In an interview by 1up.com in the year 2000, prior to Ninja Gaiden's (2004) release on the Xbox, creator Tomonobu Itagaki stated "Ninja Gaiden for Xbox will have a higher difficulty level than what most people are probably used to from recent action games. However, this will not be an unreasonable or frustrating amount of difficulty; it will be very fair. Gamers might find it difficult at first, but as they play, they will become surprised at their increasing ability to play well."
When I first picked up the game, I was getting completely bodied. The enemies were, in a word, unrelenting. The first chapter's boss curb-stomped me more times than I'd like to admit. I pressed onward, albeit feeling as if I was brute-forcing my way through chapter 2. And then, in chapters 3-4, I don't know what changed, but something began to click with the game's combat. The game hadn't gotten easier; threats only escalate as the game goes on. No, this was the feeling of me getting better at the game.
Ninja Gaiden Black is a game where you need to learn how to play the game. I don't mean that in an "uwu here's the controls" way, I mean that you experiment and learn what works. Understanding the moves at your disposal is crucial for survival. It's just as important to study your enemies' movements and abilities, and react accordingly. It all results in a game that only grows more satisfying as you keep playing, and where taking damageusually feels like it's entirely your fault.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that NGB actually has really cool level design and setpieces. The game looks excellent and runs at a silky-smooth 60 FPS (Team Ninja always had a gift when it came to polished visuals). Levels have a ton of useful items and secrets if you go out of your way to explore, and I enjoyed the light puzzle-solving that you did along the way as well. Just when you think you're getting the hang of things, the game introduces new enemies or a boss that will obliterate you in a couple hits. The title screen's attract mode also showed me enemies that I didn't encounter on normal difficulty, making this a game where higher difficulties actually introduce new threats (instead of being "same game but more of same enemies and they hit harder"). This is a game I can actually see myself returning to on higher difficulties in the future.
The game isn't flawless by any means; I think the worst enemy I fought in the game was the camera, and that's not something you can simply defeat with Ryu Hayabusa's Dragon Sword. Fortunately, the camera is an elusive enemy who rarely wreaks havoc upon the player. However, when it does decide to rear its ugly head, it's often at the worst possible times, and you have very few ways to control it. Second-worst enemy was Awakened Alma, that boss is just painful.
Ninja Gaiden Black walks the thin line of "hard but fair" unlike any other action game I've played in my life. I've got very little to complain about, I fucking loved this game. Listen, if a chump like me can beat this game, I believe that you can too.
When I first picked up the game, I was getting completely bodied. The enemies were, in a word, unrelenting. The first chapter's boss curb-stomped me more times than I'd like to admit. I pressed onward, albeit feeling as if I was brute-forcing my way through chapter 2. And then, in chapters 3-4, I don't know what changed, but something began to click with the game's combat. The game hadn't gotten easier; threats only escalate as the game goes on. No, this was the feeling of me getting better at the game.
Ninja Gaiden Black is a game where you need to learn how to play the game. I don't mean that in an "uwu here's the controls" way, I mean that you experiment and learn what works. Understanding the moves at your disposal is crucial for survival. It's just as important to study your enemies' movements and abilities, and react accordingly. It all results in a game that only grows more satisfying as you keep playing, and where taking damage
I was pleasantly surprised to find that NGB actually has really cool level design and setpieces. The game looks excellent and runs at a silky-smooth 60 FPS (Team Ninja always had a gift when it came to polished visuals). Levels have a ton of useful items and secrets if you go out of your way to explore, and I enjoyed the light puzzle-solving that you did along the way as well. Just when you think you're getting the hang of things, the game introduces new enemies or a boss that will obliterate you in a couple hits. The title screen's attract mode also showed me enemies that I didn't encounter on normal difficulty, making this a game where higher difficulties actually introduce new threats (instead of being "same game but more of same enemies and they hit harder"). This is a game I can actually see myself returning to on higher difficulties in the future.
The game isn't flawless by any means; I think the worst enemy I fought in the game was the camera, and that's not something you can simply defeat with Ryu Hayabusa's Dragon Sword. Fortunately, the camera is an elusive enemy who rarely wreaks havoc upon the player. However, when it does decide to rear its ugly head, it's often at the worst possible times, and you have very few ways to control it. Second-worst enemy was Awakened Alma, that boss is just painful.
Ninja Gaiden Black walks the thin line of "hard but fair" unlike any other action game I've played in my life. I've got very little to complain about, I fucking loved this game. Listen, if a chump like me can beat this game, I believe that you can too.