Ninja Gaiden is great primarily because it was made by people that know the intricacies of fighting games, but put them into an action-adventure game without requiring the time and complexity of a fighting game. So you get a lot of the depth of a fighting game, and a lot of the amazing mechanics, but made simpler to perform and it's all in a really well-balanced, nice package.
Team Ninja’s background in fighting games can not be overlooked when looking at NG. The focus on player/enemy positioning, fluid animation and risk/reward mechanics serve to highlight why this series was and is so unique among action games.
@@RetropolisZone I just finished watching the video! You covered everything that makes this game great. I do agree with you that Awakened Alma is far and away the hardest boss, and that's saying something, considering that there are many hard bosses! I also remember having a lot of trouble with Griffon, and I believe the Ghost Doku. I would like to make note that, on the harder difficulty levels, one of the benefits of there being regular enemies that spawn during boss fights is that you can use those enemies to generate essence that you can use to attack the boss with Ultimate Techniques. I wonder if that was the intended design.
These game mechanics influenced Darksouls, Doom Eternal, blue fire, god of war, Sekiro, the later RE games , and so many more. Very underrated in retrospective.
@@AlphaZeroX96 the latest Modern Dooms certainly. For example, how certain kills and combos would determine the orbs enemies would drop en Ninja Gaiden Black would fill up your abilities gage, in the same way glory kills ,chainsaw kills, freezing and flamming cause enemies to drop different types of orbs that fill out your ammo and health accordingly . Hugo Martin has even said as such, on how Sekiro and NG influenced the development of Eternal.
O_O Where did this come from?? What a wonderful surprise! While I have absolutely no experience with the Ninja Gaiden franchise, I will always drop everything for a new Quickies Don't Cut It!
You only need to play it to know. Ninja Gaiden Black was so incredible at the time. I hope we get more of a return to fast paced action/adventure without it being filtered through souls-esque gameplay...seems like I'll be waiting forever at this point. *I also think many of your points are fair, but some are definitely a consequence of the time the games were made in (even in terms of characterization). Playing on the higher difficulties (Black) is definitely essential for great/more balanced experience (at least to me).
I agree. I thought Dark Souls had great combat, but I like this adventure style structure better and find that this game is great about giving you save points and items and not making you repeat stuff, or tacking on extra things to 'buff' the difficulty. It's already plenty challenging, and some enemies and bosses don't even have much HP even on the highest difficulty. The lighter ones go from needing 3-4 hits to more like 6-7 maybe? They're just better at kicking you ass. XD
The NES trilogy are some of my favorite games. Started the 3D games for the first time on the collection and they're great beyond the difficulty. Mechanically they're solid and have great style
Wow... I got a blast from the past watching this. Not because it was Ninja Gaiden. But because it was a kind of video from you I haven't seen in a LONG time. I'm glad to see you're still here, and not just livestreaming. I love it when people still do stuff like this, among other things.
The gameplay was incredible! I played Ninja Gaiden Black on the OG Xbox as a kid, and Sigma later on PS3 and Ps Vita. The weapon variety, ninpos, challenging enemies, and stages were pretty amazing! The doppelganger fights were the best in my opinion. And one cheesy stray that you can do regarding ultimate techniques, is that enemies killed with one, will give you more valuable yellow orbs, and in certain areas, you can get to 99 999 orbs pretty easily, and get stacked for the rest of the game
The minions added to bosses I think adds a lot. First a lot of bosses have closerange and longrange patterns (like dynamo shooting lasers at long range). With minions you have to learn to avoid those long range attacks while dealing with the minions, while otherwise you can just rush them and never have to deal with that. They also prevent you from just wailing on a boss nonstop because they spawn every at 25% health. Like with your clip against paz zuu, you shouldve heard them spawn when you hit him below 25% health and fall back, rather than just keep hitting him until you got sniped. Its true the camera can suck with a boss+minions though. Awakened alma starts tracking you with her fireball volley. You can avoid that by either rolljumping at a slightly inward curve (try to follow the circle thats in the middle of the arena) or roll one way and then jump the other way.
I would love to point out Ryu had emotional damage because not only his village was ambushed but the girl was his Bestfriend “childhood friend” more or less but he wanted to truly avenge her but once he got it he didn’t feel “better” about it but the doku curse that coursed through him was about how let vengeance take him to do all this. Which is reflected through 2-3 trust I thought there was no character depth till later i looked a bit deeper😭 Ryu isn’t a “mindless killer” but his doppelgänger is supposed to show what he would become allowing himself to be consumed through killing without “purpose”
awesome video! i am actually a fan of ET/UT charging, as it rewards a player who is really good at positioning and timing in a way most games don't. being able to chain UTs requires a lot of skill and environmental awareness so i think it is a great addition to the game.
Well considering this motherfucker Uh didn't make this game and I trust the developers of the game more than this guy fuck this guy and fuck his faggot ass opinion.
Black is MOSTLY superior, but one step back is that the NES game was unlockable with OG Ninja Gaiden, whereas Black had the original Arcade game. The Arcade game isn't bad, but the NES game is much better.
