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Ninja Gaiden II
June 3, 2008 | 11:37 AM PST
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
The sequel to the game that was simultaneously held up as one of the best action games of all time and one of the most brutally difficult, Ninja Gaiden II brings back the deep and stylish combat that made the original a modern classic, along with a few new twists. If lead designer Tomonobu Itagaki is to be believed, it's also the last entry in a beloved franchise that dates all the way back to the post-crash rebirth of the video game industry. Stepping away from the series is probably a good idea for Team Ninja, because based on the lack of evolution from the last game to this one, it definitely feels as though Itagaki and company are running out of ideas.
What's Hot
The meat of the experience hasn't changed a great deal, it's just been delivered extra chunky this time around. The core combat is every bit as deep and stylish as it was in the Xbox original, and the enemies are still powerful and savvy enough to realize it, never waiting their turn in line to put the hurt on Hayabusa. Full-out aggression might pass muster in Devil May Cry and God of War, but it won't cut it in Ninja Gaiden. Players need to analyze their situation on the fly and react accordingly, they need to choose the right technique for the right situation and be able to pull it off, all over the course of a few adrenaline-soaked seconds. Blindly firing off what you perceive to be Ryu's most exploitable attacks will result in frequent and humiliating defeat. Finesse is what separates Ninja Gaiden from the rest of the action genre, and if you don't have it, the game will beat it into you.. Every enemy encounter from the lowliest ninja dogs to the most grandiose demon is a challenging and satisfying ballet of blood and steel.
Blades get an added oomph this time around thanks to the addition of real-time dynamic dismemberment and decapitations, which are complemented by the same hyper-stylized, over-the-top arterial spray as seen in Hong Kong action movies, and are every bit as magnificent to behold. The dissection mechanic offers more than sheer visceral thrills, it also introduces new tactics and makes battles feel much more dynamic. Cut an enemy's legs out from under him and he'll likely drag his carcass towards Ryu clutching a cooked grenade. Take off an archer's arm and his bow is useless but he can still wield that sword he's packing. Battles never unfold the same way twice, and mastering the intricacies of the combat system is the only way to prepare for the surprises the game hides around every corner. It's not what we'd call a 'gamer-changer' of an addition, but it does lend Ninja Gaiden II a sense of ferocity that was missing, especially in the face of bloodier fare like God of War.
Team Ninja has put a great deal of effort into making Ninja Gaiden II a more accessible experience than the first game, but Itagaki's latest can still shame you. The new 'Path of the Acolyte' difficulty setting replaces the more derogatory 'Ninja Dog' mode and it's more forgiving than the original game's default difficulty setting, but it's still demanding enough to give Ninja Gaiden virgins some serious culture shock. Hell, we had played Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black to death years back, and we still got our asses handed to us by 'Path of the Acolyte' for a few hours before finding enough of a groove to move up to 'Path of the Warrior.' Players are thankfully no longer penalized for relying 'too much' on blocking or using magic, and the latter is now much easier to use thanks to the new real-time weapon and magic switching system that is far more user-friendly the previous game's clunky menus.
Regardless of what difficulty setting players choose, they'll be able to the take advantage of the new recharging damage system. Purists that we are, we were initially a little irked by the new health system, since it reduced some of the tension that characterized the pitched battles of the first game and let players get away with more stupid decisions and sloppy play. Over the course of the game we came to accept and actually appreciate its inclusion, not only because the later stages of Ninja Gaiden II get more insane than the first game ever did, but because of the benefits recharging health had on the pacing. With a buffer of recharging health to fall back on, we never felt overly defensive heading into a new area or particularly tough battle, we were never stuck heading into a boss battle with low health and no potions, and the game pushed forward at a much faster and steadier pace than the original.
Bar none the coolest new feature of the game is the 'Ninja Cinema' that allows players to start recording the action at any time, and then upload and share their performances with friends. It's not only a great way to brag about how awesome you are at the game, it's a great way to learn how to play properly. If you're stuck a certain battle and can't beat it for the life of you but know a buddy that already has, ask him to shoot you a video of his play-through and study it for the answers you seek. Competitive players can attach videos to their leaderboard entries, and the top few thousand scores will be available to anyone to watch. It's a fairly bare-bones system, lacking even a fast-forward option, but it's the perfect addition to a game packed so full of stylish action.
