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Ninja Gaiden 2: Sigma. It's out. PS3 only. Sixaxis jiggle woo!
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Your right, I will probably end up buying this, I do love me some Ninja Gaiden and I do loves me some coop!
As a matter of fact, I find most criticisms of NG2 I usually hear to be not valid. Projectile spamming is not an issue at all unless you play in master ninja mode, and if you do, then learning how to exploit invincibility frames in your favor is just part of the game and also very fun and satisfying to do IMO. Rocket launchers are really really easy to deal with, assuming you don't just try to stupidly rush them head on. The camera needs to be dynamic in order for the game to work, and the only moment that I consider it to be subpar is when it freaks out because you got too close to a wall. The slowdown was inexcusable, but thankfully, after the patches and being able to install the game to the harddrive, its not an issue anymore.
Frankly, the only things I would like to be changed are the following:
- No slowdowns from the initial release on
- Bosses need some reworking
- Fix the scoring system
- Fix ninja cinema
- Reintroduce time limits for scoring
- Remove stupid boring fights (like for example 20 or so worms in MN chapter 9)
- Some more variation in fights. How about ninjas plus marionettes? Or worms plus van gelphs?
- Don't allow me to snipe some enemies from far away (e.g. the marionette fights in chapter 12+13, since they approach you so slowly, you can just stand back and snipe them. This is a pity, since they're great enemies to fight against when up close)
- Maybe, just maybe, tone down the splash damage from missed IS shurikens in master ninja mode
- Improve the audio cues for some of the off screen attacks even further, but don't remove such attacks, as they're perfectly dodgeable
- More interesting missions in mission mode please
- And one of the very few things I do consider cheap in this game: Don't have long range enemies spawn behind Ryu mid-battle
Frankly, this really is not much to ask for, but it would already suffice to put NG2 well above NGB.
Also, I feel that many additions to sigma, in particular the forced Rachel segments, really dragged down the game. Here is hoping that Hayashi also learned from that.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Yeah, get your wallet out.
I chalk this up to Sonys policy of if a game comes to the system later than another platforms release, it needs exclusive features for them to approve it. Not that I'm saying it's bad - it's nice to see a Sony game get the better end of the stick once in a while.
He left afterwards because Tecmo were being dicks and refusing to pay his/his teams salary.
NG2 is fantastic though, it isn't really in a worse start than the original which you'll remember got a big overhaul to fix it which is why Black is far more polished.
The amount of ranged combat is the real disappointment, the bugs/camera could have been fixed with a patch if he hadn't left, and probably will be for sigma.
That being said, I think NG2's combat system is a fantastic development over that of NG1--they probably worked on that first--and I think the game is underrated (I'd put it above DMC4 easily). Tecmo's pretty ambitious with what they plan for NG2S, but I do hope they address some of the problems (not exactly the greatest port ever made--then again, I still bought it).
I mean, co-op, and a playable Ayane sounds great--so long as they don't screw it up. As much as I love NG1 and 2, I don't think I'll pick it up...I don't regret picking up Sigma, but I think that was an exceptional case (it's still the only PS3 game I actually own, I'm sad to admit). Black's strengths played well to a port, I don't think the same could be said about NG2. Of course, given how much better a game, by itself, Black is over Sigma...well, only time will tell.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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I don't really care about the gore though. If the gameplay is just as good with some fixes to make it better then I'm all for it.
And purile as it sounds, I care about the gore, it adds to the experience.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
I hope so.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Buy it along with God of War 3. There's enough gore in GoW 3 for 4 games.
If this one ends up being good, I might pick up the original as well as this. It's getting cheap.
Either way, I don't really give a shit. 'Cause this still has the potential to be the best third person action game ever.
