Can It Unite the Fans? Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Review

[@chasepalumbo2929]

Literally no one else is doing this level of reviews for action games. Mark always comes correct

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much Chase! I really appreciate the kind words

[@MrJakku26]

​@TheElectricUnderground you know you can play the OG Ninja Gaiden 2 on the Xbox series X 4K HDR 60fps, With no slowing down at the staircase of doom.

[@land_walker]

Here's one reason to own the Xbox Series X, you can play NG Black and OG NG2 in 4k with 60 fps on it.

[@ninetendopesaitama2107]

There are a lot more reasons to own a series x. ☮️

[@land_walker]

@@ninetendopesaitama2107 I know, I have one too. It was a joke referencing when this channel first live streamed this game...

[@ninetendopesaitama2107]

@@land_walker never played a 3d ninja gaiden. I will try the black version. I think I'm always expecting console war.^^ Therefore I misunderstood your comment. I still hate the ps5 design which is not console war imo. ;) ☮️

[@christopherc4770]

@@ninetendopesaitama2107no there isn’t

[@Pswayze23]

I legit don't know a real person who owns an xbox

[@TheAnimatedGamer]

It's crazy how DMC can do a optional mega spawn mode difficulty yet team ninja is over here hesitant over adding the og difficulty of a game where it's nature is to put you through the ringer

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, it is really strange honestly. I do think it comes down to some beef between Itagaki and Team Ninja (he even sued the company at one point), so I bet that tension contributes a lot to the 360 version just being left adrift. Whereas it seems like Capcom have much better relationships with the former DMC staff ha.

[@Coswalker27]

​@@TheElectricUnderground You can say that again. Like damn

[@Bakasama04]

Dmc is reddit

[@NingenStrider]

​@@TheElectricUnderground yeah. There's definitely a lot of personal beef.

[@SleepyMook]

Yeah it’s strange why they didn’t add a legendary dark knight type mode for 2 Black which just boosts the enemy spawns to crazy levels. Would’ve fixed a big issue for me and make that stairway fight really fun again.

[@prod.b4bnik]

not sure whether or not this is mentioned in the video (haven’t finished it yet) but team ninja has announced they’ll be making adjustments in a few weeks to presumably bring it closer to NG2.

[@thatlonzoguy]

Its pretty good as is imo, but if they actually bring it more in line wth og that is awesome.

[@kas2k4]

I hope this means increasing the number of enemies on-screen to bring it closer to the original Ninja Gaiden 2

[@SolidSnake240]

I just want all the costumes across all the games tbh

[@prod.b4bnik]

@@kas2k4 i think that’s the main complaint that they’re most likely to address

[@radio100jogosdeemacs2]

He mentioned it in the end lmao. You must be from Reddit to try to "well actually" this fast man.

[@velvetimpulse]

The one thing I miss the most and nobody talks about is the co-op challenge mode from the original PS3 release of Sigma 2. Playing beat 'em ups on co-op with a buddy is a lost tradition since the move to 3D, but this game briefly brought it back and showed how insanely exciting it could be, only to let it fade away again. I’ve never had as much fun playing a game with someone else before or since. :(

[@TheElectricUnderground]

OH YEAH! That mode was really cool! It is such a shame that devs don't even attempt to make local co-op modes anymore, or even bother porting them it seems.

[@velvetimpulse]

@TheElectricUnderground yep! Unfortunately we are left with the AI tag version, which as you pointed out in the video, is pretty lame. It goes to show how important to the experience co-op can be, that by just adding another human, you can turn an otherwise lackluster mission system into something memorable. I think Bayonetta 2 had one such mode as well. I remember getting ecstatic when they said DMC5 would have co-op, but the way it works is so clunky and weird you might not even realize it exists.

[@TravisTheRudyFox]

Finally someone who explained why changing enemy hp and delimb hp ruined the core gameplay of the game for which ryu's moveset was made

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I know right! There is so much misunderstanding about why this mechanic is important, but I think it's because a lot of action games these days focus on 1v1 fights, so having a game built on dealing with hordes of active enemies at once is a different beast to analyze. This is when having roots in arcade beat em' ups is really useful :-)

[@onethousandmousetraps9704]

I feel like Nioh is Team Ninja's baby nowadays. That's why they pass NG4's torch to Platinum. And that makes me a little sad.

[@HereticHydra]

It's a shame but I can't blame them. Gaming journalists actually like Nioh & TN's other Soulslikes. Gaming journalists have always hated on Dead or Alive & Ninja Gaiden. Nioh basically had the same exact problems as NG3 Razor's Edge anyway so TN is prob self aware that they can't pull NG anymore. What sucks is that NG has been gone for so long that I see both Western & Japanese gamers labeling Ninja Gaiden as niche when I recall NG being fairly mainstream both on the NES & Xbox / 360.

