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Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun

Nao Games · Aug 2, 2023

PC

Everyone10+

About

Celestial doom. This is the fate that awaits humanity. In Edo, Japan, the great cataclysm has been foreseen by a most unlikely soul — a Master Thief. Your mother. You are a common pickpocket, transformed by the cataclysm into a lethal Ninja with lightning mobility. The Ramen Seller becomes a Samurai. The Maiko becomes a killer Geisha. Your domain of petty crime becomes a frenzied neon world of shogun castles, magic traps and parachuting assassins. Someone has ensnared you in a loop of chaos… if not to kill you, then to protect you from something worse. Master violent precision platforming in this fusion of extreme speed and one-button controls that will leave you dead and wanting more.

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Critic reviews

  • 3rd-strike.com

    SebastiaanRaats · Sep 22, 2023

    6.0
    While we could definitely get behind Ninja or Die’s concept, its actual execution felt messy. Controlling the ninja and his allies with just a mouse was a great idea, but in practice, wall-hopping felt wildly inaccurate. While there definitely is plenty of good to say about the game aesthetically, those neat-looking visuals do make the game feel cluttered and hard to read. All in all, we would have vastly preferred a more focused and toned-down version of Ninja or Die. It’s not a bad game as is, but it could have been so much better.
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  • Hey Poor Player

    Andrew Thornton · Aug 11, 2023

    5.0
    It feels like at some point in development Nao Games decided that Ninja or Die needed more. More to do, more complexity, more than the simple gameplay which makes up its core. That’s a shame because the core of Ninja or Die is its biggest strength, at least when it works. It just needs to work more consistently. There’s definite potential in its core, and I’d be curious to check out an update or follow-up to see if that core could be refined, but the game as it exists today is hard to recommend as more than a curiosity.
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  • GameSpew

    Richard Seagrave · Aug 02, 2023

    6.0
    Ultimately, Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun is a stylish and unique roguelite, and for some players the originality it exhibits will be enough to win them over. There’s no getting over the fact that it feels messy at times, though, and that repetition can set in if you sit down to play it for a considerable period of time. Still, anyone after a challenge that involves a lot of jumping may want to check this out.
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  • Way Too Many Games

    Leo Faria · Aug 02, 2023

    6.5
    As of now, dealing with glitchy controls and unfair level design makes this game a hard sell, but there is potential in this idea. It’s a really innovative roguelike, one that looks decent and makes you feel really cool once everything clicks.
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  • Game Grin

    Alana Dunitz · Aug 02, 2023

    8.0
    Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun is a game full of action using minimal controls; it may seem weird to only jump wherever you want to go but ends up working quite well adding a unique twist to games in the genre.
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  • IGN

    各務都心 · Aug 07, 2023

    7.0
    日本をモチーフにしたハイスピードアクションとして、その最大の特徴であるジャンプアクションの完成度は非常に高い。一方、それ以外の2Dローグライトにおいて重要なレベルデザインには多くの欠陥が見られる。
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