I do find it amusing that Team Ninja apparently wanted to break away from Itagaki's vision for the series with NG3, yet practically all the improvements of Razor's Edge are falling back on his style to save it. And to be fair, Koei doesn't seem to be against the character, at least. He played a rather prominent role in the story of Warriors Orochi 3, working with the "mystics," basically a group of rogue gods attempting to undo the damage that had been done to time and space. Interesting to play as well, if a little awkward at first, coming from the fact he was the only ninja character to be classed as a "Power" type, while all the other ninjas were either speed or technique types. And even with the reduced roster of guest characters (aka characters from outside the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors series) in Warriors Orochi 4, he did manage a return in the Ultimate expansion. So Koei at least still recognizes the character's popularity, it's more a question of can Team Ninja pull it off in the future, or will we just get another NG3?
@@joesheridan9451Nioh has another DoA alumni in a DLC- Ancient Nyotengu who has the model and some moves of the DoA5:LR and DoA6 counterpart. The number of ragequits she caused in Nioh though xD
@@claudijatzandrapova3347 Yeah I know. I'm one of the few who really like her fight mainly because her burst counters are so satisfying to hit cos the window is really tight
The problem with the game is that the story could not be fixed. Ryu doesn’t act like a Ninja would. Uncovering his face at all times. Caring that he killed a bad guy that happens to be a father… so… the Ninjas he killed before had no family to speak of? Saddling him with the guy daughter just to poke at him and his guilt? Nah. Story is what killed this game for me.
That thing about killing a father got me completely. I know it’s supposed to be development somehow? But he literally goes on killing after that like nothing anyway.
If we’re talking about real life ninjas, then he is acting EXACTLY like a real ninja. Real life ninja’s we’re terrorists with no real moral or ethical code of honor. Also real life ninjas didn’t use masks in their fights, it was only for assassinations so their identity wasn’t revealed, in normal fights, ninjas wore heavy armor similar to normal military soldiers at the time. Ninjas at the time are more similar to the cartel or the tailiban in current time.
@@Unchainedful yeah. Real life ninjas are caring towards the children of people they kill. Absolutely. They then go on and murder more people not caring if they have family. The first two games, he never removed the mask. Why is it that in this one he is so willing to?
@@TheSupersmash97 yes, but it’s not the only bad point going on. Limiting Ninpo usage. Limiting weapons, limiting movement, etc. Story was ruined the moment Ryu felt “guilt”. I mean, he killed ONE soldier that signed up to a TERRORIST group. What? That guy didn’t expect to be killed? Did he refuse to harm others? Please. Then, how about the other people Ryu went on to kill? No remorse since they did not surrender?
Thank you! Unfortunately, views on RUclips has little to do with quality, and a lot more with popularity/relevancy. But I couldn't stand doing RUclips if all I did was talk about the hottest games.
@@RetropolisZone I know at the end of the review, you talked about how Yaiba was considered bad. A lot of that more so comes from word of mouth from people and the funny thing is a lot of people haven't even actually seen the game or played it proper to give it a proper chance. I'd say at the very least look up the game and decide from there, unless you've already done that in which case you can disregard this comment.
@@kingslayerkoshy He WILL review Yaiba! He cannot escape his destiny! Like Ryu in NG3, he is either a cold blooded reviewer or a hero! Either way he is forced to review Yaiba.
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve always enjoyed seeing people play through NG1/2 and get horrendously confused once they get to 3. I can’t help but wonder what went on behind the scenes to cause Team Ninja to make such questionable design choices that they then had to release an entirely new version of game just to bandage some core issues that make the game a much better experience to play. That being said, it’s also nice to hear someone speak of some positives about the game, and I think you’ve done a fantastic job at giving credit where it is due. Thank you for the retrospective on this trilogy, and let us all hope for a Ninja Gaiden 4.
I read many interviews with Yosuke Hayasi (Team Ninja director and Itagaki Protégé) they said the game was made specifically for the west because they saw that games popular (in the west) were focusing more on story and they just wanted to follow the trend to appeal as much players as possible, the objective was to bring NG to the mainstream, and they were insistant (they mentioned this in almost all the interviews) to "Take the concept of a japanese dark hero and show it globally". Hayashi also mentioned questioning if so much violence is morally justified, but that seemed to come second and they talked more about following the trends of deeper stories in games. Steel on bone was created not for gameplay reasons but to recreate the feeling of cutting someone as realistically and viscerally as possible. Later reflecting on Ninja Gaiden 3 Hayashi said "We tried to make a hamburger when what we do is sushi". This is hazy, but I recall they said they wanted it to feel like you were playing an action movie
Thankfully we won’t be expecting western influence in Ninja Gaiden 4 since Ubisoft made an ass of themselves on twitter following Elden Ring disproving their design philosophy
I was never a fan of 3's story. The whole "we gotta appeal to the West" thing was stupid. Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2 were perfect. Another thing Ryu felt really....off in 3. He's supposed to be this stoic, mysterious yet honorable guy who doesn't really get involved with people and that's what I liked about it. He's there then he's gone. In 3 he just feels like a regular guy, personality wise. And he's so willing to show his face it was very out of character. I miss the Japanese fantasy setting too. You used to fight monsters, demons, undead and other ninja clans. Each location was unique and invited you to explore. 3 you fight military dudes, ships and mechs and it feels forced.
It's also the fact that at the time games like Uncharted, gears, and any game with cinematic story telling was the flavor of the day along with the fact Japanese studios at the time were suffering because no one was buying there games. So it wasn't really surprising but even after all the bullshit we still got a decent game.
@@shinigami9851 idc how good the story is or how shiny it is in a graphical settings if the gameplay is dog shit then the game itself suffers from it that's a huge flaw that uncharted 1 & 2 had until uncharted 3 and 4 finally improve on it. gears or war has always been the same game with a new skin slapped over it regarding gameplay terrible comparsions btw bcuz even those two games stories had flaws its not perfect as u trying to make it out to be in terms of storytelling as well and that's not true at all capcom is a japanese studio they're not suffering even with all of their poor decisions and their games are still best sellers
@@Oldschool1943 never said those games were perfect. And like I said Games like Uncharted and gears were the flavor of the day. Have gameplay take a backseat so you can tell a story in the form of a movie. Thank God that this type of game is slowly starting to faze out. And like I said the Xbox/PS3 era was HORRIBLE for Japanese game devs. The era of cinematic story telling just fucked over any other type of gameplay style because of the fact Western game devs were afraid of players not seeing the work they did. Thank God for games like Elden Ring to prove that wrong. Edit:Capcom was the exception but even they fell victim to this at some point *Cough* re6 *Cough*.
If you ever get the chance and never have played them, and if you have an Xbox One or Series S/X, play the Ninja Gaiden Black and the original 2, cool to see the differences in each version
@@Pelayum I grew up playing the original 1 and 2 lol that maybe be why tho I also found sigma series to be a lot easier than the originals as well still great games I’m waiting for a 4th if it happened I enjoyed 3 a lot back 2012 when it came out
@@freshprinz9829 I grew up with Black too, visually and the soundtrack imo are improved on Sigma, at least in my opinion. You're right on Sigma being easier though
Honestly I think I'm fine with him being more personable, but they really went way too far into that direction in 3 when you compare how he was in the first two games If it was a character arc or something where he slowly becomes more sociable it'd work better
I remember getting this game for the WiiU, it was challenging no doubt but I legit had to silence the voices in the game since most of them just kept dropping F bombs and it was getting annoying real fast.
I was actually gonna mention all the repetitive enemy dialog, but I ended up cutting certain smaller and less important talking points to keep the video length in check as much as I could. But thank you for commenting and still watching after all these years!
NG3RE is the best one to just pick up and play. Move set is expanded upon 2 and you get to fight all of the bosses from the series. Playing as best waifu Kasumi doesn’t hurt either. Only thing that is a let down is the absence of Tonfa and Vigorian flail.
I found myself finally mastering the counter attack on razors edge 🤣 to think I was younger playing NG 2 without knowing the counter attack and now in sigma I'm like ok now I have to use it to retain some of that original feel of combat.
I loved Ayane though her story our friend missed out it seems. Can also play the entire NG3RE as her, the others have the special mode only. Ayane also had a story in NG2, expanded on for its Sigma release
Really need to get the Master Collection at some point because thanks to you, I'm interested in playing the series and getting a taste of what Team Ninja has to offer that isn't Other M. That said, NG3's attempts at trying to examine Ryu's morality and actions really does come across as tone deaf in a manner similar to DmC and its supposedly Shakespearian plot, and it feels like they didn't take any cues from Jak X, which did actually make a decent attempt to examine Jak's more morally questionable actions as a hero, and I like how Jak handles it at the end when the big bad tries to taunt him about it one last time.
Just to let you know. The master collection is a weird combination of the games. So sigma 1 in the master collection is a combination of sigma + and Sigma in the ps3. I can't remember if sigma 2 is a combination but yea. Also get it on ps4, don't get it on steam the steam port is booty ngl lol
If you have an Xbox you better get Black and 2 which were already upgraded for free, master collection has the sigma versions which in many ways are straight downgrades.
For the third game Tomonobu Itagaki, who directed the first two games left Team ninja, thats the main reason why the game looks and feels soo different. When the first versión of NG3 was launched, I was really upset since I felt they murdered the franchise... Ironic.
I do feel that the combos in NG3 RE are more intuitive than before. At least for the Dragon Sword, heavy attack enders appear at the end of every light attack string right from the start as opposed to having them be unlocked first. The weapon upgrades also do a better job at reinforcing the idea that the new combos that you unlock are just objectively better, like how all adding additional heavy attack inputs to all heavy attack enders. Once fully upgraded, there's not much point in using the standard charge heavy enders as they are riskier to perform and don't do as much damage. I found out that a weapon's basic heavy combo is much better at damaging bosses than a normal light attack string.
PS: you also forgot to mention that you couldn't manually charge UTs in vanilla 3. Also, Steel on Bone can be used to heal yourself in combat. A trick you can do with the bow is clicking the right stick to go into free aim mode. While time is slowed down, you can fire at specific enemy weakpoints to instantly take them out, like shooting at the driver for the bikes or the jetpacks for fliers.
I remember when this game was due to come out and some dev interviews were being released, one of them said something like "The player will enjoy the sensation of cutting flesh very much" and we were all like WTF??
Thank you for this review man. I’m a huge ninja gaiden fan since day one. And it fills me with joy hearing other ppl reviewing the games Bcz they like it or remember them. And yea let’s hope Ryu comes back, he deserves it!!!
I know this video is a bit old now but I would like to say that I appreciate the fact that you actually showcased the many differences between the badly structured vanilla version of the NG3 and the improved Razor’s edge version despite a few flaws of it’s own. Also I’m a bit surprised you didn’t mention much of the skins/costume options for the games especially since the vanilla version didn’t have that option at all while Razor’s edge gave that feature back while adding a couple of new skins for Ryu that he previously did not have in the last 2 installments of the franchise. Also I like that Razor’s edge offered a variety of gameplay modes that you can play solo/offline aside from story mode such as Chapter challenge (being improved from NG2) and ninja trials being a cool way to fight against all the previous bosses and enemies from past games being mixed in with new enemies and bosses alongside new and old stages/maps with my only complaint on not much balance in terms of the difficulties since it often leads players being forced to spam the dreaded infamous scythe move circle 360 move that briefly makes you invulnerable while doing good damage. Overall I like the trilogy all equally now thanks to razor's edge while before I hated vanilla NG3 on how it was missing too many features and I’m glad that the master collection version includes everything for Razor’s edge since before the two new skins for ryu were locked behind a dlc pack and the other being a reward for having a save file from the vanilla version of NG3 to which now are just available right from the start in the master collection version.
Watched all your trilogy NG reviews, completely helped me to realize what's good and bad about the franchise, and appreciate how amazing and thrilling it is at the end of the day (despite some bs) Ninja Gaiden is incredibly good c: thx for your videos!
I was procrastinating finishing Sigma 1 on the Master Collection and started 3RE because I wanted to play as Kasumi. I heard 3 was shitty and easier so I set it to hard for the first playthrough to have some semblance of a challenge. I had a fucking blast of a time. I wasn’t aware of RE and just heard that NG3 was shit so I was going to ignore it before learning Kasumi was playable. I ended up grinding out two consecutive playthroughs and am working towards the platinum. The collection is my first experience with NG and I think I narrowly prefer 3RE to what I’ve played of Sigma 1 so far. I still haven’t beaten Sigma, and I imagine Black and original NG2 would dethrone it, but as it stands, I’ve found the combat in 3RE to be so visceral and satisfying.
