So as the title says, this is about the game Ninja Gaiden; primarily focusing on the new 3D, thrid person action games which came out for Xbox, Xbox360, PS3, and now the WiiU.
The first thing I need to mention about myself as I have before, is that I don't really get to game all that much for a few reasons. First being time restaints, I work a lot, and spend a lot of my spare time practicing/playing bass - and usually when I'm faced with the choice of gaming or playing bass - bass usually wins out almost everytime. However, there is the rare time I choose the gaming - say I just want to have an easy, laid back weekend and I need a break from bass - which happened recently, which is what is the catalyst for me making this thread.
Second, I can't play too many games considering a majority of them made now are shooters - these games look like a blast, but I can't play them, I suffer from motion sickness. I attempted Halo one and got sick for a few hours and COD actually caused me to throw up, and it is a shame because as I mentioned, these games look like a blast.
This is also why I only have three favorite franchises - and a few others -I like to play. There's Mario - but it has to be that 2D Mario, then there's the Dead or Alive series (always been a favorite) and the topic of this thread; Ninja Gaiden.
I have the first Xbox Ninja Gaiden along with Ninja Gaiden Black, Ninja Gaiden 2 for Xbox360 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Sigma 2 for PS3.
I like Ninja Gaiden (and DOA) for the fluid and smooth gameplay - in other words the feel of them are very nice. I liked them so much when I played Ninja Gaiden Black I beat it on all difficulty levels; including Master Ninja, and I have unlocked everything on it. I started playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma for my PS3 and beat it on hard this past weekend, maybe in a few months I'll try very hard and Master Ninja.
I didn't bother to get Ninja Gaiden 3 because I heard from everyone it was bad and my patience has paid off because they've announced Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge for PS3 and Xbox360 - so there's no need to get a WiiU. This is good news and I hear it's only around $40, so that's nice to hear. There's also some more playable characters; Ayane and Kasumi from DOA and Momiji (one of the franchise's ninja women). So I look forward to playing that and seeing what sort of lethal moves those characters have.
I also hear from the gaming community how difficult the Ninja Gaiden franchise is, except for Ninja Gaiden 3. The first one for Xbox is still the most difficult if you ask me for one simple reason which I won't bother explaining - it's also not the point of this particular part of the post I'm making. Read on and see what sort of point I'm implying - I won't come out and say it, but it does relate to the trends in gaming overall.
Basically, when I bought that first Ninja Gaiden game for Xbox and after playing a game like Fable, I expected it to be easy, I was wrong, it was tough - but this is what kept me coming back to it.
This game reminded me of the old action adventure games I played on Sega Master System when I was a kid - anyone remember Rastan? That was an old 2D game, and I remember playing it to see how far I could get, I remember havign to make sure I saved up all the potions and power ups for the boss battles - if you had nothing for a boss battle it was; reset the game, start over.
This was simular to Ninja Gaiden, if you used too many power ups in the first two levels, it was reset the game start over. There was also very little for tutorials, or any practice mode - there was also only normal, there was no easy - although they give you one on all the other releases of these games.
What it came down to was that I realized that I couldn't just mash buttons - I actually had to learn the combos, use most effective moves, have a strategy and be patient. A lot of people have played it and say it's a horrible game and how it sucks because they couldn't get past the first boss (nunchuks guy) - when there's actually a very easy way to beat him - however, I had to figure that out.
In the end, to beat this game on normal my first time, it took me close to 30 hours of game time. If you couldn't figure out how to defeat the boss characters, the "puzzles" on the levels themselves made you wonder where you were supposed to go and how to do it.
As much as I enjoy playing this game, I still find it can be pretty difficult - of course, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 are considerably easier and more accessable.
This brings me to my point (aside from plugging Ninja Gaiden) is how people expect games to be easy to beat, and this is understandable in the sense that gaming has become more popular, as a matter of fact I would almost say gaming has become all inclusive. So while I understand gaming is supposed to be fun, how many of these people out there are actually looking for a challenge? I see people start games and put them down, or sell them because they feel they're too hard.
Coming back to Ninja Gaiden, the original maker Tomonobu Itagaki when asked about how some people reacted to Ninja Gaiden by saying it was too difficult he replied something to the effect of: "That's how I made the game, take it or leave it." I can't recall word for word what he said because I can't seem to find the quote online - I may have to look in one of my old game magazines - which I bought because of the article on Ninja Gaiden.
I agree that Ninja Gaiden being a challenge is definitely one of the most addicting aspects of the franchise. I've only played 1-3(and I do believe that 3 was a disappointment). A friend of mine has and beat the Sigma ones and some of the others like the dragon sword one for handhelds. I had a fair amount of trouble on Ninja Gaiden 2 up to the point where you get the eclipse scythe on the lowest difficulty, I think. I was on Normal and it's been a while since I played so I don't remember the difficulties. I, personally don't like games that are too too easy but if it's next to impossible I can understand frustration to the point of wanting to get rid of it but not even trying just because a game's hard and selling it is pointless. I also enjoyed how you fought different enemies depending on the difficulty, which I didn't know when I first increased it so when I got to a point in NG2 where I fought nothing the first time through and now something ambushes you was a surprise, after the initial WTF! when I blew up randomly.