All in all, lack of blood isn't a deal breaker for me. Just a slight disapointment. I waiting on review to see if they fixed it up nice.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
You know, I don't mind reeling back the gore that much, but that purple energy mist effect they've thrown in is terrible. Not only does it block a lot of visibility, it looks far too disassociated from the character and far too similar to other energy effects with no relation (essence absorbs, wind path, furious wind). Personally, I find that I have to reprocess all the visuals to figure out if anything has been cut off, where it all felt very natural in the 360 version due to the blood splatter and flying limbs. I'm sure it's possible to adapt to, but if they just wanted to tone the violence down, a clean look like the first game would've been a much better approach.
Also, how do werewolves even work under the new system?
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Sigma 1 was a very good game (I'm ashamed to admit, it's why I bought my used PS3), but ultimately, it wasn't as good as Ninja Gaiden Black on the original Xbox. Plus, the constant slowdown (every time things get dicey or there's blood in the air) were a pain in the ass (and weird, given the power available to the PS3).
The sequel is good, but I wonder if Team Ninja is currently capable of making a decent PS3 port. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I have other reservations beyond the technical aspect too.
Ah, maybe I'm just being too cynical. I paid $300 for the console to play the first Sigma, so why not fork over a bit more for the new one? :?
Not like there's going to be a NG3 anyway.
I kind of wonder about this. I know slowdown was a serious problem in Sigma, but they've had a while to improve upon that.
So...they're going to take out the corpse destruction? Even in the US version?
Talk about a step back. It's an Xbox 360 to PS3 port, for God sakes, not an Xbox to PS2 port. And while we're on the subject, why the hell does it take 2 to 4 seconds to load a 2D item image on a game that is installed on the PS3's hard drive? Especially when it took less than a second to bring up the same image on a game running off the original Xbox's disc drive?
(see my above reservations about Tecmo's current competency for making a decent port).
I would like if there was the gore (at least drop limbs, don't phase them out), but it's not a big disappointment for me. Might not pick it up right away since I have been constantly kicked in the face by Sigma at the start(which is weird for me since I managed to beat the OXBox version) but co-op? Yes. Yes I will take co-op.
So, online co-op may be tricky for me personally.
But... that's precisely why I'm excited about it. It's the perfect chance to fix the problems of NG 2, which still had incredibly solid fundamentals (and a monumentally awesome weapon selection). Like how Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma were significant improvements on the first game.
And then they're adding 3 more characters and co-op on top. And the only thing we're losing is gore, which is admittedly odd, but not very important to me.
I just bought Sigma 1 last week, and I'm continually astonished by just how well-designed that game is. Conversely, I will never touch vanilla Ninja Gaiden 2 again. While I'm not exactly certain as to how Sigma 2 will turn out, I am extremely hopeful. Like I said, it has the potential to surpass the first game, even if that is an enormously tall order.
I have to disagree. The second game had some notable flaws, but it was still a very good title. The combat (which, after all, makes up more than Nine-Tenths of the game) is a huge improvement.
This is all a matter of opinion, but I quickly found Sigma to be very disappointing after the first view hours. The enemy AI was dumbed down, presumably to be less problematic, as were some of the features that were added in Black. They took out the puzzels, which were already very simplistic anyway (to make things easier?), as well as the added NG SNES games (all available even before Black). Plus, it actually had large environments that weren't divided up by 30 load screens, or separated into the rooms.
(Honestly, does anyone know why Sigma has so many loading screens? The game was installed onto the freaking PS3 hard drive)
Not to mention, the game had horrid framerate issues, considering it...wasn't all that visually impressive. It looked like a very nice Xbox game, not a PS3 game. There shouldn't have been a reason for that much slowdown. Even NG2 didn't have the same slowdowns. And, of course, it has all of the original camera problems. No corrects there.
A mediocre port of an excellent game. I still enjoy it (and played it), but it's no where near as good as Black was. Four times as many loading screens, less actual game, and the same submissions? Yeah, I feel kind of foolish about having been so enamored with it when it first came out.
