Ninja Gaiden Thread

[Russian-chiropractic19]

That's one thing that bugs me a lot about games ALWAYS having to get your shit back,and the use of it as a practal excuse as to why their isn't much new content.i beleive TV tropes called it "The Bag of Spilling"

 

[CyberEvil]

I know Razor's edge is an improved NG3, but is the PS360 going to be improved from the WiiU version, or a just a port?

It should be better looking, since RE on Wii U was actually a bit weaker looking than the PS3 and 360 original. It'll also come with all of the DLC released so far for both versions and some extra content. Not just a port from the Wii U.

 

[DeathHand]

Guys, Razors edge demo is coming out this Tuesday March the 12!!!!

Realy!so soon.I heard about the demo but I thought it was supposed to be released in the end of the month.good to know.thanks

Alright let's clear the air a bit here since most of us haven't played Razor's Edge and some of us haven't even played NG3.

First things first, about Ninja Gaiden 3...it's actually a very good action game. It just isn't a very good Ninja Gaiden game. To explain a bit further, Hayabusa is suddenly stricken weaker in many ways by the plot, loses his OT for the most part in favor of Steel on Bone (a similar mechanic but ultimately more difficult to use in combat due to some randomness to it), and there are a few sections where you are rendered completely unable to move properly for story purposes. The kunai climb mechanic is annoying but only happens a few times throughout the game so I largely give it a pass (except on the ice wall...that was nuts). The story is the best in the series, though still nothing crazy, and in my opinion it has some of the most creative boss fights in the series, hampered only by the lack of a health bar so you never really know how you're doing in most of them.

Mechanics-wise, combat flows a bit slower than NG2 and Hayabusa is often forced to fully commit to an attack. You are unable to dodge cancel a much larger portion of your movelist than in previous titles, though shuriken canceling is still as awesome as ever and, if used properly, allows you to cancel some attack animations you couldn't without the shuriken cancel. The relatively annoying guard stun you get stuck in from NG2 also returns, so if you're not careful you can get stuck blocking a full string of attacks with no way to dodge out of it until the attack stops or you're guard broken.

Because you are limited to only the Dragon Sword in the base game (the scythe and talons were later added as free DLC for the campaign) you often don't have as many approaches to combat. Most encounters boiled down to seeing what enemy type you were facing, humanoid or larger monster, and then exploiting something. On higher difficulties this became 100% necessary due to the increased frequency with which enemies grabbed and the sheer damage of the attacks. Lower level enemies will often kill with 1-2 grabs and late-game enemies one shot you all day long. Worse, some enemies don't properly telegraph their throws so it sometimes comes as a surprise from just off-camera. Enemies also tend to shrug off more attacks from you than they react to, so you will end up eating a grab because of the aforementioned issues with being unable to dodge cancel. This leads to many "unfair" deaths since you really couldn't do anything about it.

Also, OL 360 Y/Triangle into Izuna and constant jump-shot use of the bow can get you through Master Ninja in extremely cheesy and unrewarding fashion. I ended up having to resort to it and as a result it was the most unfulfilling experience I've had in a Ninja Gaiden game to date. The gorilla enemies and end-game Alchemist almost necessitated that approach if there was more than one on-screen because of the whole one grab and you're dead situation. Just not fun.

There was a lot to do online, from co-op to adversarial, but it had some netcode issues. In co-op the game would sometimes "split" and you would each be fighting enemies your partner couldn't see until ultimately you had to restart. This really only happened in the later ones which exacerbated the issue. Competitive multiplayer I actually enjoyed, but since most people weren't interested in playing properly and instead ran around mashing attacks out, you either fell victim to loops that were only possible because of latency issues or you steamroll people simply by virtue of understanding the combat system. It was never anything short of all or nothing for me. The battle royale that sometimes popped up (and really the ninja mission system in general) was actually quite a bit of fun and spiced up the proceedings. Ultimately, either due to a skill gap or the lack of variety (again, no other weapons until DLC added them and it was paid DLC for multiplayer), the online died out.

I'll leave my thoughts on the original NG3 there but I could go into more detail if someone asks a direct question.

As for Razor's Edge (and why I'm excited for it), a TON of new content was added over top of the original game. Ayane has several missions interspersed with Hayabusa's main campaign, Hayabusa gets a few of his weapons back (Lunar among them, so thank you Team NINJA), enemies' animations are improved to the point where attacks can be reacted to properly if you're quick enough, and Momiji and Kasumi get added alongside Ayane as playable characters in the multiplayer portions. In single player you now earn Karma as a form of currency to purchase additional moves, attacks, and abilities, adding a layer of customization similar to the older games, and most of the Ninpo from NG2 makes a return, meaning the single Ninpo from the original NG3 is a thing of the past.

The core game still has the same issues I have with it but I'm going to avoid spelling them out here (and I didn't touch on a lot earlier in this post, either). The sheer amount of new content is going to make a lot of it much easier to stomach now, so I'm going to choose to focus on that rather than any issues I had. I am absolutely the kind of guy that gets a kick out of watching Hayabusa leap from the top of a building, dodge rockets fired at him, and impale the poor sap that didn't realize a Super Ninja flying at him is not something to sit and watch. The Ayane missions were a nice change of pace, the slow movement parts with Hayabusa gripping his arm that I briefly mentioned before are removed in favor of some new fights, and the bosses have life bars now, making them much more enjoyable.

There are a ton of previews out there for Razor's Edge, especially the Wii U version, so I won't talk too much about it. I just wanted to put some info out there about WHY I disliked the first version of it. I will say that the treatment by most of the media was very unfair and it's obvious a fair portion of the critics did not finish the game at all, let alone understand what any of the problems were. I saw a few reviews where information was ripped straight from feedback left by users (myself included) on popular forums and articles. This also happened with Sigma 2+ for the Vita most recently, with reviewers not completing the game at all before reviewing, but we can't do much about that. But all of you know me, so I figure my insight will help some of you see things a bit differently.