*noobs-* "Omg, Bloodborne and all Dark Souls games and Elden Ring are so hard!" *Ninja Gaiden and Nioh-* "Hold my fluid, super fast paced gameplay and my extremely low health.*
Ngl i found Nioh and Nioh 2 easier than fromsoft games, but Ninja Gaiden was more difficult when it came down to mobs of enemies, bosses are pretty straightforward on hard mode still so far at least, don’t think i have the skill or patience to go past hard mode and do master ninja however
Holy crap! I was not expecting to see a new video from you... I still watch your channel regularly because your reviews are just THAT GOOD but this made my day. (I know I should wait to the end of the vid to comment but I'm just too excited).
Wish we got ninja gaiden black remastered but they lost the code for that so instead we got sigma in which my opinion it's alright but they took away some graphics for the og
Beautifully done RZ 🙂 and fun fact ryu hayabusa, along with the likes of kasumi, ayane and even Rachel are all in dead or alive, a fighting game series that is also done by koei tecmo and team ninja, 🙂
I love how I can watch your videos while doing something totally different. You helped me get through a tough day!! Ninja gaiden is my favorite series. Im lit to play the first and second one tonight. This video gave me the excitement I needed to finally try a master ninja run on both. Haven’t touched either game in almost half a decade but the muscle memory shouldn’t let me down lol.
>Soft lock-on sometimes not accurate >Hard lock-on wouldn't always be sensible with the amount of enemies and speed of combat ... darn it, where's my "Why don't we have both?" meme...? I swear I put it here _somewhere..._
Nothing has beaten Ninja Gaiden Black to this day. I play Nioh 1 and 2, and I get shades of Dark Souls mixed with Ninja Gaiden, but the lack of aerial maneuvers and jumping is very apparent. Still doesn't come close to NGB.
Not to mention the soulsborne genre has a problem with being TOO challenge run accepting (makes me think of a scene from Zeke and Luther where they put tape on the tv remote for Luther’s grandma)
If you want to see what high level Ninja Gaiden Black could look like I would recommend checking out TheGodfatherDictator. He's held records for speedrunning and also did various challenge runs for the game.
This game runs surprisingly well on Xbox One. They not only added backwards compatibility, but the resolution and anti-aliasing make it smooth and crisp to play, only downside is I have to insert my original xbox disc each time. Great way for the game to live on!
It's a combination of different microphone, getting older and having better/more natural voice technique. I put on more of a voice in my videos from 2018 and prior, but I found it exhausing to do and not worth it anymore.
Idk I've played a number of kaizos and had a much harder time woth this game. And there absolutely are moments where you'll be sent back multiple levels when dying
I understand you prefer spectacle fighters like DMC and Bayonetta, so I thus understand why you seemed to have difficulties with some encounters. The issue is that you "cant" play this game like a spectacle fighter. Using flashy weapons is more fun, but usually much less effective. That said, spectacular feat to beat these games on multiple difficulties.
This is a great video. Love how you went into every aspect of the game, the level design and the soundtrack. Love the comparison with Devil May Cry 3 at the end, and one could make a case for any of them being the best action game of the generation. Very impressed with the video and look forward to watching the next parts of this retrospective.
Greatly appreciate seeing this in 2021. I agree, this game is legendary and doesn't get enough attention from people seeking good action. To this day, I find many of its enemies to be the most brilliantly designed in gaming. They are ruthlessly smart and I have many stories about that, but I also think in general, they're well-planned. The game is constantly throwing enemies at you that mess with what you've learned to rely on so far. After the first stage of leaning just to hit when you see an opening, you get hit by samurai who block nearly everything and are accompanied by teleporting enemies with ranged fireball magic. Then you get counterattacks, and the following stage throws in enemies that can grab you if you sit there trying to guard so you can use it over and over. You have to learn to leave your guard down and watch for an enemy to go for a physical attack before putting up your guard to intercept it. Enemies can be evil, but I love them because of how they require such distinct approaches, and the higher level ones that only appear on higher settings are genuinely smarter and more deadly than their weaker counterparts. They are the perfect example of a 're-rigged' enemy done right. Audio and visual cues are also excellent. I can often read enemies' moves with either one of two things, 1 being sounds, the other being how they approach me. Certain behaviors go along with certain attacks, and catching these changes in movement often signal oncoming attacks with almost prophetic accuracy. Commenting on a couple of things that came up in the video. Working with enemy groups and avoiding those instant grabs tends to require careful consideration for the entire group. Group enemies fight in a way that's designed to close off blind spots, and you have to take some advice from Ruroni Kenshin and move around to separate them and break up their formations to get good windows to attack, always forcing them to move or turn if they want to attack you. This can make tighter areas a bit more frustrating as it's harder to do of course. As for Awakened Alma, Shinobire made great video for a strategy you can use in Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but it does NOT work in Black. On Master Ninja, I'd say she's the hardest boss to deal with in the game, and I've only found ONE true hole in her defenses on Very Hard/Master Ninja. When she's on the ground, strafe around her at mid-range and watch for her insane barrage of laser blasts to start. When she does this, use Flying Swallow. You won't hit, you'll actually glance off her armor, but you'll land behind her and throw off her laser blasts at first. When you land, tap Y /(Heavy Atk button) to do the Haze Slash and partially stun her. Then dodge to the side, because her lasers will start to catch up, and use another Flying Swallow to knock her down fully. That's the only real weak spot I've found in Black apart from the Spear Gun trick. :D (Also, the reason it doesn't work on lower difficulties is because she doesn't fire as many blasts off. You need the time interval of all 3 waves for this strategy. XD )
Glad to see this video is finding some Ninja Gaiden fans! Most of my subscriber base is probably not interested in the game at all, so it's nice to see some new people or parts of my audience that have played Ninja Gaiden. Reading this comment, I wish I had gone slightly more in-depth on the enemy design, because I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but what's done is done, I guess.
