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Ninja blade that bad?
vegas-steven
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Downloaded the demo last night and it seemed pretty good in terms of hack/slash... Then saw it has like 3.8 on metacritic, but gamepro of all places give it a perfect score.
How is it? Am I better off with devil may cry or ninja gaiden 2?
How is it? Am I better off with devil may cry or ninja gaiden 2?
Las Vegas Youtube page with lots of useless videos:
http://www.youtube.com/vegassteven
http://www.youtube.com/vegassteven
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NG2 fixed almost none of the camera problems from the first game and is honestly kind of.. meh. But if you like challenge (cheap or otherwise) it's decent enough.
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Ninja Gaiden 2 is getting ported to the PS3 with a bunch of new additions plus new playable characters like Ayane from DOA and the female ninja from the DS Ninja Gaiden game as well. They're suppose to be fixing the camera thankfully, might mean I buy the game again since the 360 version's camera all but killed my desire to play it. Pity the PS3 version is being toned down though violence wise.
http://www.youtube.com/vegassteven
Some of the cut scenes are so over the top its awesome.
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Major Gripes:
-- Combat just doesn't seem as interactive as it is in the NG series. I've come to expect a bit more finesse than simply button mashing X and Y a bunch.
-- The concept of "Ninja Vision" seems really 90's to me. I mean, we've had slow-mo for a long time now. It isn't exactly a huge deal anymore, yet it seems like its their one major selling point.
-- The interactive cutscenes of "Mash A Here" are way overdone. In the demo alone there's like 10 places you have to do this. If stuff like that is rampant throughout the whole game, I would hate it. I prefer to either sit back and watch a cutscene, or play a level. Not both.
Minor Gripes
-- The voice acting in the demo isn't very good
-- The main character ninja looks like an American under the armor. Hard to tell for sure, but his look bothered me. If the game is gonna be set in Tokyo, I'd like some Japanese people, please.
-- The Spider kept regrowing its legs. If it has that sort of amazing regenerative power, why was it so easy to kill. On top of that, the whole fight was not very climactic. I was rather bored by it, actually.
-- Bats that drop health? I think I've seen that before. In Ninja Gaiden.
Basically, my overall synopsis (which is based solely upon the demo) is that this game desperately wishes it were Ninja Gaiden. It tries to innovate a bit, but the innovations are nothing new, and the whole thing just doesn't really seem like a product that I have any interest in buying.
Then again, I'm also one of those guys who loves QTE's and Dragon's Lair.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
I totally agree. DMC4 is great.
Actually, I think you can't go wrong with any of the games you're talking about, it's a hard choice to make. The bugs and weirdness of the camera in Ninja Gaiden 2 made me feel that it wasn't as good as the first.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
It's extremely repetitive, and of course there is very little value to be found in the story/presentation, other than to laugh at it.
It feels like Ninja Blade is going to suffer with the critics from its perception as a B-game clone, regardless of its merits or lack thereof. Based on the videos I've seen, it looks almost identical to NG2 to me, which the critics liked... so I don't know.
I think it's a bargain bin pick, personally, but the nice thing about demos and gameplay footage is that they let everyone make up their own minds.
Erf.. confirmed not buy...
The only problem I had with Ninja Gaiden 2 is in one part I was running up some stairs and there were around forty guys on the stairs with me, and the game slowed down to a crawl.
Yeah, that was shitty, but I used ninpo, killed them all, and it went back up to speed.
The camera never ever ever messed me up.
PSN: SirGrinchX
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Odd enough I was able to deal with the camera in the first NG but the camera in NGII drove me nuts.
First off, I loved Ninja Gaiden for the xbox. It was the reason why I bought the system in the first place, and everything about it blew me away; the looks, the style, and the buttery smooth gameplay. I've yet to see an action game that has made me feel more like a badass than the original xbox Ninja Gaiden did.
And yet, something was missing from the sequel; something about it made it feel very hollow, like somebody murdered my best friend and was wearing his face. I think Itagaki forgot what made his game such a modern classic in the first place.
For starters, this game was hard, but in a good way. This was the first time i've ever played a game where you really had to work for your kills, but not in the "crap he's tanking damage" kind of way, but more of a "jesus this ninja is just flat-out better than me" kind of deal. Instead of the enemies taking fifty plus hits before going down like every action game before it, you just had to get better in order to make it through. If the enemy took damage they'd flinch in pain, leaving you with a split second opening to rack up the damage. If you slipped up your game you could bet that the enemies would punish you for it, forcing you to perfect your game. I loved every minute of it, and it made the game immensely fun. I've played both God of War games and a few of the DMC series, and both of these forgo this mechanic in favor of meat tank characters instead of skill.
