After having played through the earlier XBOX versions and now finished normal mode on PlayStation 3, I can now make the comparison between the newest Ninja Gaiden Black and its predecessors.
For the most part the game itself is every bit of ace that it originally was, so if you own a PS3 and never experienced Ninja Gaiden before, by all means pick this one up. It's a must own for sure.
However, there are a few changes that I find to be annoying, so I'll just list them:
- "Sigma" is much easier than the XBOX's "Black". The enemies, bosses, and challenges seem to be in "Ninja Dog" mode even on the normal setting.
- ALL puzzle elements have been taken out. There weren't really that many to begin with (perhaps the programmers felt it interrupted the flow of the game).
- Save points and shop statues are more abundant and placed in more helpful locations.
- Certain stages have been truncated (fire cavern, Aztec pyramid) to allow for some new content.
- Load times. Holy crap this game has load times (even after you install it). They come at the worst times too...
When you're flipping back-and-forth on the wall up a long shaft *STOP! - LOAD TIME!* Open an item chest *STOP! - LOAD TIME!* Performing a combo in mid-air *STOP! - LOAD TIME!* Ryu turns his head to the side and coughs *STOP! - LOAD TIME!*
Get the idea? It's annoying.
- A certain "cheap move" is obtained right at the beginning and it even works on boss fights (Hint: "airborn bird"). It's even on the first stage in hard mode.
- The "true wooden sword" has been underpowered and therefore is hardly woth the time and effort of getting.
- The music was rearranged on certain parts. The first battle with Doku no longer has that awesome tribal drum battle theme (this greatly disappoints me, as that was one of the best pieces of music in the game).
- The entire game just feels dumbed down and over-simplified (satisfying the "casual gamer" apparently).
Now for the improvements:
- The game looks amazing. Ninja Gaiden was easily one of the finest looking XBOX titles. Now it looks even better.
- You can play Rachel's levels (even though they're just retreading the same areas, fighting the same enemies as Ryu, at least it's actually there).
- New blade weapon(s) that are actually pretty decent.
- New enemies and at least one new boss.
- The burning village is now a playable stage and not just a cutscene (and it totally slays!).
- Acquiring Ryu's old-school NES outfit after finishing normal mode (as opposed to to very hard mode on "Black").
- The moat level is actually fun now.
- New music added that's very well done (at the expense of replacing music I liked on the original versions on certain parts though- Hint: Doku first battle).
- Real-time engine cutscenes replace the CGI ones. This is probably the closest I've seen in game engine graphics rival pre-rendered computer generated cinemas.
I have to play through the rest on hard mode, but for now I still prefer Ninja Gaiden Black if I were to choose between that and Sigma. There are some minor annoyances (actually taking out all the puzzles is a major annoyance) but they are still reasons why I still like the XBOX gmaes slightly more.
However, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is still nothing short of awesome and if you enjoyed the xbox versions than go ahead and give this one a go.
For those of you who haven't played the game, check it out.
...
I mean seriously... what is wrong with you!? Go on, PLAY IT!
Go on...
go...
[quote] - The burning village is now a playable stage and not just a cutscene (and it totally slays!).
It wasn't already? Are we talking about the Hayabusa Ninja Village?
The dumbed down difficulty is by no means a bad thing. Towards the end of Ninja Gaiden, I felt like I was revising for a ****ing exam, trying to memorize boss attack patterns and combos. :(
[quote=ZEN;619418]Just the fire part after defeating the horse samurai and the unwinnable Doku fight. The rest of the village was there in earlier versions.
Neat! I like fighting in vain against the end boss near the start of any game.
[quote] Yeah, I guess "two button attack combos" are pretty complex, huh?
Still suck ***.
[quote]The dumb-downed part is referring to the puzzle elements being removed. It's not like it took a genius to figure them out, but at least it offered some more depth to the game.
You said the enemy difficulty had been reduced too.
Hey ZEN, you forgot to mention the fact about the water looking like complete *** compared to the XBox version... and no freaks, I'm not a fanboy. I bought the PS3 for two reasons:
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Metal Gear Solid 4
Now, while I'm in this topic, I think I'll let you know my views on things via linkage. I have a GameTrailers account which occasionally I blog on, so if you want to see what I have to say about it all, check out my link:
http://roth.gametrailers.com/gamepad/index.php?action=viewblog&id=115429
This is all first hand account of someone who played the **** out of Ninja Gaiden Black, so if you want an honest opinion on the conversion, the link above is the resource you need to look at. Remember, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is one of the reasons I bought a PS3... I still don't feel ripped off though, at least the PS3 has GREAT backwards compatibility : )
Get used to it buddy. A lot of PS3 titles currently look pretty bad in SD and that will probably continue for awhile. Sigma looks ****ing amazing in HD though. it's crazy.
Hold on, it looks good on a regular TV, yes... I never knocked the graphics except for that one part, freak! There is no transparent viewing through that portion... did you notice that? Go play it again, and hit me up.
If it's different on HD, then I guess I better learn to play the stocks.
I'm just saying that the jump between SD and HD on the PS3 is fairly massive for a lot of games. In comparison they look quite bad in SD. NGS is really no exception. Except the jump seems to be even bigger.
You're an idiot who can't comprehend the phrase "in comparison to" apparently.
Apparently, you can't read. I have never seen in HD because I can't afford it. Apparently your parents can, brat.
Look, I've played the game, and ONE part looked horrible, can't you accept that? Oh ****! You must be a fanboy? **** dude, I've said the whole time that I like the game Ninja Gaiden Black more, and you stress about one part in a game. Man, look at what you've said.
*Laughter ensues* at the both of you
I don't like the blue-ish water in the aquaducts on the PS3. The reflective/transparent water looks better in my opinion.
Then again, I haven't played it in HD either but I'm wondering how a better resolution is supposed to improve transparency and texture.
Rest assured if I do get an HDTV, NGS is getting beaten at least two more times.
Okay pal, you used words like this:
"Get used to it buddy." At that point, I was talking about the game in general. Did you not read that right boy? Apparently not.
Now, this ISN'T what the topic was about. It was about Sigma being easier. I read in another thread that you loved Ninja Gaiden Black.... soooooo.... how can you defend what I was talking about in the first place? Black is SUPERIOR to Sigma is all that I was saying. hmmm.. now that I think about it, I believe you're arguing for the sake of arguing. If you appreciated Black so much, how can you actually stick up for Sigma when it's the weaker version of the game... hmmmm boy???
I still don't understand how you got all ****y about a comment about water.
I read just fine ***. And oh, I'll make sure that I "the thread, dude" next time... whatever the hell that means. Christ. You really are a *****. THE WATER LOOKS LIKE **** ON A PART IN THE GAME. It's an easier game. That's all I have to say since apparently you'd rather rub your money in people's faces than talk about the game. You win all of the Internets.
ah... oh wow. Calm down, man, you're flipping out over nothing. I never got ****y over anything, I just said how the water looked fine to me. I never had any issue with anything you said, I was just giving my opinion and pointing out how most PS3 titles aren't made for SD, hence graphical glitches like, what I imagine, the water in that specific area in Sigma.
As for the last comment, you're 31, man. Grow up. It's embarrassing.
*** hes older than Jesse.....Christ