I really liked what you've written in the description about NG being one of the most respected action titles to date and i m saying the best and laughs very hard in the face of games like nioh and this is a message for team ninja to stop the shit called nioh and go back to the real awesomeness that is ninja gaiden and bring us ninja gaiden 4 and 5 and more and why not a remake or another master collection of ninja gaiden black and original ninja gaiden 2
> makes a video for his 5th channel anniversary > disappears > becomes a rad twitch streamer > comes back with a review on Ninja Gaiden > doesn't eloberate further Welcome back RZ!
I'm absolutely obsessed with these games so I am super happy to have found some new videos about these beautiful games. I look forward to devouring all 3 of them and possibly more on your channel. Cheers!
I just wanna say it really pisses me off that the first two NG games for some reason are just forgotten about in terms of Japanese Action titles. The views tell the story here. Compare the views on a DMC and Bayonetta video to an NG video. It’s a god damn travesty. These two games DESERVE RESPECT. NGB and NG2 are legitimately the two best games that are exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Those two games should have a PC version to grow the player base, but we all know how Koei Tecmo handles their PC ports. Whenever someone says to you what are the best games on Xbox say Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden II, cause these games need more love. Some great NG channels to check out are JayTB, Bigalski, Farnham the Drunk, Guilty Gaming, and The Godfather Dictator. If you wanna join the community, come on and join.
*I really wished that Tomonobu Itagaki was or would be Executive Director of Ninja Gaiden 4. It is very unfortunate that Team Ninja passed down Ninja Gaiden 4 Project to other Studios most of us Hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans never heard of or seen !*
Yeah Im hoping the new ninja gaiden games will be good as NGB and NGII, I remember Itagaki said his version of NG3 would have been alot different than the NG3 2012.
I have no issues with the game mechanics, even the abuseable parts. The game is already a nut punch for most people, no need for it to try and be the most difficult game ever.
If I'm being honest, I kind of disagree with you about the bosses. Most of them have issues with being invulnerable to specific attacks at random, with no clear reason. And if they don't, they're just poorly designed, like the giant worms, Smaugan, and the god forsaken tanks and helicopter. Or, in the worst cases, they have both issues like Dynamo and the Alma fights. The only fights I actually consider good are the Ryu clones and, thankfully, the final boss. They're really solid one-on-one's that I've come to enjoy on more recent playthroughs. More power to you for enjoying the fights, at least.
Dude ninja gaiden deserves way more recognition i mean the gaming world is full of dumb shit and to see people don't know the ninja gaiden games or don't like them is ridiculous and stupid
Because it was designed to be hard as fuck but with none of that FromSoftware fairness. Ninja Gaiden is all about high octane explosive action with no breaks and no respite.
this game combat is top tier as fuck not gonna lie i never remember the story since i play this when i am 10 i just like more wall climbing and cool tech
The themes of the story are interesting. In NG people predisposed to kill fiends like the hayabusa clan are likely to turn into fiends themselves because the blood of fiends is effective against fiends, so Ryu might have a part of fiend in him (that's why his skin turns blue) and in NG3 Momiji and Joe Hayabusa says the grip of murder curse, caused by alchemy and a research to create gods, has been an enemy to the hayabusa clan from long before, the power of god is the enemy of the Hayabusa clan
Damm, I rewatched this video dozens of times since it came out and it is the best review for this legendary title in the internet. Truly a fanatic work.
I didn't even know you uploaded. Your videos by far are some of the most underrated. I'm glad to see you back again. Also despite how well the 3d ninja gaiden games are I feel as if it'd also pretty underrated as not many people talk about.
Little tip for the god-forsaken ghost fish: don't use the flail. They can still get in potshots which can fuck you over like nothing else. Instead spam light jumping attacks with the dragon sword. They can rarely, if ever, get in attacks this way.
Thank you! Black is also on Xbox One and Series consoles through backwards compatability, if that helps anything! But otherwise Sigma on the Master Collection is a perfectly fine option.
@@RetropolisZone not an Xbox fan, I like the exclusives but Xbox pass and retro is looking very tempting meanwhile PS5 has like....demons remaster and Returnal...that's it, also they are too expensive.
Your take on UT's pretty much sums up how we ended up with the shit show that is Ninja Gaiden 3. I appreciate that you have a preference and I guess this style of game just isn't for you, because there is no doubt that the entire game was built around using this mechanic frequently. I feel like NG2 realized that people would be getting a bit bored killing with either UT's, Flying Swallows and Izuna Drops constantly for a sequel and that's why they added stylish finishers but even in that game the UT mechanic is extremely prominent.
Been playing NGB since 2005, only ever beat it on normal. Bought the Master Collection and finally beat it on hard (took me literally 6 months) Tried very hard but couldn't get passed the first chapter lol. Still one of my favorite games ever.