What's Not
You'll never convince us that Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden Black were too hard. Too hard implies an unfair level of difficulty, one artificially constructed by putting players in positions they couldn't possibly hope to survive without repetition or luck. Ninja Gaiden demanded a lot of the player, but it was never unfair and it repaid the player's determination and skill with a powerful feeling of satisfaction. Every enemy encounter was survivable, regardless of how lopsided or hopeless they seemed, and survival was always a matter of skill, not luck. That demanding, satisfying gameplay gave Ninja Gaiden its character, much more so than any art-style or hackneyed revenge storyline ever could. By sacrificing some of that purist mentality in the name of accessibility, it's undeniably lost some of that character.
Even worse, at times Ninja Gaiden II does feel legitimately unfair, taking cheap shots at the player without letting them know what's coming or what they need to do to come away unscathed. At one point, the game puts two fairly powerful bosses back-to-back with no save point, and the second boss explodes after the player's final blow, damaging them if they fail to dodge in time. Several other bosses explode, none of them hurt Ryu, but for some reason this one does and players just have to figure it out really quickly without any hint, or suffer through the damage dealt.
By far the worst problem with Ninja Gaiden II is the camera, which not only hasn't improved in the four years since the original game, it's actually managed to get worse. The camera in the original Ninja Gaiden, which forced players to hit the left trigger to re-center the action, wasn't perfect but given the speed of the action on-screen, how often Ryu changed directions in combat, and the distance his combos tended to cover, it was probably the best option. Manipulating a second stick would have been too slow, and an automatic camera would have never been able to keep track of Ryu through the insanity on-screen. It worked well enough, and while some improvements would have been nice – namely a greater tendency to show what the player needed to see instead of showing the most cinematic view of the carnage – we would have been fine with the same camera. Unfortunately, the new camera has a new problem, as sections of the backdrops don't go transparent as fast or as consistently as they did in the first game, which means that the player's view gets blocked a lot more often. It's frustrating and unacceptable.
Final Word
Ninja Gaiden II doesn't provide the same kind of leap forward for the action genre that its predecessor did, but it's still one of the best action games on the Xbox 360. The combat is deep and stylish, and the sense of satisfaction gained from successfully making it through a particularly challenging enemy encounter is an addictive high. Good thing too, because physiological dependency is just about the only thing powerful enough to push new players through the initial learning curve and veteran players through some of the game's cheap shots. As a merely great follow-up to a modern classic, Ninja Gaiden II can't help but feel just a little disappointing.
What the Game's About
The sequel to the game that was simultaneously held up as one of the best action games of all time and one of the most brutally difficult, Ninja Gaiden II brings back the deep and stylish combat that made the original a modern classic, along with a few new twists. If lead designer Tomonobu Itagaki is to be believed, it's also the last entry in a beloved franchise that dates all the way back to the post-crash rebirth of the video game industry. Stepping away from the series is probably a good idea for Team Ninja, because based on the lack of evolution from the last game to this one, it definitely feels as though Itagaki and company are running out of ideas.
What's Hot
The meat of the experience hasn't changed a great deal, it's just been delivered extra chunky this time around. The core combat is every bit as deep and stylish as it was in the Xbox original, and the enemies are still powerful and savvy enough to realize it, never waiting their turn in line to put the hurt on Hayabusa. Full-out aggression might pass muster in Devil May Cry and God of War, but it won't cut it in Ninja Gaiden. Players need to analyze their situation on the fly and react accordingly, they need to choose the right technique for the right situation and be able to pull it off, all over the course of a few adrenaline-soaked seconds. Blindly firing off what you perceive to be Ryu's most exploitable attacks will result in frequent and humiliating defeat. Finesse is what separates Ninja Gaiden from the rest of the action genre, and if you don't have it, the game will beat it into you.. Every enemy encounter from the lowliest ninja dogs to the most grandiose demon is a challenging and satisfying ballet of blood and steel.
Blades get an added oomph this time around thanks to the addition of real-time dynamic dismemberment and decapitations, which are complemented by the same hyper-stylized, over-the-top arterial spray as seen in Hong Kong action movies, and are every bit as magnificent to behold. The dissection mechanic offers more than sheer visceral thrills, it also introduces new tactics and makes battles feel much more dynamic. Cut an enemy's legs out from under him and he'll likely drag his carcass towards Ryu clutching a cooked grenade. Take off an archer's arm and his bow is useless but he can still wield that sword he's packing. Battles never unfold the same way twice, and mastering the intricacies of the combat system is the only way to prepare for the surprises the game hides around every corner. It's not what we'd call a 'gamer-changer' of an addition, but it does lend Ninja Gaiden II a sense of ferocity that was missing, especially in the face of bloodier fare like God of War.
