Ninja Gaiden Series

[Foggle]

Also, try using some 360 degree spin moves (where you rotate the analogue stick about 180 degrees and then press or hold Y). Trust me, those are very useful moves that most people never learn about and they are entirely awesome to boot.

I actually did that for the first time ever (and completely by accident) about 30 minutes ago! Thanks for explaining how to do it, I had no idea.

I don't really remember much about chapter 11 (about 3 years since I've played this game). Since it's optional, how do you get to the area from the first game? I want to make sure I don't miss it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Silly Foggle, if you just remember the very start of the first game its easy to find the location.

But seriously, remember how you platform up a cliff-side in the first game then you jump up through what looks like the opening to a well? Just jump down that same passage when you see it in Chapter 11 (it comes right before a string that you shimmy across that leads to a save statue in a grassy field). Its basically a big empty whole that you can jump into, so its fairly hard to miss. There isn't really anything that you can do over there but its a nice little easter-egg all the same. Oh yeah, also if you shoot the targets in Chapter 2 and/or Chapter 11 (just like in the first game), you can get a refill of blue essence, red essence, and about 3,000 worth of yellow essence. Its another nice little easter-egg included from the first game.

BTW, I'm not sure if you're aware but some weapons have alternate UT's that you can do by holding down Y when doing a 360 attack. Since this is common knowledge among all veterans of the game, I'll share it with you: The 360 ET/UT with the Lunar Staff rapes EVERYTHING in the entire game. I kid you not. It'll be your best friend on harder difficulties if you ever decide to try those at any point in time. On this difficulty its not necessary but still fairly useful in tight situations for crowd control, especially against the Lycans.

[Foggle]

Ah, okay, thanks for clarifying. Since it's that obvious, I probably would have noticed when I got there.

Chapter 2 boss fight is awesome, though the mini-boss was kind of annoying since he had a bunch of mooks with him. Really liking the aesthetic in chapter 3... it's a shame I know I'm in for a retarded boss battle at the end.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Ah, okay, thanks for clarifying. Since it's that obvious, I probably would have noticed when I got there.

I actually just played through that part of Chapter 11 on Mentor mode after we talked about it (I easily got in the mood to play some NG again and I have a save file on Mentor at the beginning of each chapter), and I realized that you don't even need to jump down the well hole. All you need to do is jump off the cliff instead of shimmying across the wire and you're there at the very first spot where you literally started NGB. That's just fucking awesome level design if I do say so myself.

Chapter 2 boss fight is awesome, though the mini-boss was kind of annoying since he had a bunch of mooks with him.

Genshin is pretty awesome, and easily the most well-designed boss in the game. Its cool to learn how to fight him properly and if you get good enough you can take him out without taking any damage at all. Also, you've just gotta admit that Genshin is a pretty good loser. He doesn't get sore about it when you beat him and he even honorably gives you his kick-ass sword at the end of the game. See, isn't he the nicest villain you ever met.

As for the 2nd Rasetsu fight, if you thought he was annoying with normal ninja minions on Warrior mode....Mentor and Master Ninja mode will make you want to commit suicide by hanging yourself with your controller wire....so make sure you play any harder difficulties with a wireless controller if you ever dare to try and take those down.

As for me he's not hard at all on Warrior mode, anymore, but he's still a freaking nuisance on the harder difficulty settings. The battle where you fight 9 Rasetsus in a row on that long stone bridge in Chapter 10 is fucking epic, though (and its fair because they only come at you 3 at a time and its a straight path so they can never crowd around you.

Really liking the aesthetic in chapter 3... it's a shame I know I'm in for a retarded boss battle at the end.

I love the whole nod to "Ninja in the USA" from chapters 3 and 4. Total fan-service to fans of the old-school NES Ninja Gaiden games. Who cares if it makes no sense? Its fucking awesome to have a ninja in New York City chopping up other ninjas and Fiends twice his size. Does God of War ever have Kratos wreaking havoc and beating the crap out of ninjas in NYC? I think not.

(BTW I'm not trying to be an ass-hole to the GoW series, I just use that line against annoying GoW fans on other boards that bash NG for being too "cheap"; it always gets to them ).