This is probably one of the Best Reviews i ever seen. Altough i think You get to the game so Fast. Maybe a development history or how You met it would be better a better start
Glad to see another retrospective from you after a hiatus. I always get super pumped to watch these! I still praise your analytical abilities as better than that of most, larger UA-cam critics. Keep up the good work!
This is the game that inspired a lineage of games to hold block then dodge. I'm surprised at how far that mechanic has survived. It's in Team Ninja's lastest games like Nioh and even in Soleil's own games. It's even in Team Ninja Dissidia.
Which Ninja Gaiden? The original NES game, the arcade game, the Mark 3 game, or the modern one? By the way, graphics and story shouldn't matter. Gameplay is and should be more important. Indiana Jones didn't invent boulder traps.
Hey Retropolis - Shout out to your structured videos, vocabulary, and extraordinary progress speaking English. I went back to your early videos and your accent is super obvious. This is only after watching your recent NG videos and thinking your first language was English. Subbed and excited for your future content.
Thank you so much! It's really nice to read such supportive comments. I am also glad about the progress I've made with the channel, so this means a lot.
Sure Nioh is good but nothing compares to Tomonobu Era Team Ninja and the master class of Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2. Hell even DOA3 is a technological marvel on Xbox and STILL looks great.
Even the easiest enemies, the agent-guys with electro-batons, are bad mofos. But those black spider ninja guys... damn. I hate how they turned those into the main enemy type, being weak pussies, in the sequel.
On a normal mode they really aren't once you get the basics and learn the better moves, it's when you get very hard and master ninja when the masochism starts.
It's been a long time, but this game should at least get a soft reboot or a remake so that they could flesh out all the issues presented in this video. I'm a huge fan and I'm just disappointed by the lack of Ninja gaiden content we have these days
The answer to mopping the floor with the clone using the Vigoorian Flail is the (Dabilahro) maxed out. I defeated him in like 60 seconds and took zero damage with that sick azz 6 hit combo. That is top 3 for favorite weapon for me. Amazing for crowd control. Swinging a great sword that fast is literally insane. That clone couldn’t do absolutely nothing 😂
Of enemy grabs, its notable when youre near stunlocked. Chapter 7, military comes with bayonets. Getting to approach - youre met with bayonets and fraction of time its a grab kebob'd and punished that a Swallow is almost necessary to manage the situation. Minus that, i absolutely dig the metroidvania esque world
I am playing Nioh2 with with the Hayabusa-Outfit, Claws and the Dragonsword. Team Ninja uses so many components like Moves, Ninpos etc. from Ninja Gaiden in Nioh2…. Feels more like a successor to NG2 than NG3
Ninja Gaiden is great primarily because it was made by people that know the intricacies of fighting games, but put them into an action-adventure game without requiring the time and complexity of a fighting game. So you get a lot of the depth of a fighting game, and a lot of the amazing mechanics, but made simpler to perform and it's all in a really well-balanced, nice package.
well put
Team Ninja’s background in fighting games can not be overlooked when looking at NG. The focus on player/enemy positioning, fluid animation and risk/reward mechanics serve to highlight why this series was and is so unique among action games.
Same with DMC and part of the reason it's my favorite along with NG.
I'm looking forward to watching this video later! 2004 Ninja Gaiden/NG Black is one of my absolute favorite games ever!
You are cultured, I see 😎
@@RetropolisZone I just finished watching the video! You covered everything that makes this game great. I do agree with you that Awakened Alma is far and away the hardest boss, and that's saying something, considering that there are many hard bosses! I also remember having a lot of trouble with Griffon, and I believe the Ghost Doku. I would like to make note that, on the harder difficulty levels, one of the benefits of there being regular enemies that spawn during boss fights is that you can use those enemies to generate essence that you can use to attack the boss with Ultimate Techniques. I wonder if that was the intended design.
Best action gamer of all time
These game mechanics influenced Darksouls, Doom Eternal, blue fire, god of war, Sekiro, the later RE games , and so many more. Very underrated in retrospective.
God of War was ripping off Devil May Cry more than Ninja Gaiden.
Ahemmm! Cough! Rygar! Lol god of war is poop
Dark souls has its own thing lol
Doom didn't take from Ninja Gaiden.
@@AlphaZeroX96 the latest Modern Dooms certainly. For example, how certain kills and combos would determine the orbs enemies would drop en Ninja Gaiden Black would fill up your abilities gage, in the same way glory kills ,chainsaw kills, freezing and flamming cause enemies to drop different types of orbs that fill out your ammo and health accordingly . Hugo Martin has even said as such, on how Sekiro and NG influenced the development of Eternal.
LETS GOOO, good to see you back, the king has finally come back 🦀
O_O Where did this come from?? What a wonderful surprise! While I have absolutely no experience with the Ninja Gaiden franchise, I will always drop everything for a new Quickies Don't Cut It!
You only need to play it to know. Ninja Gaiden Black was so incredible at the time. I hope we get more of a return to fast paced action/adventure without it being filtered through souls-esque gameplay...seems like I'll be waiting forever at this point.
*I also think many of your points are fair, but some are definitely a consequence of the time the games were made in (even in terms of characterization). Playing on the higher difficulties (Black) is definitely essential for great/more balanced experience (at least to me).
