This is more or less exactly how I feel about this game. I recently did a few run throughs of NGB, beating the game on normal, hard, and very hard. One of the best gaming experiences I've had recently. But you're absolutely right that there's some weirdly bad parts, the bosses being almost universally bad. I don't mind the platforming quite as much as you, and lament its absence in the sequels, but it's definitely not "good" But man the rest of the game is so goddamn good. So, so good. I love how aggressive the enemies are and how the game really forces you to explore all your options. Edit: just wanna add, the difficulty is absolutely core to this game. The fact that every encounter feels dangerous forces you to stay engaged and try to master the game
On top of everything that's already been said that NBG does, it's one of the very few games I know that has exclusive content on higher difficulties and the difficulties are not just "more damage/less health/less items". Normal has no extra content and the bosses have no enemies accompaning them. Hard has some extra content (challenges, a few stronger enemies) but all bosses now have goons. Very hard introduces all the content (extra boss Ishtaros, extra phase on final mission Nicchae, different bosses all over, new enemy Berserker and other). Master Ninja is I think just a little harder in terms of scaling, enemy spawns etc but might be just scaling. Still the best action game of all times, consider exploring the higher difficulties too, the change from normal onwards is significant.
ninja gaiden 2, for me, is the best character action game of all time and my favorite action game of all time, and it's not close. epitome of a cult classic, you either get it or you don't
@@Ghooly check out farnham the drunk's tutorials if you're struggling, and also check out his gameplay because he's probably the best player on youtube. NG2 has insane depth and few understand it like he does
Great video and props for playing these games so much to find all the details and nuances of the combat mechanics. I am so absolutely godawful at these games that I can't bring myself to even attempt another playthrough all these years later.
Thank you very much! And you should give it another go when you're ready. Sometimes all you need is to give games like these a chance on the right day.
I got through NG:B by mostly spamming either Izuna Drop or Flying Swallow. Not too hard. I beat NG:S2, and think it was easier overall. Vanilla NG2 kicks my ass. :/ Still need to play 3/3RE. I got to the end of the NES NG1, but it took too long to beat. 😭
ninja gaiden is so unusual in that its combat design was actually well ahead of its encounter design. i would've never guessed that the people behind an action game where the best players still get hit a lot would make my favorite soulslikes, but they've clearly improved a lot. part of me thinks that the reception of NG3 is what made them switch gears, and hopefully they feel like they've honed their craft enough to make a modern comeback- there's so much more they could do now.
Ninja Gaiden Black to this day feels super unique no other action game is quite like it even the sequels. Black is like a slower (compared to the sequels) paced defense oriented fighting game where you have constantly think and form strategies on the fly to exploit openings against a small group of intelligent enemies while NG2 is lightning fast and all about hyper aggression and offense against large groups of enemies like most action games. Nothing has ever really tried to replicate Blacks unique style really. That being said yeah itagaki kinda sucks at making bosses lol. Doku and Genshin are like the only good fights in these games
Fun fact, ninja gaiden used to be developed for the Dreamcast until itagaki figured out The Xbox was the future. Might be the reason why the original game has Dreamcast vibes and no camera control
I already knew about the comparisons between sigma and black with sigma being the baby version of black and black basically being an updated yet slightly more harder version of the original game. And yes I am still mad at the ninja gaiden collection that we got a few years ago was not black then base 2 and razor's edge because really that's what they should have done. Instead they just gave us 2 sigma releases and razor's edge which are basically the baby versions of each but if your name is the third game then you're already a baby game or you're a the player is too stupid type of game. In any case I will always view bad platforming as a thing that action games never got right since that was never a problem and the more important thing is how the gameplay feels and it is is good that black is still good to play even with the bosses and platforming not being that good. That said, COME ON I would rather have games like this then like 50 souls likes which is why I was happy that Black Myth Wukong exists. Great job looking into this game and.......yeah Black is better then Sigma and I now miss old school DOA.
cool vid, I've been wanting to play the ninja gaiden games but I can only play sigma, and I went through half of sigma 1 feeling like I was playing the wrong game (plus rachel sucks honestly), then there's sigma 2 which I heard is much worse. I've been wanting to get an xbox basically just to play ninja gaiden 1 and 2 plus doa 3 and 4. I hope you make a video on 2 as well.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma wasn't trying to be like NG Black or the OG Ninja Gaiden it was trying to fit in with Ninja Gaiden 2 from its graphics and remade enemies also Black and OG NG are kinda a drag while Sigma felt like a decent pace from its story Sigma even includes MY GIRL RACHEL so even if Sigma tried to be and Homage or tribute to NG I'm glad it felt like its own thing I loved it despite it being a updated port to an OG Xbox game but I hated the puzzle segments in Black and Sigma was being worked on at the same time NG 2 was being developed but Sigma 1 and Sigma 2 had a different director while Tomonobu Itigaki worked on DOA and the main line games before being let go from Team Ninja
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She Ninja on my Gaiden till I Dead or Alive
This is more or less exactly how I feel about this game. I recently did a few run throughs of NGB, beating the game on normal, hard, and very hard. One of the best gaming experiences I've had recently.
But you're absolutely right that there's some weirdly bad parts, the bosses being almost universally bad. I don't mind the platforming quite as much as you, and lament its absence in the sequels, but it's definitely not "good"
But man the rest of the game is so goddamn good. So, so good. I love how aggressive the enemies are and how the game really forces you to explore all your options.