As for the boss battle at the end of chapter 3, save all of your Ninpo for it (you can use it for temporary invincibility when he sends his flying fish at you). Also have you Lunar Staff at at least level 2, and then learn to use its 360 charge attack (its 360 UT). If you charge it up before he closes in on you or right when he shoots his fishes at you, you'll be invincible in those animation frames and won't take any damage and if he passes by you he'll take some damage from you, so its a win-win situation.

Its an annoying boss fight, but it can be made tolerable if you just save up your ninpo and health items for him. Also let me know if you ever have trouble with Alexei in the next chapter, as I have some really good tips and strategies for him (the number one of them being always stay close to him since he will RAPE you if you try to keep your distance from him).

Also, I'm not sure if you're aware of the most useful move in the game against IS ninjas (or humanoid enemies in general), but I'm assuming that you know how to perform the a basic move such as the Flying Swallow with the Dragon Sword (that's the move where you jump up in the air and press forward and "Y" and Ryu does a mid-air warp-dash to the enemy that you aimed at, and occasionally cuts off their heads or otherwise just stuns and damages them by slicing right through them). You may have noticed that some different weapons have their own variations of this move. Well, here's a neat trick if you do it with the Falcon's Talons (assuming that you have them upgraded at least to level 2): do a flying swallow to any humanoid enemy with the FT, and then after that animation when you're both in the air press "X" and then "Y" in immediate succession and you'll perform an Izuna Drop on the enemy. Its easy to chain that same attack when you are crowded by multiple ninjas, and its especially useful in IS ninja or rocket launcher ninja fights because you are completely invincible during the Izuna Drop animation. Once again, its a technique that Veterans discovered that makes the game easier for those having trouble with those sorts of fights (though its completely possible to do those fights without relying on that method if you're skilled enough to handle that sort of carnage, which isn't too hard at all on Acolyte or Warrior mode, IMO).

I just thought I'd drop you that little tip if you wanted to have fun experimenting with it (assuming that you don't already know how to do it, but if you do, then all the more power to you ).

[Foggle]

Thanks for the tips. I'm trying to do a Dragon Sword run, so I already have it upgraded to level 3.

Chapter 3 is a bit of step down in quality from the first two. The first part is awesome, but it gets really obnoxious once you go underground (I got knocked into the water so many times at one point that the game practically became a slapstick comedy). The boss fight is currently pissing me off, but I figure I'll beat it eventually if I just keep trying. Gotten pretty close a couple of times.

[Foggle]

Just beat him, and now I'm onto the much more palatable chapter 4. Only had to use two herbs, one grains, and two ninpo. I love how once you get him down to about 1/8 of his health bar he just topples over and lets you wail on him. So rewarding after such a tough fight, much more so than a quick time event, for sure.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I think part of the problem is that Team Ninja made the first 2 chapters so awesome that they didn't put nearly as much time and effort into the later chapters again until Chapter 7.

Going by general fan opinion, most people hate Chapter 3 but I thought it was pretty decent (it was mostly fun until the last 3rd of the chapter, IMO). Chapter 4 is a step-up in quality except for that fight in the field where those flying dragons keep knocking you around and it always happens from off-camera (one of the few times that the camera is legitimately horrible in the game); I would strongly advise you to just skip that fight altogether by just walking into the building (being able to skip fights that you don't like is one good thing about this game ). Chapter 5 is, IMO, the best looking level in the game; the design looks absolutely beautiful from start to finish and it has a great use of lighting as well, but the level has its annoyances in the form of some water-mines and enemies that you encounter on the water (they can be easily dealt with if you just rapidly spam the bow-gun, though, which you get early on in the level). Chapter 6 is pretty good overall, though the arrow-based fight with the flying dragons again on the bridge right before the final boss fight with Volf is terrible (and worst of all it can't be skipped ).

