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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Ninja Gaiden II Needs to Level Up the Camera Work 48

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the ninjas-should-be-able-to-play-blindfolded-anyway dept.
The team that brought you one of the more difficult games of all time (according to some) has come back for another round. According to one review Ninja Gaiden II serves up what looks to be an amazing addition to the franchise, at least what you can see of it through the very counter-intuitive camera work. "The hybrid aesthetic - high-tech Technicolor Japan mixed with muted feudalist Japan - might sound dissonant but looks sharply coherent. In fact, in the hands of a skilled player NGII looks nothing less than exhilarating, and occasionally surpasses any martial arts movie you might care to name. And this is why the camera is such a surprisingly big issue. This isn't a problem with it getting caught on a corner occasionally, nor the odd confusing switch of perspective. It is a constant problem: obscuring foes, breaking up combos, losing track of Ryu, and flicking back and forth between positions."
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Ninja Gaiden II Needs to Level Up the Camera Work More

Ninja Gaiden II Needs to Level Up the Camera Work

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  • There was a video of a developer playing through NGII that became available on Xbox Live not to long ago.

    I'm a big fan of the NG series as well as Tecmo's other stuff but to be perfectly honest I was bored to tears.

    A number of other games in the genre have raised the bar, particularly in terms of open ended gamplay and plot, NGII just felt tired from what I saw, perfectly linear, with nothing other than a graphics update an a few new moves that will dazzle you for an hour before getting boring.

    The
    • Yeah, I agree that the video was boring, but the game was never really about great graphics, plot, or a sandbox world. It basically optimized the first for framerate and for artistry and swept the other two largely aside. The game was 100% about gameplay: the fighting system is probably the deepest single-player fighter available, and possibly the greatest fighting system period if you exclude games that rely heavily on combo-mashing (Soul Calibur).

      It doesn't surprise me that the video was so boring when a
    • Ninja Gaiden doesn't need to go down the open-ended route. I think criticizing a game because of a lack of open-ended gameplay isn't really fair because open-ended gameplay doesn't magically improve the game. Look at a Assassin's Creed, while the game is open-ended and has introduced some interesting gameplay aspects, most gamers and critics agree that there is something missing and the sheer fun factor just isn't there. I personally enjoyed NG much more. I think a game can be great or horrible regardl
  • they just made the game harder, the first one was impossible. I got about half way trough and gave up myself, I could never beat the giant dino skeleton. It's good to hear that it will be amazing looking, not that I ever doubted that it wouldn't, I wonder what they will do in multiplayer.
    • I made it to the later pterodactyl thing before eventually giving up. That game was really very cool but was definitely the hardest game I ever played for any extended period of time on the original XBox. (The zombie archers were created by Satan to remind everyone why jumping puzzles are evil). I kept saying I'd go back to it but never did, partly because I knew that whatever beast lies at the end of the game is probably so difficult I'd have a hard time not sending my controller through the television in

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Pendersempai ( 625351 )
        Actually the final boss is comparatively easy, especially if you've saved up some magic bottles. Spamming Ninpo (fire on the first form, lightning on the second) pretty much does it.

        The toughest enemy in the game is, oddly enough, tiny little ghostly fish that swim around in mid-air in between serious battles. They are pure evil.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Sciros ( 986030 )
          The ghost pirahnas are pure evil, BUT YOU CAN FARM THEM FOR $$$$ so I forgive them and honestly they're a joke if you just do air attacks non-stop.

          The most annoying enemies in the game are probably the cat warriors in Ninja Gaiden Black, and the Black Spider Clan ninjas in the original version with their explosive shurikens.

          As far as tough bosses go, I'll submit Alma #1 and Doku #1 and #2 as the most difficult enemies, especially on the higher difficulty levels. On Master Ninja even the first boss is bad, h
          • True -- but by that point, if you're into farming, you should already have done it with the bats in the sewer entrance. Alma #1: definitely. The Dokus I never had much trouble with. Murai Master Ninja is indeed a very tough fight, but then, what isn't. The skeletal pteradactyl thingy that comes after the ruins and just before the moat always gave me enormous difficulty. I still don't know how to fight him effectively.

