As the name suggests, Ninja Must Die is a mobile game all about Ninjas. Dive into the world of mythical creatures, incredible weapons, monsters and masters of ninjutsu. The game is set in a world where the Oni has opened the gate to the demon world and is in absolute chaos. A civil war is happening between the Samurai and the Ninja; as they struggle for control and power, a greater evil lurks to take control over the world.

The protagonist, Kuro, is a ninja who is set to take down the Oni and unite the Samurai and Ninja once and for all. The game features a very interesting plot that is well-animated and some well-done voice acting. Let’s take a closer look at the good’s and the bad’s of the game.

THE GOOD

Visuals

Featuring ink-wash painting visuals, the Pandada Games developers nailed the vibe for the game. Ninja Must Die, a game centred around ninjas and various other Japanese myths, looked much more visually appealing due to the choice of art style. Aside from the art, the fluidity of the animations made this game extremely addictive and immersive. 

The visuals are among the most significant aspects of any successful mobile game. Even if the game doesn’t have much content to offer in terms of gameplay, attractive visuals and smooth animations are bound to keep the audience interested. Ninja Must Die has fantastic visuals and very thrilling gameplay to boot.

Gacha

Nothing completes a Japanese game without some good ol’ gacha. Opening packs and hoping to get high-grade ninjas or weapons truly gets your blood rushing. Offering a pretty decent gacha pull rate, Ninja Must Die offers a variety of boxes and packs to open using your hard-earned “Jade” and “Keys” to get new items. 

Gachas usually allow developers to monetize their games and add depth to their games without running pop-up unskippable advertisements if done properly. However, Ninja Must Die did that, adding plenty of items that are obtainable from gacha and making “Jade” and “Keys” easily accessible by playing more.

Game Modes

Along with a fascinating main story for players to immerse themselves in, Ninja Must Die also features 2 other game modes:

• Race Mode
• Bounty Mode 

Offering a variety of game modes was a very nice touch. For example, in contrast to the “Story Mode”, the Race Mode features endless running, much like subway surfers, where players try to go the furthest distance possible while avoiding obstacles.

 The Bounty Mode is for players who want to hang out with their friends or make online buddies to complete different quests and missions while having fun. This game mode is enjoyable because players can compete with friends and take down difficult Bosses. There was a wonderful balance between game modes to keep players entertained.

Clan

Ninja Must Die also features a Clan option as well. Here players can come together and make their clan, hunt bosses, chat with friends and claim plenty of rewards. This feature was surprisingly unique for a game like Ninja Must Die, which could function like an online competitive multiplayer game despite seeming like a single-player game. 

It was fun hanging out with friends and taking down high-level bosses, which would be impossible to take down alone.

Dragons

We can all unanimously agree that fire-breathing dragons are extremely cool. Now the addition of dragons that you could fly and take down enemies is perhaps the cherry on top. Offering up to 3 different types of flying beasts with incredible stats and cool designs. All in all, I can sum it up in one word: “Dragons”.

THE BAD

Size

The application size is rather big, so lower-end mobile devices can’t run the game smoothly. Along with the burdening size of the app, the booting up of the game is also quite laggy and stuttery. Although this was quite a disappointing start to the game, Ninja Must Die was extremely fun.

Fighting

One of the biggest negatives for the game was the inability to use weapons to take down enemies while running through levels, but you can only strike down enemies indirectly. Players need to use the weapons special ability or the combat ninja’s ultimate ability to fend off monsters. This part was especially frustrating because weapon abilities usually have a 30+ seconds cooldown period, which prevents players from consistently attacking monsters.

Conclusion

Based on the good and bad points mentioned above, Ninja Must Die receives a solid 8/10 from us. This decision was made based on many factors; the major contributor to the decision was the art style, which made the game look beautiful and eye-catching, along with the smooth transitions and animations. In addition, Ninja Must Die did a fantastic job with the levels by ensuring that each level and story had something new to offer. In addition to having an exciting plot, the game is immersive and interactive. 

Although no game is perfect, Ninja Must Die came very close. However, some of its glaring issues were that since the game has extremely well-made animations and artwork, it is bound to face stuttering issues and lag when played on low-end mobile devices. The list of gripes about the game goes only so far, showing how well the game was made. Overall, Ninja Must Die was a fantastic experience and worth a shot.

Ninja Must Die is available to download on Google Play and the App Store.