I agree. I thought Dark Souls had great combat, but I like this adventure style structure better and find that this game is great about giving you save points and items and not making you repeat stuff, or tacking on extra things to 'buff' the difficulty. It's already plenty challenging, and some enemies and bosses don't even have much HP even on the highest difficulty. The lighter ones go from needing 3-4 hits to more like 6-7 maybe? They're just better at kicking you ass. XD
If you're not playing Master Ninja you're not playing Ninja Gaiden. No flying swallow spam there until you want a bayonet to the chest.
The NES trilogy are some of my favorite games. Started the 3D games for the first time on the collection and they're great beyond the difficulty. Mechanically they're solid and have great style
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Just as a reminder but NG Black and NG2 are backwards compatible with the Xbox Series X/S and have HDR and are in 4k.
And they are better than the Sigma versions found in the master collection. 👍
Also 4K for Xbox one X but no HDR
@@trueultimagod2465 yep, I deleted the master collection(game pass)by comparing them to Itagaki's master pieces.
Wow... I got a blast from the past watching this. Not because it was Ninja Gaiden. But because it was a kind of video from you I haven't seen in a LONG time.
I'm glad to see you're still here, and not just livestreaming. I love it when people still do stuff like this, among other things.
The gameplay was incredible!
I played Ninja Gaiden Black on the OG Xbox as a kid, and Sigma later on PS3 and Ps Vita.
The weapon variety, ninpos, challenging enemies, and stages were pretty amazing!
The doppelganger fights were the best in my opinion.
And one cheesy stray that you can do regarding ultimate techniques, is that enemies killed with one, will give you more valuable yellow orbs, and in certain areas, you can get to 99 999 orbs pretty easily, and get stacked for the rest of the game
The minions added to bosses I think adds a lot. First a lot of bosses have closerange and longrange patterns (like dynamo shooting lasers at long range). With minions you have to learn to avoid those long range attacks while dealing with the minions, while otherwise you can just rush them and never have to deal with that. They also prevent you from just wailing on a boss nonstop because they spawn every at 25% health. Like with your clip against paz zuu, you shouldve heard them spawn when you hit him below 25% health and fall back, rather than just keep hitting him until you got sniped. Its true the camera can suck with a boss+minions though.
Awakened alma starts tracking you with her fireball volley. You can avoid that by either rolljumping at a slightly inward curve (try to follow the circle thats in the middle of the arena) or roll one way and then jump the other way.
I would love to point out Ryu had emotional damage because not only his village was ambushed but the girl was his Bestfriend “childhood friend” more or less but he wanted to truly avenge her but once he got it he didn’t feel “better” about it but the doku curse that coursed through him was about how let vengeance take him to do all this. Which is reflected through 2-3 trust I thought there was no character depth till later i looked a bit deeper😭 Ryu isn’t a “mindless killer” but his doppelgänger is supposed to show what he would become allowing himself to be consumed through killing without “purpose”
If you watch the end of ninja gaiden the girl is alive....
@@LONELY-VISUAL What do you mean, she literally has a tombstone which the dragon eye was placed upon...
awesome video! i am actually a fan of ET/UT charging, as it rewards a player who is really good at positioning and timing in a way most games don't. being able to chain UTs requires a lot of skill and environmental awareness so i think it is a great addition to the game.
Well considering this motherfucker Uh didn't make this game and I trust the developers of the game more than this guy fuck this guy and fuck his faggot ass opinion.
Black is MOSTLY superior, but one step back is that the NES game was unlockable with OG Ninja Gaiden, whereas Black had the original Arcade game. The Arcade game isn't bad, but the NES game is much better.
I think all three nes games were unlockable in the og...I did it when the game first released. Pretty sweet unlockables.
hands down the best game ever made imo
_Spits out coffee_
THE BOI IS BACK! :D
*noobs-* "Omg, Bloodborne and all Dark Souls games and Elden Ring are so hard!"
*Ninja Gaiden and Nioh-* "Hold my fluid, super fast paced gameplay and my extremely low health.*
Ngl i found Nioh and Nioh 2 easier than fromsoft games, but Ninja Gaiden was more difficult when it came down to mobs of enemies, bosses are pretty straightforward on hard mode still so far at least, don’t think i have the skill or patience to go past hard mode and do master ninja however
Holy crap! I was not expecting to see a new video from you... I still watch your channel regularly because your reviews are just THAT GOOD but this made my day. (I know I should wait to the end of the vid to comment but I'm just too excited).
Wish we got ninja gaiden black remastered but they lost the code for that so instead we got sigma in which my opinion it's alright but they took away some graphics for the og
Glad to see you back your reviews have always been some of the best on UA-cam.
High praise, man! Thank you. :)
Are you going to cover the second and third 3D ninja gaiden games?
If I don't get captured by the Koei Tecmo ninjas, then yes.
Beautifully done RZ 🙂 and fun fact ryu hayabusa, along with the likes of kasumi, ayane and even Rachel are all in dead or alive, a fighting game series that is also done by koei tecmo and team ninja, 🙂
So weird seeing a reboot so different from it's precursors, and yet it's well loved because of those differences. Rare to see that
Yeah. I know I definitely prefer the modern Ninja Gaiden trilogy over the NES trilogy. Not that the NES trilogy doesn't have it strengths.
I love how I can watch your videos while doing something totally different. You helped me get through a tough day!! Ninja gaiden is my favorite series. Im lit to play the first and second one tonight. This video gave me the excitement I needed to finally try a master ninja run on both. Haven’t touched either game in almost half a decade but the muscle memory shouldn’t let me down lol.
