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Review by Codicier
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I'll come right out and say it before we get down to business: I'm a huge Ninja Gaiden fan. At the same time however, I subscribe to the notion that I am a rational person who can give an honest critique of both the faults and merits of a particular item, regardless of personal bias (Coincidentally, I also subscribe to the notion that I enjoy using overly many words).
Ninja Gaiden 2 is the sequel to developer Team Ninja’s renowned 2004 action game on the original Xbox console. When I say “renowned”, I refer specifically to two facets of the gameplay: speed, and difficulty. Since the franchise re-imagining from its beginning as a 2D NES action/platforming trilogy (that was a rather compact summary), the Ninja Gaiden name has become synonymous with these two words as gamers around the world were given a lesson in humility.
It is now 2008 and this year has brought us two things: subjugation under the iron rule of a race of sentient machines, and Ninja Gaiden 2.
At its core, Ninja Gaiden 2 (abbreviated to NG2 in places) is about the same things as its predecessor: You control Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja of the Dragon Lineage on a quest to destroy those who have assaulted his clan and in the process save the world from evil; which appears to be a sort of unintended side effect to killing all who oppose him. To accomplish this, you’ll guide Ryu across 14 chapters; spanning a variety of fictional locales, bringing death’s sweet, gory embrace to the multitudes of native (and not so native) fauna. Before you finish this game, you will feel like the world’s biggest badass on more than one occasion.
The story is not grounded anywhere in the realm of reality, the voice acting is hammy (when voiced in English at least, there is the option for Japanese with subtitles that sounds less ridiculous), the women have busts stretching into the realms of fantasy, and overall this is not riveting material; but rather a thin veil of an excuse to give context to your action game. It is cheesecake stuff, and true to the spirit of the first game. The best parts for me are still watching cutscenes where Ryu’s only mandate appears to be “Do something awesome”.
There is a part where Ryu rides a motorcycle out the front of a crashing airship and then races away from the exploding wreck only to topple off the bike into the mountains and fight a giant fire monster.
I can almost hear “Big Pimping” now…
Ryu controls much as he did in the previous title: with the slightest input you can send your ninja avatar leaping, dashing, or slashing across the screen with blinding speed using the A button, left trigger, and X and Y buttons respectively. More accurately, the left trigger in tandem with a flick of the left thumbstick will make Ryu dash a short distance, while simply depressing the left trigger will cause him to hold a blocking stance. This dash is used to evade enemy blows, or otherwise position yourself. The B button is used to launch your equipped projectile weapon, and the right trigger will re-center the camera behind Ryu; the camera is something that I’ll address later in more detail.
Learning these controls is your path to success, and indeed survival, and NG2 makes sure that you are abundantly aware of this; along with your unworthy adherence to such ideals. Being a veteran of Ninja Gaiden, this was all quite familiar territory for me, so I can’t say that my experience is the same as someone new to the series, or someone who is not such a devotee of the franchise. For me, the experience was extremely familiar. However, when I first began playing, I noticed a number of subtle nuances, and changes to the formula. Most were smaller changes, such as the dodge timing being different; with slightly longer delays between successive dodges. Others were more pronounced, with the remapping of certain combinations or moves to different buttons (for instance, the Lunar Staff’s standard Y attack used to be performed with a flick of the thumbstick and X).
In general, such changes are inconsequential. I was able to adapt and play fairly well. Even if you’re completely new to the game, simply button mashing playing on Path of the Acolyte (NG2’s lowest of 4 difficulty levels) will allow you to pull off some great looking moves. This was shown to me when a friend of mine, who had never even heard of Ninja Gaiden and is not a frequent gamer, was able to complete the first level of the game.
Enemies in the game run the gamut, from quick and tricky to slow and powerful. Different strategies are required depending on what enemy you’re facing. A few complaints I have would be not mixing up the enemy types in a single encounter (you usually fight the same type of enemy in groups) and that with some bosses you are often at a loss as to what a logical mode of attack should be (See the chapter 5 boss).
Bosses also run the gamut, with several bosses that may only be attacked with projectile weapons, and others that are either extremely hard to hit or extremely easy to strike, but tough to damage. I will say that the bosses certainly have an interesting amount of variety to them, with some initial level bosses becoming standard enemies or mini-bosses of later levels. Even when you fight the same boss over again (something which occurs several times), there is usually some new dynamic to change up the fight; whether it be a new arena hazard, or the presence of additional enemies you'll be kept on your toes.
There are eight weapons available in NG2 to complement the staple of your katana, the Dragon Sword, including old favorites such as the Vigoorian Flails (a pair of medieval sickles attached by a short chain) and new additions such as the Falcon’s Talons (wolverine-esque claws with matching foot blades), or Kusari-Gama (a sickle with a spiked ball attached to the handle via chain) .Each of the game’s nine weapons provides you with a plethora of ways to cut down and otherwise obliterate your enemies, and you can feel the different strategies unique to each one in the way Ryu moves when holding and using them. The Kusari-Gama feels like God of War’s Blades of Chaos, and the Falcon’s Talons share some similarities with Devil May Cry 3’s Beowulf, while the Eclipse Scythe hearkens back to the Dalihabro of the original Ninja Gaiden.