The combos I'd say were a little difficult to remember for me at first but the more I used them the more natural it became and necessary as well since there were specific enemies that would take massive amounts of just mashing the attack button(which a lot of people seem to do in fighting games) and each combo worked to varying degrees of effectiveness on each enemy. I haven't played a lot of DBZ games and while I know it's off-topic, I'm just using it as a reference, it seemed to me that while combos were easily put together in them, there wasn't any real significance to them other than just dishing out more damage at once or keeping your opponent from being able to launch a successful counter-attack.
As for the puzzle portions, I can't remember there being a large amount but like I said, it's been a long while since I played Ninja Gaiden at all. I can remember a few but I think that the puzzles in the God Of War series were much more challenging and required you to think more, especially with some of them whose circumstances were : complete correctly or fight a group of enemies each time you fail and complete correctly or you die.
Overall though, Ninja Gaiden is an awesome series and while I can understand why someone might not like it, I don't really see why you would hate it altogether.
"When you truly care about someone, you don't need any specific reasons to justify your feelings. If you don't know why you feel the way you do, then you can't lose that which causes you to care."
I feel the first one had some good challenging "puzzle" levels in them with plenty of action, I also liked how all the levels in the first one actually connected together and how they all looked so different, yet consistant. I still feel that first one is the most challenging of them. I never did play Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword.
With the second one, I felt it was consisderably easier - now, you're talking with a guy who played the first one so much - as I mentioned, I don't do too much gaming, and when I do, it's usually DOA or Ninja Gaiden. So I knew many of the cool combos, I also found the gameplay to be more fluid in the second one - a big improvement there - there are times on the first one where the controls aren't as responsive as I'd like. However, as much as I liked the second one, I was also disappointed with how all the levels didn't connect together and how it was so obvious as to which way you had to go - so, I found that on the second one they had dumbed it down, or made it a little more accessable.
Don't get me wrong though, there are still some good surprises or what I call asshole moves that Team Ninja Has become notorious for - like the turtle that explodes after you beat it and you need to use magic to protect your character. That was such a dickhead move on their part.
I played the demo of the third one just last night and what can I say - on one hand, the movements of Ryu are more fluid than ever, very silky smooth gameplay, the graphics are beautiful, best looking game, but that's where my compliments stop.
The level I was playing was so dumbed down, I hate how there's a radio talking telling you where to go - personally I liked the first one when you got scrolls thrown to you, everything about that old game reminds me of the old games I once played for Sega Master System - there was something gritty about them that deviated from mainstream games.
This new one just reminds me of when I tried Halo and a few other "modern" games, it just seems like the charming, old school vibe from the first one is completely gone. Then there are the enemies who talk while you're fighting them, then they start begging you not to kill them, mean while I'm playing this thinking, "well it's a good thing you're a terrorist if you don't want to die." So, that was cheesy as hell, I remember thinking "really?"
Lastly, and this is the big one, I don't like the new system of saving and how there's no more of the whole essence thing - basically, it seems like they tried fixing something that wasn't broken to begin with. And the zoom in thing - that's just stupid. To be honest, from what I played, it just seems like they're trying to make it like God Of War, when it is a good game in it's own regard - I forgot to mention that was pretty fun to play as well, just never got into it as much as Ninja Gaiden.
Thankfully, I have read up on the new release of Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge and they bring back some of the old stuff and still stick with some of the new. From the gameplay footage in comparison to what I played it looks as though they brought back some of the old gameplay style - which is good. Looks like they do the whole zoom in thing still, but, I'll take it if everything else is left alone. Lastly, with Momiji, Ayane and Kasumi added to the roster as playable characters that makes it well worth it - I'm just wondering if I have to download them of if they'll be included on the game from the get go, here's hoping they're on the game right away.
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I found Ninja Gaiden really hard... it was fun but hard, I haven't played it in a couple of years now. Maybe I should get back into it
It can be pretty tough, especially that first one - particularly Sigma and Black on the harder difficulties, I recently got back into it and beat Sigma on hard but I beat Black on very hard and master ninja. There were some really good outfits for him when you won these difficulties, can't find them all online though.
Also, just a heads up for people who have a PS3, the new Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge demo is available, the game should be out on April 2 give or take. It will also have Kasumi, Ayane and Momiji as playable characters.
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I've beaten the entire NES trilogy....after much effort and platforming hell.
I sadly haven't had the chance to play the 3D ones. I have not had the console available to play any of them until recently with Razor's Edge's release on Wii U.
And that's out for now because I don't feel right skipping installments and not knowing what's going on.
I know stuff about them, but I haven't been able to play them for myself.
So I've been playing the Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge demo, I have a few thoughts, I'll start with what I feel are weak points and move to the stronger ones.