Team Ninja has put a great deal of effort into making Ninja Gaiden II a more accessible experience than the first game, but Itagaki's latest can still shame you. The new 'Path of the Acolyte' difficulty setting replaces the more derogatory 'Ninja Dog' mode and it's more forgiving than the original game's default difficulty setting, but it's still demanding enough to give Ninja Gaiden virgins some serious culture shock. Hell, we had played Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black to death years back, and we still got our asses handed to us by 'Path of the Acolyte' for a few hours before finding enough of a groove to move up to 'Path of the Warrior.' Players are thankfully no longer penalized for relying 'too much' on blocking or using magic, and the latter is now much easier to use thanks to the new real-time weapon and magic switching system that is far more user-friendly the previous game's clunky menus.
Regardless of what difficulty setting players choose, they'll be able to the take advantage of the new recharging damage system. Purists that we are, we were initially a little irked by the new health system, since it reduced some of the tension that characterized the pitched battles of the first game and let players get away with more stupid decisions and sloppy play. Over the course of the game we came to accept and actually appreciate its inclusion, not only because the later stages of Ninja Gaiden II get more insane than the first game ever did, but because of the benefits recharging health had on the pacing. With a buffer of recharging health to fall back on, we never felt overly defensive heading into a new area or particularly tough battle, we were never stuck heading into a boss battle with low health and no potions, and the game pushed forward at a much faster and steadier pace than the original.
Bar none the coolest new feature of the game is the 'Ninja Cinema' that allows players to start recording the action at any time, and then upload and share their performances with friends. It's not only a great way to brag about how awesome you are at the game, it's a great way to learn how to play properly. If you're stuck a certain battle and can't beat it for the life of you but know a buddy that already has, ask him to shoot you a video of his play-through and study it for the answers you seek. Competitive players can attach videos to their leaderboard entries, and the top few thousand scores will be available to anyone to watch. It's a fairly bare-bones system, lacking even a fast-forward option, but it's the perfect addition to a game packed so full of stylish action.
What's Not
You'll never convince us that Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden Black were too hard. Too hard implies an unfair level of difficulty, one artificially constructed by putting players in positions they couldn't possibly hope to survive without repetition or luck. Ninja Gaiden demanded a lot of the player, but it was never unfair and it repaid the player's determination and skill with a powerful feeling of satisfaction. Every enemy encounter was survivable, regardless of how lopsided or hopeless they seemed, and survival was always a matter of skill, not luck. That demanding, satisfying gameplay gave Ninja Gaiden its character, much more so than any art-style or hackneyed revenge storyline ever could. By sacrificing some of that purist mentality in the name of accessibility, it's undeniably lost some of that character.
Even worse, at times Ninja Gaiden II does feel legitimately unfair, taking cheap shots at the player without letting them know what's coming or what they need to do to come away unscathed. At one point, the game puts two fairly powerful bosses back-to-back with no save point, and the second boss explodes after the player's final blow, damaging them if they fail to dodge in time. Several other bosses explode, none of them hurt Ryu, but for some reason this one does and players just have to figure it out really quickly without any hint, or suffer through the damage dealt.
By far the worst problem with Ninja Gaiden II is the camera, which not only hasn't improved in the four years since the original game, it's actually managed to get worse. The camera in the original Ninja Gaiden, which forced players to hit the left trigger to re-center the action, wasn't perfect but given the speed of the action on-screen, how often Ryu changed directions in combat, and the distance his combos tended to cover, it was probably the best option. Manipulating a second stick would have been too slow, and an automatic camera would have never been able to keep track of Ryu through the insanity on-screen. It worked well enough, and while some improvements would have been nice – namely a greater tendency to show what the player needed to see instead of showing the most cinematic view of the carnage – we would have been fine with the same camera. Unfortunately, the new camera has a new problem, as sections of the backdrops don't go transparent as fast or as consistently as they did in the first game, which means that the player's view gets blocked a lot more often. It's frustrating and unacceptable.
Final Word
Ninja Gaiden II doesn't provide the same kind of leap forward for the action genre that its predecessor did, but it's still one of the best action games on the Xbox 360. The combat is deep and stylish, and the sense of satisfaction gained from successfully making it through a particularly challenging enemy encounter is an addictive high. Good thing too, because physiological dependency is just about the only thing powerful enough to push new players through the initial learning curve and veteran players through some of the game's cheap shots. As a merely great follow-up to a modern classic, Ninja Gaiden II can't help but feel just a little disappointing.
February 8, 2010