I think that's why Razor's Edge is ultimately still a good game. The combat is basically NG2's again, so while the game is a bit disappointing in other regards, it's hard to go wrong playing it. The fact several new players to NG I've talked to and read from can enjoy Razor's Edge really proves that point to me
If you dont like sigma you won't like black and if you dont like Sigma you wont like 2004 cuz alot of sigmas balance is more in line with 2004 than black
*Nice Review, but you missed on Reviewing One of The Most Annoying enemies in the game who are called "The Alchemist". The Alchemist gave me a lot of trouble in Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge on Hard Difficulty.*
I completed ninja gaiden 3 razon Edge and I have to say it has some great combat ideas, but can't evade when doing a combo is a sin, because there are less fast combat Game with that mechanic. Ninja gaiden 4 could be a great action game, team ninja has made two great combat mechanics such nioh and that prequel to final fantasy 1.
Is it normal that I find NG3RE to be... my favorite one? NG1 is great but a little dated, NG2 is too insane and NGS2 is too tame, but NG3RE feels just right. It also features 4 playable characters, all usable in the main campaign, and also features bosses and enemies from the previous games. It's the most packed NG game with content. Also, the multiplayer was mad fun, until it died.
I can see it, yeah. Honestly, the lack of sticky shurikens being tossed onto you in RE is probably a major reason why I didnt experience higher difficulties to be as overwhelming as in NG2. That shit basically forced you into abusing i-frame moves to not die.
@@realamericannegro977 Sigma 2 is comparable to your average character action game on normal. Pretty difficult compared to most games but nothing crazy. NG04, Black, Sigma, Og2 and Razor's Edge are significantly more difficult than the average character action on normal. Forget Souls, these games are "Git Gud" incarnate. Every game in the series demands skill and understanding on higher difficulties but Sigma 2 is a lot easier on new players. You can reliably button mash through normal, which I can't say about any other title. Can't comment on vanilla 3's difficulty though, game is so trash I only finished it once and never touched it again. Razor's Edge though, the Regent as the boss of the first level with no healing items or health upgrades available is probably the most frustrating gatekeeper boss I've ever seen. Learn to play properly and do it well or you aren't beating the first level. I swear he's a lot more inconsistent in RE as I had no trouble with him in vanilla but find him in RE to have no pattern, inconsistent telegraphs on his grab and a tendency to spam it relentlessly. Razor's Edge demands you play damn good right out the gate, even Murai didn't go that hard.
I think the best addition to the history in NG3RE was the five second scene after you cut Theodore for the last time, he explains that this was the only way to remove the Grip of Murder from Ryu, and then ask him to save his daughter.
I seriously enjoyed NG3 Razors edge. I love all the upgradable skills and unlockable costumes. The combat feels a lot quicker and action paced than the others.
@Walamonga1313 3 gives you more chances to hone your skills, it isn't necessarily faster but it’s NG2 system done right, the enemies are mostly better (they don't spam) and you can't spam ultimate techniques so you will find yourself in need to learn each weapon individually and I'd say the combat system in razor's edge is the best so far
This came out in an era where they were trying to hard to make the characters "grounded". Like they let someone that hates cool stuff dictate the direction
I've waited for this day. I'm gonna skew the algorithm and watch this multiple times lol. You deserve more views for these NG videos my dude. Keep doing what you're doing. It's actual food for the soul here on RUclips. On the note of SoBs, I didn't mind it being kind of broken on big enemies because the tankiness of the enemies in RE got pretty exhausting for me.
@@RetropolisZone i don't know why but it seems people don't like or even don't know NG games cuz in my opinion they surpasses 99% of the games nowadays only games like soulsbornekiro or the witcher 3 or breath of the wild that are also amazing
If recent history has taught me anything, it's that these HD remasters are testing the waters for a future sequel. If you want ninja gaiden 4, we all need to get the master collection. even though Sigma 1/2 are...meh. Great review as always, RZ. I'm glad you're back, my dude.
Really liked your retrospective. NG Black and vanilla NG2 are two incredible games, and Razor's Edge a fun one. The character of Ryu is undoubtedly cool, he should be up there with Dante, Kratos and Bayonetta. Hope we get a Ninja Gaiden that redeems the franchise in the line of DMC5.
ive never cared about the morality of Ryu, i mean hes a ninja assasin, theres now way to suggar coat it. I just love the stillnes of the character in the face of true evil, its a very unique type of badass
That's the first time I've heard of a company actually taking criticism and doing what they could for another release lolz Enjoyed the video and have a nice day everyone.
Man, this review is an absolute triumph, loved watching it. Easily the best Ninja Gaiden content on RUclips. You tackled the story perfectly, said all there is to say about the gameplay and nothing about the visuals and soundtrack because as you say, they're supremely forgettable. Loved watching this video, I'm glad I subscribed. This one is hard to rank for me, the enemies have way too much health and seemingly never end but on the lower difficulties I think it's one of the best pure gameplay experiences in the action genre and that means a whole lot me. The first game though, Black or Sigma still remains the absolute king, it's easily one of the best games of all time. Cheers!
Regarding the story it´s a shame that Team Ninja never used the background created for Ryu since Dead or alive 1, I mean few people know that he owns an Antique Curiosities shop and his hobbies are hiking and fishing, heck he even had another love interest named Aileen, they could´ve connected the two series to make him a more fleshed out character, but I guess it´s hard to come up with something interesting when your team is already struggling to make a game for a western audience in the first place
I really hate the combat of 3/RE, playing on high difficulties you start to really see how broken it is. The game punishes you for doing combos or trying to set certain situations up. There is no consistency in attacks nor how much damage you’re actually doing. Sometimes it takes 2 hits and other times it can take up 10 for a regular guy. Not sure where the timing is or what is the requirement for getting effective damage and quick executions other than the huge red mist that signals for a counter attack with heavy slice. At higher level challenges or difficulties you have to basically resort to game breaking strategies that are honestly broken and takes away from the combat experience , all these combos and only the moonlight scythe full circle spins with a handful of others moves that are not even consistent. Basically 5% of all the moves in the game are actually effective. The rest is just asking to be interrupted by a grunt/small enemy while trying to take down a beefier enemy who is relentlessly rushing you down with no real effective way of dealing with it. Gotta cheese or just pray the AI just circles around you. Even countering leads to situations where you are vulnerable and open to enemy attacks. A fucking counter can you put you in a predicament. Sorry for the long rant I’ve just been a huge fan of this series. NG black was perfect. NG2 sigma was nice but has some rough spots but still fun. NG3 I just don’t know anymore.
Wow this is almost how I felt after playing for 3 days. Combos are weak. The annoying thing about combat in this fuckin game is being spammed by rockets while trying to take on like 10 small grunts. Blocking is not effective and getting grabbed hearing “I’m taking you with me” is usually how the fight ends. It feels like a fever dream almost honestly very stiff and weird.
@@eclipsed7719 man wait till you play the higher difficulties , it’s beatable but it’s stupid. I never felt I really accomplished beating the game. I just cheesed my way with gimmicks rather than actual skill. Some skill is there is rewards but there are times where it doesn’t matter how skilled you are, the combat negates it and just comes at you full force with not much to do other than resort to cheesy gimmicks.
@@jeanyoung2247 I remember beating this game when I was younger on 360 it felt pretty fun but looking back I’m like wtf during my play through. I could suck at the game but I find during combat I’ll fight one or two people at once and get spammed by rockets the entire fight with like half health. I’m at the earlier part of the game after you arrive in the desert. I don’t like not being able to see. I wish I could control the camera more. The first time I ever played NG was on DS
In addition to Ninpo, Steel on Bone combos can also heal you. And of course, saving the game. It's only disappointing is that you need to wait for a black falcon instead of a Save Altar.
10:11 Wait, I thought his sacrifice was to undo the Grip of Murder he cast on Ryu in the first place? That he needed to be dying to undo the spell in the first place, and that everything else was just some lame excuse to get Ryu to stab him? Like, the curse only worked in the first place because Ryu stabbed him in Day 1? Even then, that's extremely convoluted and extraneous...
I must've misinterpreted that part of the story, yeah. It actually didn't dawn on me that the Regent/Theodore needs to be impaled with a sword to undo the curse. But then that begs the question why, lol. Ryu isn't even using the Dragon Sword when he kills Theodore. He also didn't die when he got impaled in Chapter 1.
Man... I absolutely love every NG game (excluding 3 vanilla and some aspects of 2 Sigma). So, seeing these reviews is really endearing to me. Most of what is said in your reviews pretty much reflects my thoughts almost exactly as well, so well done. Otherwise, the only little gripe I have (not very important lol) is that you probably didn't get why Theodore pushed so hard onto why he wanted to fight Ryu in the last segment. Get Ryu to kill him to restore him from the GoM. That's about it. Nothing substantial whatsoever lmao. P.S. the only reason I got into Ninja Gaiden is because of love Ryu Hayabusa as a character (first knew about him from the DOA franchise and he just stuck with me when I was a kid)
With the realese of the Master Collection and the Nioh 2 easter egg where you fight Ryu and get the Inazuna Drop, Team Ninja might just be testing the waters to see if people would be receptive to a Ninja Gaiden 4
I remember not being impressed with Razor's Edge on Wii U, but I'm loving it on PS4 now. It was made for OLED with its punchy contrast and blood spray and 60fps really makes it excellent to play.
To me, Razor's Edge is the best of the whole series. I have played all of them and there's something about Razor's Edge that just clicks with me, the game focuses on combat and that's literally all I want from these games, I don't really give a shit about the other stuff.
I just beat Razors Edge on normal for my first time last night and I liked it. The game was difficult but it always kept me coming back. I've played through all the nes trilogy and all the 3d games and i thought RE wasn't bad except for the final boss fight. I didn't have the Lunar staff so it took me over an hour to finish off the final boss with just the Genshi sword
Beat Razors Edge 2 days ago. Reminded me a lot of RE6; fun combat mechanics marred by not letting me play the damned game. Got like halfway through the game before, out of curiosity on how to get level 3 weapons, I found out you need to get scarabs to unlock stuff. Missable scarabs in a game that always pushes you forward with setpieces or 'hold r3 to see where to go' messages. Can't replay stages until youy beat the game, so I had to beat the rest of the game with level 0-2 health. Its genuinely amazing such poor design choices are in the IMPROVED version of the game. Also not getting ranked on combos is fine. Not every 3D game needs to be DMC. NG is about short term uses of like 1% of a weapons moveset to systematically delimb then kill enemies, do izuna drop, etc and in 3 to use the meter from that to spend on a super move to heal if needed. Its methodical, not 'showing off'.
Also Ninja Gaiden // was notorious for how short boss battles (could be) , compared to DMC, GoW and other shashers at that time, so that red thingy sorta brought that back while retaining core base akin to more traditional boss battles. Unfortunately I didn't even know you could do something with that red glow.
Man your reviews are so fun, NG is a great series but ever since NIOH was released, NG is just....obsolete sadly and aged kinda badly. Speaking of which, will you ever take a look at NIOH? incase you didn't know, NIOH 2 has an amazing NG cameo! (well, I mean, the game's mechanics and weapons are loosely based off of NG lol)
What? How does a game ina completely different genre retroactively date a game ina separate genre. Nioh does not date ninja gaiden nor does it replace it
"Killer move" is not random. It's activate like a counter-attack when enemy trying make a throw. It's work for people, and for monsters, but instead rip and tear everyone you cut their arms if use strong attack while enemies arm blink red. So, it's work like it should. You can trigger it in any moment, if wait any enemy throw attack.
Only on Razor's Edge work like that, on vanilla 3 it is completely random, and you can do pretty easily just pushing triangle without the enemy even pretend to attack you.
Mario, agree, i play in original 3 only once, and never again, but, i remember that it work same) but yes, maybe they fix this in RE, and my memory about orginal was batter, than the game is))
Excellent video. Thankfully I've kept my OG trilogy, because I found out the the MS collection didn't have online play for the Team Missions. I would've gotten. So I'm basically being patient with hopes of a NG4.
Yaiba is not thaaaat bad... I enjoyed it pretty much at a time. Thank you for covering all 3 of these games on your channel, it was a blast watching it
Hands down the best NG3/NG3RE review I've seen! Everything you said was spot on and you gave credit where it was due instead of exclusively being a hater like most other RUclipsrs who've reviewed them. W video
Early comment @ 2minutes in. The whole "Forced to execute a man that has surrendered" was the point where I clocked out. Loved Black and bought and enjoyed NG2 when it came out. NG3 demo dropped and I decided to check it out. Found no way to not execute the soldier so I turned it off and deleted the demo again. It tried too hard making edge where the game was always about good action. I should add that I did not enjoy the demo until that point either, but that was the final straw. Now I'm going to resume the video to learn more about the bullet I must've dodged.
Damn shame that all multiplayer stuff was taken out of the recent Master Collection Also I 100% agree about the soundtrack, mostly serviceable, but it was boring enough that I modded in tracks from Metal Gear Rising and DMC on the PC version
I played the demo for Ninja Gaiden 3 vanilla. What really turned me off was one of the boss encounters in the demo was just fighting 3 guys at once and they were all firing projectiles from off screen. So, on top of all the other stuff they did to try and pander to a new audience, it still had some of the really dumb encounters akin to some of the stuff in Ninja Gaiden 2. Part of me stills wants to try Razor's Edge, but man, I dunno.
