Compare Shinobi: Art of Vengeance vs Order of the Sinking Star

User interface design receives praise for being clean and easy to navigate.

Zoom tools help with larger puzzles, but small visuals and the lack of convenient story-reference menus draw complaints. One Switch 2 account also strongly dislikes the interface’s appearance.

Sound design is mixed: impact feedback and combat audio are praised, but one reviewer strongly disliked the harsh radio or speaker filter.

Ambient details, footsteps, block movement, and rewind sounds receive warm praise. Audio feedback helps the world feel tactile and pleasant to inhabit.

World-building is weak in the evidence that explicitly says not to expect captivating world building from the campy action story.

Distinct environments and regional identities help the fantasy worlds feel coherent. One account finds the collaboration theme undermined by contradictions surrounding the project.

Puzzle design receives a mild positive note for being logical and not slowing the action down.

Clever, meticulously constructed puzzles consistently earn high praise, especially when rules collide. Criticism focuses on rejected alternative solutions, weaker regional sets, and occasional overcomplication.

Level design is usually praised for scale, variety, secrets, and challenge structure, but some reviewers criticize flow, pacing, or underused combat spaces.

Lean, purposeful layouts make small details matter and can subtly guide solutions. Large connected sections are less forgiving when one mistake forces broad repetition.

Map and navigation design is mixed: reviewers like map clarity and fast travel, but some cite confusing secret tracking or unclear pits.

Zoom levels, puzzle previews, and distinct regional styling generally help orientation. Finding a specific abandoned puzzle or understanding boundaries between connected sections can still be difficult.

Menu usability is praised through the clean, easy-to-navigate interface that removes friction around fast travel and play.

One PC account finds the lack of a conventional main menu awkward, especially when looking for options before play.

Protagonist appeal is positive where Joe Musashi is described as a compelling, badass ninja fantasy rather than a talkative character.

The Queen is compelling in one full-game account, while a demo impression partly agrees that she lacks charisma early on.

Controls are usually described as smooth, tight, intuitive, and responsive, with a few caveats around moments where scripted control loss or platforming inputs feel awkward.

Instant undo, reset, and time controls are among the most consistently praised features. They encourage experimentation and make mistaken moves easy to recover from.

Voice acting receives mixed-to-positive reactions: some reviews praise the performances, while others call the English voices merely fine or jarring.

Human performances generally add considerable charm and personality, sometimes earning exceptional praise. Regional unevenness and temporary prerelease voices explain several less favorable experiences.

Crash stability is strong in the PS5 review that reports no crashes, soft-locks, or freezes over a long playthrough.

One PC account reports no crashes, but another experiences random failures during launch. A Switch 2 account also includes crashes among its technical frustrations.

Emotional impact is limited in the review evidence, with one reviewer wishing for a stronger moment of emotional weight.

Successful solutions can deliver immense satisfaction and make players feel brilliantly capable. Long sessions and repeated roadblocks can instead leave them mentally drained.

Accessibility options are praised for adjustable difficulty, assist settings, and sliders that make the challenge more approachable without fully flattening it.

Quiet presentation can aid concentration, but color-coded beams and subtle secondary cues may create difficulties for players with color-vision differences. Optional guidance is also a recurring accessibility concern.

Camera behavior is praised in one review for intelligently changing framing to support mood, traversal, and visual depth.

Zooming out helps with planning across connected puzzle screens. The fixed grid perspective can also feel monotonous to players wanting more visual variety.

Bug frequency is a concern in one review that reports a severe save-wipe issue, even though other technical impressions were cleaner.

Several PC and PS5 experiences are clean, while others encounter minor bugs or startup trouble. Switch 2 reports include rewind errors and a severe docked-display glitch in one test.

Immersion is supported by strong presentation and visual depth, though one reviewer says the game remained enjoyable without strongly resonating.

Expressive animation and an appealing sense of place draw some players into the world. Others feel the hub and unfinished voices create distance from the adventure.

Graphics quality is a major strength, with reviewers repeatedly calling the game gorgeous, beautiful, and visually impressive.

Colorful environments and attractive detail earn substantial praise, including at low Steam Deck settings. Busy screens, small objects, and underwhelming resolution trouble some players.