Then we get to Chapter 7, which is FUCKING AMAZING! I love everything about this chapter. The enemies are awesome (giant Dino-Mechs? FUCK YEAH! Now that's the ridiculous type of enemy design that I expect from a game paying homage to the old-school Ninja Gaiden games!). And yes, I even love fighting Genshin with a bunch of IS ninjas in the room (its actually fair and not too hard to deal with since you are given a lot of open space and can deal with them first before fighting Genshin himself as long as you keep your distance from him). Hell, I even love that fucking exploding Armadillo. Most people get pissed when it explodes, but I just laughed my ass off and called Team Ninja genius for being such trolls. To be fair, though, I blocked the explosion instictively on my first try, since I have learned to never trust this game and think that I'm safe when I'm really not; plus it was kind of rapidly blinking and flashing red a lot which was sort of a dead giveaway....I don't know why so many critics forgot their basic gaming skills to miss that obvious detail.

Chapter 8 is rocket-launcher ninjas galore, and do you know what: With the exception of the excruciating platforming segment in the Clock Tower at the end, its a fun chapter. I hated it at first but its not cheap really, because the rocket launcher ninjas always spawn in front of your camera's default position (so its your own fault if you change it), and once you learn the proper strategies to fight them properly, they are really a cinch to take down. The IS ninjas are the real threat in this level, if you ask me.

Chapter 9 is HORRID! GOD I FUCKING HATE THIS CHAPTER! I won't blame you if you stop playing the game at this point, Foggle, but if you stomach it, then you'll be treated to....

Chapter 10! Another great and epic chapter. Everything about this chapter is big and epic, from fighting 9 Rasetsus in a row on a long stone bridge to slicing up 100+ ninjas on a giant stairway before the final boss fight. Fucking steroid-induced awesomeness....except for the acid cave in the middle. That's the one really annoying hitch in the level. The rest of it is brilliant, though.

Chapter 11 is awesome. Its basically a more epic version of chapter 2, though if you hate IS ninjas than this chapter is not for you (well, I do hate them, but up to Mentor mode you can skillfully deal with them, so I find it to be an awesome chapter). It really sells the whole feeling of an epic revenge against impossible odds, though. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 REALLY, SERIOUSLY, FUCKED THIS CHAPTER UP! Seriously, watch a youtube video of someone playing NG2's chapter 11 and compare it to NGS2's Chapter 14. Its such a fucking disgrace.

Chapter 12 is shit: not quite as terrible as chapter 9, but its still shit. I hate it, and I wish it weren't in the game along with chapter 9.

Chapters 13 and 14 are alright. Admittedly they are fairly weak for ending chapters, but they have their great moments as well. I neither love nor hate them, but overall I just think that the game should have really ended with Chapter 11 as it made for the most satisfying and epic conclusion chapter to the game (gameplay-wise). Fighting wave after wave of tough enemies in intense combat before squaring off for a final duel with Genshin is the ending that best suited NG2's style of gameplay. And even then it still would have been considerably longer than most action games (I'd say at least 10 hours of gameplay is to be had with the first 11 chapters of the game).

That's my take on the game as a whole, though. I think Chapters 1 and 2 are a really strong start, and that the game doesn't quite stay consistent with that quality throughout, but it does get back to it and even surpasses it on occasion. I do think that you'll like the offerings in later chapters for the most part, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just beat him, and now I'm onto the much more palatable chapter 4. Only had to use two herbs, one grains, and two ninpo. I love how once you get him down to about 1/8 of his health bar he just topples over and lets you wail on him. So rewarding after such a tough fight, much more so than a quick time event, for sure.

The first time that happened on Master Ninja I did a little dance before preparing to finally take him out....except I waited too long and never realized that even though he was down he could still send his little annoying fish things at me....and I was at a shrivel of health left, so....yeah, that didn't end well, and I lost a good controller that day.

[Foggle]

Chapter 11 is awesome. Its basically a more epic version of chapter 2, though if you hate IS ninjas than this chapter is not for you (well, I do hate them, but up to Mentor mode you can skillfully deal with them, so I find it to be an awesome chapter). It really sells the whole feeling of an epic revenge against impossible odds, though. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 REALLY, SERIOUSLY, FUCKED THIS CHAPTER UP! Seriously, watch a youtube video of someone playing NG2's chapter 11 and compare it to NGS2's Chapter 14. Its such a fucking disgrace.

