Ninja Gaiden 2: Because Blood Makes Games Better. Fact.
- Thread starter Gigantor
- Start date
A good review, I genuinely enjoyed reading this, it picked out a lot of the problems I had with the game as well, you nicely outlined the flaws, general cheapness and dissapointment that this game had.
Very well written, your arguements are nicely backed up (Something many people can't seem to grasp) and your further explanations into your points were greatly appreciated.
Frankly, if Yahtzee went AWOL for a week, this could easily fill the slot.
Very well written, your arguements are nicely backed up (Something many people can't seem to grasp) and your further explanations into your points were greatly appreciated.
Frankly, if Yahtzee went AWOL for a week, this could easily fill the slot.
Great review Gigantor! I have to admit I am a huge fan of the first NG on Xbox. It seems Team Ninja quit aiming for challenging and started betting on how many players and innocent bystanders they could put in the hospital with the ricocheting shrapnel of a thousand wall bound controllers lodged in their faces. I fought through the countless aneurysms (I only say countless because they rendered me unable to count properly) I had during the game and I will say this: You do not suck if you couldn't finish this game, you were just unable to play a broken game that seems designed not to be finished let alone enjoyed for more than the first five or ten minutes. Just know that if you didn't finish it and you went to the IGN forums to vent there are at least three Team Ninja developers and/or Itagaki himself wanking to what you wrote.
I agree with a lot of the points on this. I bought Ninja Gaiden 2 a couple of days back and am currently wearing my arse as a hat because it's damn tougher than its predecessor. I played noticing a few features that I quite likes (larger levels, fewer invisible walls (but not entirely gone), a bow that wasn't completely useless except for the arbitrary "use bow here!" boss battles, more water running) but a lot of things I didn't like turned up.
For one thing, those fucking ghost pirhanas, my single least favourite enemies in the first game, including bosses.
But, like the first, I was finding it fun despite the challenges. The ninja dogs were cheap and I agree, but I felt like fucking Kratos (not in a gay way) the first time I was able to breeze through a mob with only minimal injuries (which came from one that had been stuck running into a bit of fallen tree and so I had to finish it off seperately from its freinds - it still managed to get a few blows in with its mouth sword, those things are freaking fast) and when I beat a Venice street full of purple beasties and those weird amphibious sword-snake things without even taking a single hit, I was higher than if I'd injected Pete Dohertys blood into my veins (without the risk of AIDS, too)
As for the story.. well, I freely admit that though I love Mass Effect, Bioshock and other well written games, and am leaning towards a "games are art" hippiness, I didn't buy this for a story. I bought this to run along a wall, whip out a sword and cut off three heads in one slash, and the game lets me do that, and looks damn pretty doing so. This game is about style, not substance.
As for the cheapness.. yes, I did begin to notice fairly quickly that of the ranged weapons, incindiary shuriken is ridiculously broken and you only really NEED to use the bow on certain bosses and flying enemies. I didn't find melee weapons quite as broken, I feel they're more balanced (but then I'm writing this from only a partial experience of the game on one difficulty setting so my stance may change on this) but the Oblivion techniques get quite samey after a while. It tends to be with most weapons the same "off with leg then off with head" animation, with only one in a few dozen being anything else. Come on, Team Ninja, this just looks lazy! You could at least put a few more animations in.
This first NG game was a classic, no doubt, but it wasn't without its gripes. Its platform bits were quite irritating (especially the section where you're running up the inside of the tower with zombie archers firing at you) and the second one feels a bit more intuitive with them. The levels are larger and feel much more open, and the combat is fun, if frustrating in places. I find the bosses irritating (what the hell was that burned gorrila thing on the bridge?) and they tend to be my least favourite fights of the lot in the whole series, and currently NG2 sits in my console, saved just before a boss battle that killed me the first time I tried it but I'll probably head down now this topic reminded me about the game.
Ta-ra, I'm off to get brutally savaged by a glowing pleiosaur.
For one thing, those fucking ghost pirhanas, my single least favourite enemies in the first game, including bosses.