Something else I liked about this game was the controls. The camera could be a bit of an issue in some cases but it never got too out of hand, and the way Ryu moved on the terrain was unbelievable; how he jumps, dashes, wallruns, strikes, whatever. It all felt very ninja, and the fact that I had to perfect it in order to progress helped draw me in. For a little while I forgot that I was playing a game and just got lost in the experience. After a short while I never had to think about doing said actions, they just came naturally, like it was second nature. What a rush that was.
Then there was the story. Oh man the story.
First off let me say that the narrative in this game is laughable at best. I know it, you know it, i'm pretty sure the boys at Team Ninja knew this. And I think it's because of this way of thinking that they decided to run with this premise at full speed. It was such a retarded premise that it came full circle and turned out awesome. Think about it; you're a ninja whose village has been attacked by this evil guy in order for him to acquire the Dark Dragon Blade. Upon facing him the first time you get your ass torn asunder, but once you're back in action you suit up and head towards the capital city, your best lead. After that your mission is to simply start killing people to add to the power of the evil blade.
And that's it. That's the entire plot in a nutshell.
All you need to worry about from then on is to kill as many enemies as you can in order to track down this blade, and the mission is over. Fantastic. And since those were the only requirements, it's like the developers decided to throw everything and the kitchen sink at you. But even then the developers thought this through. The pacing in this game is wonderful, and was one of the real strong points of this title. It starts out simple enough; you're a ninja, and thus you start fighting other ninjas. Nothing crazy here, but it brings it to a very welcomed start. Soon enough you've upgraded to some samurais, and their counterparts riding horsemen.
Next thing you know you're in an airship fighting kick-ass mercenaries that utilize a variety of ranged tactics, followed by the higher grade variations of both factions. It isn't until the third or fourth chapter where the fiends start showing up, and then things really start getting interesting. There's this simple enemy ladder climb that's present in this game that's really rewarding to play through, and next thing you know you're in a crypt fighting ten foot zombies and bone dragons wondering what the fuck happened to you. And just when you think that's over with, you're in a military compound taking down tanks and hellcat choppers with just a bow and arrow (given the fact that the arrows are armor piercing).
Jesus Crist how is that not awesome?
It only goes upward from there. Again, the pacing in this game was really well done.
And then it's like Itagaki forgot all of that with his sequel. He just beefed up the combos/weapons, and went straight to the fiend enemies right from the get-go. Even worse, he actually attempted to write a story in the sequel, which was awful. In games like these there's a thin line between epic and ridiculous, and you go either one way or the other, not flirt with both. We as an audience know this game isn't supposed to be taken seriously, but I feel that Itagaki didn't see this during the production and tried to make it all epic, trying to pull a God of War and whatnot in terms of story. The results are just embarrassing, and made me want to skip all of the cutscenes instead of bask in the glory like the first one.
There were a couple of more things I wanted to cover here, but it's too damn late and i'm just about burned out on this, so i'm gonna end it here.
Perhaps we didn't play the same game. My first (and last) experience with the modern Ninja Gaiden games was Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox. I got killed by Alma while neither she nor I were on screen. The camera was literally looking at nothing. And during regular fights, exploding shuriken from off screen were a frequent annoyance. I never finished the game as my success or failure seemed far too reliant on chance.
Back to the topic, we may be barking up the wrong tree here. Ninja Blade doesn't have much to do with Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry in my mind. Those games are mostly about challenge. Ninja Blade seems more like God of War or No More Heroes which require some technique but are mostly about spectacle.
But perhaps anyone who finds such distinctions meaningful plays too many games. :P
I haven't played it or even tried out the demo but I will say that a person should try a game out before judging it and not solely depend on the opinion of others.
As for whether to pick this up or get DMC4 or Ninja Gaiden II, $60 for a game is pretty pricey for me so I recommend getting the more affordable games (NGII and DMC4) but I've only played the demo for NGII and haven't even tried out DMC4. I will be picking up NGII in the summer and I really enjoyed Ninja Gaiden Black for the original Xbox.
could they have atleast tried to make them not look like ninja gaiden characters?
