.: The Official Ninja Gaiden II Thread (Reviews are coming in!) :. (56k warning)

Here are some more videos that reveal some characters in the game:

Genshin

Elizebet

rragnaar

Awesome videos, thanks.

I'm getting primed for Ninja Gaiden II by playing through the other ones. I recently grabbed the NES versions of NG and NGII on the VC and will be getting the third one sometime this week. Then I plan on going through NGB after those.

I'm getting so pumped for this game. Arrrrrrggggghhhh! Yeah baby! Stay alpha! :P

I found a new video

http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/ninja-gaiden-2/871206p1.html

It sure looks tough...

[QUOTE="D3s7rUc71oN"]

I found a new video

http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/ninja-gaiden-2/871206p1.html

It sure looks tough...

dvader654

Holy Moly!

Can't believe as soon as I'm done with GTAIV I'll be able to move on to Ninja Gaiden II, two of my top 5 favorite games will have been released within a span of 60 days that is amazing.

[QUOTE="dvader654"][QUOTE="D3s7rUc71oN"]

I found a new video

http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/ninja-gaiden-2/871206p1.html

It sure looks tough...

HiResDes

Holy Moly!

Can't believe as soon as I'm done with GTAIV I'll be able to move on to Ninja Gaiden II, two of my top 5 favorite games will have been released within a span of 60 days that is amazing.

I know what you mean, it is pretty awesome. While it really doesn't give me much time to get caught up on all the games I would like to I still love it.

The second part of IGN's Friends and Fiends feature went up today.

The second part of IGN's Friends and Fiends feature went up today.

Dutch_Mix

Joe Hayabusa? Wasn't he called Ken in the old Ninja Gaidens?

Also, the videos are so full of win :lol:

This thread doesn't show up when you search for it... You gotta keep this thing bumped Dutch Mix.:P

...anyway, Gamersyde has some new concept art and vids up.

Ninja Gaiden 2: Media explosion

Sweet link to some great stuff there Rag.

I agree with you there HiRes, having Joe as a playable character would be pretty awesome.

The demo should be available sometime this week, probably at the end of the week I would imagine. I can't wait for it so I can pass the time until next month when the game comes out.

Mad Props for such a well made epic thread!

I had forgotten about this release, and this thread has me amped for it! Looking forward to the Demo! Hope you can add more info and screenshots. It all looks great. :D

This thread doesn't show up when you search for it... You gotta keep this thing bumped Dutch Mix.:P

...anyway, Gamersyde has some new concept art and vids up.

Ninja Gaiden 2: Media explosion

rragnaar

Thanks.

Just updated the original thread (these blasted HTML errors will be the death of me...)

Demo! I need to know if I am now man enough.

No news of the demo yet (don't worry, Steel, your manliness will be tested soon enough) but I did find this interesting Kotaku interview with Itagaki.

(Regarding future Ninja Gaiden games)

"Personally I think we were able to create the definitive 3D game in this series so I'm not planing on making any other games in the series," Itagaki said through a translator. "So I hope fans treat this as a swan song for the franchise. "I think we were able to achieve everything we wanted with this game so anything else would be extraneous."

No news of the demo yet (don't worry, Steel, your manliness will be tested soon enough) but I did find this interesting Kotaku interview with Itagaki.

(Regarding future Ninja Gaiden games)

"Personally I think we were able to create the definitive 3D game in this series so I'm not planing on making any other games in the series," Itagaki said through a translator. "So I hope fans treat this as a swan song for the franchise. "I think we were able to achieve everything we wanted with this game so anything else would be extraneous."

Dutch_Mix

And that is why he's one of the best designers around.

[QUOTE="Dutch_Mix"]

No news of the demo yet (don't worry, Steel, your manliness will be tested soon enough) but I did find this interesting Kotaku interview with Itagaki.

(Regarding future Ninja Gaiden games)

"Personally I think we were able to create the definitive 3D game in this series so I'm not planing on making any other games in the series," Itagaki said through a translator. "So I hope fans treat this as a swan song for the franchise. "I think we were able to achieve everything we wanted with this game so anything else would be extraneous."

inoperativeRS

And that is why he's one of the best designers around.

Yeah I have no problem with this being the last game, maybe this will allow him to make other games better such as the DOA series, and also I absolutely love new IP...That WWII game that he's considering sounds incredible!

No news of the demo yet (don't worry, Steel, your manliness will be tested soon enough) but I did find this interesting Kotaku interview with Itagaki.

