Ninja Gaiden 2

[the_mango55]

Anyone got this yet?

I picked it up today, it's freaking sweet so far, hard as balls though.

Lots and lots of gore as well, I've never seen so much dismemberment in a video game. Pretty much every bad guy loses at least 2 limbs while you are fighting them.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

I was suppose to have gotten it last thursday but something went wrong(I don't know what) so I didn't get it.
If I didn't know better I would say that either the postal service stole it or simply dropped it in the wrong box.
Hopefully neither is the case and I will recieve it tomorrow.

[VOP2288]

I played the demo from Xbox Live...got bored after about 5 mins

[Thanatos]

I've only played Ninja Gaiden Sigma, so I don't know how Ninja Gaiden 2 is like.

However, I've heard from a few sources that it's just not as good as the other ones? Is it true?

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

However, I've heard from a few sources that it's just not as good as the other ones? Is it true?

Well judging from the reviews, the main issues is that it's has the same flaw as in the first game which is camera control.
Why they gave NGII a hard time about it I don't know since Devil May Cry 4 had the same bad camera and yet they seem to be fine with that.
Their other issue is that the game is hard which makes me sad to see.
Most games today are too easy even on the hardest difficult level.
But as I said, this is what the reviewers said.
My personal opinion will have to wait until I get my copy(if I ever get it that is).

[Doono]

I had a go on the demo it's fun for a while but it looks like one of those games you get bored of really quickly because its so repetative. I have never played the full version of any before so I am not entirely sure.

[The Black Reaper]

the critics also criticized the framerate drops in the game in the review build which is rumored to not be in the retail build

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Do the bump dance.
Well after some playing time with this game I can finally state my opinion about this game.
And it's awesome.
It's bloody as hell, fast and furious and provides a challenge even for those that have played Ninja Gaiden 1.

The controls are good and responsive enabling you to do the various moves fast and when you want it.
The graphics are good but not great. If you played Dead or Alive 4 then you know what it looks like.
But if you played DOA4 then you know that animations were superb in that game and NGII is no exception.
Ryu's moves looks great and almost believable which is impressive considering the moves that you can do.
Seriously, people go on about the combos in DMC series but that game got nothing on the combos in NGII.

And as most people know, this game is bloody. I mean really bloody.
You can slice and dice the enemy up which is so rewarding.
But unlike the first game if you don't finish the job you will pay for it.
Enemies without legs or arms will do anything they can to try and kill you with a kamikaze attack.
And it will hurt.

When it comes to the main point of the game namely the challenge then this game doesn't disappoint either.
The game is a challenge even on easy(which I'm playing at right now) especially the bosses.
They are big and mean and some of them so far can do insane amount of damage.
With them it's alot of trial and error since some of them requires you to know what they do so you can try and predict what they will do so you can counter it.
And sometimes you have several bosses and atleast one of them explodes when they die causing a instant death unless you get away(I'm stuck at this guy, I can't figure out where to run or hide).

But like in the first game, once you defeat the boss that has been kicking your butt for last 2 hours you will feel like the ultimate badass(just like Ryu is).

The camera is still bad even tho if you played the first game then you will have gotten used to it so you will really feel right at home.
But for new people it will be a frustrating thing that you will need to master as well.

Overall I'm very happy with this game.
I had my expectations and this game delivered them.

[Fabolous]

I picked it up today, it's freaking sweet so far, hard as balls though.

You are kidding, right? Hard? Ninja Gaiden 2? The first one was hard. This isn't anywhere close to hard. You don't even have to block for the first 5 levels. It is a button masher. The first was a classic and a great game, this is smash buttons really fast to keep pulling off combos and everything will be fine. Instead of the interesting and challenging countermoves of the first, instead now you just hit whatever attacks you want to, almost regardless of oppenent. Gone is blocking and counter attacks being needed for survival, now it is just another combo obsessed gore fest. It isn't fun, it isn't interesting, it is boring. They ruined what could have been a great franchise.

[the_mango55]

I beat the first one too.

Unless I have gotten significantly worse at games, this one isn't any easier to me.

[ajm317]

I just picked this up last Sunday, I'm on chapter 5 right now.

So far I can't really say whether this is easier or harder than Ninja Gaiden Black. The first few levels of Black were brutal, but things got easier as you went. By the time I was up around chapter 8 or 9 I was only really dying against bosses (on the normal difficulty of course.) This game, the first few chapters are pretty easy, as the ninjas you fight do little damage, but there's a lot more enemies and when you start running into those damn wolves latter on it gets pretty frustrating. Not looking forward to incendiary shuriken ninjas, I'll tell you that.

Ryu sure does look awesome, but I'm not having quite as much fun as I had with NGB or DMC4. The big things that make it less enjoyable are all the damn projectile attacks and the fact that the enemies come in groups of like 20 (though thankfully only in waves of 5 or 6.) Sometimes I'm just thinking, how many of these damn purple demons do I have to kill?

Still a fun game though. I give it an 8 so far.

[ajm317]

Ok, the farther into this game I get the lower my opinion of it goes.

I think most of my problems can be summed up by an encounter in chapter 12.

So in chapter 12 you have to fight the greater fiend of fire, Zedonius, for the second time (I hope I'm not spoiling the awesome plot for anyone). Zedonius has a few moves, but they're all telegraphed fairly well. There's a ground eruption thing that has a long animation that's easy to dodge, some fireballs that are easy enough to dash out of the way of, and a few melee combos that are fairly slow. There's also the obligatory cheap grab move and this beam attack that leaves him wide open.

Sounds easy right?

I died 12 times.

Why? Because I was fighting the bloody camera, which is the worst I have ever seen in an action game.

For starters the thing is positioned at right around eye level. Who the hell puts the camera at eye level? Move it 15 feet in the air. This wouldn't be so bad if I could move it up with the right analog stick, but it's stuck in a 2d plane. It's also zoomed in way too close, and there's no easy way to get it to center on the boss (as opposed to other games who's lock on function generally does that for you). As a result I'm spending a large portion of the fight just trying to find the bloody boss, and getting whacked while I'm at it. The camera in NG was bad, but I never remember it being this bad.

So after I beat the boss I pick up this puzzle item you get from him, and start running over some lava to the exit.

Turns out there's mines hidden in the lava that you can't see. They blow up and I die.

And I have to fight Zedonius again!

Those mines were a cheap, gutless trick, and I'd like to hear what the rationale was for including them.

The combat system is great, and Ryu's fun to control, but camera and level design are serious weak points.