>Soft lock-on sometimes not accurate
>Hard lock-on wouldn't always be sensible with the amount of enemies and speed of combat
... darn it, where's my "Why don't we have both?" meme...? I swear I put it here _somewhere..._
Nothing has beaten Ninja Gaiden Black to this day. I play Nioh 1 and 2, and I get shades of Dark Souls mixed with Ninja Gaiden, but the lack of aerial maneuvers and jumping is very apparent. Still doesn't come close to NGB.
Not to mention the soulsborne genre has a problem with being TOO challenge run accepting (makes me think of a scene from Zeke and Luther where they put tape on the tv remote for Luther’s grandma)
Wow, I thought that your next YT project was going to be Castlevania related. Anyways good to have you back!
Thanks! If I keep the channel going, I will definitely do those Castlevania videos at some point or another!
If you want to see what high level Ninja Gaiden Black could look like I would recommend checking out TheGodfatherDictator. He's held records for speedrunning and also did various challenge runs for the game.
Seeing this on my home page was so unexpected, but hey, I’m not complaining. It’s a nice surprise
It was Dark Souls before Dark Souls.
Legit though doesn't recieve enough respect as it should
If we get Ninja Gaiden 4, they need to go back and establish a few things about the story to make us care more.
This game runs surprisingly well on Xbox One. They not only added backwards compatibility, but the resolution and anti-aliasing make it smooth and crisp to play, only downside is I have to insert my original xbox disc each time. Great way for the game to live on!
Nice to see you again RZ . RZ have you played Shinobi for ps2 ?
Thanks! And no I have not played Shinobi for PS2. Is it good?
Why has your voice gotten deep and hit the floor lol
It's a combination of different microphone, getting older and having better/more natural voice technique. I put on more of a voice in my videos from 2018 and prior, but I found it exhausing to do and not worth it anymore.
Nimpo gives you invulnerability while casting. It's probably it's best use. That's how I counter bosses that have bullshit moves like Awakened Alma.
Idk I've played a number of kaizos and had a much harder time woth this game. And there absolutely are moments where you'll be sent back multiple levels when dying
Play this game all the time like it came out yesterday, timeless game. Im #9 on true dragon sword survival (varick da great)
Glad to see you’re back!!! Your long form reviews were always the best!
I understand you prefer spectacle fighters like DMC and Bayonetta, so I thus understand why you seemed to have difficulties with some encounters. The issue is that you "cant" play this game like a spectacle fighter. Using flashy weapons is more fun, but usually much less effective.
That said, spectacular feat to beat these games on multiple difficulties.
This is a great video. Love how you went into every aspect of the game, the level design and the soundtrack. Love the comparison with Devil May Cry 3 at the end, and one could make a case for any of them being the best action game of the generation. Very impressed with the video and look forward to watching the next parts of this retrospective.
Greatly appreciate seeing this in 2021. I agree, this game is legendary and doesn't get enough attention from people seeking good action. To this day, I find many of its enemies to be the most brilliantly designed in gaming. They are ruthlessly smart and I have many stories about that, but I also think in general, they're well-planned. The game is constantly throwing enemies at you that mess with what you've learned to rely on so far.
After the first stage of leaning just to hit when you see an opening, you get hit by samurai who block nearly everything and are accompanied by teleporting enemies with ranged fireball magic. Then you get counterattacks, and the following stage throws in enemies that can grab you if you sit there trying to guard so you can use it over and over. You have to learn to leave your guard down and watch for an enemy to go for a physical attack before putting up your guard to intercept it. Enemies can be evil, but I love them because of how they require such distinct approaches, and the higher level ones that only appear on higher settings are genuinely smarter and more deadly than their weaker counterparts. They are the perfect example of a 're-rigged' enemy done right.
Audio and visual cues are also excellent. I can often read enemies' moves with either one of two things, 1 being sounds, the other being how they approach me. Certain behaviors go along with certain attacks, and catching these changes in movement often signal oncoming attacks with almost prophetic accuracy.
Commenting on a couple of things that came up in the video. Working with enemy groups and avoiding those instant grabs tends to require careful consideration for the entire group. Group enemies fight in a way that's designed to close off blind spots, and you have to take some advice from Ruroni Kenshin and move around to separate them and break up their formations to get good windows to attack, always forcing them to move or turn if they want to attack you. This can make tighter areas a bit more frustrating as it's harder to do of course.
As for Awakened Alma, Shinobire made great video for a strategy you can use in Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but it does NOT work in Black. On Master Ninja, I'd say she's the hardest boss to deal with in the game, and I've only found ONE true hole in her defenses on Very Hard/Master Ninja. When she's on the ground, strafe around her at mid-range and watch for her insane barrage of laser blasts to start. When she does this, use Flying Swallow. You won't hit, you'll actually glance off her armor, but you'll land behind her and throw off her laser blasts at first. When you land, tap Y /(Heavy Atk button) to do the Haze Slash and partially stun her. Then dodge to the side, because her lasers will start to catch up, and use another Flying Swallow to knock her down fully. That's the only real weak spot I've found in Black apart from the Spear Gun trick. :D
(Also, the reason it doesn't work on lower difficulties is because she doesn't fire as many blasts off. You need the time interval of all 3 waves for this strategy. XD )
Glad to see this video is finding some Ninja Gaiden fans! Most of my subscriber base is probably not interested in the game at all, so it's nice to see some new people or parts of my audience that have played Ninja Gaiden. Reading this comment, I wish I had gone slightly more in-depth on the enemy design, because I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but what's done is done, I guess.
