How is Ninja Gaiden?
 

I am a poor college kid who can really afford only one game per quarter, and I don't have easy access to a rental place. So, as I don't entirely trust reviews given by paid columnists, what are your thoughts on this game if you have played it. Is it worth getting?

Hmm, I'd thought of making a thread about Ninja Gaiden, but this will do.

Ninja Gaiden is an incredibly slick action game. Besides being amazing to look at it just oozes artistic style and smooth gameplay. Despite a few flaws, kicking ass has never been so fun.

One thing that grabbed me almost immediately is how easy the game is. That is, how easy it is to pull off cool moves and kick ass with style. Running on walls, doing acrobatics, and taking out enemies is so natural that in no time I was doing the ninja thing with ease. There are all kinds of little things that help make the process that much smoother. Being able to counterattack from blocks for example. Or how, unlike so very many games, in NG you can't accidentally fall off a ledge while doing some combo attack. That alone is a very nice feature. Once I realized I didn't have to worry that my ninja would take a step forward during some attack and promptly fall to his doom because I was too close to an edge I found the hard battles much less stressful.

The variety of weapons, including nunchaku with sickle blades and a huge war hammer, along with their own list of moves makes the battles interesting. Especially cool was the katana you take from one major villain that has its own, very different, set of attacks - many of which cause the weapon to duplicate itself for dual weapon action. The level system allows you to improve those weapons unlocking new attacks and often making the weapon more powerful. Some, like the huge sword, change in appearance as they level up.

In addition to the melee weapons are a number of missile weapons. You start with the shruiken, which is unlimited, and then pick up a bow (which fires regular, exploding, and armor piercing arrows) and a couple other types of shruiken. Using missile weapons is also quite easy and natural. The bow can be used in 1st person mode for precise aiming, which is required for a couple fights. Blocking is simple, and while blocking your ninja will block just about everything you do have to be careful as some enemies can break through. You can roll while blocking - very handy indeed - and even jump out of the roll.

When normal weapons just can't hack it there's Ninpo - ninja magic - to help back you up. Once you receive your first magic scroll you'll have one charge of magic. However, there is a special item you can find that increases the number of charges you can have, allowing you to cast your magic scroll of choice more times before needing to recharge. Like weapons, the scrolls can be upgraded for additional power.

Don't be fooled into thinking this game is easy though. While you won't be fighting the controls you will be fighting numerous enemies. And they are all very lethal. This aspect impressed me with the game. While once you have the technique down for taking out a certain foe they are easy enough, mess up and they will take you down in very short order. The enemies mix things up in pretty wide variety. The cops, for example, will all shoot at you except for one that will close in for melee combat. Soldiers on the other hand will only go melee (with bayonets) if you close in. Then they will try and pull back. There are these nasty things with claws for hands that constantly circle. Take too long attacking one and another one will quickly swoop in.

This requires that you mix things up, fighting different enemies with different strategies. Some can break through your block while others can't. The differences in weapons, speed, style, and even AI behavior keeps the ninja on his toes.

That's just the common sword fodder. The bosses are in a whole other league. There are some bosses that will kill you in seconds the first time you face them. These are old school bosses that require near perfect technique to take down. More than once have I faced a boss only to be cut down so quickly as to fear I'd never have a chance. And yet as I practiced against the boss not only would I defeat them, but often without loosing much health. Technique is everything is some of the major boss fights.

Of course the awesome graphics of Ninja Gaiden help make those bosses impressive. The first skeleton dragon, full size at that, is a sight to behold. But not just bosses gain from the beauty of the game. Everything looks awesome both from a technical point and an artistic one. From onboard airships to deep beneath the earth the game is packed with style. All kinds of cool effects are used, from motion trails for the nunchaku to semi-transparent reflection in the water and a neat distortion effect under that water. It's one of the best looking Xbox games out there.

Animation is top notch as one would expect, with a wide variety of both player and enemy attacks. Blocks really seem to block the attack, and the enemies fly through the air l when you hit them just like in a martial arts flick. You can slam them into walls, for extra damage even, and they can expire slumped against the wall.

Sound is also quite slick. Every weapon sounds different, as does the attacks and blocks. The music is effective.

I should point out that Ninja Gaiden is a pure action game. There is no stealth and very little in the way of platforming and puzzles. Sure, there's some platforming to keep your ninja in good form, and even some puzzles. But they are second to the main feature: the aforementioned action. Most the puzzles are simple, with the possible exception of a certain lever/platform puzzle, and the platforming is also quite simple. Though that's partly due to the slick controls. Still, in the end it's important to realize that this isn't really action/adventure or platform. It's all about the action.

Of course no game is without faults, and Ninja Gaiden is no exception. The camera works alright most the time but it can be really frustrating at times as well. Sometimes it seems too easy to get locked into an attack combo, and I didn't like how some enemies seemed to be able to break your block at whim. And it's hard. So hard some stretches are frustrating. As well, I'm not a big fan of grinding, and the system of collecting souls to trade in for goodies tends to lead to just that.