But you perfectly described the great thing about Ninja Gaiden (and most ninja games, actually). They manage to be both awesomely amazing and hilariously ridiculous at once. That's why I'll always be a sucker for ninja games.
Also, I like QTEs, so I'll probably pick up Ninja Blade.
Opening scene:
We're told that Japan has been ransacked by monsters, so we see a fleet of military-style cargo jets flying towards the embattled city. Inside one jet is the main character and about a half dozen other ninja. The main character looks identical to the other ninja, save for this weird bicycle helmet-style...well, helmet, with what appears to be some kind of leather bandit 'over-the-eyes' style mask. I can't possibly imagine who thought that was a good idea for a ninja mask, or why, but there you go.
The "sergeant" or leader of the group inside the jet is dispensing some wisdom and the orders for the group of ninja (in English, mind you). Once he finishes his speech, another "I look slightly different than the other ninja grunts because I'm not wearing a mask or bicycle ninja helmet" guy throws out a response of "whatever" and then backflips out of the plane. The rest of the ninja gruntlets follow.
The sergeant guy gives you, the main character, a sword. Another one. Oh, I suppose I should've mentioned: your dude already has three swords, one of which is HUGE, on his back by the timet this takes place. You are now handed a FOURTH sword, and the sergeant and said character have a conversation entirely in Japanese. You find out later in the demo that you can speak fluent English. Just wanted to point that out.
So the sergeant also bails the jet via backflip, and now it's just you and the pilot...the black ninja pilot who, naturally, sounds like he's Straight Outta Compton. Fully dressed in ninja garb, though. Because hey, why not, right?
So that's the psychotic opening sequence. You leap out of the plane and what follows is a series of Quick Time Event-laden sequences mixed with some Ninja Gaiden-wannabe action and character designs.
You get some ninja magic and such, but it's all pretty tame. So there you go, if you haven't downloaded this demo already, I just saved you a bunch of time. Ninja Gaiden wannabe, and not a good one.
It's not.
It doesn't.
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In the full game, you only have one sword when the dude gives you the Ninja Blade. It still doesn't really make any sense though.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
The combat seemed like it has the potential to be pretty good, if only the basic enemies you fought didn't take 12 billion hits to go down. Seriously, I was attacking one for a good while, knocked it down with a flashy effect, and thinking I took it out went over to the next one, only to see the first one STILL not dead. And yeah, the demo was like 90% QTEs.
Still, it wasn't really bad or anything, and seems like it could be a decent cheaper purchase, but definitely not for $59.99
I figured that they'd given you access to all (most?) of the weapons early on in the demo so you could test them, but I just found it funny that they actually showed every single weapon that you had on your back, like you were some ninja-porcupine hybrid by the end of the game.
Ummm....I didn't get a God of War vibe from the demo, myself. Frankly, I think the statement is 7 shades of wrong, but whatever. I haven't played the game itself.
Seems like a divisive title. Definitely a "Rent first" for me.
Where's a ninja game without a nonsensical story? Probably some silly Tenchu game or something.
The more over the top the better.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Super terrible.
You could walk slowly, and if you got into a direct confrontation you played a stupid mini game that served as the sword fighting engine.
It was like someone tried to make a tenchu game using a wrestling game engine that had been extremely toned down.
On the other hand, I enjoy most pure-action/platforming focused ninja games.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
The story and the action of Ninja Blade is so hilariously insane, I dont know how everyone is missing that this is by design, not accident. This game is yet another example of why Ive enjoyed gaming more this year than previous years, as Ive been playing games that might not be technically sound, but I really really enjoy, instead of being a follower of the Church of the Metacritic and having reviews guide me to games I may not have bought and found boring (Fallout 3, GTA 4, etc.) and away from games that ended up being some of my favorites like this one's turning out to be.
Again, while the demo was okay and I did enjoy it, it didn't stand out to me. Like I said, a "Rent first" game for me.
I'm sorry, but if anything, this write-up has just convinced me to download the demo.
It's a pretty interesting demo. It was interesting enough to land on my radar, but not enough to make me want want want it so bad I hurt.
But it's definitely a demo to try out. See if it grabs you. And I really think the demo gives you a LOT more swords than you really start with. I've seen video from the game's opening in the G4 review and he wasn't festooned with all the swords you have in the demo. I'm guessing the demo is a mish-mash with parts removed and smashed together like the F.E.A.R demos apparently were.