Anyone who brags about beating a Souls game should try to get all NG achievements/trophies for a real challenge 😁
as far as I'm concerned, this is the best review of ninja gaiden 1
Yes i think it is
I really liked what you've written in the description about NG being one of the most respected action titles to date and i m saying the best and laughs very hard in the face of games like nioh and this is a message for team ninja to stop the shit called nioh and go back to the real awesomeness that is ninja gaiden and bring us ninja gaiden 4 and 5 and more and why not a remake or another master collection of ninja gaiden black and original ninja gaiden 2
> makes a video for his 5th channel anniversary
> disappears
> becomes a rad twitch streamer
> comes back with a review on Ninja Gaiden
> doesn't eloberate further
Welcome back RZ!
Ninja gaiden should be played in japanese language. Best voice to play esspacialy while Combat. So much better fitting
I'm absolutely obsessed with these games so I am super happy to have found some new videos about these beautiful games. I look forward to devouring all 3 of them and possibly more on your channel. Cheers!
Awesome, man! Hope you enjoy your stay. 👍
I just wanna say it really pisses me off that the first two NG games for some reason are just forgotten about in terms of Japanese Action titles. The views tell the story here. Compare the views on a DMC and Bayonetta video to an NG video. It’s a god damn travesty. These two games DESERVE RESPECT. NGB and NG2 are legitimately the two best games that are exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Those two games should have a PC version to grow the player base, but we all know how Koei Tecmo handles their PC ports. Whenever someone says to you what are the best games on Xbox say Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden II, cause these games need more love. Some great NG channels to check out are JayTB, Bigalski, Farnham the Drunk, Guilty Gaming, and The Godfather Dictator. If you wanna join the community, come on and join.
*I really wished that Tomonobu Itagaki was or would be Executive Director of Ninja Gaiden 4. It is very unfortunate that Team Ninja passed down Ninja Gaiden 4 Project to other Studios most of us Hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans never heard of or seen !*
Yeah Im hoping the new ninja gaiden games will be good as NGB and NGII, I remember Itagaki said his version of NG3 would have been alot different than the NG3 2012.
I have no issues with the game mechanics, even the abuseable parts. The game is already a nut punch for most people, no need for it to try and be the most difficult game ever.
If I'm being honest, I kind of disagree with you about the bosses. Most of them have issues with being invulnerable to specific attacks at random, with no clear reason. And if they don't, they're just poorly designed, like the giant worms, Smaugan, and the god forsaken tanks and helicopter. Or, in the worst cases, they have both issues like Dynamo and the Alma fights. The only fights I actually consider good are the Ryu clones and, thankfully, the final boss. They're really solid one-on-one's that I've come to enjoy on more recent playthroughs. More power to you for enjoying the fights, at least.
Dude ninja gaiden deserves way more recognition i mean the gaming world is full of dumb shit and to see people don't know the ninja gaiden games or don't like them is ridiculous and stupid
They’re probably the same people who want “cheats for me but not for thee” in fighting game pvp mode to be valid
Where have you been? It was a while since you have posted a video. Great to see a new video from you.
He’s been a rad Twitch streamer
This....is exactly what the doctor ordered!
Because it was designed to be hard as fuck but with none of that FromSoftware fairness. Ninja Gaiden is all about high octane explosive action with no breaks and no respite.
this game combat is top tier as fuck not gonna lie i never remember the story since i play this when i am 10 i just like more wall climbing and cool tech
hater gonna hate but I love razors edge and sigma 2. NGB will always have a special place in my heart
21:36
Devil May Cry solved that issue by allowing you to escape grabs by using Devil Trigger, wish same was done with Ninpo
The grabs through block is bs and does a majority of your health with no warning.
damn good old days playing this game and is still one of the best game i ever played ... miss this kind of adventure hack and slash games
Great to see you back. Your videos are so good.
agree with most but the essence chaining is a strong disagree from me
"being operated by a drunk horse"
You can tell this guy has partied hard in his life.
Still worth playing today, as a kid I played this aswell.
Yep hasn't lost any value at all. I played "Ninja Gaiden" growing up so this is a blessing to me...😊
The themes of the story are interesting. In NG people predisposed to kill fiends like the hayabusa clan are likely to turn into fiends themselves because the blood of fiends is effective against fiends, so Ryu might have a part of fiend in him (that's why his skin turns blue) and in NG3 Momiji and Joe Hayabusa says the grip of murder curse, caused by alchemy and a research to create gods, has been an enemy to the hayabusa clan from long before, the power of god is the enemy of the Hayabusa clan
Ayyy, the boi is back!
You're back!
Damm, I rewatched this video dozens of times since it came out and it is the best review for this legendary title in the internet. Truly a fanatic work.
You are back ???
Interesting
Only 45 Scarabs? Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame xD
He's back!
I didn't even know you uploaded.
Your videos by far are some of the most underrated.
I'm glad to see you back again.