[@mishkomensch3019]

dark souls ruined the character action games, and I stand behind this statement and always will

[@onethousandmousetraps9704]

@@HereticHydra Don't get me wrong: Nioh 1/2 are one of my favorite action games, but i still prefer NGB and OG NG2 over them. )

[@ExeErdna]

@@mishkomensch3019 Dark Souls was NEVER character action that was idiot reviewers making ragebait

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I think you are calling this exactly right. It's sad to say, but it does seem that way. I just saw that TN have confirmed that the Platinum character for NG4 is going to be the primary character, and Ryu is a supporting character like Ayane, essentially. At least that's what I'm hearing so far. I suspect NG4 is gonna be more like Metal Gear Rising than Ninja Gaiden 2.

[@seref139]

More people need to talk about how bad unreal engine is for games now. Poor performance, high input lag, extreme blur thanks to TAA and reliance on DLSS for frames, etc. It's depressing how OG ninja gaiden's engine still performs the same or even slightly better compared to 2 black. Unreal is not a real engine anymore.

[@BknMoonStudios]

Graphics over performance seems to be a trend in AAA over the last couple of years. 😅 I am still blown away by how well the Fox Engine works on low-end devices while still providing PS4 graphics. That shit is witchcraft. LMAO 😂

[@intellectic9155]

Shit's crispy AF on my setup.

[@shaunfrost720]

One thing i hate bout UE is that its light and shaders are instantly recognizable, even when heavily customized. Playing games with the same AAA fps atmosphere irks me. Not a deal breaker tho.

[@theanimerapper6351]

Original ng2 had poor performance until the Xbox one x. This is not any different

[@doommaker4000]

​@@theanimerapper6351doesn't excuse it at all

[@AndrewTimothy-gt8rs]

It's already happening. I'm watching the modding scene prep for the fan definitive versions of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on PC. I've seen custom spawn tests that bring it closer to NG2. I've seen coding improvements that are reducing the input lag. The modders are definitely gonna push this one over the finish line.

[@SotNist]

Fanfiction is about as far from definitive as it gets. Unless they just replace the entire file with base Ninja Gaiden 2 it will still be a visually deviated, non-purist base.

[@wildmarks]

Genuinely feel a little bad for action game fans that weren't there for the original 360 version. Just an absolute gauntlet from jump but nothing else like it so you kept coming back for more. Not a big go back and do all difficulties guy but I got up to the werewolves on MN before my 360 finally died again for the fourth time lol.

[@ResplendentSkull]

Your xbox rage quit haha

[@Dwesk]

Your non-shmup content is great and usually incredibly on point even if often people tend to disagree (like your RE4 video for example). You know your shit and provide great alternative takes that a lot of even less mainstream video essayists and such don't showcase.

[@Dwesk]

Not to say your shmup content is bad lmao, I just never got into the genre in my +25 years of gaming so I just don't care for that content despite watching a couple vids of yours on that in the past.

[@rickthaslickgamer]

I agree with everything you said. It's better than Sigma and not as good as the OG.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

For sure, I think the majority of Ninja Gaiden fans feel that way as well, but it's hard to articulate at times because a lot of game journalists cover the topic in a way that pits legacy and new players against each other, rather than just explaining that the style of the 360 version is beloved content that the fans want to return.

[@kagemara277]

Just in graphics better than Sigma 2. Sigma 2 still plays better

[@ResplendentSkull]

​@kagemara277 I would rather play this than sigma 2 any day of the week

[@streetmagik3105]

NG2B is a good time, but you basically have to play Hard or Master Ninja mode. It's just kinda easy on Normal. I was legit sad when I got to the "staircase" and there weren't 1000 mofos tanking the framerate, lol. Great review.

[@SenzuZeroZ]

With all due respect, Koei Tecmo was very bold to state Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the definitive edition. It's far from being definitive, and it doesn't help that its foundation is Sigma 2. I very much prefer the Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden 2, you can't have Ninja Gaiden or DOA without Tomonobu Itagaki in my personal opinion.

[@maosist]

It's insane that Koei have dropped DW Origins with hundreds of enemies on screen at the same time when Tecmo can't hold the OG NG2 enemy count

[@StrnGuy]

Gotta say that it’s funny to hear that for Tecmo, NEXT GEN is actually *reducing* the amount of enemies onscreen. I will say that I can think of one example of enemy count being considered content-RE4 on PS2 was criticized in part because it had less enemies onscreen than GC (that’s what I read at the time, anyways)

[@SThePacket]

Love how you explan in great detailed your points showing actual data, you being very articulated also helps geeting points through. Keep up the good work! As side note: even as someone not very skilled, I'm evaluating trying some shumps just because of your channel (I have played before but not a real try).

[@kaikiske7436]

There’s a lot of misinformation about this game out there from people who haven’t played Sigma 2 & GOAT vanilla NG2 on expert level like we in the community have Black 2 (to me) is just Sigma without the dumb statue bosses and improved graphics, and of course a few other visual differences To me, the best way to play NG2 is still vanilla game, on a Series X You get the game at 4k now, and rock solid 60fps Having said that, Black 2 is awesome and better than basically everything else out there currently

[@NingenStrider]

That path sensing mechanic was ahead of its time. I wish more games would show that kind of innovation instead of using that ugly yellow paint. That on of the things that i hated about the re2 remake and god of war 4.

