Ninja Gaiden Black

"Even my ninja instincts cannot detect what the big deal is."

But I have to admit, it's a lot a better than Sony's God of War ever was. Unlike the easy, three-combo, lack-of-variety crap we call GoW, Ninja Gaiden is full of high-speed over-the-top action, variety, and best of all, ninjas. The developers were definitely trying to do something right with this one: we've been waiting for a decent 3-D ninja-action game for ages. The PlayStation 2 adaptation of Shinobi was going in the right direction, but failed miserably. Tenchu is a bad series, period. I don't even want to go on about the other generic ninja crap out there. Team Ninja, best known for their “boob-physics” Dead or Alive series, complied with our need to back-flip out of the shadows and stab peoples' necks…sort of. Throughout the entire game, I was bothered by one thing: shouldn't ninjas be, you know…stealthy? I'm all for unrealistic action, but a bit of realism would be nice. When the average American thinks of ninjas, he is first reminded of the shadows from whence they emerged. In the minds of Americans, ninjas turn into to logs at the brink of death, ninjas fly at you with jet packs and throw shurikens at each other; ninjas can disappear in a cloud of smoke, et cetera. Every time I see a ninja, it's running at breakneck speeds, jumping on top of buildings and such. Ninjas are incredibly notorious for their quick kills, incredible efficiency, and their ability to throw fireballs. The point is, my ninja fantasies, even after playing Ninja Gaiden Black, have yet to be fulfilled. So fellow Americans, if you want to do all this in the safety of your virtual haven, keep searching, this definitely isn't the one.

But before I get sidetracked describing just how awesome ninjas really are, an explanation what you can do is necessary. Well, you can kick the asses of other ninjas (not to mention demons), that's one. Though you can't shoot lightning bolts from your eyes, you can sure as hell blow **** up with summoned lightning. Unlike Devil May Cry (which in my opinion, is a far superior action series), you can actually block without having to summon a magic shield. What else can I say? It's an action game. The main problem, as has been brought up tenfold, is how amazingly difficult this game is. I don't know how many times I was forced to control the frustration I built up through the course of the game. I don't know how many controllers I could've potentially broken. Making my way through the various lands of Vigor, I was constantly fearing that “Fiends”--demons--would shoot out from the ground and make disappear what little life I had left. One thing that bothers me is that Ninja Gaiden still uses that archaic “save-point” system. This can be quite a hit to accessibility. Save points are very scattered: it annoyed me as to how they could be as far as in the middle of the succeeding “Chapter”, or only a minute's walk away. Unfortunately, conservation of healing products is a big theme here. How's that a flaw? This is a high-speed action game. Save the conservation for the likes of Resident Evil: Ninja Gaiden is not about survival. It's about kicking ass and taking names, and looking cool while doing it. Thankfully, the game's talking statues serve as venders, selling you the crap you need, upgrading your weaponry, and the ability to trade any “Scarabs” you've collected thus far for neat objects like 100-pound swords and such…

…Which brings me to another point: though there is a bit of variety in weaponry (especially compared to God of War), I couldn't help but feel that every weapon had a clone: the Dragon Sword and the Kitetsu, the Nunchucks and the Vigoorian Flail, among others--I think it would've made a lot more sense to just have these clones as upgrades, are just taken out altogether. Sure, there are slight differences between weaponry, but it's mostly cosmetic, and totally unnecessary. Another problem that arises is that I never really saw the point in switching weapons: I did fine with just the Dragon Sword and the Strongbow, regardless of how stressed switching out is. Even if it was necessary, the lack of a “quick-menu”--similar to the ones in the likes of Metal Gear Solid and, hell, most shooters, really discouraged it. Pressing Start, waiting a couple seconds for the menu to pop up, then going all the way across the menu to equip a single weapon each and every time truly is a hassle. Especially in a game where I'm constantly switching between Strongbow ammo, it gets incredibly frustrating. “Ninpo”--Ryu's magical powers--are almost completely useless, serving a bit of use in only very specific moments. Not to mention, the lack of variety: there are only four different types of Ninpo, and the most variety you get out of them is the ability to upgrade them through the use of “Jewels”

Now, seeing as this is an action game, most are inclined to “button-mash”. If you're one of these idiots, then this game definitely is not for you. You will never get through the game if you simply mash random attack buttons. You need to know what you are doing if you want to get anywhere in this title. If I wrote one of Sony's “Reviewer's Guides”, I'd probably say “I can't stress enough how much you need to learn the game's various “combos” to fully enjoy Ninja Gaiden”. Bad jokes aside, it's best to think of this one as sort of a…”fighting adventure”. Of course the combos are no where near as complicated as say, Tekken. One annoyance that arises is that some of these attacks seem pointless, I mean, there's like thirty different combo attacks and they all do the same thing: look cool. Though to add a bit of spice, there are some situation specific attacks, which unfortunately (at least in my case), don't see much use. Expanding on the topic of “using your head rather than mashing buttons”, believe it or not, Ninja Gaiden is a thinking man's game…to an extent. Though puzzles aren't too frequent, the one's you are presented with can be quite the pain in the ass. It's not uncommon to run around aimlessly for an hour just trying to figure which switch you're supposed to activate, let alone how you're going to reach it.

