A beautiful looking and sounding game clearly designed to appeal to the whole family.
To start, this game is played from a 3rd-person perspective and allows you to play as one of eventually six different ninjas as they undertake a quest to destroy the evil samurai warlord and his army of possessed soldiers. Although you only begin with Hiro, you will recruit five more playable ninjas as you progress through the game and each of them comes with a different set of skills and abilities. For example, one of them attacks from a distance with a bow and arrow while yet another fights with a spear and specializes in crowd control. While playing as these different ninjas (which can be switched instantly at any time) you will run through some beautiful levels teeming with enemies to fight and undertake some mild platforming as well. The replay value here comes from all the various collectible items you can find in the levels. From ingredients to make potions with to little statues and even hidden shrines that unlock spells you can cast with Hiro.
As I mentioned before, the graphics in this game are not only gorgeous to look at, but also undeniably cute, especially the little possesed samurai warriors that you fight who spout all sorts of amusing semi-Japanese gibberish as they flee in terror from you or take you on in groups! The soundtrack also deserves praise for it's hauntingly beautiful Japanese sound which changes depending on where you are and what you are doing.
Even though this game looks and sounds beautiful and plays very well with a mixture of platforming, exploring, and combat, there are a few downsides. Most notably the game is really easy. Even on the "Hard" difficulty, few gamers will have any trouble with this game. Also worth mentioning is how unnecessary any of the extra items are that you can collect. I never found any need to use shuriken or caltrops and the handful of recipes that you can collect that allow you to brew your own potions are totally unneeded due to the ease with which most gamers will get through the game. Also, the main character you start with is easily the most powerful of the bunch, ably to fling devastating spells around as you find them and more than capable in combat, you will probably never feel the need to switch characters unless you just want something different to play around with.
So, there you have it, folks. A beautiful looking and sounding game clearly designed to appeal to the whole family, yet lacking a bit in challenge. How much you enjoy this game will probably depend on what you are looking for. If you crave lots of blood and intense difficulty, you will probably become bored with this game quickly. If you are just looking for a light-hearted action-platformer with a bit of charm, then this game will almost certainly entertain you.