[@BrentCox2B]

Great work Mark tediously going through all the games and doing a deep comparison. Im sure that took a lot of time and effort

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm glad you appreciate it Brent :-) It seemed sort of absurd doing individual enemy counts in all 3 versions of stage one for hours, but I'm really glad I did because it really helped show the difference between the versions in a tangible way.

[@BrentCox2B]

@TheElectricUnderground I hope it pays off in the views for you! Sorry quick question, what are your preffered camera settings? I was trying it out a bit this morning but kinda felt like I was fighting with the camera a lot

[@Lifeonmarszps3]

Platinum involvement in Ng4 makes me really worried for it after the fiasco that bayo 3 was and the ng4 trailer showing some autoscrollers railgrind section that will probably get stale after a playthru or 2

[@TheKing77nl]

Great video 🔥 Cheers from an OG Ninja Gaiden player/fan ❤

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude!! Cheers to you as well and the long time fans of Ninja Gaiden :-)

[@TheKing77nl]

👌💜​@@TheElectricUnderground

[@Atlahuacoatl]

Hey Mark, did you see Team Ninja's tweet on the 28th last month? It's interesting. "Based on the feedback received, we are preparing a patch aimed for release in mid-February with some balance adjustments and additional features."

[@7thsaga662]

I feel the same way with OutRun 2 and Coast 2 Coast. 1 doesn't replace the other. You just have to kind of own both.

[@radio100jogosdeemacs2]

at least it's easy as hell to play OG OutRun 2 since it has a PC port

[@DuckRotation]

This makes this remake make sense to me. thanks

[@Vespyr_]

​@@radio100jogosdeemacs2 Really? I've only found Coast to Coast for PC.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, it's not the most intellectually pure argument to make, but I think it definitely is the most practical and accurate. That's the funny thing about reviewing complicated releases like Ninja Gaiden 2, the best answer isn't always the most elegant one ha.

[@MylesP2t]

Great vid! They definitely need to up the enemy count and distribution in some areas as it seems more noticeable now with the more detailed environments, especially in the Chapter 6 water running areas. And they gotta bring back test of valor at least in the spots where they didn't close it off (thinking of the area where you get Emma's fang and the save area before the giant eel electric fish boss)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you Myles! Yeah there are a lot of enemy spawns throughout the game that are simply missing in Sigma and Black, which sometimes makes the levels feel oddly empty. Also the valor tests were really cool, they were like built in missions. What's really strange is that the valor missions returned to Ninja Gaiden 3: Razer's Edge, so why not also include them in NG2B? Seems like a really obvious oversight. I guess because they were nuked from Sigma 2 they didn't feel as essential in Team Ninja's eyes.

[@mollywantshugs5944]

There’s also a 2D Ninja Gaiden coming this summer, Ragebound. I’m really hyped for both new NG games

[@agssilv5919]

its by the people that made blasphemous as well that game is in good fucking hands

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yeah I saw! I have no idea what to think about that yet, but I'm gonna be open minded and wait until I get my hands on it to review ha.

[@86lanzo]

IMO....you cannot have a definitive version of NG2 without Itagaki.. Its like having a definitive metal gear game without Kojima NG2 is Itagakis passion project..NG2 is still the definitive experience for me

[@sayaneechan5799]

The biggest issue I found in 2 Black, at least on Xbox, is that there's a massive input lag, and sometimes controls just won't work. I didn't notice this that much at first, but now I'm in chapter 5 with Momiji on Mentor, and I can't beat the Tengus. I died a lot of times due to the grabs and Momiji just straight up won't dash away. Feels like dashing suddenly stops working as soon as the Tengus start the animations. I also wasn't able to consistently counter-attack them, it felt like RNG luck whether I get it or not. To prove that I wasn't crazy, I went back to Sigma 2 on this mission, this time on Master Ninja, and literally had no problem at all completing it. I only died once. Momiji actually dashes away, could get counter-attacks on the Tengus easily with no problem. It was a cakewalk really. They really need to fix this, as it's impairing my enjoyment of 2 Black.

[@pacificdash]

Mad props for the enemy spawns graphs. Bro did some f’in data visualization over here 💪📈 28:57

[@towardstar]

I think you are the best reviewer in the game right now. Keep the standard of criticism up don't dumb it down for a bigger audience, and keep being respectful of people's feelings. 👍

[@maaramori3404]

The 4th main distinction is enemy AI. Just notice how many times in og NG2 enemies just attack you in melee range, and how often enemies in NGS2 back off, do some flips and ranged stuff. This is the main reason I'm getting bored of NGS2 after 15 minutes of playing and I can't get enough of NG2. I can literally do 9 counters in a row in NG2, and it'd be lucky if I do 2-3 counters in NGS2, becasue no one attacks me properly.

[@thenonexistinghero]

It's definitely annoying to constantly have UT's kill just 1 enemy when they'd usually kill 3-4 in the 360 version. Though if they behaved like the 360 version in Sigma/Black 2, it would've been far too easy with those low numbers.