Is that the level where they replaced all the enemies with dogs for absolutely no reason? I think you showed me that a long time ago. Fucking mind-boggling.

The first time that happened on Master Ninja I did a little dance before preparing to finally take him out....except I waited too long and never realized that even though he was down he could still send his little annoying fish things at me....and I was at a shrivel of health left, so....yeah, that didn't end well, and I lost a good controller that day.

Mother of god. I would have smashed my Xbox! That sounds horrifying.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah....Dogs and 2 annoying Tengu things in the middle of the chapter that can OHK grab you. So, they definitely kept it hard, but in a way that's surprisingly more frustrating than any amount of projectile spam.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I read the new OPSM article about NG3, and the more I learn about the game the more I begin to realize what it is. And you know what? Now I finally understand what Hayahi's going for with this game.

You remember that Prince of Persia reboot game that Ubisoft released a couple of years back that completely streamlined everything, made things super easy and accessible for casual gamers, and basically made sure that the game was completely linear in every respect and was streamlined so that you had no real content and little to no upgrades of abilities or such throughout the game?

Yeah, that's basically what NG3 is turning into. I mean, we already know that there are no healing items, which I'd be fine with but then I realized that there actually are health extensions in the game as Hayashi confirmed, but that they are forced on you as you progress through the game. So yeah, that means there are no such thing as handicap runs for the pros. Way to go Hayashi. You really listened to the fans on that one.

Oh, but you haven't heard the best part yet. The previous NG games had new weapons that you got along the way, each of which were very different from Ryu's main weapon, The Dragon Sword, and each of which you could carefully choose to upgrade in the way that you wanted. Now all the weapons are tied to the story and are upgraded over time as the story progresses. But it gets even better: Hayashi pretty much implied that Ryu's weapons will "change" throughout the story (not actually be added into your inventory, which you no longer exists in this game), so now you'll have different weapons for different levels with different situations, which is great when you especially consider that they are FUCKING forced on you. Yup, No more strategic uses of weapons in the game. Hayashi will force you to play the game in one way and one way only, and you'll have to use the weapon that he says you can use for that part of the story, and there's no such thing as changing it up and challenging yourself by using a weaker but faster weapon or trying to make things easier through smart strategy by using certain weapons that are more effective against certain enemies. But here's the real clincher: Since he's so obsessed with his whole steel-on-bone concept (which is basically just his own terms for QTEs; yeah, I bet he thinks he's a fucking genius for coming up with the usage of that in the game), he says that the action is entirely focused on the sword this time in the game. So, that basically means no more diverse weapons. Andy different weapons we get will just be differing looking swords and knowing him, they'll just be new weapon skins with the same exact move-sets as before because Hayashi is a fucking lazy prick who thinks he's a genius developer.

FUCK YOU, HAYASHI! Itagaki may have been an arrogant ass, but at least he put a lot of genuine efforts into giving his games actual content. All you're doing is boasting about your new game and giving fans much less than previous installments gave players. People want a long and robust single-player mode with lots of replay value. Not a half-assed stream-line experience and multiplayer modes that nobody ever asked for. I hope you get mauled by hungry Ninja Dogs the next time you walk out into the streets you fucking series-destroying bastard!

[Spark Of Spirit]

This is why I'm getting more and more disillusioned with gaming.

Gamers badmouth the Super Guide feature Nintendo introduced in NSMBWii, but that's the way it SHOULD be to appeal to both casuals and hardcore gamers. The part is too hard? Let the CPU take over and show you how to get past it, or you can just figure it out on your own. That way the game can be as hard as NSMBWii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and DKCR and no one will bitch, since hardcore gamers never have to use it.

This 6 hour corridor crap to appeal to the casual core is killing creativity.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, that's another big worry of mine: With all of this talk about useless multiplayer, we'll once again get another game with an extremely short and half-assed single-player. And the sad thing is that in games like these, the multiplayer itself is half-assed and gimmicky, not holding any real competitive value, since they are not DESIGNED to be multiplayer experiences.

Let me just say that I got FAR more play time out of Ninja Gaiden Black's 20+ hour story mode and its massive replay value than I have out of ANY multiplayer game in existence.

