Sneak, Stab, Die, Cry, Repeat!
What’s it feel like to be a ninja ghost?
Booting up Aragami, I was hyped to be the ultimate shadow assassin – silent, deadly, unseen… Thirty seconds in, I botched a teleport, landed dead center in a walkway like a dipshit, and locked eyes with a guard. He shouts. I panic. Instead of sneaking, I button-mashed my way into standing up and casually walking toward him like I’m about to ask for the nearest hot spring. One slash- instant demise!. This game just hit me with the “get gud or get fucked” speedrun.
The game is a love-letter to oldschool stealth games. If you’ve ever wanted to play as a teleporting ninja ghost with a thirst for revenge, Aragami has you covered. You play as an undead ninja with supernatural powers, lurking in the night, summoned by a cliché anime girl. You slink through the shadows, shanking unsuspecting guards and feeling like an off-brand Assassin’s Creed protagonist, except this time, stealth actually matters, and you’re not just hiding in a haystack waiting for guards to forget about your existence like an ADHD child off his Ritalin distracted by a squirrel. The game lets you pull off some slick moves like summoning shadows, teleporting, or straight-up vanishing like a true spectral assassin. It’s like being a ghost who’s a little too good at hide-and-seek, except the seekers are heavily armed goons with absolutely zero fucking chill. The light is your biggest threat- while you are a shadowy badass that can teleport and zip through the shadows, quickly taking out enemies one-by-one like a horror-movie villain (which feels amazing), if you step out of the darkness you’ll be instantly roasted like a chicken dumpling in the boiling pot.
The NPCs are smart enough to make you panic but also dumb enough that you can still cheese them if you’re patient. The real challenge comes from resisting the urge to go on a murder stabbing spree instead of sneaking through like the discounted Japanese Batman that you are. Your abilities are like a personal web of darkness, where you teleport around like a sneaky prick who pops in, stabs someone, and then ghosting out before they even realize they’re screwed. The game tries to serve up some deep lore about shadow magic and ancient powers, but let’s be real- who honestly gives a shit? This indie-stealth gem hooked me like a bag of sea-salt and vinegar chips – addictive and way too easy to keep munching on. The trial-and-error loop had me addicted, like a junkie chasing that sweet high, except the high is my own failure and the crash is getting absolutely bodied by a guard who has no idea how badly I just fucked up. If you’re a sucker for stealth and can handle a little punishment, it’s worth the ride- just don’t expect it to treat you nicely.
Faded.. shank! Faded.. shank!
Mikhail
Verdict: 7/10