[@tabkg5802]

8:15 for people who don't know, you can play og NG2 on Xbox One and Series via backwards comparability. It also runs 10x better than of version alongside with better visuals

[@inferior-penguin8661]

I actually bought both Black and the trilogy and honestly I like the original one better with the slick looking grain graphics because it "feels" better when fighting

[@steedless]

Xenia Canary plays the original version very well, I'm enjoying it.

[@westonstaufenberg7278]

does the sound still cut out randomly?

[@Mingodough]

@@steedless how’s the input lag? He said the input lag was 5 frames which is pretty bad imo

[@steedless]

Audio bug - Yes but I can play long sessions without it happening. When it does happen I just restart the emulator. Not a big deal. There's also a bug with item images in the inventory getting mixed up sometimes, but thankfully the names are all correct and the quick select menu icons are always correct. You can apply a patch to fix the Chapter 12 crash bug. Input lag - It feels good for me, and I do have a history of being sensitive to input delay with some emulators like past versions of PCSX2. Easy to follow guide if you want: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpi7o4eKpbiDgNk

[@byeetch]

@@westonstaufenberg7278 what i heard helps is to not have multiple audio sources connected to your pc and dont alt-tab/alt-esc out of the xenia window. youll still get cut eventually, but it makes it cut out later

[@mishkomensch3019]

I will actually try it out, fuck it I was waiting for too long ngl

[@excludedkratos]

It doesn't necessarily need to be close to the original ninja gaiden 2. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black just needs to have its own identity to some level and be worthy of the title BLACK. Meaning new enemies, new weapons, new bosses, new layouts and new skins.

[@imdiiiirt]

This was so well thought out and really nailed a lot of stuff that isnt obvious right on the nose. I been just playing the master collection waiting on the ng2b updates

[@platinumtoofaim]

Hey man, incredible video. As a Ninja Gaiden super fan this is exactly the content I was looking for on this game. Extremely detailed.

[@retroman3252]

Can we appreciate how good the ladies look. I mean compare Rachels face in the old games to the new one. This coming from a guy that never wanted to notice her. I also think making the enemies more fleash-y fits the blood and gore of this release, it's different from cutting plastic figures you know. I know ppl like Mark have problems with lighting and tones and clarity but that's different.

[@byeetch]

Sonia :

[@superbowyiming]

But Ryu's wife (Sonia) is kinda lame tho

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I will fully admit that when you get all the effects and graphical power going, the ladies look fantastic ha! This release has taught me that with unreal engine stuff, you gotta run the graphics with all the bells and whistles, otherwise it looks kinda odd.

[@SaiyanFantasyX]

Hopefully xenia will get to the point of perfectly running ng2 with no issues. I did enjoy 2B a lot, but I can't help but prefer the og or, hell, even sigma 2 with the amazing black mod. They just look cleaner, sharper and feel more responsive. Hope KT address the stuff they should and possibly bring stuff back like tests of valor and survival, but ultimately, my faith remains with the modding scene as it pretty much fixed sigma 2 for me. Shoutouts to FiendBusa.

[@agssilv5919]

2 things that kinda amount to the same the ninja team said they will update it for it to be more in line with og 2 we do not know what do they mean or to what degree and the modder that did the sigma 2 mod to turn it back into og is doing the same for black 2 would be funny if when the modder finishes it next week team ninja does an official update that does the same

[@plaernotree]

Team ninja has dishonored their own franchise with the sigma crap! Good thing i own the 360 version!

[@GAMEPRO24X]

on the enemy spawn segment. Im not sure if your aware but in the OG game, their is an item you can collect that INCREASES enemy count and its a permanent item tied to the entire save. every difficulty will be forever affected with that item unless you did a full wipe of your data. I know this because whenever i had to look up strats for master ninja, i would notice the videos would have a lot less enemys than what i had to deal with and it was frustrating. The item was the Giants skull, you get it in the underworld. SO i have to ask that if during your segment are you playing on a save that never picked up that item or was it acquired? that right there changes a whole lot.

[@DionPanday]

Over the past few days the real og Ninja Gaiden fans have been gaslit by a bunch of tourists who didnt care about the franchise at all to believe adding constructive criticism is somehow them being toxic and telling others to not have fun. This is why gatekeeping is a good thing.

[@Ajeez1000]

I believe both sides have been quite toxic

[@SLAMTUCKER]

Great video. I'm glad you were talking about modding, you just have to if you want to get in depth with games nowadays. It's like, are you evaluating a company's performance with what they release, or are you actually talking about the games? Glad to see it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah it's sort of a sad state of affairs these days that devs no longer seem that concerned about their legacy skill fanbase, so we are left to our own devices if we want significant challenge built into the game. I do wish Team Ninja would build the original mode into the game officially, but that seems like a huge longshot these days.

[@CrowScareify]

As soon as I saw this announced I was so excited for your take on it haha. Haven’t watched the video yet, but the game looks like Sigma, but with some improvements???? Stoked to watch the whole vid this weekend

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That's great Crow, I'm glad you're looking forward to the vid :-) I won't spoil it, but you are def right that it's very heavily based on Sigma 2.

[@Sandal2000]

I hope that Team ninja drop the soulslike DNA to perfect the Ng style instead. It would be awesome to have them being the action combat titans and master this identity instead of emulating fromsoft.