Now for the actual level design, it's--strangely enough--somewhat reminiscent of the Zelda series. Dungeon crawling is quite common, and collect-a-thons are, unfortunately, abundant. Much like Zelda does with keys, many of the artifacts you find throughout your nin-tastic adventures are used to place on pedestals or wall croppings, revealing your way forward. And just like Zelda, don't be surprised to find yourself going back and forth between entrances and exits looking for the right “key”. Most of the love for Zelda comes from the epic boss battles, and Ninja Gaiden doesn't fail you there. In fact, the game's best moments--and main source of frustration--are the boss battles. Almost every boss is unique, and have their own ways leading to their inevitable defeat. Again, even as stressed as it is, even with the boss battles I was never inclined to switch equipment. Unfortunately, I think it would've been smart to change to a more logical weapon anyway, because the bosses are huge pain in the ass. Like I said: the root of all the frustration this game has to offer comes from the amazing effort it takes to even wipe a decent chunk of health off of a boss's health bar. If you get stuck on a boss, prepare for a long wait: I guarantee you'll be stuck there for days--even weeks--or your money back.

But wait, there's more! The graphics! How the hell can a virtual ninja kick ass if there aren't any graphics to see? Well, don't worry, they're there, and their bland. Ninja Gaiden, unfortunately, suffers from F.G.S.--Fighting Game Syndrome--specifically of the Xbox variety. I can't really explain it in words: it just has that fighting game “look”. If you've ever played Dead of Alive, I'm sure you'll almost instantly recognize where I'm coming from. Though the graphics are shiny enough, it really lacks the atmosphere to become a truly immersive experience. The generic looking textures, the jaggy, glossy-looking character models. The graphics are nowhere near bad; they just give off this “uninspired” tone. Of course, it could simply be the fact that the graphical-style is a staple of Team Ninja games.

Yet another thing that bothered me: these environments are so…uninteresting. Let me get something straight: the first Chapter was simply amazing. After a short CG introduction, the gameplay almost immediately starts with Ryu leaping out from the top of a waterfall and slicing up some unlucky mofo who happened to be standing in front of said waterfall. Nicely done. As I made my way up to the Temple, I could literally see the atmosphere in the air. The Temple itself was stunning: slow, traditional Japanese music playing in the background, a sunset, beautiful Japanese artwork and architecture…it was all very flattering really. This is where the inspiration stopped. Soon after the epic dual that was the first boss, the world became dull. Backtracking became a norm, the environments became very generic and cliched, and I swear that graphically, the backgrounds were done by low Dreamcast standards. Simply put: unimpressive. Of course, in terms of presentation, it's not just about the graphics: it's also about the--unfortunately--equally unimpressive sound. Though the music itself isn't at all bad, it's just that I become so sick of hearing the same tune over and over and over again in the same level. Each track usually lasts for about a minute, then loops. Rinse and repeat…over and over and over again. Annoying, really. I really hated how tracks would be reused for every situation, even some of the more “epic” moments. Coupled with a few cheap-sounding effects hear and there, and you have quite a boring sensual experience. But remember kids, presentation isn't just about how it looks and sounds, it needs a background…a reason to exist, other than for fun…it needs a…

…story? What story? I don't see any story! Sorry, it's just that I'm so busy digging through all these cliches and plot holes, I can't really see anything right now. I can see that plot twist coming from a mile away, though! In all seriousness, I think that that funny I just made summed up what I thought of Ninja Gaiden's story. It's just so…annoying how lifeless and dull the story is: it really makes me want to kick a puppy. Everything was stolen from every JRPG in existence, and the amount of plot holes in this game are sufficient enough to house a small family of prairie dogs. The secret love story sucks too. I wanted to bash my head through my crappy television screen every time even the slightest amount of any romanticism became apparent. I'm sorry, but this epic tale of love, revenge and betrayal is a piece of crap. Team Ninja: your story-telling skills suck ass. Screw the story and just get to the ass-kicking, m'kay? Thank the heavens, though—the story was so unnoticeable, and so insignificant, that I won't even incorporate it into the overall score, yay! Fanboys unite, hah!

But, regardless of what I've said, Ninja Gaiden Black is a solid title, and worthy of bargain bin purchase. The amazing replayability--the desire to complete this truly difficult title, then do it again--is really what makes this a decent purchase, and worthy of your time. Though if I could recommend you any alternatives--and I'm sure you've already figured it out--I'd advise you purchase the far superior Devil May Cry 3. Actually, I believe they're still selling that awesome box set that contains special editions of every game in the series as of this writing. It's such an awesome series. The free-form combat system, the challenging yet manageable difficulty, the imaginative environments, the original weapons, the various skills and techni—oh, right. My bad. Uh…go buy Ninja Gaiden something-or-other. But man, does Devil May Cry kick ass or what?

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/07

Game Release: Ninja Gaiden Black (US, 09/20/05)