Still, I'd say Ninja Gaiden is the new benchmark for 3rd person action games. Between the slick gameplay, old school action, awesome visuals, and overall coolness this is probably the pinnacle of such action games this generation. Team Ninja said they would make something special out of this, and boy did they deliver.

PS. I've put in about 20 hours so far and I'm still going at it. So it's not even excessively short. And it has 3 original Ninja Gaiden titles as unlockable extras to boot.

And as an extra little tidbit, NG is currently 2nd in Japan on the sales chart. As such it's beating out Metal Gear Solid:Twin Snakes - which is third. An amazing feat considering the install base of the two consoles, and the fact Twin Snakes is a MGS title.

...And now I really really really wish I had got an X-Box instead of a GameCube. With a review like that, it makes me want to run out and buy the game, just to realize that I don't have a console for it... ah well.

That's....a lot of words. Maybe I should get a copy. I'm not a fan of stealth and hiding, but this game sounds like something I could learn to like.

Wow. You more than answered my question. I'm sold. Thanks.

Now I'm glad I'm getting that for my birthday. It looked cool just from the scant screenshots and commercial. Finally, another game I'll be spending alot of time on(hopefully)

Just a few things that I missed when I wrote the last post.

There is auto-aim in the game. That is, your ninja will automatically turn to attack a nearby foe. For the most part it works flawlessly, and certainly makes it easier to manage large fights. Only a few times did the auto-aim annoy my by changing my attack from the enemy I wanted to attack. But otherwise it's both transparent and effective.

In a nod to Devil May Cry, killing foes releases "souls" that you collect to buy items. At least the yellow ones, which are most common. Blue souls heal you and red souls recharge the magic. You can buy items from a shop in the Imperial City (Tairon) or at special statues throughout the game. This includes healing and magic potions, ammunition, technique scrolls, magic bracelets, and weapon upgrades.

Tairon is the hub of most the game. Typically you head out from there to battle in some cave or church or sewer, and then find yourself back in the city again. I'll admit I didn't expect this as I thought the game would be in linear stages instead, but it works well.

Like a good fighting game, the combos are based on button presses and timing, as well as proximity to enemy and direction of movement. There are two melee attack buttons that roughly work out to strong and weak. So the combos are pretty simple compared to a 1on1 fighting game, but they work well in NG.

The game does seem to draw a number of ideas from Devil May Cry, among others. Certainly it's not the pinnacle of innovation or anything. It?s just really well done.

I just wanted to be clear on this: There is no stealth of any kind in Ninja Gaiden. No hiding, no sneaking, and no shadows. You don't slip though ventilation shafts or sneak past guards to get into a military base. You walk through the front gate and kill everything that moves including tanks, turrets and rocket launcher toting guards. The whole game is designed with this in mind.

On a very small add on, this game is hard. Really hard. Break the controller, pound on a wall hard. Kick a cat, beat a monkey, break your forehead headbutting canned food, rage against the machine, slapping a small orphan who can't fight back, scream and cry and blubber, bob dole on viagra hard.

So it's a challenge, and a real patience test. I haven't broken a controller yet, but it's a real test.

This says it all.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20040308l.jpg

"Shit damn Ninja Gaiden is hard, it's so hard that your friends will die."

Yeah, it's tough alright. It starts out brutal and just goes up from there. But I'd say it's hard in a good way. It's the kind of difficulty that leaves you pumped when you finally send the next round of bad guys to hell.

And importantly, Ninja Gaiden hasn't felt cheap like the original games could be. No birds of doom sending you to yours over and over again. With the tight controls and well thought out fights, it's very rare that I've felt it was anything but my lack of ability that accounted for my death. Except perhaps those few times I've had to wrestle with the camera. But even so the game is a genuine challenge.

I'm almost afraid NG has spoiled me. I'll want all action games featuring hand to hand combat to control and feel like this. This is what Fable better play like. I remember playing Gothic and thinking there had to be a better way then that game's clunky fighting. More like Zelda. Now I have seen the light. Nina Gaiden is how it should be.

PS. I thought I'd give an example of what I mean by the game being tough but not cheap. There's this one bit where you have to hit a switch, jump onto 2 ledges, swing on 2 poles, and then wall run across a pit over lava while the flame jet (which was turned off by the switch) is still gone. Is it hard? Well, it sure took me a few tries. The switch stays down for a very short time so you have no room for error. An extra swing on each pole would be enough to keep you from not making it.

In many games you'd have to line up each attempt. But that's the beauty of Ninja Gaiden. Whenever you hit the switch the game automatically orientates you perfectly. So you can just hold up on the stick and you're off. So when you do fail and have to try again there's no need to realign yourself for the run. That's the kind of polish most games should have.