The checkpoint system is praised as a quality-of-life improvement because it reduces frustration around difficult optional challenges.

Remembered puzzle positions make leaving and returning convenient. Long interconnected sections can still demand extensive repetition when a full reset becomes necessary.

Polish is praised where reviewers highlight the game as well put together and visually refined.

Cohesive presentation and purposeful construction impress many players. Prerelease voice and subtitle work, plus substantial Switch 2 defects in some tests, complicate that impression.

Animation quality is a standout, especially Joe’s motion, hand-drawn character work, and the way combat and traversal read in motion.

Expressive, readable movement generally adds personality without obscuring the puzzles. One prerelease account found some animations conspicuously awkward.

Movement feel is heavily praised as fast, fluid, snappy, and fun, though one Switch review notes combat can feel slower than traversal.

Clear movement and easy block manipulation are appreciated. Another account reports occasional unwanted nudges from character momentum.

Side character depth is weak in the evidence focused on Ankou, whom one reviewer calls dull despite liking the broader visual design.

Personable performances and meaningful interactions make the supporting cast memorable for some. Others find their fragmented stories or exchanges insufficiently engaging.

The core loop is widely liked as fast, stylish 2D action with strong combat and traversal, with a few reviewers calling it great despite structural complaints.

For enthusiasts, another block-pushing puzzle is an inviting reason to keep playing. For others, the same central activity becomes routine despite changing mechanics.

Difficulty is generally viewed as fair and satisfying, but opinions split on spikes, projectile-heavy sections, undertuned enemies, and some hard optional challenges.

The challenge creates powerful breakthroughs for patient puzzle fans, but can become exhausting or demoralizing. Opinions differ on whether its complexity teaches new thinking or overloads memory and execution.

Fast travel is repeatedly praised for making revisits, secret hunting, and post-completion cleanup smoother rather than tedious.

The miniature version of the map is widely appreciated as a clever shortcut. Its usefulness varies with route and familiarity, and some backtracking remains cumbersome.

The hand-drawn art direction receives near-universal praise for its style, cohesion, painterly look, and strong franchise fit.

Colorful fantasy regions, painterly scenery, and carefully styled floors draw widespread praise. A few players find the world too busy or the characters visually disconnected from their surroundings.

Pacing is mixed: several reviewers like the length and steady tool rollout, while others say long stages, revisit loops, or samey rhythm weaken momentum.

Bite-sized rooms and time controls suit short sessions and reduce waiting. Constant escalation, slow story beats, and long stretches before major revelations can erode momentum.

Writing quality is mixed-to-weak, with reviewers describing the script as fine, tropey, or not especially nuanced.

Opinions range from approval of a strong script to criticism of generic, verbose, or confusing lines. Thin context and scattered delivery frequently weaken the writing’s impact.

Endgame content is generally seen as useful for replay through Arcade Mode, Boss Rush, superbosses, and ranking challenges, though one reviewer sees arcade mode as padding.

The first credits open the door to further discoveries and more ambitious combinations. Players who enjoy deeper mysteries find this continuation especially rewarding.

Fun factor is high, with many reviewers calling the combat, challenge rooms, and overall ninja fantasy enjoyable or easy to recommend.

Many players describe an absorbing one-more-puzzle loop that keeps them returning. The same prolonged challenge leaves others bored, weary, or frustrated.

Exploration is divisive: many enjoy secrets, replayable routes, and rewards, while others find backtracking or Metroidvania-lite detours less compelling.

Uncovering the map and recognizing hidden world puzzles can rival the pleasure of solving individual rooms. A less enthusiastic account finds newly opened routes bland.

Content variety is strong across stage themes, optional challenges, enemy encounters, bonus levels, and replay modes, though some side segments are less loved.

Four distinct puzzle systems and their combinations create an unusually broad range of challenges. A few players still find prolonged stretches within one region repetitive.

Gameplay mechanics are praised for depth and power fantasy, though one reviewer argues an execution mechanic lacks meaningful challenge pressure.

Simple pushing, pulling, teleporting, and other abilities grow into richly interwoven systems. Their cross-world interactions are the game’s most widely admired creative strength.

Progression is praised for steadily adding moves, abilities, upgrades, and customization that keep combat and traversal evolving.