Edit: just wanna add, the difficulty is absolutely core to this game. The fact that every encounter feels dangerous forces you to stay engaged and try to master the game
On top of everything that's already been said that NBG does, it's one of the very few games I know that has exclusive content on higher difficulties and the difficulties are not just "more damage/less health/less items".
Normal has no extra content and the bosses have no enemies accompaning them.
Hard has some extra content (challenges, a few stronger enemies) but all bosses now have goons.
Very hard introduces all the content (extra boss Ishtaros, extra phase on final mission Nicchae, different bosses all over, new enemy Berserker and other).
Master Ninja is I think just a little harder in terms of scaling, enemy spawns etc but might be just scaling.
Still the best action game of all times, consider exploring the higher difficulties too, the change from normal onwards is significant.
Yup definitely going back for more in the future the higher difficulties seem incredibly cool.
ninja gaiden 2, for me, is the best character action game of all time and my favorite action game of all time, and it's not close. epitome of a cult classic, you either get it or you don't
I can confirm that I played the first level of Ninja Gaiden 2 and it blew me away so yeah I'll probably agree with you to some extent there
@@Ghooly check out farnham the drunk's tutorials if you're struggling, and also check out his gameplay because he's probably the best player on youtube. NG2 has insane depth and few understand it like he does
@@arisumego I Still think Black is a better game, probably a hot take these days but still
I'm only halfway through the video currently, but Sigma didn't necessarily remove the human decaps. That's just for the censored versions of Sigma.
Oh my god I got fucked by my region that stings even more
Great video and props for playing these games so much to find all the details and nuances of the combat mechanics. I am so absolutely godawful at these games that I can't bring myself to even attempt another playthrough all these years later.
Thank you very much! And you should give it another go when you're ready. Sometimes all you need is to give games like these a chance on the right day.
I got through NG:B by mostly spamming either Izuna Drop or Flying Swallow. Not too hard.
I beat NG:S2, and think it was easier overall.
Vanilla NG2 kicks my ass. :/
Still need to play 3/3RE.
I got to the end of the NES NG1, but it took too long to beat. 😭
I didn't mention it in the video but Black/Sigma is very funny by having most of the enemies in the last mission be immune to the Izuna Drop
Dudeeee. Wait til you learn that in NG3RE, enemies can block your flying swallow (when not on low health/bloodied)
ninja gaiden is so unusual in that its combat design was actually well ahead of its encounter design. i would've never guessed that the people behind an action game where the best players still get hit a lot would make my favorite soulslikes, but they've clearly improved a lot. part of me thinks that the reception of NG3 is what made them switch gears, and hopefully they feel like they've honed their craft enough to make a modern comeback- there's so much more they could do now.
Hey man this was a great video, thank you!
thorhighheels ass thumbnail
Ninja Gaiden Black to this day feels super unique no other action game is quite like it even the sequels. Black is like a slower (compared to the sequels) paced defense oriented fighting game where you have constantly think and form strategies on the fly to exploit openings against a small group of intelligent enemies while NG2 is lightning fast and all about hyper aggression and offense against large groups of enemies like most action games. Nothing has ever really tried to replicate Blacks unique style really. That being said yeah itagaki kinda sucks at making bosses lol. Doku and Genshin are like the only good fights in these games
Closest game to Ninja Gaiden that i can think of would be The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. Can recommend that one.
Fun fact, ninja gaiden used to be developed for the Dreamcast until itagaki figured out The Xbox was the future. Might be the reason why the original game has Dreamcast vibes and no camera control
i'm a Simple Ninja Gaiden, I See Man, I hit like
I already knew about the comparisons between sigma and black with sigma being the baby version of black and black basically being an updated yet slightly more harder version of the original game. And yes I am still mad at the ninja gaiden collection that we got a few years ago was not black then base 2 and razor's edge because really that's what they should have done. Instead they just gave us 2 sigma releases and razor's edge which are basically the baby versions of each but if your name is the third game then you're already a baby game or you're a the player is too stupid type of game. In any case I will always view bad platforming as a thing that action games never got right since that was never a problem and the more important thing is how the gameplay feels and it is is good that black is still good to play even with the bosses and platforming not being that good. That said, COME ON I would rather have games like this then like 50 souls likes which is why I was happy that Black Myth Wukong exists. Great job looking into this game and.......yeah Black is better then Sigma and I now miss old school DOA.
cool vid, I've been wanting to play the ninja gaiden games but I can only play sigma, and I went through half of sigma 1 feeling like I was playing the wrong game (plus rachel sucks honestly), then there's sigma 2 which I heard is much worse. I've been wanting to get an xbox basically just to play ninja gaiden 1 and 2 plus doa 3 and 4. I hope you make a video on 2 as well.
I'll definitely get to 2 eventually. Before the end of the year perhaps!
If you get rgh (hacked) Xbox 360 you can play both best versions - ng black and ng 2 OG
nice
dope
You should play Ninja Gaiden 2
Got original 2 for the 360 a week ago and done the first hour. Peak actioning gaming so far
Ninja Gaiden Sigma wasn't trying to be like NG Black or the OG Ninja Gaiden it was trying to fit in with Ninja Gaiden 2 from its graphics and remade enemies also Black and OG NG are kinda a drag while Sigma felt like a decent pace from its story Sigma even includes MY GIRL RACHEL so even if Sigma tried to be and Homage or tribute to NG I'm glad it felt like its own thing I loved it despite it being a updated port to an OG Xbox game but I hated the puzzle segments in Black and Sigma was being worked on at the same time NG 2 was being developed but Sigma 1 and Sigma 2 had a different director while Tomonobu Itigaki worked on DOA and the main line games before being let go from Team Ninja