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What Made Ninja Gaiden (2004) One Hell Of A Game?

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Ninja Gaiden has pretty much everything you would want from an action game not only from its time but even from an action game you would play today. It has high production values, challenging yet satisfying combat, a great sense of variety, and refuses to get in its own way with an overly complex story.

Even the game play, while still challenging, isn't particularly difficult to wrap your mind around. It's more of a matter of training your mind and muscle memory on how to respond to certain situations then it is learning some complex control scheme to pull off certain moves.

Ninja Gaiden has it all, and it should be no surprise that it has spawned its own new series of games as well as a remastered collection that is on the way right now. Hopefully, if that does well, Team Ninja will take it a step further and give us a new game someday.
 

Bombolone

Gold Member
Didn't own an original Xbox, had to go to my cousins to play it. Its the only Xbox game I have ever 'missed' or felt very strongly for throughout generations. (I mainly owned Sony consoles)
At its release, it was just a cut above the rest. Japanese developer, tight...deep combat, clean beautiful visuals @ 60fps.
I remember back then Ninja Gaiden replaced DMC as my favorite action franchise. Splinter Cell also took my attention after my dissapointment in MGS3.

It really is a gem. One of those pieces of entertainment that just clicks.
The locales Team Ninja take you to, how everything is laid out; it's like going on an adventure as a badass Ninja. I liken it to a classic anime.

I even considered getting the Xbox Game Pass just for Ninja Gaiden. Bailed on it after reading that they took it off.
 
It was Souls before Souls, Nioh’s, Sekiro’s and others. Then it became redundant. Can’t see a future for it, that market is already too saturated (I would love if it happens though).
 
How did it become redundant, and how is the market any more saturated than FPS or sports games which are littered with masses of releases regularly?
Because there are not that many people who like these difficult, brutal games and for anyone not initiated, NG was B R U T A L.

How can you compare that to mass appeal stuff like CoD and FIFA.
 
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Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
I never felt difficult Ninja Gaiden Black, but it is one of the best sagas I have played, I am looking forward to the PC and Nintendo Switch version
 

*Nightwing

Member
Member playing the demo from the official Xbox magazine for weeks till it came out was so hyped, one of the few perfect games around IMO
 
The 3D Ninja Gaiden games are the least "flashy" Character Action games, but I love them because they make you earn your victory in every fight.

The first one I played was 2 on 360 and man it kicked my ass but it introduced me to the "git gud" mindset that can make some games really fun.
 

SSfox

Member
It's one of those games with NG2 that has its own aura, that got lost a bit in NG3 imo, even tho i enjoyed this one as well.

Itagaki has big mouth but there is absolute no denying that he created something special with this franchise.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Graphics, violence, broad move set. The game just flowed very well. You actually were a ninja. Wallrun, wall jumps, bad ass katana action. You could do a shit ton of things in NG, he had quite a chunk of his DoA move set actually.
 

Outlier

Member
The amazingly fluid combat system. I think. The games a pain in the butt if you don't know how to parry., though.

Would play the first level again. :)

But of course, I only played the NGBlack PS3 demo, sooooo....
 
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PhaseJump

Banned
It was an Elder God named Itagaki

70781.jpg
 

93xfan

Banned
It was Souls before Souls, Nioh’s, Sekiro’s and others. Then it became redundant. Can’t see a future for it, that market is already too saturated (I would love if it happens though).

I forgot about the time difficult action games were invented in gen 7.

Ninja Gaiden Black is definitely my favorite action game of all time. Beyond the combat, the atmosphere and environments were amazing!
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Other worldly COMBAT. Arguably still the best ever in a game.

Its the reason I cant even get into Souls games, the combat is trash in comparison.

Not to mention this game had the best graphics ever on console at the time of release.

it was masterful
 
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GreyHorace

Member
I don't think the first Ninja Gaiden was that hard. Sure it could kick your ass during your first time playing it but once you got the combat down and recognized what attacks worked on certain enemies, then it becomes a breeze. Ninja Gaiden Black on the other hand, really ramped up the difficulty but it was still manageable.

I just wish people would stop comparing it to the Souls games. I've only played Sekiro and I couldn't even finish it. Ninja Gaiden on the other hand I've finished multiple times.
 

stn

Member
I love NGB, it is the most perfect and best action game ever. I remember playing the hell out of the vanilla NG demo back when it released, such good times.
 
Because there are not that many people who like these difficult, brutal games and for anyone not initiated, NG was B R U T A L.

How can you compare that to mass appeal stuff like CoD and FIFA.
But the people who like hard games probably spend more on them (or would spend more on them if the content was there via DLC) than mass-appeal stuff like CoD/FIFA, on an individual basis. Collectively CoD/FIFA would always generate more revenue of course.

At the same time, a game like NG even in its day didn't have the type of budget something like a CoD/FIFA/Madden etc. would've required, let alone if a new one were made...assuming the budget were spent wisely. Not that these games are pennies to make but in terms of scale they're probably somewhere behind those mass-market games and most of them have budgets which pale in comparison to the likes of a GTA.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I remember reading a magazine article, titled "Next Big Thing", before the game released. As a PS2 owner, I knew I had to get an Xbox for this game. I owned the gameboy version as a child, but hardly made the connection.
Ninjas were always my thing growing up, from TMNT and Sub Zero, to the questionable "Ninja: Shadow of Darkness" on PS1. All I ever wanted was to wear a cool mask and take on greater odds with a blade. I would have loved this game even if played like crap, but boy was I in for a surprise when I got my hands on this thing. It's tense, responsive, and challenging.

One of the great aspects of the game is the viciousness of the enemy design. Itagaki once said:
"In other action games, the enemies are there for you to kill. In Ninja Gaiden, the enemies are there to kill you."
 
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