[@rbrigid]

In Ninja Gaiden 4 you will not be able to select your Character. They already said this. It is the same problem that DMC5 has. Why am i not able to play with the Character i want ? I hope a mod will fix that in the future.

[@zborgerd]

This video is very well-done but is inaccurate. At about 24:30 he claims that "the OG release is just sitting on an Xbox 360" and "that store is down". This is not correct. You can still buy the game for current-gen consoles on the Xbox store and it runs nicely with backward compatibility. It's not emulated either. it's compiled for the current-gen hardware. You can even pop an original disc into a Series X and play the game (will download the native version). Xbox backward compatibility is a massively overlooked feature by people who do not have one. You can even still buy the OG Xbox original game. It's on sale right now for only $4.99.

[@realamericannegro977]

So you have to buy it from the Xbox store to play in 4k?

[@retrofraction]

@@realamericannegro977 No you just need a current Xbox

[@ExplodingMummies]

Great review. As a Ninja Gaiden zealot, I'm happy that someone that actually understands and loves these games made a proper review for NG2B. My eternal wait for a 1-to-1 PC port of the OG Xbox NGB continues...

[@yoyoshoujo]

I've watched some newcomers stream this and it is so painful because they approach it like a Souls game. What's worse, the game more or less lets them get away with it due to the lack of enemies. It's rough, but they progress, never learning how to actually play. I've been replaying Bayonetta 1 this week as well and it occurred to me that Bayo 1 might be the best way to get people into this genre. I used to not understand character actions either; I thought they were just button mashing messes and I bounced off Bayonetta hard. People kept raving about it though and I figured I must be missing something, so I came back with the goal of 100 percenting it. That took me a whole summer, but I came away from it with a whole new appreciation for the genre. Like this Ninja Gaiden remake, it's a bit more newcomer friendly with the low enemy count and you can kind of cheese through lower difficulties, but the grading system is peak feedback. It sends you along to the next level, but isn't afraid to tell you that you play like crap and the progress you're receiving is basically a handout. (Lots of stone medals on my first playthrough) Finally pure-platinumed it on hardest mode, and it gives you Jean who can't use slow mo. I feel like that's basically where the tutorial ends and you REALLY have to play. And if you can play that, then you're finally ready for 360 Ninja Gaiden 2 lmao

[@Senumunu]

Unfortunately these games just fail to transition players from button mash to deliberate engagement with the mechanics. You have to habe a history with the genre or maybe someone does a great guide on youtube. That's how I went back to Bayo 1 as well. That and the fact that they actually released it on pc

[@Zetact_]

@@Senumunu It depends on the action game, Ninja Gaiden and Bayo really suffer on actually teaching the player. NG seems to be especially obsessed with forcing you to play in a very specific way that the game doesn't telegraph to the player at all so you need to either literally be taught the mechanics the game wants you to do or somehow force yourself to learn them via trial and error. Or in Bayo's case it spends its early stages telling you to use Witch Time, gun followups, Wicked Weaves and Torture Attacks but in the later levels all of those become significantly less viable and it doesn't even tell you about dodge offset. DMC games' difficulty curve as you progress from Normal to Hard to DMD is so buttery smooth you always are having a tough time but never feeling like you're fighting the game's mechanics and always have awareness of what you can do. The main reason why DMC is the standout example of the genre among general populace is because it's the one that you can learn without having to watch a damn tutorial. Assault Spy is relatively easy on the normal and even Hard Work difficulty but on Extreme difficulty it's so much more insane that you are forced to use mechanics you may not have otherwise used (and character swapping should have been on by default since it makes the game a lot more fun and is the most practical way to tackle Extreme difficulty but it's treated like a bonus option). It also has a really solid difficulty curve where if you're just playing it for fun you can have fun and are motivated to learn more, then when you get to the hard difficulty it REALLY pulls out all the stops. It was made by a guy who worked on DMC so that's probably why the difficulty curve is solid. By the time you start getting into the "what the hell am I even supposed to do" level of hard encounters it's when you've already fallen in love with the game and have a good grasp on the fundamentals so you're actually motivated to learn the nuances of the combat systems because you know it's a good game that you like.

[@yoyoshoujo]

@@Senumunu That's true. I don't even know when it finally clicked for me, but it only happened through sheer time investment and experimentation.

[@yoyoshoujo]

@@Zetact_ All great points. I'm less familiar with DMC but it sounds like that's an even better starting point for people. I will say that Bayonetta DOES explain dodge offset, but I think it's buried in some side menu text and most players are not as autistic as me reading all that lol

[@RealKaiserRyu]

Someone sure loves the 360 Y with the Scythe.

[@FKSvienna]

What an effort! Great, thank you!! You should maybe just say on-screen which version you're showing, it gets hard to distinguish for newcomers

[@FredMaverik]

Truth

[@bsos6839]

>modders save us lmfao yeah basically

[@battlemode]

Excellent review as always. Deep and informative, I now know more than I ever wanted or needed to know about a game I've never played :D It looks good to me, gonna pick it up and see what the fuss is about

[@MrExnihlo]

Ninja Gaiden black is just an advertisement for NG 4. Someone at team ninja realized that for very little cost they could use unreal 4 to throw a graphics layer on sigma. Low cost and now people are talking about the NG series. It's called the definitive version cause it's going to be the last version you'll see.