It’s been a year since I got the master collection. I had to leave the game alone after beating one on very hard….I’m starting master ninja. It took me a few months to get past the first guy…..the relief
I only played the demo of NG3. I skipped the game and waited for NG3: Razor's Edge (completed it & came across as an average game). Interesting review/introspective Ninja Gaiden 3 video.
I never played vanilla 3 but I did play RE once through on normal difficulty and basically liked it. It did feel like a bunch of bandaids placed over a flawed initial game but to be honest I think they did a good job. I just sorta wish they had built on NG2 more, by taking the direction that game was going and exploring further, rather than just back porting all of NG2 to NG3 as a way to salvage the game. Maybe one day we'll get NG4. Team Ninja has demonstrated that they can make great games with Nioh and Stranger in Paradise, so hopefully they can do some good if they ever deign to return to this series
NG 2 for 360 really set the bar for me when playing a hack and slash. Chopping limbs off more easily really set the combat flow and allowed more fluid flawless combos which in return made playthroughs highly replayable. I just started sigma and I'm constantly annoyed by the low enemy presence and increased health they have. I never liked the dogs so them popping up in the 2nd for sigma really killed the experience and immersion. The bow not being charged was wack. My opinion, we grab the original Dev that they fired and fund him to pick up where NG 2 left off with the new unreal engine.
Why would there be a segment where the curse gives him powers when the entire premise is that the curse is killing him and sapping his strength? By the end of the game Ryu is literally running on fumes, if it wasn't for Genshin he would not make it to the final boss and if it wasn't for Theodore he would have died to the curse. Also the curse segments aren't just regular encounters in a different arena with a health drain. The enemy AI is different in the curse segments. The old bosses in TOVs don't just have the same AI patterns and move properties from the old games. Fighting them feels different on top of the different mechanics in the player characters as well. They are not entirely new bosses but for extra content they are more than good. RE has the best implementation of TOVs in the series minus the rewards. Also play above normal mode and you will miss the karma. NG did not bother with combo wank meters because that is not the main focus of the gameplay and literally every single combo ranking system ever implemented in video game fails at what it's meant to do. The combos are there, if you want to look cool just go and look cool, no one is stopping you but your own limitations. Also the number of hits without taking damage and certain techniques both count for your karma so saying the game does not reward you for combos is not true. RE's weapons play differently from how they do in the second game. You did not feel "been there done that". If you did then you never learned the moveset in either game. I never heard this complaint in DMC despite the novelty of the mainstay weapons in the series being less than any NG, including from S2 to RE. Not as much weapons is a valid complaint. Complaining about the ones that are there is grasping at straws for shit to complain about. Meditating SOB bating is an AI exploit, just like any other AI exploit in any game. If you use it you are not playing the game you are just cheating the game. Your idea for improving SOB literally already exists in the game If you SOB an enemy and chain to one of the big ones it will stop the chain. Not all big enemies can be SOBed and the ones that do have the health, damage, properties and numbers to be dangerous enough as it is. The final boss in RE is infamous for filtering people who played a game without understanding a lot of the basic concepts of it. Man, if only RE had weapons designed around fast Ki build up. If only NG was about learning enemy movesets and how to counter them. No, let's just mindlessly mash strings with the dragon sword in the middle of the arena and bitch on Reddit. There's even a safe place to fight enemies in that arena, FYI. "I suck at the game and boss kill me so it bad!" LEH MAH FUCKIN OH Bosses in RE should have at least twice the health they do now in story mode UN. That's how fast you can kill them if you have even a remote idea of how to play. In realm of dog shit NG opinions and reviews on youtube this video stands out as decent but you still said a couple of things that were uninformed, ignorant or questionable. If you are gonna produce an hour long video analyzing something on youtube i have to hold you to higher standards than a Reddit post. If you want to wear the expert nerd glasses then you need the credentials to back it up. I skipped your story segment so God knows what's in there. Also you fucked up by playing the WiiU version of the game.
I appreciate your points and feedback. Don't agree with all of it: I ended up using the Lunar Staff on the final boss and still found it awful; the weapons feel similar to NG2's when NG2 innovated a lot more with the weapons compared to NG1; etc. But it's an insightful comment at the very least. Though if you have grievances with somebody's video, it might help to change your tone if you want to have a genuine conversation. You come across needlessly antagonistic and unfriendly, in response to another commenter, as well.
@@RetropolisZone I am antagonistic and unfriendly, but rest assured that it's not needlessly. That comment i replied to is something i have read a thousand times before in the exact same words despite the fact it was never true and no one with experience would think it true. The level of misinformation being copy pasted regarding this series on the internet is something i have never seen before and it wears on my patience. I am not interested in holding conversations with a parrot, i am only interested in putting an end to all the racket. In regards to your video, yeah, i am being an asshole for sure, but like i said i hold anyone who makes these videos to a higher standard than a random post on a forum. In the age where everyone wants to be part of the conversation even if they have nothing to say, things like this is where they get their bird brain tidbits from. In NG's case it's way down the hill by this point but this would be where the snowball would start. So if i see a video with questionable information i am gonna call it out. Also i never really feel obliged to handle video game arguments with oven mitts.
If it makes you feel better your video is a thousand times better than that GamingBrit clown. I am a negative person so i always focus on the negatives.
14:20 Play Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword on Nintendo DS, you get way more insight of the Hayabusa village and Ryu interacting with them, it's an inbetween ng1 and ng2
I have yet to play base NG3, but I did play and beat Razors Edge when I got the Master Collection in my senior year and hated it so damn much. I actually can't think of a game that gave me more headaches than Razors Edge, and I think that I made a good decision writing about how painfully awful this series got for my final essay in my ELA class. The combat is a very unfortunate case of "1 step forward, and 2 steps back" yet again. The game uses dismemberment again, which is really not a good system, but apparently it's batter than base NG3 which didn't have it, yet had absurdly high enemy health to put emphasis on dismemberment, which really kills the pace and enjoyment. Not helping are some enemies almost ALWAYS perfectly blocking or dodging attacks, whereas you are getting bombarded with attacks that will eventually hit you because you are human. The bosses are also terrible as they are either bullshit to where you can hardly dodge their attacks, and some even require you to just spam the bow, which requires ki when used mid-air. The worst part is the essence system getting gutted for no good fucking reason. Because of it, healing is uncommon as hell, only done through ninpo now, which takes FOREVER to build up. Fuck this game, I'm never playing it by choice again.
I wished there's a completely 100% honest review of this garbage game. When you're fighting multiple enemies in Ninja trials which include a Boss and bunch of spawns creatures, you will know what i mean. It's either the camera itself kill you or the lock-on function keep messing up your directional input because it just lock-on to random enemies however it likes and end up killing you while you slide or jump to wrong direction due to their poor programming). This piece of crap didn't get tested at all when it was released.
NG3 is indeed disaster, the broken flying swallow and no off limb lol. Although the plot is a innate problem, NG3RE's gameplay is totally FINE. Some elements added actually makes the game become more rapid and speedy than NG1 & 2, for example the charge/hold cancel. And I also like how they increase the HP ,armor and attack speed of the enemies.
Yeah, Ninja Gaiden 3 is weird in that it expects the player to not only know about Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 but also have knowledge of all the crap that happened in DOA before, all the new stuff that was put in to ease the retcons with DOA Dimensions right before the release of DOA 5, know about Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword and on top of that, have meta-knowledge of Ninja Gaiden 1 NES, Ninja Gaiden OVA and Ninja Gaiden 2 NES which was quite a lot for those who only playe NG1 and 2. Oh and as for the regent, it's basically how I felt with Alexei in NG2 Sigma. Fuck that grab gimmick.
Unfortunately this karma system is just as bad as the essence system if not worse at least how you feel about the old essence system. Instead of insentivizing UTs and OTs you are insentivized to do steel on bone techniques. So you just bait an enemy to to his red grab move dodge and then heavy attack rinse and repeat. You my ask why its this way. Simple really. SoB gives more karma, increases bloody rage at double the rate, gives you health, increases ninpo gained, and just removes multiple enemies off the screen. So ya i think this system is even worse then the old essence system
In theory I prefer what RE was going for since I think the UT essence system was just too powerful it just needed to be handled better. Means you have to actually utilize ryus extensive toolkit instead of using a handful of moves into UT chaining In black it’s like yeah I could use all these cool mechanics or I could just use this strategy that works consistently on master ninja
i agree. could have wrote a better story. for one i would have started with no ryu body count but him turning into a fiend. in the first game it was done and ryu turned blue but he has a demonic costume in game that they could have use to suggest ryu has a fear of becoming a fiend which he seen so many other people become. the entire game could have been a chess match where this order of the mask wants ryu to become the new demon god or fiend lore as by his right for killing the last fiend boss. the dark dragon sword was used to turn people into fiends and use the dark atmosphere created by that chaos to infect and spread even more, in part two they wanted to resurrect the old hierarchy but this game could have been to establish a new era using the bloodlines of the old fiends which is said to be in everyone. they could have introduced more clans like the black spider clan that are trying to become fiends. the mask one could just be a guy willing to watch the world burn and believe that humanity has not become strong enough to act the way its acting so he is resurrecting the fiends as this... imperfect balance. so turn ryu into a fiend, have the game come to terms of this, introduce old characters to help world build these old clans which ryu has to target not to hunt for the mask guy (or even bring them to one location). the chess part could be that the bodies ryu slaughter to get to the mask guy was to hasten his change, every boss he killed to get stronger was slowly making him a fiend to the point even the shrine maiden and the true dragon sword could not help him. they can even do a moment he tries to die from the true dragon blade in a suicide attempt but the sword ended up purifying him and he connects to the dragon with in the sword.
I really didn't need you to tell me all of the story details. gimme a spoiler alert! great review and analysis, tho. I'm picking it up based on your intel.
My way of beating the final boss on RE was putting it on hero difficulty. I haven’t even attempted to play RE’s harder difficulty because even on normal the enemies were kicking my ass
My comment will only be in reference to RE. NG3 was an interesting yet profoundly flawed game seeking to tackle dominant strategies from previous games. RE's weapons were not simply ported. Not only were the movelists revamped, but the properties of the moves themselves were modified, integrating auto-SoB and auto-OT, alongside granting built-in SoB/OT to certain attacks as a balancing act. A feeling of "been there, done that" could only come from not fully utilizing the systems offered by RE, as it fundamentally changes the flow of combat despite reusing many elements from NGII. I would not refer to SoB's window as "brief". Quite the contrary, as the window is so large that it can even cause issues when registering moves not meant as SoB when in close proximity to foes who lost a limb. I do not understand the hypothetical criticism against SoB, the mechanic is as much "out of the player's hand" as any other counter-hit mechanic. I cannot recall anyone presenting such argument outside of the hypothetical you spoke of. However, SoB is quite abusable given the absurd window of activity, the commonality of lower foes (which are designed to make use of Dangerous Attacks with considerably higher frequency than higher enemies), its chaining property and the important health and magic refill it provides. Suffice it to say: the Scythe's SoB breaks the majority of the game. Your hypothetical regarding SoB on larger foes is remarkably dangerous; not only does it force Team Ninja into extremely tight combat scenarios by presenting the lowest foe as a fundamental and integral part of combat against large foes, but it simplifies the combat excessively. I must repeat myself: lower foes are susceptible to SoB on a completely different scale than any other level of demon/soldier. You spoke of the Meditation trick, but this is highly inefficient and pales in comparison to waiting in from on low level enemies for the inevitable Dangerous Attack. Your proposal to turn higher demons/soldiers invincible against the first strike of SoB is already a reality in RE with the most hated enemies in the game: Alchemists and Vangelfs. Particularly, Alchemists are only susceptible to SoB when losing a limb (an extremely rare occurrence) and Vangelfs are fully invulnerable to the mechanic. While Alchemist were improperly balanced because Team Ninja did not foresee their crippling weakness to simple UT charging after single strikes (["heavy attack" > level 1 UT]) alongside the innate invulnerability of UTs and "Hold heavies" towards grabs and never managed to patch this gaping hole in their behaviour, the combat scenario they present is not only not interesting, but a detriment to everything RE stands for. They are highly evasive, damn near invincible while also disregarding virtually all of Ryu's moveset, forcing a complete reduction of the player's approach into simple hit and run tactics; we can only be thankful about Team Ninja's failure to see the [heavy > UT] trick. The case of Vangels is even worse, as their healthpools all but require level three weapons with a high combo account button string specifically designed to single-target the creatures in order to force delimbs on them. There is a reason why every single player on Ultimate Ninja difficulty systematically uses the Dragon Sword's "Light > light > light > heavy > heavy > heavy" over, quite literally, any other sequence Ryu offers because this is the only decently effective weapon against an enemy following your proposal of invulnerability to the first strike of SoBs. I'll give you a real, in-game case for you to test as an example of why your proposals break RE: attempt to finish the first Test of Valor, on a new game, on campaign mode, with any weapon you wish, on Ultimate Ninja difficulty. I can guarantee you that, not only will you not actually be able to do it, but that you will only ever reach Doku by abusing the Scythe (which will, in turn, force you into farming SoB during the regular chapter, all but opening your eyes to how abusable SoB actually is, to actually be able to purchase and upgrade the Scythe to level 2). To this day, close to a decade after the game's release, I only know of the brilliant player known as "TazOne" (extremely easy to find on RUclips, his profile picture is Big Boss from Metal Gear) to have ever proven to beat the challenge I spoke of with actual footage. Even after finishing dozens of chapters without taking damage all across the 3D Ninja Gaiden games, I cannot even come close to beating that challenge unless I make use of the broken level 2 Scythe and the crux of the problem is the virtual invulnerability of the enemies used during the different waves. Please, do try out the challenge and see how problematic it is for higher demons/soldiers to simply disregard an entire mechanic (SoB). Bare in mind that the challenge I speak of does not even fully match the picture you hypothesize, as mid-level foes are still present during the encounter against Serpernt Chimeras and Vangelfs. "(Vangelfs)They make an appearance in the latter chapters", this is, finally, the crux of the issues with your proposals. Vangels are a constant threat in UN, specially during Tests of Valor, you cannot have possibly played the game for long enough to forget about the problems Vangels present. Ninja Gaiden, much like almost every other action game, does not truly begin until the last difficulty level has been unlocked; everything before that point is training mode and the damaging nature of Vangelfs and Alchemists (again, disregarding the broken ["heavy attack" > level 1 UT] which was not meant to be in the game to begin with) to the game's entire combat flow is entirely transparent on UN, even on MN. To end: you did not mention the implementation of snapping. I do not know if this was because you did not notice it or because you do not know what (attack) snapping is, but this single-handedly cripples the integrity of your whole critique by omitting the crucial and fundamental change in spacing control require to play and understand Ninja Gaiden. While Ninja Gaiden 04/Black/Sigma/2/Sigma 2 required knowledge of every move's range (only a handful of attacks made use of some form of dynamic range), NG3 and RE added the problematic property of auto-snapping to almost every single move Ryu performs in the game; not all, mind you, but a vast majority. This snapping is specially obvious during SoB-baiting, where Ryu's literal *snapping* to the target is blatantly obvious, even forcing him to skate half-way through the map to strike the target. This property only existed in NGII for OTs and with noticeably reduced range correction than in RE. The consequences of the addition of snapping to NG (or any other action game) is a massive reduction of the skill ceiling by means of removing both control and agency from the players hand, as no longer does the burden of knowledge of the game's ranges (understanding of spacing) fall onto the player's hand, but onto the automatized snapping implemented into the game. This feature was, sadly, only added as a crutch for the lower-level players and cannot be disable in any way, shape or form. The result of this mechanic is transparent: the average Ninja Gaiden Black/II player showcases a far deeper understanding and control of movement than the average NG3RE player. The difference in movement and spacing of a Black speedrunner/karma runner/challenge runner and an RE equivalent are almost pathetic to see.