(Regarding future Ninja Gaiden games)

"Personally I think we were able to create the definitive 3D game in this series so I'm not planing on making any other games in the series," Itagaki said through a translator. "So I hope fans treat this as a swan song for the franchise. "I think we were able to achieve everything we wanted with this game so anything else would be extraneous."

Dutch_Mix

I'm not sure how to feel with this. On one hand I absolutely love the Ninja Gaiden franchise and would hate to see it come to an end. However on the other hand if this truly is the series' finale then I'm sure this game will be all kinds of epic goodness and this would allow for Team Ninja to try out their talents on some other game ideas.

Playing gravedigger here. Lifted straight from GamingGeek's joint, EDGE uploaded a NGII preview where it seems that the game has some camera issues.

In part it's the fault of the cramped and narrow environments that make up a significant portion of the game. In part it's a problem with opponents that move so quickly and attack from any angle so they can only be tracked manually. But overall it's thoroughly disappointing: the very second battle of the game takes place on a narrow, descending ramp, and in the course of this fight the camera will do everything but show you the fight as it needs to be seen - getting stuck, losing sight of Ryu in the midst of the group, and occasionally flipping views back and forth in the space of a few seconds.

Let's hope things get ironed out by the time the game hits the streets. The thing will be difficult enough without having to fight the camera as well.

The first NG had camera issues as well and they never bothered me much, I don't think there's any way they've gotten worse knowing Team Ninja. I'm quite sure this is just Edge being, well, Edge.

Also, according to the IGN editor blogs the one problem mentioned in the preview that made me a bit nervous, the easy bosses, has been fixed in the final build :twisted:

Edit: wrong smiley :lol:

The first NG had camera issues as well and they never bothered me much, I don't think there's any way they've gotten worse knowing Team Ninja. I'm quite sure this is just Edge being, well, Edge.

Also, according to the IGN editor blogs the one problem mentioned in the preview that made me a bit nervous, the easy bosses, has been fixed in the final build :twisted:

Edit: wrong smiley :lol:

inoperativeRS

Yeah I never had problems with the first game's camera issues either and like you say this is Edge so I'm not concerned at all about how the camera will like in NG II.

Great to hear that the bosses will put up a good fight as well.

I want my NG II demo already though.

I can understand the concerns for the camera but given that its EDGE, I'm not concerned as they're one of the most nitpicky reviewers out there just check out their scores from some games.

As for the demo, I wouldn't be surprised if it hits the 22nd or 29th.

I can understand the concerns for the camera but given that its EDGE, I'm not concerned as they're one of the most nitpicky reviewers out there just check out their scores from some games.

As for the demo, I wouldn't be surprised if it hits the 22nd or 29th.

D3s7rUc71oN

29th, that would be a little late IMO, doesn't the game come out a week after.

[QUOTE="D3s7rUc71oN"]

I can understand the concerns for the camera but given that its EDGE, I'm not concerned as they're one of the most nitpicky reviewers out there just check out their scores from some games.

As for the demo, I wouldn't be surprised if it hits the 22nd or 29th.

HiResDes

29th, that would be a little late IMO, doesn't the game come out a week after.

Well most demos hit markeplace on Thursday :P, so I hope we get it after tomorrow.

Well I believe they said the demo would be out around the middle of this month so I would imagine it should be out sometime this week.Archangel3371

Tomorrow! Let's hope it goes out tomorrow.

Not that GTA4 leaves me with much spare time, but hey, gratuituous bloodshed and dismemberment are hard to resist. :P

I so cannot wait for this game! And where is that bloody demo?!

Oh well here's a few more pics to drool at.

.

Well, hope that Izuna and that sommersault throw are not that spammable this time. They were mostly fixed in Black and Sigma anyway.

I have no idea what Ryu's doing with his right arm in this pic but whatever it is it must be totally awesome.

Why aren't people talking about the somewhat dissappointing reviews for this game, what in the world is going on?

Gamesradar - 7/10

IGN - 8.7/10

Eurogamer - 7/10

CVG - 8/10

Gamedaily - 9/10

I just saw the IGN review I thought that was the only one out, that score shocked me. These other scores are totally freaking me out, what happend. *Goes to read*dvader654

Everyone is citing four main reasons

- Camera issues, just as bad as the first game

- Graphical issues, the environments supposedly look bland and like a last gen game

- A frustratingly hard difficulty, supposedly the game is so hard that it feels cheap, and many reviewers make it sound as if it is harder than the first game.