Cons
The health bar system, I'm not too crazy about it, while it is simular to the system on Ninja Gaiden 2 and Sigma 2, it's worse because there are no potions or health power ups to save you when you're in a pinch.
the ninpo, or magic attack system, you can't use it until it's fully charged where as on the other games it could go up to 5 attacks that could be refilled various ways. Using ninpo also restores most of your health, to a certain point.
Levels are way to straight forward, on teh first Ninja Gaiden, part of the fun was having to backtrack every now and then, it also helped if you knew where all the stores were so that you could stock up on power ups etc. Levels started to become more generic on Ninja Gaiden 2, but they still involved some intricacy. This new edition offers nothing in the department of taxing levels, everything is so "closed," it is basically an elaborate action/fighting game.
Pros
The backgrounds look better than ever, it is overall a very beautiful looking game.
Lots of new moves, and the older ones are easier to execute.
Ultimate charging attack still there - great life saver.
New Karma point system allows you to unlock character upgrades and costumes.
The game play is more fluid and faster than ever, in other words, the gameplay is more fun and addicting, it's also easier than ever to evade opponents.
Lots of new characters, and from what I hear, (they can be used on all levels, or, the entire game can be played with a different character)* whereas the predicessor games characters were assigned to their levels only.
*This is what I hear will happen, but I will have to see when I play the real game.
So, considering the good with the bad, I feel there will still be plenty of fun had playing this game, the addition of the new characters will also add some new dimensions to the game play as well and it still is easier than the first Ninja Gaiden game. Also, these are only my thoughts on the demo, we'll have to wait and see what the game is like.
It is possible to unlock Kasumi on the demo, but I don't know exactly how, I keep hearing different things about it, and lastly, anything you unlock on the demo will carry over to the real game, so outfits, weapon upgrades, karma points etc. Oh, and Kasumi doesn't need to be unlocked on the real game version, only on the demo.
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Seems there wiill be another Ninja Gaiden game: Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. It will be a side story game with Ryu as the antagonist instead of the protagonist. Honestly, doesn't seem like Ninja Gaiden to me but I am curious how it will fair with Ryu no longer the main character.
"When you truly care about someone, you don't need any specific reasons to justify your feelings. If you don't know why you feel the way you do, then you can't lose that which causes you to care."
@Forlorn - Sorry I haven't replied to this sooner, but yeah, I heard of NGZ some time back, it looks cool, they're saying it's a Ninja Gaiden game, but isn't, but Ryu as the antagonist, interesting, have to wait and see what the game is like.
Anyways, some info on Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge for PS3; so far, I'm really liking the game, it's still not as great as the first Ninja Gaiden game that came out for Xbox, or that games superior incarnations - Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but it's still quite good, I would almost be inclined to say it's just as good, if not better than Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for PS3, which was also a lot of fun.
To be honest, the thing that made the first Ninja Gaiden games so great was the levels - they were multi-tiered, you had to back track, figure out how to move a long, in other words, it did require more thought. I also liked how on the first one all the levels connected together, now, because I like the game play of this new NG3RE and the character selection, it would be my dream for them to remake the first game with all these characters as a non canon title just for fun.
As I mentioned already, you get to play as various characters, now, I'm not going into review mode here, but I do want to put, some information here for people who may have decided to pick up NG3RE in terms of unlocking stuff.
First things first
So, first, all the characters are not playable right away. You must play through the game on story mode, any difficulty to unlock "chapter challenge." In doing so, you unlock Kasumi as a playable character there and in "ninja trials"(which is little missions you can do alone or with a partner via online PSN.
Ayane becomes available for ninja trials after playing her first level(Ayane Day 2, Paris) on story mode, Momiji is the same idea (Hayabusa Village, Day 5).
To unlock more ninja trials, you just do existing ninja trials - pretty straightforward.
Costumes
Each character has a default costume, or as listing on the game, costume 1, there was also a promotional costume pack, which I got with my game for one extra costume for each character, so I had two outfits for each character right away.
Each Character
C1 - Default
C2 - You must buy it with Karma Points
Last costume (C5 or C6) - Promotional Costume
Ryu Hayabusa and Ayane
C3 - Collect all 50 Golden Scarabs hidden throughout the levels
C4 - Attempt all 10 crystal skull challenges - just attempt, you don't have to win, also, the skulls are hidden in the levels as well
Kasumi and Momiji
C3 - Complete 25 ninja trials
C4 - Complete 50 ninja trials
Here is a picture of all the costumes - I put it in a spoiler tab for those who don't want to see them now:
I do hope this information helps, I would talk more about the game, even give more of my thoughts, opinions and criticisms about it, but, I'm not feeling up to that right now.
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I found out how to get Ryu's last demon costume, in order to get it you must have Ninja Gaiden 3 save data on your system, so I suppose it's something of an apology to the people who bought that game. I was under the impression it would be unlocked after doing 50 trials with Ryu, didn't get it, so, the save data is the only way.
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