When master collection dropped last year i prefered razor’s edge on both sigma and sigma 2 I dunno, but the combat felt way more satisfying and bloody for me than those inferior ports of the awesome NG black and NG2 Dont get me wrong i played NG3 back when it came it was a horrible experience filled with stupid choices But razor edge rectified everything with it to some extent
The direction the story should've taken is with Muramasa and how his actual historical legend is evil. I think developers wanted to rebrand Ryu as the ultimate hero. Maybe they were trying to move away from an image of his character that was portrayed in a Dead or Alive cut scene in which he belted (or assaulted) Kasumi with a backhand. I don't play D.O.A but I was shocked after seeing it for the first time too. However, writing him into a soft post "woke" culture overnight didn't seem feasible.
Honestly the story would be kinda hilarious and somewhat cool if Ryu just kept his stone-faced, 0 fucks given, "Just another day on the job" attitude. "Are you a hero or a murdere-" "I'm a ninja." "But you've killed so ma-" "Yes. I'm a ninja." "Don't you feel ba-" "No." "But what about that little gir-" "I don't really care." "But we have tragic backstories and good reas-" "I don't care." If you want to have make Ruy a "dark hero", wouldn't it be more reasonable and fitting to show how single-minded he can be when on a mission? For crying out loud, his theme, one that was put into Warriors Orochi is called "Unbreakable Determination"! Or how his concepts of honor and justice can really clash with someone who is more concerned with saving people rather than disemboweling the bad guy? It could be freely played for drama or for comedy. They could also use that and explore the differences (or more improtantly the lack thereof) between the demonic villians of previous games and this apparent new breed of self-righteous humans committing atrocities for the "greater good".
Just finished RE. I do like that the gameplay incentives you to play agressive but the not inclusion of healing items should have been optional. Bosses have so much goddamn hp on this game and they spam grabs that kill you in two hits and punish you for playing agressive. Like what the hell. I wanted to like this game, it's so frantic and so fast and just fun. And I was finally getting the hang of its mechanics but that final boss left me with a horrible taste in my mouth. Was going to replay it on hard after finishing on normal but fuck that, not going through that stupid fight again. I'll give it a try to the other modes yeah.
I’ve heard this by other people too and wanted to comment on it.When the murder grip thing on ryus arm acts up it shouldn’t power u up to “tap into the dark forces” it should power u down cuz it’s supposed to kill u.
personally i disagree with what u said about mizuki, she is the absolute worst. all the reasons u said as positives are exactly the reasons i would state as negatives. NG women need to be sexy, lightly dressed and badass... mizuki is none of those, she doesnt stand a chance against a rachel... i also disagree on UT being spammable in the earlier titles, the whole idea of the games is doing UTs... like, thats the whole point haha. also, u get penalized for using potions in the NGB mission mode, and the ranking system of NG is incredibly deep and well thought out, i think u have not fully understood how the ranking/karma system works. granted in NG II its messed up due to not having timers for the fights, but in NGB it is close to perfection. also high combo counters have always been rewarded in previous titles with essence multipliers, the higher the combo, the more essence u get, combined with a UT it even stacks, but if u want colored orbs, u have to stay below 20 hit combos and kill the enemy without a UT or OT. the combo system is awesome in the earlier titles. furthermore, it is the absolute worst that NG+ is being kinda forced on u, there should be a way to start a completely fresh game on a higher difficulty, always starting with all options unlocked is kinda cheating and not in the spirit of NG difficulty. an option would have been nice. also ninpo slots and potions are far superior to the ki system. there is much more planning, strategy and management involved in consumable items, especially when u take the dynamic chest system from NG II into account that rewarded you for not using them. overall i enjoyed the review a lot! good shit!
Yeah man and what you said about Ryu's third female companion Mizuki, I agree she is definitely the worst and the boring female character, because she constantly says Hayabusa every single sentence even in the gameplay which is so annoying, she incompetent as hell like she can't baby sit her biological niece, she lacks attractiveness unlike other female characters, she lacks charm and also uncharismatic as hell, and almost never appear in gameplay helping you out, her betrayal is so pointless like it makes no sense, and she's generic as hell like she doesn't appear in dead or alive games as guest characters, like what the hell was the whole point of her character like she comes nowhere as close of being a badass and attractive and sexy female characters like Ayane, Rachel, Momiji, Kasumi, and even Sonia. To be honest bro if Ryu said "Let me tell you something, I don't need any partners like you and it is not safe for you and your daughter to be around me. You need to go now. Sayonara." And then he uses a smoke bomb and leaves, then the story would be better without her.
Fun fact with razors edge that I found. Using the lunar staff fills your ki bar faster than sharp slashing weapons. Especially if your able to get sob since the lunar staff needs to hit the enemies more to kill them and some of the sob moves will hit the opponents multiple times.
Thanx for the awesome guide to get all the crystal skulls and all the other reviews of Ninja gaiden games you've done.And I've subscribed to your channel if im getting stuck again.
The final boss was horrible, there was just way too much on screen that I needed to come to youtube to find a strategy to get past the first state. I never felt the need to do this in ninja gaiden 1 & 2 and because bosses were well designed but RE had a little too much bs. Still a good game though but give it a 6.5/10.
This is an older video but I guess one thing we could say for ryu and cana’s relationship building is it does kind of make sense for Ryu to be nice and friendly towards kids especially if you played ninja gaiden dragon sword on the DS as there’s an entire chapter where he saves and even jokes with the children of the hayabusa clan and his bond with Sanji who is almost like a son to Ryu whom he is training to be a ninja and having a close bond with Sakura another orphaned girl who seems to be interested in becoming a shrine maiden and wanting to pick flowers with Ryu and Momiji for kureha’s grave. So Ryu does like and enjoy children but the only problem was how quickly he bonded with cana. But him giving her a shuriken and being indifferent/kind isn’t out of character for him. One huge line he says to sanji is his core value “have a heart, but do not feel” being compassionate but not allowing your feelings to drive you.
I was waiting for this more than for the smash reveal of yesterday. I've been watching this channel for 4-5 years and it holds emotional value to me (sad it may sound) because I really love your style since then and your point of view influenced how I see games. To know you were reviewing the other series besides Sonic (I associate you to Sonic that's why I watched all your videos and that's why I didn't expect you covering this), Pokémon and Kingdom Hearts that I felt I had a deep connection to (But this is much more niche. Played vanilla 2 very young sadly) made me anticipate every video days before they come out. Again I know it's sad but you've increased my appreciation for this medium overall and have influenced me, seeing you do NG feels like the best crossover to me. You don't seem to do many hot takes or challenging opinions to the viewer but you're sharp and dedicated to butchering the games, I don't know why but it makes me a bit emotional. It's okay if you want to quit youtube, I don't want to pressure you or anything. Thank you gaming brit show
![ARGENTINA vs. CHILE [3-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 7](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/De3AWmXzhuA/mqdefault.jpg)
Calling Ryu a murderer is like looking at water and saying.....
"Hmmm, wet"
And when you say Wet, another awesome katana wielding game hero comes to mind...
Ryu is NOT a murderer in the previous games, only in NinJOKE GAYden 3.
@siketjoseph9211 And when he says "wet", I think of Momiji and Ayane squirting in my mouth. Yum🤤
Water isn't actually wet, the word "wet" is used to describe an object or organism that is coated in a thin film of liquid
@@chrismorrison5301 and what exactly does that 'liquid' tend to be, Chris?
I do find it amusing that Team Ninja apparently wanted to break away from Itagaki's vision for the series with NG3, yet practically all the improvements of Razor's Edge are falling back on his style to save it.
And to be fair, Koei doesn't seem to be against the character, at least. He played a rather prominent role in the story of Warriors Orochi 3, working with the "mystics," basically a group of rogue gods attempting to undo the damage that had been done to time and space. Interesting to play as well, if a little awkward at first, coming from the fact he was the only ninja character to be classed as a "Power" type, while all the other ninjas were either speed or technique types.
And even with the reduced roster of guest characters (aka characters from outside the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors series) in Warriors Orochi 4, he did manage a return in the Ultimate expansion. So Koei at least still recognizes the character's popularity, it's more a question of can Team Ninja pull it off in the future, or will we just get another NG3?
You know you get to fight a hyabusa clan member in each Nioh game right?
@@joesheridan9451 They have to be toying with us.
They should give the series another installment, Team Ninja has been doing pretty good these last few years
@@joesheridan9451Nioh has another DoA alumni in a DLC- Ancient Nyotengu who has the model and some moves of the DoA5:LR and DoA6 counterpart. The number of ragequits she caused in Nioh though xD
@@claudijatzandrapova3347 Yeah I know. I'm one of the few who really like her fight mainly because her burst counters are so satisfying to hit cos the window is really tight
The problem with the game is that the story could not be fixed. Ryu doesn’t act like a Ninja would. Uncovering his face at all times. Caring that he killed a bad guy that happens to be a father… so… the Ninjas he killed before had no family to speak of? Saddling him with the guy daughter just to poke at him and his guilt? Nah. Story is what killed this game for me.
That thing about killing a father got me completely. I know it’s supposed to be development somehow? But he literally goes on killing after that like nothing anyway.
If we’re talking about real life ninjas, then he is acting EXACTLY like a real ninja. Real life ninja’s we’re terrorists with no real moral or ethical code of honor. Also real life ninjas didn’t use masks in their fights, it was only for assassinations so their identity wasn’t revealed, in normal fights, ninjas wore heavy armor similar to normal military soldiers at the time. Ninjas at the time are more similar to the cartel or the tailiban in current time.
@@Unchainedful yeah. Real life ninjas are caring towards the children of people they kill. Absolutely. They then go on and murder more people not caring if they have family. The first two games, he never removed the mask. Why is it that in this one he is so willing to?
I mean he has uncovered his face before in dead or alive games
@@TheSupersmash97 yes, but it’s not the only bad point going on. Limiting Ninpo usage. Limiting weapons, limiting movement, etc. Story was ruined the moment Ryu felt “guilt”. I mean, he killed ONE soldier that signed up to a TERRORIST group. What? That guy didn’t expect to be killed? Did he refuse to harm others? Please. Then, how about the other people Ryu went on to kill? No remorse since they did not surrender?
Feels criminal how little views your NG reviews got, I feel they're some of the best reviews you got on the channel.