            The Black Spider Ninjas and dancing cat things are tough but fair, IMO. Learning to fight t

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by omfpe ( 1168715 )
        Those zombie archers were tough. But if you blocked at the right time and wall jumped right, you could make it, take out each one in turn while not getting knocked off, and get up. It only took me about 10 tries. One of the big problems I had was that the saves were too far apart for a game that hard. I'm at the point in chapter 15 where you have to fight 3 mini-bosses + minions in a row, then take on the level boss creature (not the emperor). It takes like 15 or 20 minutes to beat them all, and then I die

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by rbf2000 ( 862211 )
      I consider myself a casual gamer, but I didn't find Ninja Gaiden to be all that difficult, at least not compared to the original NES version (I could at least beat the Xbox version...).


      Ironically, the most difficult boss in the game for me was the first one.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sciros ( 986030 )
      Most games nowadays baby everyone. Old-school games were nigh-unbeatable. The NES Ninja Gaidens were ridiculously hard, far harder than the XBox Ninja Gaiden on anything but Ninja Master difficulty. It's a good thing the new Ninja Gaiden games aren't total pushovers like most every other game out there; we truly hardcore gamers are still out there.

      Anyway, the XBox Ninja Gaiden was NOT impossible. Far from it. The two skeletal bosses were easier than some others in the game, anyway. I don't think NG2 will be

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by bigstrat2003 ( 1058574 ) *

        Most games nowadays baby everyone. Old-school games were nigh-unbeatable.
        We have a term for this. It's called "being a fun game", as opposed to "a clusterfuck of difficulty which is there just so that a chosen few can stroke their e-peens". The punishing difficulty of the old days is gone for a very good reason, and good riddance to it. Challenge is fine, but too many games back in the day (and Ninja Gaiden is another example today) cross the line into frustration. That's bad.

        • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

          by Sciros ( 986030 )
          Dude seriously if Ninja Gaiden for XBox was so hard it honestly frustrated you, then just go play easier games and don't complain about it. Not all games need to be designed for people with poor coordination/reflexes. Yes it's harder than most other games out there. No that's not a bad thing. Plus there's a "ninja dog" level of difficulty for people who think "normal" is a "clusterfuck of difficulty" lol
  • Perhaps they were merely taking inspiration from the choppy Jump Cut camera work prevalent in the Ask a Ninja podcast.

  • xbox only (Score:2, Funny)

    by whtmarker ( 1060730 )
    It is an XBox 360 game only, so we can only expect it to be 'full featured' and on par with what consumers 'really want'.

    In other news, the Wii is about to outsell the xbox, while the xbox360 has been available for twice the time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      Are you asking for a Wii port, or just being snarky for snarky's sake?
    • So?

      Where are all the great games for the Wii utilizing the Wiimote? Metroid Prime 3 was what Wii games should be like. This constant talk about the Wii outselling the 360 is a moot point. Yes no sh*t it's outselling the 360, but tell me why software sales go to the 360 every month??
    • Uh, how is this relevant? I'm as much of a Wii believer as anyone, and it's the only next-gen console I currently own, but that just has nothing to do with anything.

      The issue of the camera cuts across systems and video game genres (though some are more dependent than others). I would think that the sequel to one of the most highly praised, skill intensive, and popular console games ever having major camera problems wouldn't exactly lead directly to "THE WII IS AWESOME, SCREW THE XBOX!!!" Nintendo has its
  • In the previous one whenever you go through a door, once on the other side the camera is no longer behind you. The camera now faces you with the door behind you. Really wonderful if you enter a room full of enemies that you can't see.

    Crap like that makes me want to kill a kitten. (new favorite catch phrase)
  • Reviewers hated the camera in the first xbox Ninja Gaiden game too. Its not particularly helpful if left to do its thing, but NG1 had a button that snapped the camera directly behind you. Manipulating the camera was second nature by the time level 2 rolled around, so fans of the first game should have no trouble here.

  • This is Ninja Gaiden II [wikipedia.org]!

    Yeesh. Didn't we learn our lesson [wikipedia.org] over decade ago?

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