But, like the first, I was finding it fun despite the challenges. The ninja dogs were cheap and I agree, but I felt like fucking Kratos (not in a gay way) the first time I was able to breeze through a mob with only minimal injuries (which came from one that had been stuck running into a bit of fallen tree and so I had to finish it off seperately from its freinds - it still managed to get a few blows in with its mouth sword, those things are freaking fast) and when I beat a Venice street full of purple beasties and those weird amphibious sword-snake things without even taking a single hit, I was higher than if I'd injected Pete Dohertys blood into my veins (without the risk of AIDS, too)
As for the story.. well, I freely admit that though I love Mass Effect, Bioshock and other well written games, and am leaning towards a "games are art" hippiness, I didn't buy this for a story. I bought this to run along a wall, whip out a sword and cut off three heads in one slash, and the game lets me do that, and looks damn pretty doing so. This game is about style, not substance.
As for the cheapness.. yes, I did begin to notice fairly quickly that of the ranged weapons, incindiary shuriken is ridiculously broken and you only really NEED to use the bow on certain bosses and flying enemies. I didn't find melee weapons quite as broken, I feel they're more balanced (but then I'm writing this from only a partial experience of the game on one difficulty setting so my stance may change on this) but the Oblivion techniques get quite samey after a while. It tends to be with most weapons the same "off with leg then off with head" animation, with only one in a few dozen being anything else. Come on, Team Ninja, this just looks lazy! You could at least put a few more animations in.
This first NG game was a classic, no doubt, but it wasn't without its gripes. Its platform bits were quite irritating (especially the section where you're running up the inside of the tower with zombie archers firing at you) and the second one feels a bit more intuitive with them. The levels are larger and feel much more open, and the combat is fun, if frustrating in places. I find the bosses irritating (what the hell was that burned gorrila thing on the bridge?) and they tend to be my least favourite fights of the lot in the whole series, and currently NG2 sits in my console, saved just before a boss battle that killed me the first time I tried it but I'll probably head down now this topic reminded me about the game.
Ta-ra, I'm off to get brutally savaged by a glowing pleiosaur.
"If you find that annoying, then the ninjas toting repeating rocket launchers will strike you as plain infuriating."
ughh
beyond the cheapness of gameplay, that idea just wreaks of tacky design. that's the kind of shit you expect from American Ninja 6, not a video game.
ughh
beyond the cheapness of gameplay, that idea just wreaks of tacky design. that's the kind of shit you expect from American Ninja 6, not a video game.
Yeah I'm currently in the jungle level, just before the fight with the two dragon things and yeah.. ninjas with exploding shuriken? Fine. Ninja with guns? Okay, a little off the beaten track but whatever. Ninjas with rocket launchers, on board an airship? Um. Ninjas with repeating rocket launchers and the traditional 900-yard bullshit accuracy of most game bad guys? Fuck that.
The Ninja that had raided the EDF's armoury were only really a minor annoyance. Sure, their attacks were disruptive and hard to dodge completely, but they do sod all damage.
Maybe I'm just pissy because they have top of the line tech (as well as the inexplicable ability to fire a bazooka with one hand) and all I have are sharp bits of metal and harsh language.
I've been away from the Escapist for awhile, I came back for Zero Punctuation, De-Rez and these reviews.
I haven't been let down yet. . . . . .well maybe a little by De-Rez but they do try.
I haven't been let down yet. . . . . .well maybe a little by De-Rez but they do try.
You're a columnist, Gig. Try doing what I do someday: Talk about mechanics and features in games, rather than just on particular review of games. I mean, heck, Tim from PCGUK commented on your little 'explosions' thing back when it was on 3scapism; and obviously that's where you shine (partly in thanks to your crude drawings).
The problem really comes from the audience you're writing for (as Hey Joe would say
). People expect true focus cut down to a maximum of 500 words with a review, covering 4 or 5 points of gameplay. Your reviews, Gig, have passion which seems a bit wasted on a single game. I want to see you take on a gameplay mechanic (universally used) or something else in the future; just to check if your writing style is as popular as it is with vanilla reviews.
Quit using watermarked screenies! Wikipedia is an open source encyclopaedia! Always get pix from there first!
