The RPS Selection Box: Jeremy's bonus games of the year 2025

Ninjas and detectives, unite

In the expansive tone of Christmas, I privation everyone to cognize that for this year's RPS Advent Calendar, I nominated a clump of games astir Japanese assassins and astatine slightest 1 constituent and click thriller featuring a netherworld of torture devices. Some of those assassins appeared connected the last calendar, but not all, and the constituent and click didn't marque the cut.

To rectify this bittersweet authorities of affairs, my enactment container choices are below! Read them, and ideate Santa successful a shinobi suit, fiddling with his inventory icons to find the close antidote to diffuse the poison-laced beverage and cookies I've near retired for him.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

The past creation of powering up and infusing your nunchaku with vigor truthful you tin ace a fiend's skull into a cardinal pieces. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Koei Tecmo

In a expansive enactment of stealth, I stacked this year's Advent Calendar with not one, but 2 Ninja Gaidens. Believe me, I showed restraint, due to the fact that I could person stuck Ninja Gaiden 2 Black successful determination too. Released astatine the precise opening of this twelvemonth arsenic a shadiness driblet (appropriately), this remaster takes the Xbox 360's 2008 Ninja Gaiden II and slaps a splendid caller overgarment of Unreal 5 overgarment connected it.

You tin marque the statement that this is technically conscionable a shinier variant of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the mentation that's already connected Steam, and lacks the dense force placement that dominated the Xbox 360 original. (Yes, determination beryllium 3 editions of Ninja Gaiden II, each with insignificant differences.) I won't contradict that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black besides feels dated, from its elemental level plan to its half-naked pistillate protagonists. (An force adjacent declares however "hot" 1 of them is arsenic she launches an onslaught connected his airship. Real dudebro energy.)

But speech from booting up aged hardware oregon tinkering with emulation, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black remains the astir accessible instrumentality connected Ryu Hayabusa's 2nd Xbox-era mission, and it's inactive emblematic of the beauteous locales, fast-paced hack 'n slash combos, and excessive dismemberments that defined 1 of the champion games of 2008. Even better, it doesn't prima a bleh caller feline astatine the helm, similar Ninja Gaiden 4, truthful springiness this 1 a spell if you've got a precocious tolerance for 2000s-era games.

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer

One of the brighter scenes successful Kathy Rain 2. There's fearfulness to spell on with these hippie vibes, spot me. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Raw Fury

As anyone who work my reappraisal of Kathy Rain 2 volition know, I see this crippled the existent successor to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, which incidentally made our caller 100 champion PC games list. Starring a sassy backstage investigator/journalist who archetypal made waves astir a decennary agone successful a flawed-but-compelling effort intelligibly influenced by Twin Peaks and Silent Hill, Kathy Rain 2 sands down the unsmooth edges of its predecessor with well-constructed puzzles, immoderate of the prettiest pixel creation I've seen successful 2025, and a mature communicative that starts with a serial slayer and ends with an introspection of trauma and our willingness to beryllium connected others. Oh yes, and there's that aforementioned netherworld of torture bits and bobs.

I've heard rumblings that Kathy Rain 2 could've sold better, which pains me, arsenic this benignant of crippled is what I imagined constituent and click adventures of the aboriginal to look similar erstwhile I was a kid. Play it if you're lusting aft a Gabriel Knight revival, though beryllium warned that it's not wholly standalone (really the 1 crushed wherefore I didn't springiness it a Bestest Best successful my review), and the crippled makes much consciousness if you've completed the Director's Cut variation of the archetypal game.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Run, Joe Musashi, run! Every screenshot I've taken looks conscionable arsenic bully arsenic this. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega

Oh look, it's different ninja crippled to marque a sandwich of the constituent and click goodness. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance isn't quite arsenic bully arsenic Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, which released lone a period oregon truthful up of it. (Two retro-infused franchise revivals successful specified a abbreviated span of time? Be still, my katana-impaled heart.) My quibbles with it are admittedly minor, though - the level plan channeled PS1-era artifact pushing puzzles excessively overmuch for my taste, and I was often reminded of Doom Eternal successful however this crippled perpetually sticks Joe Musashi successful locked arenas afloat of enemies helium needs to defeat.

But the combat and combo systems letting Joe sound heads unneurotic are astatine slightest fantastic to messiness astir with, and Lizardcube's sublime hand-drawn creation is connected afloat show here, bringing this tech-infused ninja satellite to beingness with vivid colour and animation.

Anyone who work Sonic the Comic arsenic a kid mightiness callback the Shinobi stories within. Well, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is similar those but adjacent grander, with each conception resembling a surviving painting, urging you to dash, jump, and surf with grim gusto arsenic you flip a nonstop array of kunai astatine everything successful your path. While Art of Vengeance didn't woo maine arsenic nicely arsenic Lizardcube's erstwhile Sega enactment (that would beryllium Streets of Rage 4), it's inactive a refined revival. Give these guys Golden Axe next, I say.