[@ag4640]

So, if they release a patch to increase the amount of enemies, could that be finally the definitive edition of NG2?

[@gregoryberrycone]

Seems like a complete failure to me. Super disappointing. So many compromises, a remaster that isn't definitively the best version of a game has no place in my library

[@hxllxw4368]

this is such an amazing video with the takes and everything, I say that from a NG fan perspective

[@yagami999913]

Definitely looking forward to a NG2 guide from you. Always loved NG but never got in-depth with the mechanics and combat.

[@CursedTakes-k1d]

Great video dude . I feel like I’d prefer og2 on master ninja tbh then the sigma one shot kills lol… Also if you could make a best shmups on PlayStation 4 video that would be grand ;)

[@CrazyArcadia]

Very reasonable review and great overview of the situation with this release. I also have similiar mixxed but mostly positive feelings as you do, I lean more on the side of happyness overall, even preordered the physical while playing the download since release. Still I think an approach like M2s Shottriggers - having three distinct "grooves" including the new Black label 😅 to choose from - at least for Chapter Select could potentially make this more of a definitive version. I also miss the online multiplayer and strongly hope they patch it in (together with more costumes lol) now that it is a somewhat successful release. It's a strange release because it could've been better... but I also believe for newcomers, this is now the best and most accessible starting point into the franchise. And really maybe even into the genre. The way this game is currently discussed and reevaluated by the general gaming public drives home the fact that this is maybe one of the most important releases in this genre in years. And the return of Ninja Gaiden I hope will change the way action games are discussed in a more diverse and deep way.

[@rufusskywalker7371]

Always good to see a new video. I think I'll wait and see for some substantial updates for this remaster. In any case, I'll just stick to the OG

[@thatpersoneveryoneknowsbut7533]

I kinda want a Kasumi Ninja Gaiden spin off she was Amazing in Razors edge or a Genshin spin off up to when he is killed by Ryu thatd be cool also what you mentioned about different campaigns would be even better cause sometimes its annoying getting into that flow Ryu on harder difficulties then haveing to play Momiji if i played her from rhe start it'd be different like Ryu got me that far lol

[@PerfectlyLegalPierre]

Using the argument that someones critique is lesser than or invalid because someone else created a mod for that is silly. I'm criticizing the game as a player and consumer the way the developers intended.

[@GojiGuy]

Great in-depth review. Thanks for actually doing the enemy count in st 1 lol. "there's a mod for that" doesn't really cut it for players on console, though. I do hope Team Ninja's update actually does work on the game. Also apparently on PS5 the 120fps mode actually -increases- input lag vs 60fps mode? Can't say myself as I didn't test it, but multiple people online are pointing it out.

[@Vespyr_]

I hope they bring back the stairwell super fight. They gutted an iconic scene. The cinematic slowdown, the insane numbers. They need to bring it back. After such a fast game, that moment just hit different.

[@blowmonkey51]

It is pretty great on a modern xbox in back compat playing the OG without any FPS drops. And you can literally get really nice resolution buffs with the one x enhancements and even playing it on a series system.

[@thenonexistinghero]

I think you could've elaborated a bit more on the enemy count difference. Chapter 1 on Warrior is where the newer versions fare the best in the comparison, but on mentor and master ninja you get A LOT more enemies on chapter 1 in the 360 version, but it stays practically the same in the other versions. And then there's also the ultimate comparison of chapter 11 on master ninja. There's several comparison videos out there showcasing killing like 100 enemies in the 360 version before the first save statue compared to about a handful in the other versions. And I think you also could've highlighted a few of the many areas where you have enemies in the 360 version, that have absolutely none in the other versions.

[@dj420praiseit8]

This is such a great review man. I had no idea that there were so many differences between the versions. Sigma 1 is easily one of the best action games that I've ever played (if not the best), so I'll definitely be checking this one out. Hopfully someday I can check out the original 360 one too. Definitely seems worth it based on what you were saying. Also, I'm also really glad that you measured the input lag. Special K sounds really intriguing.

[@Marisquizo11]

I loved the divorce analogy lmao Itagaki really is the cool dad that left

[@gabrielfernandesabreu6952]

So the definitive edition still the OG version on xbox series x with 4k 60 fps

[@robbyrobot3303]

Ninja Gaiden 2 Reshelled

[@Femalenun]

This video is exactly for someone like me. I wanted to dip my toes into this franchise but with the release of Black I had no idea where to start, so listening to someone who knows what they are talking about is what I needed.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really happy to hear that! Yes, my goal for the vid was to try to give a full scope of this game's complicated history so that new players can know where to start and know how deep the rabbit hole goes ha. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@davidwhatsthatabout7404]

I don’t think the limited enemies on screen is due to creative reasons. I legit believe that since the graphics are so much better having all those enemies doing there own individual movements, all the dismemberment, blood, and the players own movements will drastically bog the gameplay down and cause screen tearing. Just like in OG NG2 . There’s a level where you’re in a cave and a hundred ninjas come out and swarm you. It was like a musou game for a sec and it crashed my Xbox. So I had to pick a few off before having them all come at once

[@LukeEganLyrics]

So far, I've only had the opportunity to play the Sigma version of Ninja Gaiden 2, but I have to agree with Mark 1000% -- it is the pinnacle of character action games. Nothing comes close in terms of the gameplay density, the intensity of the Master Ninja difficulty, the demands on the player's knowledge and reflexes, and the addictive rush it provides.