Well, anyway, I much prefer it to Black.
Every time there's the blood spray. Consistently so. Though at least it's consistent.
Black, on the other hand, has near zero slowdown (of course, it also doesn't have the same effects, being on a eight year old console). The bloody spray is considerably more simplistic looking too.
Really, they don't bother me down so much as the jarring load screens, especially in mid-combat. If making the environments more colorful is to blame, it was a bad decision. And I can't figure out why every item's 2D screen involves a few seconds of loading.
seriously, the purple... stuff when you cut off limbs looks ridiculous. i would be fine with the more stylized blood slash effect or whatever, but the limb thing is horrible.
The purple stuff is really strange. It looks less like a performance measure and more a way of deliberately reducing the blood in the game (which is, given the game, kind of strange--it's like trying to take the demons out of Devil May Cry). It must be their SOULS ESCAPING THROUGH THEIR ARM SOCKETS.
At least that video doesn't have any loading breaks--always a good sign (Sigma 1 would have--of course, the original game was divided into sections).
Looks like we're still getting pauses to load up item screens. It's always funny when a when a loading pause appears--than the actual loading display does--during a E3 tech demo. The final product could be very different, of course. Still time for them to fix that.
While Ninja Gaiden 2 made me feel so badass and I just had so much fun with it.
The obliteration moves pretty much existed for purely that reason (as well as the ability to use it on former bosses when they lost their 'boss' status). That, and the removal of time limits in combat also amped up the fun value.
NG2's combat basically had all of NG1's moves, several new ones, almost all the weapons, and several new ones, as well as the obliteration techniques and other refinements. Very big step up.
Of course, you couldn't just sit and block anymore like you could in the first game (that won't work for long on, even on 'acolyte'). Some people might think that's a bad thing--I thought it just made it a greater challenge.
Because I really don't remember any slowdown.
Might get it for the co-op, pending reviews.
PSN: Kylogue
OT moves existed not out of pure visceral awesomeness, but Team Ninja's combat style in general. If you look at the Dead or Alive series, the crazy damage revision system in those games made for obscenely high risk/reward scenarios.
This carries over to delimbed opponents that can be relatively easily taken down with a single strike, but if neglected, can nearly kill Ryu just as easily.
For me, the decapitation system in the game really was the main combat addition to the NG system. Really what it did was force players to learn more than 1 or 2 superpowered moves per weapon, as delimbing enemies in different ways (changing their attack abilities) required more knowledge than, "This is a large weapon. >Y kills everything."
That's in theory. In practice, it made the game boil down more to DS XXYBY and guillotine into wall spam. But that stuff at least looks a lot cooler than the overpowered strategies in the original games ^^
oh and Sigma 2 looks pretty lame to me... I've been dying for playable Ayane ever since NG1 on Xbox, as I'm an Ayane DOA player. Recognizing staple moves like 236K and 66F+P in Sigma2 looks really cool (not to mention her awesome DOA4-inspired ninpo) but the lack of crazy blood effects really reveals how bland the art is overall. Too bad...
Pretty much every time multiple enemies of any sort dissolved on screen. The sequel had the same problem--then again, the sequel also had larger numbers of enemies and severed limbs/other debris that would persist afterwards.
Obliteration techniques are about gambling--absolutely, since a lot of people advise against them since you can have it bite you back in the ass if you screw up--but then again, gambling exists because it is fun. It's not effective enough to be particularly cheap--this is an action hack-and-slash, not a 3D fighter, so balance is not really an issue, and you already have to knock off a limb to actually use it anyway. As mentioned before, it doesn't work on bosses anyway.
No one's forcing you to use them--the game is entirely playable without OT (I frequently avoid using them if I want blue or red essence).
I'm pretty much in total agreement (though having a total of four player characters in singleplayer might be interesting). I'm also a big Ayane player in DOA4, going back to the Saturn release of the first game. I guess we'll just see how this works out.