lively. There is no prompt to talk to or interact with individuals, but you can talk to most.

There is a lot of dark stuff going on, and it doesn’t take long for Hideaki and his sensei to realize that there is some evil afoot and it is up to them to stop this darkness in its tracks. I quite enjoyed the story, but there are more than a few moments where misspellings and poor grammar interfere with an otherwise intense or meaningful scene. Thankfully, this doesn’t take away too much, but it is definitely noticeable at times.

The game plays like your standard action platformer in many ways, but unlike other side-scrolling ninja affairs, Within the Blade actually values and elevates stealth over everything else. You put your ninja skills to the test pretty much from the get-go, and as you level up, your sensei will present you with a skill tree that you can spend your experience points on to gain new ninja abilities and more. There are so many things for Hideaki to learn, so the customization from the start is very unique depending on who is playing. The early game can look incredibly different depending on the person playing and the choices they make.

Hideaki can double-jump and hide behind tall grass right from the start, and he can even wall-climb for a bit as well. This makes our hero quite the specimen even from the first stage, and as you add on dashing, special attacks, combos, and more to his arsenal via the skill tree, he becomes a seriously badass ninja over the course of the game. Acquiring shuriken, kunai, hooks, and other expendables also help with gameplay and provide even more customization to your approach.

Stages usually have a couple paths, but everywhere leads to the same ending, which encourages multiple playthroughs in some ways. Enemies for the most part are competent and challenging, so learning to take advantage of your stealth and earn assassination kills is key to holding onto your health and gaining more enemy drops. There are also a wide variety of enemies throughout the game that offer different challenges and require separate approaches as well, so even this makes each progressing stage feel fresh and new.

When it comes to combat, though, it is the boss fights that stand out to me. Not only are they normally a lot of fun, but the dialog that takes place before the fight is usually some great interaction. At first, each boss can feel a bit overwhelming, but like the games of old, there is always a rhythm to the madness. Once you pick up on the rhythm and find some good openings, it is just a matter of executing well. These bosses are all quite tough and do expect you to react quickly, but they are also doable and never feel unfair, which I largely appreciate.

It is a bit weird going from a normal stage to a boss, though, because you are conditioned so much to be stealthy, take your time, and earn some great kills. However, during a boss, it feels more like a Mega Man title where stealth is not even an option. It is a quick succession of back-and-forth attacks where you need to dodge and block in a timely manner but also attack when the opportunity opens. It is just odd that there is so much expectation to perform like a ninja for most of the game except a boss fight where you need to be more like a samurai.

One weird issue I ran into numerous times was earning an assassination near a ledge, and the kill animation would pull me over the edge, dragging the enemy with me, and then both of us would fall as I am assassinating. This normally led to two scenarios, both of which sucked: I would fall right into a party of enemies that would all immediately notice my presence and be alerted, which defeats my attempt at being stealthy, or we would both plummet into spikes or some other hazard that either kills or does incredible damage. This problem happened enough where it caused real frustration, and it is definitely something that needs to be ironed out.

Despite these minor issues, though, the overall presentation of Within the Blade is awesome, and there is a whole lot of game here for the price. Stages even have their own tasks that earn you different titles depending on what you accomplish, and this also helps to add even more value to the game.

There is so much reason to keep coming back to this one, as it does offer hours and hours of mostly quality gameplay that really shines a bright light on the way of the ninja. Not many 2D platformers have found a way to portray such stealth action, but Within the Blade does so very well and even sprinkles in some excellent boss fights throughout.

There’s no sneakin’ around this one: Definitely check out Within the Blade and become a real digital ninja.

Within the Blade Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Ametist Studio
Release Date: July 16, 2021
Price: $12.99, £9.99, €10,99
Game Size: 179 MB