Ninja Gaiden II Black - Review
Most of my spare time has been spent with Ninja Gaiden II Black, and it’s been this way after its shadow-drop during Xbox’s Developer Direct. For as much groaning as the expression “blast from the past” may bring, it’s also indicative of how well Ninja Gaiden II aged. To regress to just a simple statement is only a testament to how much I enjoyed Ninja Gaiden II Black. Realistically, it’s just the same Xbox 360 game from 2008 with a new coat of paint (more on that in a bit). Even so, this is still regarded as one of the greatest character action games of all time and with good reason, it’s simply too much damn fun.
Now, I should clarify that this is actually a remake of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for the PS3. This version of Ninja Gaiden was created from scratch for the PS3 as Team Ninja lost the source code to Ninja Gaiden 2 on the Xbox 360. This version brought about changes to the game that hardcore fans found to be repulsive. For starters, Sigma 2 wasn’t nearly as violent as the original. Toning down on the blood and dismemberment, while also making the game a bit more vibrant losing a bit of the original atmosphere. Sigma 2 is also considered much easier than the original, due to the tweaked AI. The original game has multiple enemies attacking you at once with less health while Sigma features less enemies with more health. Also, enemies aren’t constantly attacking you all at once which does make things a tad easier.
This information is a major deal breaker to a lot of hardcore fans out there about Ninja Gaiden II Black (NG2B). However, in all honesty I am not a Ninja Gaiden purist, I couldn’t even beat any of these as a kid. I can’t compare these games 1:1 as I never actually got to see them all the way through. These changes did not detract from the experience for me, personally, but I can understand the mentality. I have played both versions but they were years apart so my memory is rather hazy.
Despite what I could consider some deserved criticism, I still found NG2B to be such an enthralling experience from start to finish. Any shortcomings this game has I was able to look past it and push myself until the end. It’s been a long time since I finished a game, and then immediately started it again on a higher difficulty. It isn’t a feeling I’ve had with a game in a long time, but it is satisfying to feel yourself improve as a player, more on that later though.
Let’s get one thing out of the way now, this game is gorgeous. I know that Unreal Engine is starting to turn heads on the runway for all the wrong reasons, but they’ve really made some magic happen here with these visuals. I had to stop myself in my tracks several times just to stare at the game. Ninja Gaiden simply has never looked better. Everything from the environments to the blood and gore to the character models, everything simply looks fantastic. The blood in particular being more akin to the original brings me joy, as I distinctly remember being disappointed with Sigma 2’s changes in that regard. I feel like I can’t blink during combat but it’s such a rush.
But hey, we’re not here just to stare at the pretty visuals. When it comes to Ninja Gaiden only one thing matters: playing. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (saying the full name this time) is a fast paced hack-and-slash where everything is set out to kill you. This isn’t a full blown power-fantasy similar to say 2005’s God of War, even the most basic of enemies will kill you if you’re not careful. The game is gonna feel weird at first, particularly for new players. Ryu may feel stiff or he may not attack where you think he’s going to. However these games play a very certain way. If you are staring forward while an enemy is to your right, if you attack you will swing forward. These games play a very specific way, but it’s a way that will come naturally over time. From learning enemy attack patterns, timing counters, there’s a lot to learn here yet it feels doable. You don’t have to learn about what elements proc with certain abilities or worry about being underleveled, none of that is here. This is all about the raw game play, and I miss that approach to difficulty.
NG2B is difficult, however I don’t feel like it’s ever ‘unfair’. At least in terms of combat. For the most part, I felt like most deaths and even damage taken during a fight feels purely natural. I know that if I got hit, then I deserved it. However, some enemies are just not fun to fight. The dogs with swords, or the skeletal fish, they’re not so much difficult as much as they are annoying. That’s fine and dandy, but the problem comes with the platforming. Ryu can maneuver around the environment like a ninja, but the directional inputs when attacking also unfortunately tie into the platforming as well. With how stiff Ryu can feel, it can make some of the platforming sections feel more annoying than they should be. In combat every fault feels like my own, but traversal can feel so stiff that platforming feels more aggravating than fighting at times.
They’ve added the difficulty setting Hero, and my first full playthrough was on this difficulty. I’m a games journalist, I have to play like one. Jokes aside though, this difficulty will give you a power boost when you’re nearing death to have a final chance. Luckily I only triggered this a handful of times, but I can see how this is beneficial to new players. It will not stop the enemy’s activity, as they’re still going to be aggressive. Hero is basically the Path of the Acolyte with a safety net. I took Hero mode as a tutorial, because I immediately jumped back in on Path of the Warrior once the credits rolled. I essentially Miyagi’d myself from playing Hero to prepare for Warrior, because I was able to utilize everything I learned from a more controlled environment and apply it to the real deal. Seeing how you’re getting better as a player is where the joy in difficult games like these comes from. This, in turn, made Path of the Warrior way more fun to go through because I know I’m improving. Of course now I’m dying a bunch but I know what I’m doing wrong. Needless to say, this is a great progression system without needing to be a progression system.
Throughout the campaign there will be three chapters starring other characters to give players a break from Ryu. These characters are Rachel, Momiji, and Ayane. I can understand the idea of breaking things up but these characters are more or less just thrown in when they appear. The introduction to playing as these characters feels so rushed, and even so their levels aren’t very long either. Momiji and Ayane are both very fun to use, however, Rachel’s hammer is too slow for a game that prioritizes speed. It’s not impossible to use, just not nearly as satisfying to me as using the Dragon Blade.
In short, what you see really is what you get. If you enjoyed Ninja Gaiden 2 way back when, or want to hop into it for the first time and need some help, with it being on Game Pass there’s no harm in trying it. I’m glad that it’s priced at $50 and not $60-70, but for a 2008 game it may be hard to justify fifty bones unless there’s some sort of attachment or intrigue tied to it. The main campaign may only take around nine hours or so to complete, but considering I have over twenty hours so far and I am not even done with my subsequent playthrough shows that I think you’ll get your money’s worth. All I can say now is, bring me Ninja Gaiden 4. I’m ready.
Final Score: 8/10