Thank you! Unfortunately, views on RUclips has little to do with quality, and a lot more with popularity/relevancy. But I couldn't stand doing RUclips if all I did was talk about the hottest games.
@@RetropolisZone I can't WAIT for you to tackle Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z!
@@RetropolisZone I know at the end of the review, you talked about how Yaiba was considered bad. A lot of that more so comes from word of mouth from people and the funny thing is a lot of people haven't even actually seen the game or played it proper to give it a proper chance. I'd say at the very least look up the game and decide from there, unless you've already done that in which case you can disregard this comment.
@@kingslayerkoshy He WILL review Yaiba! He cannot escape his destiny! Like Ryu in NG3, he is either a cold blooded reviewer or a hero! Either way he is forced to review Yaiba.
@@RetropolisZone yes indeed
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve always enjoyed seeing people play through NG1/2 and get horrendously confused once they get to 3. I can’t help but wonder what went on behind the scenes to cause Team Ninja to make such questionable design choices that they then had to release an entirely new version of game just to bandage some core issues that make the game a much better experience to play. That being said, it’s also nice to hear someone speak of some positives about the game, and I think you’ve done a fantastic job at giving credit where it is due.
Thank you for the retrospective on this trilogy, and let us all hope for a Ninja Gaiden 4.
I read many interviews with Yosuke Hayasi (Team Ninja director and Itagaki Protégé) they said the game was made specifically for the west because they saw that games popular (in the west) were focusing more on story and they just wanted to follow the trend to appeal as much players as possible, the objective was to bring NG to the mainstream, and they were insistant (they mentioned this in almost all the interviews) to "Take the concept of a japanese dark hero and show it globally". Hayashi also mentioned questioning if so much violence is morally justified, but that seemed to come second and they talked more about following the trends of deeper stories in games. Steel on bone was created not for gameplay reasons but to recreate the feeling of cutting someone as realistically and viscerally as possible. Later reflecting on Ninja Gaiden 3 Hayashi said "We tried to make a hamburger when what we do is sushi". This is hazy, but I recall they said they wanted it to feel like you were playing an action movie
@@femorllarina9395 And they failed miserably. They should've never made that decision
I find it funny how whenever JP developers try to “develop for the west” and develop for mainstream audiences, it usually turns out like shit.
Thankfully we won’t be expecting western influence in Ninja Gaiden 4 since Ubisoft made an ass of themselves on twitter following Elden Ring disproving their design philosophy
It's called appealing to the casual / mainstream audience and not the people actually buying your product.
It was great playing Ninja Trials with you, RZ. If only we had more people for the Clan Battles.
I play
it’s still active on xbox
I was never a fan of 3's story. The whole "we gotta appeal to the West" thing was stupid. Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2 were perfect. Another thing Ryu felt really....off in 3. He's supposed to be this stoic, mysterious yet honorable guy who doesn't really get involved with people and that's what I liked about it. He's there then he's gone. In 3 he just feels like a regular guy, personality wise. And he's so willing to show his face it was very out of character.
I miss the Japanese fantasy setting too. You used to fight monsters, demons, undead and other ninja clans. Each location was unique and invited you to explore. 3 you fight military dudes, ships and mechs and it feels forced.
It's also the fact that at the time games like Uncharted, gears, and any game with cinematic story telling was the flavor of the day along with the fact Japanese studios at the time were suffering because no one was buying there games. So it wasn't really surprising but even after all the bullshit we still got a decent game.
The art direction looked nowhere near as good as the first 2 either. They look timeless while 3 can look dated now
@@shinigami9851 uncharted 1 & 2 is so cinematic focus that its gameplay lacks extremely and also feels dated
@@shinigami9851 idc how good the story is or how shiny it is in a graphical settings if the gameplay is dog shit then the game itself suffers from it that's a huge flaw that uncharted 1 & 2 had until uncharted 3 and 4 finally improve on it. gears or war has always been the same game with a new skin slapped over it regarding gameplay terrible comparsions btw bcuz even those two games stories had flaws its not perfect as u trying to make it out to be in terms of storytelling as well and that's not true at all capcom is a japanese studio they're not suffering even with all of their poor decisions and their games are still best sellers
@@Oldschool1943 never said those games were perfect. And like I said Games like Uncharted and gears were the flavor of the day. Have gameplay take a backseat so you can tell a story in the form of a movie. Thank God that this type of game is slowly starting to faze out. And like I said the Xbox/PS3 era was HORRIBLE for Japanese game devs. The era of cinematic story telling just fucked over any other type of gameplay style because of the fact Western game devs were afraid of players not seeing the work they did. Thank God for games like Elden Ring to prove that wrong.
Edit:Capcom was the exception but even they fell victim to this at some point *Cough* re6 *Cough*.
Currently on Razor's Edge right now. Loved Sigma 1 and 2, and I'm glad I gave these games a chance thanks to your awesome reviews.
If you ever get the chance and never have played them, and if you have an Xbox One or Series S/X, play the Ninja Gaiden Black and the original 2, cool to see the differences in each version
Only thing I’m not a fan of in the sigma series is the change of music among other changes
@@freshprinz9829 Really? I personally love the new music
@@Pelayum I grew up playing the original 1 and 2 lol that maybe be why tho I also found sigma series to be a lot easier than the originals as well still great games I’m waiting for a 4th if it happened I enjoyed 3 a lot back 2012 when it came out
@@freshprinz9829 I grew up with Black too, visually and the soundtrack imo are improved on Sigma, at least in my opinion.
You're right on Sigma being easier though
We need Itagaki style back. Ryu portrayed as a total badass in combat and cutscenes.
Honestly I think I'm fine with him being more personable, but they really went way too far into that direction in 3 when you compare how he was in the first two games
If it was a character arc or something where he slowly becomes more sociable it'd work better
Thanks for not giving up on the NG reviews despite the low performance. Was scared you wouldn't do 3 because of that
I enjoyed the NG games and reviewing them too much not to do 3!
I remember getting this game for the WiiU, it was challenging no doubt but I legit had to silence the voices in the game since most of them just kept dropping F bombs and it was getting annoying real fast.
I was actually gonna mention all the repetitive enemy dialog, but I ended up cutting certain smaller and less important talking points to keep the video length in check as much as I could. But thank you for commenting and still watching after all these years!
@@RetropolisZone No problem, your attention to detail is still top notch.
Japanese dub helps in this regard.
Nine months late babyyyyyyyyy!
@@IchigoLazer Ehh, I'll take it.
If your family doesn’t speak Japanese you could turn on Japanese dub
And here I thought no one would be brave enough to make a full-on NG3 analysis and a proper comparison between og and RE, what a glorious day
GamingBrit did one a while ago. It was also an hour long video.
NG3RE is the best one to just pick up and play. Move set is expanded upon 2 and you get to fight all of the bosses from the series. Playing as best waifu Kasumi doesn’t hurt either. Only thing that is a let down is the absence of Tonfa and Vigorian flail.
I found myself finally mastering the counter attack on razors edge 🤣 to think I was younger playing NG 2 without knowing the counter attack and now in sigma I'm like ok now I have to use it to retain some of that original feel of combat.
The move set isn’t expanded from 2, it’s actually worse than 2 and is delayed af
@@Jason-ip6wq yeah after playing 2 more, I realized the moveset is somewhat simplified
@@Jason-ip6wq removed the fluff, a large portion of the moves in 2 are useless or too broken
I loved Ayane though her story our friend missed out it seems. Can also play the entire NG3RE as her, the others have the special mode only. Ayane also had a story in NG2, expanded on for its Sigma release
Good to see that you made it through this series without being assassinated by the Koei Tecmo ninjas.
You have no idea about the security I had to hire to pull that off.
Really need to get the Master Collection at some point because thanks to you, I'm interested in playing the series and getting a taste of what Team Ninja has to offer that isn't Other M.
That said, NG3's attempts at trying to examine Ryu's morality and actions really does come across as tone deaf in a manner similar to DmC and its supposedly Shakespearian plot, and it feels like they didn't take any cues from Jak X, which did actually make a decent attempt to examine Jak's more morally questionable actions as a hero, and I like how Jak handles it at the end when the big bad tries to taunt him about it one last time.
Just to let you know. The master collection is a weird combination of the games. So sigma 1 in the master collection is a combination of sigma + and Sigma in the ps3. I can't remember if sigma 2 is a combination but yea. Also get it on ps4, don't get it on steam the steam port is booty ngl lol
Gamepass
If you have an Xbox you better get Black and 2 which were already upgraded for free, master collection has the sigma versions which in many ways are straight downgrades.
@@jorgeloredo100 I played off Gamepass and loved it (Xbox one X) Number 2 though
@@jorgeloredo100 Wait a minute, so if I'm buying the Master Collection for my PS4 Pro, I'll be basically getting the inferior version???
For the third game Tomonobu Itagaki, who directed the first two games left Team ninja, thats the main reason why the game looks and feels soo different. When the first versión of NG3 was launched, I was really upset since I felt they murdered the franchise... Ironic.
I do feel that the combos in NG3 RE are more intuitive than before. At least for the Dragon Sword, heavy attack enders appear at the end of every light attack string right from the start as opposed to having them be unlocked first. The weapon upgrades also do a better job at reinforcing the idea that the new combos that you unlock are just objectively better, like how all adding additional heavy attack inputs to all heavy attack enders. Once fully upgraded, there's not much point in using the standard charge heavy enders as they are riskier to perform and don't do as much damage. I found out that a weapon's basic heavy combo is much better at damaging bosses than a normal light attack string.
PS: you also forgot to mention that you couldn't manually charge UTs in vanilla 3. Also, Steel on Bone can be used to heal yourself in combat.
A trick you can do with the bow is clicking the right stick to go into free aim mode. While time is slowed down, you can fire at specific enemy weakpoints to instantly take them out, like shooting at the driver for the bikes or the jetpacks for fliers.
I remember when this game was due to come out and some dev interviews were being released, one of them said something like "The player will enjoy the sensation of cutting flesh very much" and we were all like WTF??
Thank you for this review man. I’m a huge ninja gaiden fan since day one. And it fills me with joy hearing other ppl reviewing the games Bcz they like it or remember them. And yea let’s hope Ryu comes back, he deserves it!!!
I know this video is a bit old now but I would like to say that I appreciate the fact that you actually showcased the many differences between the badly structured vanilla version of the NG3 and the improved Razor’s edge version despite a few flaws of it’s own.
Also I’m a bit surprised you didn’t mention much of the skins/costume options for the games especially since the vanilla version didn’t have that option at all while Razor’s edge gave that feature back while adding a couple of new skins for Ryu that he previously did not have in the last 2 installments of the franchise.
Also I like that Razor’s edge offered a variety of gameplay modes that you can play solo/offline aside from story mode such as Chapter challenge (being improved from NG2) and ninja trials being a cool way to fight against all the previous bosses and enemies from past games being mixed in with new enemies and bosses alongside new and old stages/maps with my only complaint on not much balance in terms of the difficulties since it often leads players being forced to spam the dreaded infamous scythe move circle 360 move that briefly makes you invulnerable while doing good damage.
Overall I like the trilogy all equally now thanks to razor's edge while before I hated vanilla NG3 on how it was missing too many features and I’m glad that the master collection version includes everything for Razor’s edge since before the two new skins for ryu were locked behind a dlc pack and the other being a reward for having a save file from the vanilla version of NG3 to which now are just available right from the start in the master collection version.
Watched all your trilogy NG reviews, completely helped me to realize what's good and bad about the franchise, and appreciate how amazing and thrilling it is at the end of the day (despite some bs) Ninja Gaiden is incredibly good c: thx for your videos!
I was procrastinating finishing Sigma 1 on the Master Collection and started 3RE because I wanted to play as Kasumi. I heard 3 was shitty and easier so I set it to hard for the first playthrough to have some semblance of a challenge. I had a fucking blast of a time.
I wasn’t aware of RE and just heard that NG3 was shit so I was going to ignore it before learning Kasumi was playable. I ended up grinding out two consecutive playthroughs and am working towards the platinum.
The collection is my first experience with NG and I think I narrowly prefer 3RE to what I’ve played of Sigma 1 so far. I still haven’t beaten Sigma, and I imagine Black and original NG2 would dethrone it, but as it stands, I’ve found the combat in 3RE to be so visceral and satisfying.
I think that's why Razor's Edge is ultimately still a good game. The combat is basically NG2's again, so while the game is a bit disappointing in other regards, it's hard to go wrong playing it. The fact several new players to NG I've talked to and read from can enjoy Razor's Edge really proves that point to me
If you dont like sigma you won't like black and if you dont like Sigma you wont like 2004 cuz alot of sigmas balance is more in line with 2004 than black
*Nice Review, but you missed on Reviewing One of The Most Annoying enemies in the game who are called "The Alchemist". The Alchemist gave me a lot of trouble in Ninja Gaiden Razor's Edge on Hard Difficulty.*
F*ck that guy in particular in both variants that are available to him
I completed ninja gaiden 3 razon Edge and I have to say it has some great combat ideas, but can't evade when doing a combo is a sin, because there are less fast combat Game with that mechanic.