My thoughts, the camera issues are something that needed to be fixed, but are also extremely hard to fix given the break neck pace of the game. I don't think anyone was expecting a graphical marvel, but I was hoping that the levels were less linear than the first game, even though some parts in the first game were quote open, most of them were quite linear. The difficulty is one aspect that I think Itagaki just could not win, if he had made the game easier than fans like me would have made an uproar, but if he had the made the game any harder as I suspect he did, he would basically make the game unplayable for newcomers. I think it says something when Gamedaily gives the 9/10 (I think of them as being fans of games with old school levels of difficulty) and basically everyone else thinks the game is just decent. If the game indeed does feel more like work than fun than thats not good. I still think Ninja Gaiden II is probably everything I expected, and I am suprised that so many reviewers seem to have been suprised at what they were getting. Ninja Gaiden II sounds as much like Ninja Gaiden, as Zelda TP felt like OoT, if you didn't like the first game of course you aren't going to like the sequel.

Why aren't people talking about the somewhat dissappointing reviews for this game, what in the world is going on?

Gamesradar - 7/10

IGN - 8.7/10

Eurogamer - 7/10

CVG - 8/10

Gamedaily - 9/10

HiResDes

Most of the reviews (all with the exception of 1) seem to agree that NG2 suffers from cheap challenges, a sloppy camera, and an uneven difficulty level. In terms of design, the apple didn't fall far from the tree, but stuff which was acceptable the first go round is unacceptable three games later. The ability to record one's fights is really cool, but it isn't enough. The way Itagaki talked I thought he was going to polish NG2 to perfection...

I'll pick this up down the line once its a greatest hit.

It seems everyone is saying that it's too much like the original which is a perfectly sound complaint, but then please be consistant. These same reviewers gush over yearly expansion packs such as Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 4 and then "slam" (let's not ignore the fact that it's still getting good/great reviews) Ninja Gaiden II - except that Ninja Gaiden does what it does much better than those games in the first place.

I never realized that Ninja Gaiden had a "horrible" camera - and if so, why did every reviewer ignore it back then? Frustratingly hard and inconsistent difficulty - check. That didn't stop the original being one of the best games ever made. So basically it all comes down to it being too similar to the original. Again, a fair complaint and definitely grounds for slight disappointment - but at the same time meaningless coming from the people that will at the end of the year give awards to games that recycle formulas even more obviously and more repeatedly than Ninja Gaiden.

[QUOTE="HiResDes"]

[QUOTE="dvader654"]I just saw the IGN review I thought that was the only one out, that score shocked me. These other scores are totally freaking me out, what happend. *Goes to read*dvader654

Everyone is citing four main reasons

- Camera issues, just as bad as the first game

- Graphical issues, the environments supposedly look bland and like a last gen game

- A frustratingly hard difficulty, supposedly the game is so hard that it feels cheap, and many reviewers make it sound as if it is harder than the first game.

My thoughts, the camera issues are something that needed to be fixed, but are also extremely hard to fix given the break neck pace of the game. I don't think anyone was expecting a graphical marvel, but I was hoping that the levels were less linear than the first game, even though some parts in the first game were quote open, most of them were also quite linear. The difficulty is one aspect that I think Itagaki just could not win, if he had made the game easier than fans like me would made an uproar, but if he had the made the game any harder as I suspect he did he would basically make the game unplayable for noobs like most of the reviewers. I think it says something when Gamedaily gives the 9/10 (I think of them as being fans of games with old school levels of difficulty) and basically everyone else thinks the game is just decent. I still think Ninja Gaiden II is probably everything I expected, and I am suprised that so many reviewers seem to have been suprised at what they were getting. Ninja Gaiden II sounds as much like Ninja Gaiden, as Zelda TP felt like OoT, if you didn't like the first game of course you aren't going to like the sequel.

The thing that confuses me is why would the first game, being so hard, get some of the best reviews of any game last gen but then this game get reviews all over the place. I know the same people are probably not reviewing the game but still I hope its people that loved NG1. Is the difficulty really that unbalanced, is the game clearly that much similar to NG1, maybe worse in some aspects. I dont know.

This is a game I rather read reader reviews on cause I know the readers better. Not that it matters I will get this game regardless of what anyone says. I just expected slightly better than NG1, I wonder if this game falls short.

It sounds like NG2 is a much cheaper game than its predecessor but I doubt that its difficulty fluctuations could be any wilder than those of NG1 (challenge wise NG1 seemed like it had been thrown in a blender).

Yeah those reviews are a bit of a shock as I was expecting 9+'s across the board for this game. It's hard to know how much of a problem the camera is as I never really had too much of a problem with it in the first game. The thought of cheapness being used to increase difficulty sounds worrying to me.