The problem really comes from the audience you're writing for (as Hey Joe would say
). People expect true focus cut down to a maximum of 500 words with a review, covering 4 or 5 points of gameplay. Your reviews, Gig, have passion which seems a bit wasted on a single game. I want to see you take on a gameplay mechanic (universally used) or something else in the future; just to check if your writing style is as popular as it is with vanilla reviews.Quit using watermarked screenies! Wikipedia is an open source encyclopaedia! Always get pix from there first!
Ninja Gaiden needs something like DMC's easy automatic, because most hack n' slash games end up becoming overwhelming in odds and you actually have to learn what combos work best, etc. etc. - so Ninja Gaiden needs some difficulty for "people who *ahem* 'suck' but still want to slice and dice everything in their path.." - that way it's just a badass blood bath.
btw, this review was fun to read, I enjoyed it thoroughly - but there's one "gripe" I had with the game... mainly the "Gore".
OK, Ninja Gaiden 2 is a pretty straightforward sequel, takes exactly the same stuff from the old ones and makes the blood more ridiculous, even the title is "Ninja Gaiden" *two little blood splatters signifying a roman numeral* - pretty much says "Ninja Gaiden with blood".
I never liked the Gore in this, it's too "clean" - it's just "kill bill spray" - the finishing moves are pretty brutal and makes it fun to watch but in hack and slash I really want Brutality, there's a difference between "throwing in some blood" and making something incredibly brutal. Brutal games..well..I'd say Gears of War but the brutality in it is minimal, but the chainsaw gets the message across - Condemned, using rebar with concrete on it, and swinging it right into someones jaw, and watching the teeth and blood fly out, that "Bones are not butter" kind of feel is what makes gory games satisfying for me. In ninja gaiden it's just "slash" *random limb flys off and blood sprays everywhere* - never thought so much gore could be so boring. Like I said though, the "finishing moves" are pretty nice but we can't rely on just that.
btw, this review was fun to read, I enjoyed it thoroughly - but there's one "gripe" I had with the game... mainly the "Gore".
OK, Ninja Gaiden 2 is a pretty straightforward sequel, takes exactly the same stuff from the old ones and makes the blood more ridiculous, even the title is "Ninja Gaiden" *two little blood splatters signifying a roman numeral* - pretty much says "Ninja Gaiden with blood".
I never liked the Gore in this, it's too "clean" - it's just "kill bill spray" - the finishing moves are pretty brutal and makes it fun to watch but in hack and slash I really want Brutality, there's a difference between "throwing in some blood" and making something incredibly brutal. Brutal games..well..I'd say Gears of War but the brutality in it is minimal, but the chainsaw gets the message across - Condemned, using rebar with concrete on it, and swinging it right into someones jaw, and watching the teeth and blood fly out, that "Bones are not butter" kind of feel is what makes gory games satisfying for me. In ninja gaiden it's just "slash" *random limb flys off and blood sprays everywhere* - never thought so much gore could be so boring. Like I said though, the "finishing moves" are pretty nice but we can't rely on just that.
Very nice review. Entertaining to the extreme. I've never been one to jam the NG series down someone's throat...but I will say that I got a lot of my friends that don't play video games AT ALL to play it. And when my friend picked up the controller for the first time and did just as well as me on mentor mode...I was confused! He's not aggressive at all, and most of the time just waits for enemies to come to him...but his seamless flowing counters and combinations make it a blast to watch. He created a profile on my box...and is now on Master Ninja...where as I'm on Mentor...that really bothers me. I played NGB for several years, and videogames my whole life, and someone unused to the 360 controller is kicking my ass. That's the only reason I haven't been playing it lately...heh.
...beginners luck >_>Unholykrumpet said:
Seriously though that's impressive, I've never seen that work out so well on the harder diffculties.
Most things turn out like this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jluv2HxFEqs].
Right, but that's not really the point. Team Ninja's obsession with tits remains embarrassing, regardless of the subject's species. I can appreciate that Elizébet is a fiend, not a human, but she has the outward appearance of being a human. She's humanoid, and as such she displays Team ninja's skewed sexism quite well.Del Rogue said:
Even if we're going to bring Elizébet's species into the question, the fact remains that Sonia is a human, and she exhibits similarly impractical clothing and unlikely proportions.
I think if anyone really expected a game involving ninja magic to be realistic, I should take this opportunity to break it to you that the Easter Bunny isn't really either.