Ninja gaiden 4 could be a great action game, team ninja has made two great combat mechanics such nioh and that prequel to final fantasy 1.
The talons can cancel mid combo
Is it normal that I find NG3RE to be... my favorite one? NG1 is great but a little dated, NG2 is too insane and NGS2 is too tame, but NG3RE feels just right. It also features 4 playable characters, all usable in the main campaign, and also features bosses and enemies from the previous games. It's the most packed NG game with content. Also, the multiplayer was mad fun, until it died.
I can see it, yeah. Honestly, the lack of sticky shurikens being tossed onto you in RE is probably a major reason why I didnt experience higher difficulties to be as overwhelming as in NG2. That shit basically forced you into abusing i-frame moves to not die.
Back when online dont need membership
Sigma 2 aint tame
@@realamericannegro977 sigma 2 is hella tame compared to og ng2
@@realamericannegro977 Sigma 2 is comparable to your average character action game on normal. Pretty difficult compared to most games but nothing crazy. NG04, Black, Sigma, Og2 and Razor's Edge are significantly more difficult than the average character action on normal. Forget Souls, these games are "Git Gud" incarnate.
Every game in the series demands skill and understanding on higher difficulties but Sigma 2 is a lot easier on new players. You can reliably button mash through normal, which I can't say about any other title.
Can't comment on vanilla 3's difficulty though, game is so trash I only finished it once and never touched it again. Razor's Edge though, the Regent as the boss of the first level with no healing items or health upgrades available is probably the most frustrating gatekeeper boss I've ever seen. Learn to play properly and do it well or you aren't beating the first level. I swear he's a lot more inconsistent in RE as I had no trouble with him in vanilla but find him in RE to have no pattern, inconsistent telegraphs on his grab and a tendency to spam it relentlessly. Razor's Edge demands you play damn good right out the gate, even Murai didn't go that hard.
Are you forgetting that ryu wants to settle down? The man literally starts a antique shop with his wife after the original game
I think the best addition to the history in NG3RE was the five second scene after you cut Theodore for the last time, he explains that this was the only way to remove the Grip of Murder from Ryu, and then ask him to save his daughter.
I seriously enjoyed NG3 Razors edge. I love all the upgradable skills and unlockable costumes. The combat feels a lot quicker and action paced than the others.
Huh? Quicker? NG2 already felt insanely fast, you're saying 3 is faster?
@Walamonga1313 3 gives you more chances to hone your skills, it isn't necessarily faster but it’s NG2 system done right, the enemies are mostly better (they don't spam) and you can't spam ultimate techniques so you will find yourself in need to learn each weapon individually and I'd say the combat system in razor's edge is the best so far
This came out in an era where they were trying to hard to make the characters "grounded". Like they let someone that hates cool stuff dictate the direction
I've waited for this day. I'm gonna skew the algorithm and watch this multiple times lol. You deserve more views for these NG videos my dude. Keep doing what you're doing. It's actual food for the soul here on RUclips.
On the note of SoBs, I didn't mind it being kind of broken on big enemies because the tankiness of the enemies in RE got pretty exhausting for me.
Thank you so much! It's always really nice to read supportive comments on videos that don't perform as well!
@@RetropolisZone i don't know why but it seems people don't like or even don't know NG games cuz in my opinion they surpasses 99% of the games nowadays only games like soulsbornekiro or the witcher 3 or breath of the wild that are also amazing
If recent history has taught me anything, it's that these HD remasters are testing the waters for a future sequel. If you want ninja gaiden 4, we all need to get the master collection. even though Sigma 1/2 are...meh. Great review as always, RZ. I'm glad you're back, my dude.
I’m loving the trilogy on Nintendo Switch! The first one is still the best. 2 and 3 are still fun though.
The original ng2s my fav but i love 1 to
Really liked your retrospective. NG Black and vanilla NG2 are two incredible games, and Razor's Edge a fun one.
The character of Ryu is undoubtedly cool, he should be up there with Dante, Kratos and Bayonetta. Hope we get a Ninja Gaiden that redeems the franchise in the line of DMC5.
I've only played the NES/SNES Trilogy, and after watching these reviews, I feel obligated to get the Master Collection!!
Can't wait to play NG1!!!
Dude Tecmo needs to released the nes and snes classics on EVERYTHING! Including the gameboy, game gear and a stretch the sega master system version.
Gjergj, you do know that emulators exist right?
ive never cared about the morality of Ryu, i mean hes a ninja assasin, theres now way to suggar coat it. I just love the stillnes of the character in the face of true evil, its a very unique type of badass
there's no such thing as the concept of 'morality'...
That's the first time I've heard of a company actually taking criticism and doing what they could for another release lolz Enjoyed the video and have a nice day everyone.
Kh2 final mix is another good analog for that, although vanilla KH2 wasn't a piece of garbage like NG3 was so there was less to fix
Then they went on to make my favourite action RPG ever, nioh. Thank you team ninja for expertly honing your craft
Man, this review is an absolute triumph, loved watching it. Easily the best Ninja Gaiden content on RUclips. You tackled the story perfectly, said all there is to say about the gameplay and nothing about the visuals and soundtrack because as you say, they're supremely forgettable. Loved watching this video, I'm glad I subscribed. This one is hard to rank for me, the enemies have way too much health and seemingly never end but on the lower difficulties I think it's one of the best pure gameplay experiences in the action genre and that means a whole lot me. The first game though, Black or Sigma still remains the absolute king, it's easily one of the best games of all time. Cheers!
Regarding the story it´s a shame that Team Ninja never used the background created for Ryu since Dead or alive 1, I mean few people know that he owns an Antique Curiosities shop and his hobbies are hiking and fishing, heck he even had another love interest named Aileen, they could´ve connected the two series to make him a more fleshed out character, but I guess it´s hard to come up with something interesting when your team is already struggling to make a game for a western audience in the first place
I really hate the combat of 3/RE, playing on high difficulties you start to really see how broken it is. The game punishes you for doing combos or trying to set certain situations up. There is no consistency in attacks nor how much damage you’re actually doing. Sometimes it takes 2 hits and other times it can take up 10 for a regular guy. Not sure where the timing is or what is the requirement for getting effective damage and quick executions other than the huge red mist that signals for a counter attack with heavy slice. At higher level challenges or difficulties you have to basically resort to game breaking strategies that are honestly broken and takes away from the combat experience , all these combos and only the moonlight scythe full circle spins with a handful of others moves that are not even consistent. Basically 5% of all the moves in the game are actually effective. The rest is just asking to be interrupted by a grunt/small enemy while trying to take down a beefier enemy who is relentlessly rushing you down with no real effective way of dealing with it. Gotta cheese or just pray the AI just circles around you. Even countering leads to situations where you are vulnerable and open to enemy attacks. A fucking counter can you put you in a predicament. Sorry for the long rant I’ve just been a huge fan of this series. NG black was perfect. NG2 sigma was nice but has some rough spots but still fun. NG3 I just don’t know anymore.
Wow this is almost how I felt after playing for 3 days. Combos are weak. The annoying thing about combat in this fuckin game is being spammed by rockets while trying to take on like 10 small grunts. Blocking is not effective and getting grabbed hearing “I’m taking you with me” is usually how the fight ends. It feels like a fever dream almost honestly very stiff and weird.
@@eclipsed7719 man wait till you play the higher difficulties , it’s beatable but it’s stupid. I never felt I really accomplished beating the game. I just cheesed my way with gimmicks rather than actual skill. Some skill is there is rewards but there are times where it doesn’t matter how skilled you are, the combat negates it and just comes at you full force with not much to do other than resort to cheesy gimmicks.
@@jeanyoung2247 I remember beating this game when I was younger on 360 it felt pretty fun but looking back I’m like wtf during my play through. I could suck at the game but I find during combat I’ll fight one or two people at once and get spammed by rockets the entire fight with like half health. I’m at the earlier part of the game after you arrive in the desert. I don’t like not being able to see. I wish I could control the camera more. The first time I ever played NG was on DS
That montage of Ryu you put at the end of the video was awesome
Thank you! I immediately got the idea for the montage when I first heard that theme.
Just a correction, Theodore died on purpose to remove the curse, he provoked ryu to kill him
That’s a true ninja gaiden fan yess😎😎
Lol
I think the lesson learned here is to never alienate your core fans to gain a wider audience.
Sadly, companies are incapable of learning that lesson.. instead just happily leaking money.
That makes no sense.. this why games end up failing because y’all want the same game every time
In addition to Ninpo, Steel on Bone combos can also heal you.
And of course, saving the game.
It's only disappointing is that you need to wait for a black falcon instead of a Save Altar.
10:11
Wait, I thought his sacrifice was to undo the Grip of Murder he cast on Ryu in the first place? That he needed to be dying to undo the spell in the first place, and that everything else was just some lame excuse to get Ryu to stab him? Like, the curse only worked in the first place because Ryu stabbed him in Day 1?
Even then, that's extremely convoluted and extraneous...
I must've misinterpreted that part of the story, yeah. It actually didn't dawn on me that the Regent/Theodore needs to be impaled with a sword to undo the curse. But then that begs the question why, lol. Ryu isn't even using the Dragon Sword when he kills Theodore. He also didn't die when he got impaled in Chapter 1.
@@RetropolisZone , yeah, I think the script writer at that point realized he wrote himself into a corner, and just went, “ah f*** it”. lol
Man... I absolutely love every NG game (excluding 3 vanilla and some aspects of 2 Sigma). So, seeing these reviews is really endearing to me. Most of what is said in your reviews pretty much reflects my thoughts almost exactly as well, so well done.
Otherwise, the only little gripe I have (not very important lol) is that you probably didn't get why Theodore pushed so hard onto why he wanted to fight Ryu in the last segment. Get Ryu to kill him to restore him from the GoM. That's about it. Nothing substantial whatsoever lmao.
P.S. the only reason I got into Ninja Gaiden is because of love Ryu Hayabusa as a character (first knew about him from the DOA franchise and he just stuck with me when I was a kid)
With the realese of the Master Collection and the Nioh 2 easter egg where you fight Ryu and get the Inazuna Drop, Team Ninja might just be testing the waters to see if people would be receptive to a Ninja Gaiden 4
Got on this channel because of NG videos. I think I may stick a little while longer since quality of these is INSANELY GOOD! Subscribed.
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
@@RetropolisZone no, sir, thank you for these videos, they really are high quality contet wich made me repaly all three NGs once again.
I remember not being impressed with Razor's Edge on Wii U, but I'm loving it on PS4 now. It was made for OLED with its punchy contrast and blood spray and 60fps really makes it excellent to play.
To me, Razor's Edge is the best of the whole series. I have played all of them and there's something about Razor's Edge that just clicks with me, the game focuses on combat and that's literally all I want from these games, I don't really give a shit about the other stuff.
I just beat Razors Edge on normal for my first time last night and I liked it. The game was difficult but it always kept me coming back. I've played through all the nes trilogy and all the 3d games and i thought RE wasn't bad except for the final boss fight. I didn't have the Lunar staff so it took me over an hour to finish off the final boss with just the Genshi sword
Beat Razors Edge 2 days ago. Reminded me a lot of RE6; fun combat mechanics marred by not letting me play the damned game. Got like halfway through the game before, out of curiosity on how to get level 3 weapons, I found out you need to get scarabs to unlock stuff. Missable scarabs in a game that always pushes you forward with setpieces or 'hold r3 to see where to go' messages. Can't replay stages until youy beat the game, so I had to beat the rest of the game with level 0-2 health.
Its genuinely amazing such poor design choices are in the IMPROVED version of the game.
Also not getting ranked on combos is fine. Not every 3D game needs to be DMC. NG is about short term uses of like 1% of a weapons moveset to systematically delimb then kill enemies, do izuna drop, etc and in 3 to use the meter from that to spend on a super move to heal if needed. Its methodical, not 'showing off'.
Also Ninja Gaiden // was notorious for how short boss battles (could be) , compared to DMC, GoW and other shashers at that time, so that red thingy sorta brought that back while retaining core base akin to more traditional boss battles.
Unfortunately I didn't even know you could do something with that red glow.
Great series, sums up all of the games beautifully, looking forward to whatever you would like to do next, whatever it is
Man your reviews are so fun, NG is a great series but ever since NIOH was released, NG is just....obsolete sadly and aged kinda badly.
Speaking of which, will you ever take a look at NIOH? incase you didn't know, NIOH 2 has an amazing NG cameo! (well, I mean, the game's mechanics and weapons are loosely based off of NG lol)
What? How does a game ina completely different genre retroactively date a game ina separate genre. Nioh does not date ninja gaiden nor does it replace it
"Killer move" is not random. It's activate like a counter-attack when enemy trying make a throw. It's work for people, and for monsters, but instead rip and tear everyone you cut their arms if use strong attack while enemies arm blink red. So, it's work like it should. You can trigger it in any moment, if wait any enemy throw attack.