Also despite how well the 3d ninja gaiden games are I feel as if it'd also pretty underrated as not many people talk about.
Well every truly great hack n slash has that one shit water level
I like Ninja Gaiden 2 and 3 more than 1 tbh.
the 2004 version best game I ever purchased for XB. Still own it.
Little tip for the god-forsaken ghost fish: don't use the flail. They can still get in potshots which can fuck you over like nothing else. Instead spam light jumping attacks with the dragon sword. They can rarely, if ever, get in attacks this way.
Love the intro. It really shows the evolution of the series.
Thanks! I did my best to make it as slick as possible, so I'm glad somebody noticed it, haha
Nice review. I might get the Master collection just to play this one, sad that Black is only on Xbox.
Thank you! Black is also on Xbox One and Series consoles through backwards compatability, if that helps anything! But otherwise Sigma on the Master Collection is a perfectly fine option.
@@RetropolisZone not an Xbox fan, I like the exclusives but Xbox pass and retro is looking very tempting meanwhile PS5 has like....demons remaster and Returnal...that's it, also they are too expensive.
Your take on UT's pretty much sums up how we ended up with the shit show that is Ninja Gaiden 3. I appreciate that you have a preference and I guess this style of game just isn't for you, because there is no doubt that the entire game was built around using this mechanic frequently.
I feel like NG2 realized that people would be getting a bit bored killing with either UT's, Flying Swallows and Izuna Drops constantly for a sequel and that's why they added stylish finishers but even in that game the UT mechanic is extremely prominent.
Been playing NGB since 2005, only ever beat it on normal. Bought the Master Collection and finally beat it on hard (took me literally 6 months)
Tried very hard but couldn't get passed the first chapter lol. Still one of my favorite games ever.
This is probably one of the Best Reviews i ever seen. Altough i think You get to the game so Fast. Maybe a development history or how You met it would be better a better start
Glad to see another retrospective from you after a hiatus. I always get super pumped to watch these! I still praise your analytical abilities as better than that of most, larger UA-cam critics. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for being here since the beginning, man! Does me good to see a supporter who is still here no matter the game.
@@RetropolisZone You're very welcome! When I found your channel, I knew I stumbled onto a future success. It's been a pleasure to watch your journey!
Ninja Gaiden Black is the goat in the series imo
This is the game that inspired a lineage of games to hold block then dodge. I'm surprised at how far that mechanic has survived. It's in Team Ninja's lastest games like Nioh and even in Soleil's own games. It's even in Team Ninja Dissidia.
Got to see ya back buddy, keep up the good work :)
Ninjs Gaiden is THE O.G. of action games, its non forgiving and full of varied gameplay...truly a modern classic ❤ great video!
Never played the original grew up with the revival and everything you say is truth everyday I hope for a Ninja Gaiden 4 hopefully one day.
The get better and better, truly there's no real bad ones..and yea, I'd love a 4th too!
Which Ninja Gaiden? The original NES game, the arcade game, the Mark 3 game, or the modern one?
By the way, graphics and story shouldn't matter. Gameplay is and should be more important.
Indiana Jones didn't invent boulder traps.
this game makes you feel like just enough of a bad ass to keep going after you die time after time lol
Hey Retropolis -
Shout out to your structured videos, vocabulary, and extraordinary progress speaking English. I went back to your early videos and your accent is super obvious. This is only after watching your recent NG videos and thinking your first language was English.
Subbed and excited for your future content.
Thank you so much! It's really nice to read such supportive comments. I am also glad about the progress I've made with the channel, so this means a lot.
Sure Nioh is good but nothing compares to Tomonobu Era Team Ninja and the master class of Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2.
Hell even DOA3 is a technological marvel on Xbox and STILL looks great.
Even the easiest enemies, the agent-guys with electro-batons, are bad mofos. But those black spider ninja guys... damn. I hate how they turned those into the main enemy type, being weak pussies, in the sequel.
I'm in the minority that doesn't think Ninja Gaiden games are too difficult.
On a normal mode they really aren't once you get the basics and learn the better moves, it's when you get very hard and master ninja when the masochism starts.
Best game in my life 🥺💔😔
Holy shit, RZ's back!!!
It's been a long time, but this game should at least get a soft reboot or a remake so that they could flesh out all the issues presented in this video. I'm a huge fan and I'm just disappointed by the lack of Ninja gaiden content we have these days
Best action game ever made.
The answer to mopping the floor with the clone using the Vigoorian Flail is the (Dabilahro) maxed out. I defeated him in like 60 seconds and took zero damage with that sick azz 6 hit combo. That is top 3 for favorite weapon for me. Amazing for crowd control. Swinging a great sword that fast is literally insane. That clone couldn’t do absolutely nothing 😂
Of enemy grabs, its notable when youre near stunlocked. Chapter 7, military comes with bayonets. Getting to approach - youre met with bayonets and fraction of time its a grab kebob'd and punished that a Swallow is almost necessary to manage the situation.
Minus that, i absolutely dig the metroidvania esque world
Great video as always, keep up the awesome work man.
I am playing Nioh2 with with the Hayabusa-Outfit, Claws and the Dragonsword. Team Ninja uses so many components like Moves, Ninpos etc. from Ninja Gaiden in Nioh2…. Feels more like a successor to NG2 than NG3
And this, my son, is what I call a "high quality video".