Numerous available routes usually offer a way forward when one puzzle blocks progress. Global stalls, unclear intermediate progress, and dependencies on other regions can still break the flow.

Onboarding is praised for easing the player into each move rather than overwhelming them with the full combat kit at once.

The immediate opening and recommended northern route can make getting started pleasantly direct. Some demo impressions nevertheless find the early hook weak.

Dialogue quality is uneven: one review criticizes a dull character, and another finds paused dialogue barks jarring despite fun narrative moments.

Enjoyable banter and moments of levity coexist with complaints about verbose, stilted, or distracting exchanges. Delivery in small fragments can make context difficult to retain.

Frame rate stability is mixed, especially on Switch, where reviewers note dips or painful frame-rate issues despite otherwise strong presentation.

Results vary sharply by platform and account. Several Switch 2 tests report substantial dips, one finds mostly 60 fps, and Steam Deck and PS5 reports also include occasional or significant drops.

Environmental detail stands out in reviews that praise painterly backgrounds, large-scale set pieces, and richly detailed level backdrops.

Fine textures, decorative flourishes, and carefully designed objects give the fantasy spaces a strong visual identity.

Innovation is praised where reviewers say the game evolves Shinobi meaningfully instead of merely repeating the past.

Many accounts admire the sustained invention produced by combining different puzzle languages. A dissenting first impression finds the game insufficiently fresh beside newer Sokoban adventures.

Load times receive a positive note from one Switch reviewer who says they did not take too long.

Immediate starts and instant puzzle restarts receive praise. One PC experience instead reports an unresponsive black screen during launch.

Character development is limited overall, with one reviewer liking a supporting character but another calling broader character depth minimal.

Some players become invested in the characters through their conversations and distinctive limitations. Others find the snippets too scattered, dull, or brief to build much attachment.

Narrative quality is the most mixed creative element: some call it one of the franchise’s better stories, while many describe it as simple, thin, or tonally inconsistent.

The layered mystery becomes compelling for some players, especially as worlds and characters connect. Others find it thin, distant, or too fragmented to motivate the lengthy journey.

Atmosphere is supported by presentation touches such as camera framing and mood-setting scenes that help the 2D spaces feel more dramatic.

Calm scenery and restrained audio can make exploration feel almost therapeutic. The soothing presentation provides a welcome counterweight to demanding puzzles.

The learning curve is favorable because reviewers describe the combat as simple to engage with while still rewarding mastery.

Puzzles often teach through carefully staged interactions and increasingly useful lessons. Abrupt complexity, forgotten rules, and understated explanations can still cause confusion.

Originality is praised where reviewers call the revival fresh for the series rather than a simple nostalgic retread.

Several players find the fusion of puzzle systems unlike anything they have played. One first impression argues that familiar freeware foundations and newer genre rivals weaken its novelty.

Lore depth gets mild praise where the reviewer appreciates Shinobi’s blend of cultural mythological elements.

World mysteries and character lore motivate some players to persist. The scattered delivery can make interesting fragments difficult to organize.

Tutorial quality is positive where one reviewer says the early tutorials made combat options easy to understand and apply.

Teaching through simple introductory puzzles is generally praised for being organic and effective. The game expects players to infer rules and carry those lessons forward.

Visual effects are praised for stylish Ninjutsu, cinematic flourishes, audiovisual impact, and bold combat feedback.

Sparkling beams, flames, and character abilities create attractive lighting and satisfying visual feedback.

Save reliability is split: one review praises frequent saves, while another reports the serious problem of a save being wiped twice.

Preserving puzzle positions and action history makes it easy to resume after exploring elsewhere. Positive accounts find this continuity reassuring.

Value for money is positive overall, especially for combat-focused or completionist players, though one review frames value as more moderate for players skipping side content.

The large puzzle collection at roughly $30 is widely viewed as excellent value. A player who cannot overcome its unsupported difficulty finds the same purchase hard to justify.

The soundtrack is mostly praised as energetic, fitting, and memorable, though one review finds it weaker than the visuals and Genesis-era expectations.

Restrained, soothing music supports long periods of thought, with some accounts praising its orchestral variety and adaptive fading. It often provides welcome calm during frustrating puzzles.