Only on Razor's Edge work like that, on vanilla 3 it is completely random, and you can do pretty easily just pushing triangle without the enemy even pretend to attack you.
Mario, agree, i play in original 3 only once, and never again, but, i remember that it work same) but yes, maybe they fix this in RE, and my memory about orginal was batter, than the game is))
Excellent video. Thankfully I've kept my OG trilogy, because I found out the the MS collection didn't have online play for the Team Missions. I would've gotten. So I'm basically being patient with hopes of a NG4.
Yaiba is not thaaaat bad... I enjoyed it pretty much at a time.
Thank you for covering all 3 of these games on your channel, it was a blast watching it
Hands down the best NG3/NG3RE review I've seen! Everything you said was spot on and you gave credit where it was due instead of exclusively being a hater like most other RUclipsrs who've reviewed them. W video
Early comment @ 2minutes in. The whole "Forced to execute a man that has surrendered" was the point where I clocked out. Loved Black and bought and enjoyed NG2 when it came out. NG3 demo dropped and I decided to check it out. Found no way to not execute the soldier so I turned it off and deleted the demo again.
It tried too hard making edge where the game was always about good action.
I should add that I did not enjoy the demo until that point either, but that was the final straw.
Now I'm going to resume the video to learn more about the bullet I must've dodged.
Damn shame that all multiplayer stuff was taken out of the recent Master Collection
Also I 100% agree about the soundtrack, mostly serviceable, but it was boring enough that I modded in tracks from Metal Gear Rising and DMC on the PC version
I just can't handle how they went from NG1 to whatever this weird linear DMC Hack n Slash is.
Doesn't feel like Ninja Gaiden game to me anymore.
NG1 was the only one of its kind, even 2 isnt anything like it
I played the demo for Ninja Gaiden 3 vanilla. What really turned me off was one of the boss encounters in the demo was just fighting 3 guys at once and they were all firing projectiles from off screen. So, on top of all the other stuff they did to try and pander to a new audience, it still had some of the really dumb encounters akin to some of the stuff in Ninja Gaiden 2. Part of me stills wants to try Razor's Edge, but man, I dunno.
It’s been a year since I got the master collection. I had to leave the game alone after beating one on very hard….I’m starting master ninja. It took me a few months to get past the first guy…..the relief
I only played the demo of NG3. I skipped the game and waited for NG3: Razor's Edge (completed it & came across as an average game). Interesting review/introspective Ninja Gaiden 3 video.
I never played vanilla 3 but I did play RE once through on normal difficulty and basically liked it. It did feel like a bunch of bandaids placed over a flawed initial game but to be honest I think they did a good job. I just sorta wish they had built on NG2 more, by taking the direction that game was going and exploring further, rather than just back porting all of NG2 to NG3 as a way to salvage the game. Maybe one day we'll get NG4. Team Ninja has demonstrated that they can make great games with Nioh and Stranger in Paradise, so hopefully they can do some good if they ever deign to return to this series
NG 2 for 360 really set the bar for me when playing a hack and slash. Chopping limbs off more easily really set the combat flow and allowed more fluid flawless combos which in return made playthroughs highly replayable. I just started sigma and I'm constantly annoyed by the low enemy presence and increased health they have. I never liked the dogs so them popping up in the 2nd for sigma really killed the experience and immersion. The bow not being charged was wack. My opinion, we grab the original Dev that they fired and fund him to pick up where NG 2 left off with the new unreal engine.
the walk and talk sections were in vanilla to artificial increase the game length so a reviewer won't say the game only takes 4 hours ?
Why would there be a segment where the curse gives him powers when the entire premise is that the curse is killing him and sapping his strength? By the end of the game Ryu is literally running on fumes, if it wasn't for Genshin he would not make it to the final boss and if it wasn't for Theodore he would have died to the curse. Also the curse segments aren't just regular encounters in a different arena with a health drain. The enemy AI is different in the curse segments.
The old bosses in TOVs don't just have the same AI patterns and move properties from the old games. Fighting them feels different on top of the different mechanics in the player characters as well. They are not entirely new bosses but for extra content they are more than good. RE has the best implementation of TOVs in the series minus the rewards. Also play above normal mode and you will miss the karma.
NG did not bother with combo wank meters because that is not the main focus of the gameplay and literally every single combo ranking system ever implemented in video game fails at what it's meant to do. The combos are there, if you want to look cool just go and look cool, no one is stopping you but your own limitations. Also the number of hits without taking damage and certain techniques both count for your karma so saying the game does not reward you for combos is not true.
RE's weapons play differently from how they do in the second game. You did not feel "been there done that". If you did then you never learned the moveset in either game. I never heard this complaint in DMC despite the novelty of the mainstay weapons in the series being less than any NG, including from S2 to RE. Not as much weapons is a valid complaint. Complaining about the ones that are there is grasping at straws for shit to complain about.
Meditating SOB bating is an AI exploit, just like any other AI exploit in any game. If you use it you are not playing the game you are just cheating the game.
Your idea for improving SOB literally already exists in the game If you SOB an enemy and chain to one of the big ones it will stop the chain. Not all big enemies can be SOBed and the ones that do have the health, damage, properties and numbers to be dangerous enough as it is.
The final boss in RE is infamous for filtering people who played a game without understanding a lot of the basic concepts of it. Man, if only RE had weapons designed around fast Ki build up. If only NG was about learning enemy movesets and how to counter them. No, let's just mindlessly mash strings with the dragon sword in the middle of the arena and bitch on Reddit. There's even a safe place to fight enemies in that arena, FYI.
"I suck at the game and boss kill me so it bad!"
LEH MAH FUCKIN OH
Bosses in RE should have at least twice the health they do now in story mode UN. That's how fast you can kill them if you have even a remote idea of how to play.
In realm of dog shit NG opinions and reviews on youtube this video stands out as decent but you still said a couple of things that were uninformed, ignorant or questionable. If you are gonna produce an hour long video analyzing something on youtube i have to hold you to higher standards than a Reddit post. If you want to wear the expert nerd glasses then you need the credentials to back it up. I skipped your story segment so God knows what's in there. Also you fucked up by playing the WiiU version of the game.
I appreciate your points and feedback. Don't agree with all of it: I ended up using the Lunar Staff on the final boss and still found it awful; the weapons feel similar to NG2's when NG2 innovated a lot more with the weapons compared to NG1; etc. But it's an insightful comment at the very least. Though if you have grievances with somebody's video, it might help to change your tone if you want to have a genuine conversation. You come across needlessly antagonistic and unfriendly, in response to another commenter, as well.
@@RetropolisZone I am antagonistic and unfriendly, but rest assured that it's not needlessly. That comment i replied to is something i have read a thousand times before in the exact same words despite the fact it was never true and no one with experience would think it true. The level of misinformation being copy pasted regarding this series on the internet is something i have never seen before and it wears on my patience. I am not interested in holding conversations with a parrot, i am only interested in putting an end to all the racket.
In regards to your video, yeah, i am being an asshole for sure, but like i said i hold anyone who makes these videos to a higher standard than a random post on a forum. In the age where everyone wants to be part of the conversation even if they have nothing to say, things like this is where they get their bird brain tidbits from. In NG's case it's way down the hill by this point but this would be where the snowball would start. So if i see a video with questionable information i am gonna call it out. Also i never really feel obliged to handle video game arguments with oven mitts.
If it makes you feel better your video is a thousand times better than that GamingBrit clown. I am a negative person so i always focus on the negatives.
@@deathtoraiden2080 Well at least you admit that you're an unpleasant to talk to.
@@kingdomkey2262 I mean everyone is unpleasant under the right conditions, no?
Your channel is inevitably going to convert me to a Ninja Gaiden fanatic.
14:20
Play Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword on Nintendo DS, you get way more insight of the Hayabusa village and Ryu interacting with them, it's an inbetween ng1 and ng2
I have yet to play base NG3, but I did play and beat Razors Edge when I got the Master Collection in my senior year and hated it so damn much. I actually can't think of a game that gave me more headaches than Razors Edge, and I think that I made a good decision writing about how painfully awful this series got for my final essay in my ELA class. The combat is a very unfortunate case of "1 step forward, and 2 steps back" yet again. The game uses dismemberment again, which is really not a good system, but apparently it's batter than base NG3 which didn't have it, yet had absurdly high enemy health to put emphasis on dismemberment, which really kills the pace and enjoyment. Not helping are some enemies almost ALWAYS perfectly blocking or dodging attacks, whereas you are getting bombarded with attacks that will eventually hit you because you are human. The bosses are also terrible as they are either bullshit to where you can hardly dodge their attacks, and some even require you to just spam the bow, which requires ki when used mid-air. The worst part is the essence system getting gutted for no good fucking reason. Because of it, healing is uncommon as hell, only done through ninpo now, which takes FOREVER to build up. Fuck this game, I'm never playing it by choice again.
I wished there's a completely 100% honest review of this garbage game.
When you're fighting multiple enemies in Ninja trials which include a Boss and bunch of spawns creatures, you will know what i mean.
It's either the camera itself kill you or the lock-on function keep messing up your directional input because it just lock-on to random enemies however it likes and end up killing you while you slide or jump to wrong direction due to their poor programming).
This piece of crap didn't get tested at all when it was released.
you lost me with the Crystal skulls opinion
Edit: NG4 with Hayate , Ryu and all the Kunoichis :3
I agree wholeheartedly. A clone of a good game is still a good game. Razors Edge is very similar to NG2 and is a great game just as NG2 because of it
NG3 is indeed disaster, the broken flying swallow and no off limb lol.
Although the plot is a innate problem, NG3RE's gameplay is totally FINE.
Some elements added actually makes the game become more rapid and speedy than NG1 & 2, for example the charge/hold cancel.
And I also like how they increase the HP ,armor and attack speed of the enemies.
Yeah, Ninja Gaiden 3 is weird in that it expects the player to not only know about Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 but also have knowledge of all the crap that happened in DOA before, all the new stuff that was put in to ease the retcons with DOA Dimensions right before the release of DOA 5, know about Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword and on top of that, have meta-knowledge of Ninja Gaiden 1 NES, Ninja Gaiden OVA and Ninja Gaiden 2 NES which was quite a lot for those who only playe NG1 and 2.
Oh and as for the regent, it's basically how I felt with Alexei in NG2 Sigma. Fuck that grab gimmick.
they do let you know about new moves just like in sigma 1. Just go to the weapons menu...
Unfortunately this karma system is just as bad as the essence system if not worse at least how you feel about the old essence system. Instead of insentivizing UTs and OTs you are insentivized to do steel on bone techniques. So you just bait an enemy to to his red grab move dodge and then heavy attack rinse and repeat. You my ask why its this way. Simple really. SoB gives more karma, increases bloody rage at double the rate, gives you health, increases ninpo gained, and just removes multiple enemies off the screen. So ya i think this system is even worse then the old essence system
In theory I prefer what RE was going for since I think the UT essence system was just too powerful it just needed to be handled better. Means you have to actually utilize ryus extensive toolkit instead of using a handful of moves into UT chaining
In black it’s like yeah I could use all these cool mechanics or I could just use this strategy that works consistently on master ninja
i agree. could have wrote a better story. for one i would have started with no ryu body count but him turning into a fiend. in the first game it was done and ryu turned blue but he has a demonic costume in game that they could have use to suggest ryu has a fear of becoming a fiend which he seen so many other people become. the entire game could have been a chess match where this order of the mask wants ryu to become the new demon god or fiend lore as by his right for killing the last fiend boss. the dark dragon sword was used to turn people into fiends and use the dark atmosphere created by that chaos to infect and spread even more, in part two they wanted to resurrect the old hierarchy but this game could have been to establish a new era using the bloodlines of the old fiends which is said to be in everyone. they could have introduced more clans like the black spider clan that are trying to become fiends. the mask one could just be a guy willing to watch the world burn and believe that humanity has not become strong enough to act the way its acting so he is resurrecting the fiends as this... imperfect balance. so turn ryu into a fiend, have the game come to terms of this, introduce old characters to help world build these old clans which ryu has to target not to hunt for the mask guy (or even bring them to one location). the chess part could be that the bodies ryu slaughter to get to the mask guy was to hasten his change, every boss he killed to get stronger was slowly making him a fiend to the point even the shrine maiden and the true dragon sword could not help him. they can even do a moment he tries to die from the true dragon blade in a suicide attempt but the sword ended up purifying him and he connects to the dragon with in the sword.
Just watched all three of your retrospective Ninja Gaiden videos, and I love the way you describe em.
I really didn't need you to tell me all of the story details. gimme a spoiler alert! great review and analysis, tho. I'm picking it up based on your intel.
My way of beating the final boss on RE was putting it on hero difficulty. I haven’t even attempted to play RE’s harder difficulty because even on normal the enemies were kicking my ass
Just discovering your vids but I really like them. These critiques are awesome and totally on point.
My comment will only be in reference to RE. NG3 was an interesting yet profoundly flawed game seeking to tackle dominant strategies from previous games.