[@Zetact_]

I barely dipped my toes into Ninja Gaiden because the controls are so damn stiff and enemy design is outright unfair, between superarmor and being able to stick you with unavoidable damage from off-screen. I get the appeal but I also think that it is VERY easy for someone to dismiss the games as just bad. It has probably some of THE most uncomfortable controls I've ever had to deal with in an action game.

[@t.b.6600]

@@Zetact_ How are the controls uncomfortable for you? Is it no hard lock-on but still having directional attacks? 🤔 NG's combat is the best I've played to date, even 20 years since NG1B added free camera control. But I do see how it could be awkward for some players that are good at other action games.

[@HereticHydra]

@@Zetact_ It sounds more like a you problem to me. You sound like you're just mashing buttons. Nearly all of the superarmor enemies can easily be killed in a few hits by just decapitating them with a flying swallow.

[@Zetact_]

@ I mean the melee system is awkward and has attacks seemingly come out at random, you can input an attack string the same way twice and get two different strings because of very minor timing variations. And yeah that is a problem but it's more the mobility options that the game expects you to use, it's like throwing around a puppet on strings. The game's movement feels nothing like ANY other 3D action game I've ever played and that makes it feel just really awkward. Another issue is that it has this WEIRD sense of tracking to attacks where some attacks seem to turn towards enemies but others don't really do the same so it's hard to even know where the attacks are even going. Plus the inputs are extremely finicky, it's hard to even know if the air dash will come out or if you were a fraction of a second too slow to press the button, or maybe the stick was a slight degree off. And also the "difficulty" seems to come heavily from forced combat options, where if you don't just know what you're supposed to do you get completely destroyed, and the game doesn't telegraph what you're actually meant to do against different enemies. Other games in the genre you can get a feel for what will be effective against an enemy based on their presentation and your moveset is dynamic enough to let you freestyle and tackle enemies with your own play style and as the difficulty ramps up you naturally learn the more effective ways to fight them, with Ninja Gaiden I get this extreme feeling that the game is saying that you have to play it in a very specific way but it's not going to actually teach you how to do that. Like I don't even know if it wants you to switch weapons because it gives you a bunch of different weapons but also requires massive investment into each of them with no New Game+ option and no quick swap button. I don't know if it wants you to use magic because it grades you poorly for using it and the resource to get magic is hard to build up. The game just keeps throwing new stuff at you without ever giving you a proper introduction on how it "wants" to be played, which wouldn't be a problem if the game didn't then punish you immediately and severely for not reading the dev's minds. These "hit your head against a wall" style games only really work if what you're supposed to do is obvious and executing on it is the challenge and even then I think that it's bad game design.

[@Zetact_]

@ When the horse boss grinds that into you as the only viable move I started doing that but then it ended up always whiffing because of the horrible jump controls and the enemies can block it or even if it hits other enemies might just hit you during the year long recovery animation. Or the bike guys who the attack just bounces off of and leaves you falling right on top of a hitbox to eat half your HP. So it goes back to the controls. Like it's not just the combat, even the platforming segments that always are bad in these games are even worse in NG. I think there's a very good reason no action game even wants to try and emulate NG's game feel.

[@gwimbly519]

I have an xbox series s for the sole purpose of playing the og NG2 with no slowdown and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made.

[@theconsolekiller7113]

Great breakdown. It was a nice surprise to see this one on game pass. Looking forward to NG 4 and the 2D NG game this year. Though I'm hoping platinum doesn't fuck it up. The last game I really enjoyed by Platinum was Bayonetta 2. Third game was very disappoining, Astral Chain bored the fuck out of me, etc. Still not sure if Platinum's main talent is around, but maybe Team Ninja can keep them in line. Time will tell.

[@parceromaniaco9667]

I commend your dedication to Ninja Gaiden 2, it is the greatest action game of all time. I am quite glad you go through extreme detail in your quest to dissect the different versions, as an OG fan I am grateful. I wish you would be into Ninja Gaiden 1 and Black so you could go through the differences, To me, Ninja Gaiden Black is the greatest game of all time, it beats 2 because hitboxes and enemies had more combat depth, you could one hit kill certain enemies with precision, and as the difficulties got higher so did enemies, the enemies would change, almost like a different scenario over playing with enemy strength and vitality,. SIgma 1 is closer to Black than Sigma 2 is to Ninja Gaden 2.