People have said that they often end up relying on one or two weapons for the game’s duration; one typically being the Dragon Sword and the other the flails or lunar staff for faster enemies. To me this seems ludicrous and I definitely believe that not trying all the weapons leaves you without a huge part of Ninja Gaiden’s main attraction. I know that as soon as I started heavily using the Kusari-Gama, the game took on a whole new light for me; mastering a weapon is extremely rewarding.
When I speak of Ninja Gaiden’s “main attraction”, I am of course speaking about inflicting pain. NG2 is one of the bloodiest games to ever grace the Xbox 360. Limbs fly on a constant basis as blood erupts in crimson trails and gouts from newly exposed arteries. Decapitations are run of the mill and there are times when you will pulp an enemy’s head or split a torso by accident. Adding to the regular torrent of gore are two especially powerful techniques. Ultimate Techniques, from the first game, are two level charge attacks that permit you unleash Ryu in a storm of strikes which will usually leave your target(s) minus a limb at the first level of charge, and a spurting hunk of meat at the second level. New to NG2, all of Ryu’s projectile weapons can also be charged. In fact, charging the bow is essential for killing certain enemies and bosses.
The second type of technique is the Obliteration Technique. These are new to NG2 and can kill enemies missing a limb instantly with a single tap of the Y button. Even low health bosses can be ‘obliterated’, netting you a hefty chunk of Karma (the game’s point system). Obliteration Techniques are satisfying and very tactical when combined with the limb removal system. Being able to quickly lop off an arm or leg and then destroy your enemy with an OT gives you a huge advantage.
Ninpo, Ryu’s magical get out of jail free card, returns from the original. These powerful spells allow Ryu to do damage quickly and with no risk to himself. The tradeoff is that you have a limited number of uses without refilling your Ki gauge and, should you care about such things, you are awarded less karma for finishing a level with less than 3 full Ki slots. Overall I found the new ninpo spells to be worthy replacements to the ones missing from the original Ninja Gaiden. In particular, the Art of the Piercing Void, in which Ryu launches what can be described as a miniature black hole at his enemies definitely holds a special place in my heart after sending it through a row of five enemy ninja and having a rain of bloody chunks pour down in the aftermath.
Had enough of my gushing? Well, though I see the game through rose-coloured glasses, I can take them off when I need to:
Graphically the game looks very good; especially during cutscenes. However, certain levels do not have the same detailed textures or fancy effects as other games of this console generation. Personally, I find that whatever the game lacks in horsepower it makes up for in visual fidelity, but I can see how those used to being wowed graphically might not be by NG2.
Partially I think this was done to encourage a more consistent framerate. NG2 runs at a solid clip for the majority of the game, despite a surprising level of activity or graphical effects taking place on screen. There are sections where the framerate does drop a huge amount though. To me, moving in slow motion was actually really cool but, again, I can understand why this might be off-putting to some.
Ninja Gaiden 2 is cheap you say? Well to a certain extent this is true and probably my biggest gripe with the game. The original was, to my mind, perfectly balanced. Amazingly difficult but perfectly balanced. NG2 employs a lot of dirty tricks, which I’ll not enumerate here, to make itself artificially harder; just know that they are there. It is far more forgiving than the previous iteration with its regenerating health and frequent save points, but when it comes to individual encounters, the game can certainly frustrate. You will lose health in many situations, regardless of skill. The first game did a much better job of ensuring that skill trumped all. That is not the case here and the only reason this is tolerable is due to the regenerating health and copious save points.
I’d advise avoiding NG2 if you can’t tolerate a certain level of unfair treatment. I’ve never thrown a controller yet, but it has certainly made me very mad on a few occasions. For me, the trade-off is worth it in the end and despite excessive abuse, I keep coming back for more. (“He only hits me because he loves me!”)
There have been copious complaints about the camera, specifically its frenetic nature and unhelpful placement during the game. This has been the camera’s same mode of operation since the original game and I have come to love it, though I recognize its flaws and how this may make it untenable for some people. In particular, off screen attacks come more frequently now and at times it is difficult to hear some of the audio cues that would indicate an unseen attacker. Like everything about Ninja Gaiden, the camera will reward, or at least be tenable, for those who stick with it and practice.
I suppose I can’t take the rose-coloured glasses off all that far. Even those half-hearted attempts to point out flaws appear to be more solid defenses of the game’s problem areas. It’s my honest assessment though, and that’s all I can give you. It’s up to you to decide whether or not any of those points is something you want to deal with or not. If not, NG2 might not be the game for you.
At the end of the day, Ninja Gaiden 2 is a game about dedication. The more you dedicate yourself to it, the more you get back. Reap what you sow and all that (a fitting metaphor might involve sowing death and reaping limbs or something like that). For those who want to take the time, there is an incredibly fluid, violent, and awesome action game waiting for you in Ninja Gaiden 2.
And it’s not like you’ve got something better to do while being subjugated by those machines, right?
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Just a suggestion: It's a little long, maybe try to be slightly more succinct in your next review. Aside from that, you do a great job extrapolating on ideas, intermixing it with humor and a great style.