Performance optimization varies by platform and context, with PS5 impressions strong but Switch-oriented reviews noting optimization and frame-pacing caveats.

Some PC and PS5 tests report flawless play, while Steam Deck runs well with lower settings. Switch 2 results range from impressive to severely troubled, and demo improvements do not establish final performance.

Handheld power use is a concern, particularly in the overworld. Steam Deck and Switch 2 accounts describe heavier battery drain than expected for this style of puzzler.

Boss design earns many positive notes for memorable, exciting encounters, though a few reviewers find some bosses too easy, clunky, or mechanically weaker than regular fights.

Mission design is praised through comments about well-crafted stages that mix platforming, combat, puzzles, and optional routes.

Freedom to change regions helps players manage difficult puzzles, and the overworld itself adds further challenges. Its sheer scale and required travel feel unwieldy or unengaging to some.

The voice ensemble earns praise for its strength and range. Familiar names are valued for the personality they bring to the cast.

The ensemble of fantasy workers, explorers, and a talking boat makes the adventure feel personable and varied.

A demo-based account welcomes the stated influence of play order on how the story unfolds, while leaving the full payoff untested.

Thinking through puzzles with a partner can create memorable shared breakthroughs. This praise concerns informal collaboration around a single-player game.

Combat is the most consistently praised attribute, with reviewers calling it fluid, deep, expressive, satisfying, and central to the game’s appeal.

The stated absence of a season pass reassures a demo player who prefers the content included in one purchase.

Sharing solutions on the couch can deepen appreciation for the puzzles, especially when rewind lets one person demonstrate their reasoning. No dedicated co-op mode is established by this account.

Rewinding after a death makes recovery forgiving and keeps the focus on trying another solution.

Enemy variety is a strength, with reviewers praising the range of ninjas, soldiers, monsters, bosses, and specialized foes that shape encounters.

Reviewers broadly describe the revival as faithful to Shinobi’s legacy while modernizing it with new structure, combat depth, and visual presentation.

Flying mechanics are mildly criticized in the glider’s case, with the reviewer saying it slows down otherwise snappy traversal.

The enormous collection is a welcome long-term project for dedicated solvers. Others feel the scope delays major payoffs or turns progress into an exhausting commitment.

A prerelease account strongly dislikes the artificial voices used alongside human performers. The complaint concerns temporary voice work described as awaiting replacement.

Short puzzle sessions suit portable play well, and positive Switch 2 and Steam Deck accounts find it easy to keep chipping away. Performance compromises and inconsistent platform experiences remain caveats.

Some players value being left to discover answers independently. More often, missing optional hints or excessively cryptic clues make difficult roadblocks harder to tolerate.

HUD clarity receives a mixed score because flashy combat effects can make the player lose track of the action.

Natural banter brings welcome levity to otherwise tense situations, though its frequency can be excessive in the northern region.

Mission variety is supported by praise for fresh objectives and distinct environments across the stages.

A demo player welcomes the stated pay-once approach rather than dividing the experience into a season pass.

Most accounts recommend it strongly to dedicated puzzle fans, with several calling it a masterpiece. Fatigue, fragmented storytelling, and uneven technical results keep the recommendation conditional for others.

Platforming is often praised as tight, precise, and rewarding, though several reviewers flag optional challenge rooms or late-game traversal as frustrating or inconsistent.

Choosing another route helps many players recover from frustration and find fresh ideas. Freedom within individual solutions is less consistent, with some accounts criticizing strict acceptance rules.

The upgrade system is praised for meaningful amulets, combat additions, and flexible build choices that alter playstyle.

Applying learned abilities to the overworld adds another rewarding layer of puzzling. The larger map can become a meaningful challenge in its own right.

Prerelease subtitles draw criticism for typos, missing lines, and mismatches with spoken dialogue. These faults make conversations harder to follow.

One Switch 2 test reports a docked-display defect severe enough to prevent television play. That platform-specific failure materially limits flexibility in that build.

Replay value is strong for completionists thanks to collectibles, secrets, stage revisits, Arcade Mode, Boss Rush, ranks, and unlockables, though not every reviewer loves revisiting.

Clear disclosure that some demo voices were temporary earns approval for its honesty.