Even NG2 which had considerably less content than the first game still took me 13 hours to beat on my first run through the game.

That's the thing, when Itagaki was present, Team Ninja games if nothing else were always packed to the brim with content. Even the DOA games had a tone of unlockables and shit (not that I ever cared for them, anyways). As soon as Itagaki left and we saw Team Ninja function without him to make Metroid: Other M, what did we get?....A 7 hour story mode with no extra modes and almost no replay value. Don't get me wrong, from what I played of the game the gameplay was pretty solid, but I can see why Metroid fans were pissed. Aside from no exploration and a weak story, the game was just too damn short, and even that would have been fine if it had replay incentive but it really doesn't. Shit like this never would have flew by when Itagaki was present.

God, the current Team Ninja pisses me off so much. And don't listen to what Hayashi or anyone else says: Its not the same TN that was there when Itagaki was present. Hayashi conveniently never mentions that Itagaki basically took the top 20 Team Ninja employees with him to Valhalla Game Studios. That right there make it obvious as to why there is now a serious drop in quality in their content.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This article perfectly sums up most of my (among many other fans) disappointments with the way NG3 is shaping up.

The author of that article really seems to understand the mindset of what NG fans want versus what Hayashi "thinks" that gamers want in a hack n' slash game in general. All he's doing is really playing it safe. Sure, NG3 is shaping up to be very different from any previous NG game, but that doesn't mean that its being different. Its just cowering down to the level of using stuff that are in other popular action games. Its clearly very scripted based on its demo (whereas the first 2 games weren't the least big scripted), and its more about forcing you to play one particular way rather than letting you experiment or use strategy.

Also, I don't like that Hayashi openly admits that he's going a totally different route in terms of where NG is headed compared to a game like Bayonetta. When Bayonetta came out it was the first hack n' slash game since the 1st DMC and since NGB that got praised for moving the genre a step further. As an NG fan I would want to see NG3 challenge that and try to strive to be the best game in the genre again. Instead what we're getting is a game that plays it safe trying to attract casual gamers who don't even give a rats ass about the series to begin with (believe me, I can tell you the sales for this game won't be any better than the first 2 games despite what Hayashi is putting in it).

One thing that especially bothers me is how much Hayashi contradicts the gaming philosophy behind Itagaki's NG games. Itagaki once stated that in other action games, the enemies are there for you to kill, but in NG games they are there to kill you. I LOVED that mindset for the NG games. Its the key thing that set it apart from all the other action games out there. I loved the tense situations it put you in and how it really tested all the skills you learned throughout the game and how you really got the feeling of fighting worthy opponents that really pushed you to the limit. Hell, even Bayonetta doesn't manage to capture that feeling of intense combat that is only signature of the NG games (despite its beautifully robust combat system, which I do indeed think is great). It really kills me inside to see that Hayashi is completely getting rid of that defining characteristic of NG and instead swapping it out with enemies that beg for their lives. What, does he want us to feel bad about killing cannon-fodder enemies in a video game? Because no matter how much he tries to sugar-code it, they are just cannon-fodder and this isn't such a unique and different game from other average action games.

Overall NG3 is already clearly such a disappointment. It doesn't seem like its mechanically a bad game or anything, as the demo's gameplay seemed fine, but really it just seems so standard. Were this any other hack n' slash game without the NG title, I highly doubt it would be getting much attention at all, since its just so standard. As a huge fan of the 3D NG games I really feel saddened to see that instead of a return to form for the series after NG2, we are instead getting yet a further step back. I sincerely wish that after NG3 gets mediocre reception and sales, Hayashi will realize that the series was better off doing what it does best: featuring intense and challenging gameplay and tough enemies with aggressive AI, with the open level design of NGB. That's all I want from a true sequel.

[Foggle]

I sincerely wish that after NG3 gets mediocre reception and sales, Hayashi will realize that the series was better off doing what it does best: featuring intense and challenging gameplay and tough enemies with aggressive AI, with the open level design of NGB.

Knowing Hayashi, if this does end up happening, then he'll just assume that gamers don't want any new Ninja Gaiden games at all and you can say hello to Dead Or Alive: Extreme Pornographic Film Studio Tycoon.