RE's weapons were not simply ported. Not only were the movelists revamped, but the properties of the moves themselves were modified, integrating auto-SoB and auto-OT, alongside granting built-in SoB/OT to certain attacks as a balancing act. A feeling of "been there, done that" could only come from not fully utilizing the systems offered by RE, as it fundamentally changes the flow of combat despite reusing many elements from NGII.
I would not refer to SoB's window as "brief". Quite the contrary, as the window is so large that it can even cause issues when registering moves not meant as SoB when in close proximity to foes who lost a limb. I do not understand the hypothetical criticism against SoB, the mechanic is as much "out of the player's hand" as any other counter-hit mechanic. I cannot recall anyone presenting such argument outside of the hypothetical you spoke of. However, SoB is quite abusable given the absurd window of activity, the commonality of lower foes (which are designed to make use of Dangerous Attacks with considerably higher frequency than higher enemies), its chaining property and the important health and magic refill it provides. Suffice it to say: the Scythe's SoB breaks the majority of the game.
Your hypothetical regarding SoB on larger foes is remarkably dangerous; not only does it force Team Ninja into extremely tight combat scenarios by presenting the lowest foe as a fundamental and integral part of combat against large foes, but it simplifies the combat excessively. I must repeat myself: lower foes are susceptible to SoB on a completely different scale than any other level of demon/soldier. You spoke of the Meditation trick, but this is highly inefficient and pales in comparison to waiting in from on low level enemies for the inevitable Dangerous Attack.
Your proposal to turn higher demons/soldiers invincible against the first strike of SoB is already a reality in RE with the most hated enemies in the game: Alchemists and Vangelfs. Particularly, Alchemists are only susceptible to SoB when losing a limb (an extremely rare occurrence) and Vangelfs are fully invulnerable to the mechanic. While Alchemist were improperly balanced because Team Ninja did not foresee their crippling weakness to simple UT charging after single strikes (["heavy attack" > level 1 UT]) alongside the innate invulnerability of UTs and "Hold heavies" towards grabs and never managed to patch this gaping hole in their behaviour, the combat scenario they present is not only not interesting, but a detriment to everything RE stands for. They are highly evasive, damn near invincible while also disregarding virtually all of Ryu's moveset, forcing a complete reduction of the player's approach into simple hit and run tactics; we can only be thankful about Team Ninja's failure to see the [heavy > UT] trick. The case of Vangels is even worse, as their healthpools all but require level three weapons with a high combo account button string specifically designed to single-target the creatures in order to force delimbs on them. There is a reason why every single player on Ultimate Ninja difficulty systematically uses the Dragon Sword's "Light > light > light > heavy > heavy > heavy" over, quite literally, any other sequence Ryu offers because this is the only decently effective weapon against an enemy following your proposal of invulnerability to the first strike of SoBs.
I'll give you a real, in-game case for you to test as an example of why your proposals break RE: attempt to finish the first Test of Valor, on a new game, on campaign mode, with any weapon you wish, on Ultimate Ninja difficulty. I can guarantee you that, not only will you not actually be able to do it, but that you will only ever reach Doku by abusing the Scythe (which will, in turn, force you into farming SoB during the regular chapter, all but opening your eyes to how abusable SoB actually is, to actually be able to purchase and upgrade the Scythe to level 2). To this day, close to a decade after the game's release, I only know of the brilliant player known as "TazOne" (extremely easy to find on RUclips, his profile picture is Big Boss from Metal Gear) to have ever proven to beat the challenge I spoke of with actual footage. Even after finishing dozens of chapters without taking damage all across the 3D Ninja Gaiden games, I cannot even come close to beating that challenge unless I make use of the broken level 2 Scythe and the crux of the problem is the virtual invulnerability of the enemies used during the different waves. Please, do try out the challenge and see how problematic it is for higher demons/soldiers to simply disregard an entire mechanic (SoB). Bare in mind that the challenge I speak of does not even fully match the picture you hypothesize, as mid-level foes are still present during the encounter against Serpernt Chimeras and Vangelfs.
"(Vangelfs)They make an appearance in the latter chapters", this is, finally, the crux of the issues with your proposals. Vangels are a constant threat in UN, specially during Tests of Valor, you cannot have possibly played the game for long enough to forget about the problems Vangels present. Ninja Gaiden, much like almost every other action game, does not truly begin until the last difficulty level has been unlocked; everything before that point is training mode and the damaging nature of Vangelfs and Alchemists (again, disregarding the broken ["heavy attack" > level 1 UT] which was not meant to be in the game to begin with) to the game's entire combat flow is entirely transparent on UN, even on MN.
To end: you did not mention the implementation of snapping. I do not know if this was because you did not notice it or because you do not know what (attack) snapping is, but this single-handedly cripples the integrity of your whole critique by omitting the crucial and fundamental change in spacing control require to play and understand Ninja Gaiden. While Ninja Gaiden 04/Black/Sigma/2/Sigma 2 required knowledge of every move's range (only a handful of attacks made use of some form of dynamic range), NG3 and RE added the problematic property of auto-snapping to almost every single move Ryu performs in the game; not all, mind you, but a vast majority. This snapping is specially obvious during SoB-baiting, where Ryu's literal *snapping* to the target is blatantly obvious, even forcing him to skate half-way through the map to strike the target. This property only existed in NGII for OTs and with noticeably reduced range correction than in RE. The consequences of the addition of snapping to NG (or any other action game) is a massive reduction of the skill ceiling by means of removing both control and agency from the players hand, as no longer does the burden of knowledge of the game's ranges (understanding of spacing) fall onto the player's hand, but onto the automatized snapping implemented into the game. This feature was, sadly, only added as a crutch for the lower-level players and cannot be disable in any way, shape or form. The result of this mechanic is transparent: the average Ninja Gaiden Black/II player showcases a far deeper understanding and control of movement than the average NG3RE player. The difference in movement and spacing of a Black speedrunner/karma runner/challenge runner and an RE equivalent are almost pathetic to see.
Bitch out here writing an essay about some dumb shit
When master collection dropped last year i prefered razor’s edge on both sigma and sigma 2
I dunno, but the combat felt way more satisfying and bloody for me than those inferior ports of the awesome NG black and NG2
Dont get me wrong i played NG3 back when it came it was a horrible experience filled with stupid choices
But razor edge rectified everything with it to some extent
The direction the story should've taken is with Muramasa and how his actual historical legend is evil. I think developers wanted to rebrand Ryu as the ultimate hero. Maybe they were trying to move away from an image of his character that was portrayed in a Dead or Alive cut scene in which he belted (or assaulted) Kasumi with a backhand. I don't play D.O.A but I was shocked after seeing it for the first time too. However, writing him into a soft post "woke" culture overnight didn't seem feasible.
Honestly the story would be kinda hilarious and somewhat cool if Ryu just kept his stone-faced, 0 fucks given, "Just another day on the job" attitude.
"Are you a hero or a murdere-"
"I'm a ninja."
"But you've killed so ma-"
"Yes. I'm a ninja."
"Don't you feel ba-"
"No."
"But what about that little gir-"
"I don't really care."
"But we have tragic backstories and good reas-"
"I don't care."
If you want to have make Ruy a "dark hero", wouldn't it be more reasonable and fitting to show how single-minded he can be when on a mission? For crying out loud, his theme, one that was put into Warriors Orochi is called "Unbreakable Determination"! Or how his concepts of honor and justice can really clash with someone who is more concerned with saving people rather than disemboweling the bad guy? It could be freely played for drama or for comedy.
They could also use that and explore the differences (or more improtantly the lack thereof) between the demonic villians of previous games and this apparent new breed of self-righteous humans committing atrocities for the "greater good".
This is my most fave ninja gaiden game!
Just finished RE.
I do like that the gameplay incentives you to play agressive but the not inclusion of healing items should have been optional. Bosses have so much goddamn hp on this game and they spam grabs that kill you in two hits and punish you for playing agressive. Like what the hell.
I wanted to like this game, it's so frantic and so fast and just fun. And I was finally getting the hang of its mechanics but that final boss left me with a horrible taste in my mouth. Was going to replay it on hard after finishing on normal but fuck that, not going through that stupid fight again. I'll give it a try to the other modes yeah.
Last boss is easy just do xx forward x with the lunar and charge uts
Would love to see a review on the master collection for this Gen, love the videos!
I’ve heard this by other people too and wanted to comment on it.When the murder grip thing on ryus arm acts up it shouldn’t power u up to “tap into the dark forces” it should power u down cuz it’s supposed to kill u.
personally i disagree with what u said about mizuki, she is the absolute worst. all the reasons u said as positives are exactly the reasons i would state as negatives. NG women need to be sexy, lightly dressed and badass... mizuki is none of those, she doesnt stand a chance against a rachel...
i also disagree on UT being spammable in the earlier titles, the whole idea of the games is doing UTs... like, thats the whole point haha.
also, u get penalized for using potions in the NGB mission mode, and the ranking system of NG is incredibly deep and well thought out, i think u have not fully understood how the ranking/karma system works. granted in NG II its messed up due to not having timers for the fights, but in NGB it is close to perfection.
also high combo counters have always been rewarded in previous titles with essence multipliers, the higher the combo, the more essence u get, combined with a UT it even stacks, but if u want colored orbs, u have to stay below 20 hit combos and kill the enemy without a UT or OT. the combo system is awesome in the earlier titles.
furthermore, it is the absolute worst that NG+ is being kinda forced on u, there should be a way to start a completely fresh game on a higher difficulty, always starting with all options unlocked is kinda cheating and not in the spirit of NG difficulty. an option would have been nice.
also ninpo slots and potions are far superior to the ki system. there is much more planning, strategy and management involved in consumable items, especially when u take the dynamic chest system from NG II into account that rewarded you for not using them.
overall i enjoyed the review a lot! good shit!
Yeah man and what you said about Ryu's third female companion Mizuki, I agree she is definitely the worst and the boring female character, because she constantly says Hayabusa every single sentence even in the gameplay which is so annoying, she incompetent as hell like she can't baby sit her biological niece, she lacks attractiveness unlike other female characters, she lacks charm and also uncharismatic as hell, and almost never appear in gameplay helping you out, her betrayal is so pointless like it makes no sense, and she's generic as hell like she doesn't appear in dead or alive games as guest characters, like what the hell was the whole point of her character like she comes nowhere as close of being a badass and attractive and sexy female characters like Ayane, Rachel, Momiji, Kasumi, and even Sonia. To be honest bro if Ryu said "Let me tell you something, I don't need any partners like you and it is not safe for you and your daughter to be around me. You need to go now. Sayonara." And then he uses a smoke bomb and leaves, then the story would be better without her.
Fun fact with razors edge that I found. Using the lunar staff fills your ki bar faster than sharp slashing weapons. Especially if your able to get sob since the lunar staff needs to hit the enemies more to kill them and some of the sob moves will hit the opponents multiple times.
Thanx for the awesome guide to get all the crystal skulls and all the other reviews of Ninja gaiden games you've done.And I've subscribed to your channel if im getting stuck again.
Hey how do you show the moves list while you play, is that in the master collection version? Or is it only training mode?
Press up on the d-pad, works on all versions of 3re
45:10 that way to die is too funny and ridiculous ! XD
The final boss was horrible, there was just way too much on screen that I needed to come to youtube to find a strategy to get past the first state. I never felt the need to do this in ninja gaiden 1 & 2 and because bosses were well designed but RE had a little too much bs. Still a good game though but give it a 6.5/10.
Exactly my thoughts
It’s got alot of BS
This is an older video but I guess one thing we could say for ryu and cana’s relationship building is it does kind of make sense for Ryu to be nice and friendly towards kids especially if you played ninja gaiden dragon sword on the DS as there’s an entire chapter where he saves and even jokes with the children of the hayabusa clan and his bond with Sanji who is almost like a son to Ryu whom he is training to be a ninja and having a close bond with Sakura another orphaned girl who seems to be interested in becoming a shrine maiden and wanting to pick flowers with Ryu and Momiji for kureha’s grave. So Ryu does like and enjoy children but the only problem was how quickly he bonded with cana. But him giving her a shuriken and being indifferent/kind isn’t out of character for him. One huge line he says to sanji is his core value “have a heart, but do not feel” being compassionate but not allowing your feelings to drive you.
I was waiting for this more than for the smash reveal of yesterday. I've been watching this channel for 4-5 years and it holds emotional value to me (sad it may sound) because I really love your style since then and your point of view influenced how I see games. To know you were reviewing the other series besides Sonic (I associate you to Sonic that's why I watched all your videos and that's why I didn't expect you covering this), Pokémon and Kingdom Hearts that I felt I had a deep connection to (But this is much more niche. Played vanilla 2 very young sadly) made me anticipate every video days before they come out. Again I know it's sad but you've increased my appreciation for this medium overall and have influenced me, seeing you do NG feels like the best crossover to me.
You don't seem to do many hot takes or challenging opinions to the viewer but you're sharp and dedicated to butchering the games, I don't know why but it makes me a bit emotional. It's okay if you want to quit youtube, I don't want to pressure you or anything. Thank you gaming brit show