Tl;dr: NG3 had some major issues, NG3RE doesn't address all of them, but sweetens the overall experience so much that it'll likely be a very entertaining experience despite it all. Buy it and support our favorite developer.

well wen u put it like that doesnt seem so bad xD but its probably not worth the full price like the old ones....ahhhh ninja gaiden good times of my youth =´)

by the way have any video of ninja gaiden yaiba been released?the shell shading graphics look cool not sure about the gameplay thought

 

[Brute]

Ninja Gaiden 3 = Shit
Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge = Improved upon shit

You still get the same levels and enemies, but now you're playing Sigma 2 mechanically (still not as many weapons) without Rachel, and with Kasumi.

I would pay for NGS:2 with gore and Kasumi (esp. with sans rachel) even if that was all it is. But as I understand, it's more.

Angelo, for the love of God quit triple-posting.

Also, for the record, NG1 had amazing bosses, most of which were much more creative visually and more fun mechanically to fight than anything in NG3 (not to mention they were more numerous). NG2, however, had awful boss fights through-and-through. At least that's my opinion.

 

[Prince Adon]

I would think everyone agree with that. NG1 just had the all around best enemies. I miss fighting my cat girls.<3

 

[bingsoo]

Demo comes out when I'm out of town for a week. Damn it.

 

[Darrell]

I'm not sure where you're getting the sloppy thing from. The movement is much less floaty than something like MGR and I think it's tighter than Bayonetta too. You're just used to a different feel by now, I'd imagine.

Ok I figured it out.in games like Bayonetta, DMC, MGR, Afro Samurai, and NG1 I think, you could change direction of attack in mid combo. so If I'm going ppp I can go p on one enemy, and p on the enemy behind me, then finish the last p on another enemy to the side. In NG2, it seems you are restricted to finishing your combo on the enemy you're attacking. This takes a lot away from the freedom. I've been trying to delay attacks and finish parts of strings on different enemies, only have Ryu still facing towards first enemy while getting hit by enemy behind me, when I was trying to hit him first, but couldn't.

 

[CyberEvil]

Gave Angelo a pass on the triple post because he's new. Don't do it again though. Quickest way to annoy me.

Anyway, RE is launching at only $40 and a pre-release demo is a sign of confidence in the product. I'm fully on board and will definitely be supporting it.

@Darrell: Interesting observation. Seems like you don't shuriken cancel, though. Try that. You can't really get around the auto targeting but you can dash at a new enemy and start attacking them.

 

[Russian-chiropractic19]

only time i used shuriken was to stun before i went in close especially when i was trying to OT the poor bastards.i don't really recall having an issue with NG2s fighting aside from the unlimited projectile spamming.

 

[CyberEvil]

only time i used shuriken was to stun before i went in close especially when i was trying to OT the poor bastards.i don't really recall having an issue with NG2s fighting aside from the unlimited projectile spamming.

That's the way most people use shuriken. A small portion of us use them to open up new possibilities in combat or to simply keep an enemy floating until we kill them with a juggle. It's not even close to necessary but it does allow for a bit more freedom in combat. Plus it let's you do cool things.

 

[Russian-chiropractic19]

ive never been one for fancy stuff i prefer efficiency over flash

 

[CyberEvil]

ive never been one for fancy stuff i prefer efficiency over flash

In most games I'm with you. In Ninja Gaiden, once you get to the point where beating Master Ninja isn't terribly difficult, you kinda have to find new ways to keep things interesting. If you've never tried it, I recommend giving shuriken canceling a shot. You can do some pretty fun and occasionally broken things with it.

 

[Prince Adon]

^The shuriken cancel is now noted.

 

[Russian-chiropractic19]

DID It! i stopped playing like a scared little shit and took out Murai in two tries with the Lunar

 

[SilverForte]

I just can't play without shurikens, they stun enemies, allowing time for a UT, they prevent you from sticking to walls, you can cancel moves with them, just so useful. If you don't incorporate them into your gameplay you're missing out.

 

[CyberEvil]

The games never explain all the uses shuriken have so it's no wonder people aren't aware. I try to educate where I can.

 

[Russian-chiropractic19]

gah fucking horses -_-

so what do you think TN could do with the equipment for NG4 i was personally thing of a system where you customize his armor and by doing so you would change his stats that said would need something a bit more than just attack/defense stats

 

[CyberEvil]

Use Lunar to fight the horses, not the bow. You can get behind them and hit them a few times and then retreat. Once you kill the circling archers you can use UT at your leisure to kill the direct attacking ones.

As for equipment, I don't like the idea of modifying stats. Ninja Gaiden is about pure action and using equipment to change stats seems a bit too RPG like to me. It was tried in a minimal way on the first game and abandoned and I think that was for the best. Equipment should grant new abilities, not make a few number changes. I like the idea of leveling up weapons and think that particular situation would benefit from an experience based system. In a really basic way that's how Ninja Gaiden/Black worked. You used the weapons to kill and got essence to buy upgrades with. That's sorta what NG3 RE is doing too. I'd like it to be fully XP based though.

 

[Russian-chiropractic19]

ive never seen a game where customization is a bad thing implemented in a bad way perhaps but ive never seen anyone actually complain about the actual aspect of it

 

[Fiend Busa]

gah fucking horses -_-

so what do you think TN could do with the equipment for NG4 i was personally thing of a system where you customize his armor and by doing so you would change his stats that said would need something a bit more than just attack/defense stats

There is a safe spot for horses were you can charge UT

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