Oh well I still plan on picking this up on day one though I just wish they would hurry up with that demo already. They really should have just said it would be available near the end of the month instead of saying around the middle of the month.

I agree UIF, I never thought of the camera in NG1 to be terrible.

I have noticed something about these review reactions from around the web. So NG2 gets these scores and everyone is quick to attack the reviews. But DMC4 gets the same scores and everyone is quick to agree with them. I see how it is... :P

dvader654

No, I said the same about DMC4, if you liked DMC3 then of course you'll like the sequel but if you didn't then you won't.

It seems everyone is saying that it's too much like the original which is a perfectly sound complaint, but then please be consistant. These same reviewers gush over yearly expansion packs such as Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 4 and then "slam" (let's not ignore the fact that it's still getting good/great reviews) Ninja Gaiden II - except that Ninja Gaiden does what it does much better than those games in the first place.

I never realized that Ninja Gaiden had a "horrible" camera - and if so, why did every reviewer ignore it back then? Frustratingly hard and inconsistent difficulty - check. That didn't stop the original being one of the best games ever made. So basically it all comes down to it being too similar to the original. Again, a fair complaint and definitely grounds for slight disappointment - but at the same time meaningless coming from the people that will at the end of the year give awards to games that recycle formulas even more obviously and more repeatedly than Ninja Gaiden.

UpInFlames

You'll have to ask them. The original probably wasn't one of the best games ever made, personally I never really found any of the bosses in the first game truly memorable, there was a lot of cheapness in the first game too but it was the first and the best action game on the xbox at the time and pretty much every flaw got overlooked, the gaming media just got caught up in the hype.

[QUOTE="dvader654"]

I agree UIF, I never thought of the camera in NG1 to be terrible.

I have noticed something about these review reactions from around the web. So NG2 gets these scores and everyone is quick to attack the reviews. But DMC4 gets the same scores and everyone is quick to agree with them. I see how it is... :P

HiResDes

No, I said the same about DMC4, if you liked DMC3 then of course you'll like the sequel but if you didn't then you won't.

Actually DMC4 wasn't as good as DMC3, everything from enemy attack telegraphs to the bosses, it was one step down from the last game.

I haven't really had time to sit down and read the reviews yet, but I'm pretty disappointed with what I've read so far.

*Updated first post with reviews*

[QUOTE="HiResDes"][QUOTE="dvader654"]

I agree UIF, I never thought of the camera in NG1 to be terrible.

I have noticed something about these review reactions from around the web. So NG2 gets these scores and everyone is quick to attack the reviews. But DMC4 gets the same scores and everyone is quick to agree with them. I see how it is... :P

EvilTaru

No, I said the same about DMC4, if you liked DMC3 then of course you'll like the sequel but if you didn't then you won't.

Actually DMC4 wasn't as good as DMC3, everything from enemy attack telegraphs to the bosses, it was one step down from the last game.

oh yeah I definitely agree, but that doesn't invalidate what I said...NG II is starting to sound more like a step down from NG the more I read, so my Zelda TP to OoT point earlier is moot. I wanted the difficulty to be even more challenging than the first, but I also didn't want Itagaki to remove the sense of accomplishment that the first game provided. I'm really sad, but I will still probably pick this game up.

It seems everyone is saying that it's too much like the original which is a perfectly sound complaint, but then please be consistant. These same reviewers gush over yearly expansion packs such as Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 4 and then "slam" (let's not ignore the fact that it's still getting good/great reviews) Ninja Gaiden II - except that Ninja Gaiden does what it does much better than those games in the first place.

I never realized that Ninja Gaiden had a "horrible" camera - and if so, why did every reviewer ignore it back then? Frustratingly hard and inconsistent difficulty - check. That didn't stop the original being one of the best games ever made. So basically it all comes down to it being too similar to the original. Again, a fair complaint and definitely grounds for slight disappointment - but at the same time meaningless coming from the people that will at the end of the year give awards to games that recycle formulas even more obviously and more repeatedly than Ninja Gaiden.

UpInFlames

The number of enemies has been doubled, the action is at least as fast if not faster than ever and the enemies are at least as lethal as their predecessors. That would make a sloppy camera a bigger issue in NG2 than it was in 1 (it was normally mentioned in reviews, though much wasn't made of it).

Also, especting sequels to improve on the strong points and the weak points of their predecessors is perfectly reasonable. A camera that was acceptable in RE1 was intolerable in RECV. Designers shouldn't tell themselves, 'People liked the last game, so I won't change anything!".