[@parceromaniaco9667]

Just suggestively speaking, if looking for some extra content, aside from a guide/walkthrough which would be very nice for your watchers that are into shmups and looking to get into Ninja Gaiden, I think a mission breakdown would be awesome, skull challenges and such, the nitty gritty that still manages to retain the madness somewhat of the vanilla release.

[@MalachiElijah99]

This is my favorite CRT backdrop by far, love the sunset and color scheme goin on

[@CptainMajor]

devs need to add the online coop cause the AI is useless they just die even in acolyte missions.... and they don't help in higher difficulty

[@novo1858]

For anyone who has a retro setup with an SD crt (480i) the 360 looks amazing via component cables at lower resolution like that. I just started playing Ninja Gaiden II on it becasue of all the hype recently, and it preforms really well with that setup, and input lag is super low. Ng2 also sclaes perfectly to 4:3.

[@franjaff6919]

Since the announcement I've been waiting to hear Mark's thoughts

[@CherryMellow-y2r]

Really great vid. I came to a similar conclusion with how difficult it is to play OG NG2 I think mods would be the best way to go for now at least. Do you have a stream or video anywhere where you share your thoughts on DMC5? I Always wondered how you felt about it

[@Vespyr_]

I was really hoping they were going to be having Black off of the original game as a base, not Sigma. What a shame. This could have been the definitive version.

[@blarg324]

on the subject of ninja gaiden 2 on xenia, i had to do A LOT of troubleshooting to get things working. It is by far the most in-depth and extensive tweaking for a game I had to do. Even after all of it I still have 2 major bugs and a minor one. The audio randomly cuts out and doesnt turn back on when I reboot the game. When I press to go to the next chapter the game gets stuck on the loading screen and I have to reboot to pick up where I left off. The menu icons are broken and show the wrong item your hovering on (example: it'll display the dragon sword icon when hovering over herbs. It's random on what item is displayed)

[@DKCreo]

As someone who hasn't played anything but Ninja Gaiden (I believe it was Black?) on the OG X-Box, it's nice to hear that this version of NG2 is at least a decent one to get your hands dirty with; I'm a console player so hopefully there are some good updates on the horizon too that would make this version even better. Have a lot on my plate right now so won't be playing anytime soon, but it's definitely on my to-do list moving forward.

[@BrianJones-e2k]

Great analysis, thank you! Just a quick off-topic question: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (mistake turkey blossom warfare blade until bachelor fall squeeze today flee guitar). How can I transfer them to Binance?

[@aurelius3395]

I like how you compared this game with the different cuts of Blade Runner, another good example would be the numerous versions of Godfather 3 by Francis Ford Coppola.

[@locdogg86]

I’m glad you prefaced the bigger picture with the series as a whole. People quibble over different versions of games as if the worst version of a great game is as bad as ET on Atari.

[@cashstillrules]

Great video. You planning on making one for VF5 Revo?

[@ReneeSitra]

I've seen so many misleading reviews of this game, THANK YOU for this video. I will say this, I envy you for being surrounded by level-headed NG fans because i can assure you. There's definitely a vocal minority that thinks ALL content from the Sigma arrangements are bad, even kunoichi characters. Like they think the extra characters should never return, saying things like "we've been asking team ninja to remove these characters for 16 years!" No, "WE" haven't! It's just the delusional sect of fans that think their removal would somehow improve the experience. I would love to see a version of NG2 that gives us the best of both worlds. That would probably be the greatest game ever made. Believe it or not, there's a sizable group of fans(me included) that want team ninja to feature the kunoichi characters more. This is why some of us love NG3RE as much as we do.

[@HUDZHERRELL]

I foolishly hoped that they would include both the original and sigma as modes in Black. Of course it couldn’t be that easy

[@funnyguy150]

Though I love the parent analogy, the more likely reason that Black 2 is running over Sigma 2 is that Sigma was ported across different platforms including PC, so that code/engine is likely more flexible.

[@lusa3002]

Play the old ones instead, don't give them your money, don't be stupid.

[@finnmarr-heenan2397]

Hopefully we can ask team ninja to add an og mode

[@florida_sucks]

they’ll never do it but they should

[@playaround4553]

They won't.

[@ResplendentSkull]

They might

[@RitzyBusiness]

I remember in the xbox version, near the end of the game there were so many enemies kn screen the framerate would drop to like 15 fps and the game would just slow down 😂 but it was just a blood bath. It was such a memorable experience. I wish i could play it again for the first time. I wish i could play the entire game as Ayane, but i never played the sigma version. It never interested me. I might give this version lf sigma a try for mods and graphics though.

[@Iam1nsane]

I do not know anybody better than you at breaking down a game design and what actually makes something fun.

[@censoredterminalautism4073]

Too bloated, and ultimately redundant. No idea when I'll have the hardware to run this decently, but I do have Sigma 2 right there on the shelf and that one runs on hardware that isn't a fire hazard, and is mostly the same game, and it doesn't look worse, just different.

[@ResplendentSkull]

The best option on pc right now is to play sigma 2 with the sigma 2 black mod. It's awesome

[@blowmonkey51]

Id say its a hybrid remaster remake a Remakester if you will.

[@DrBossKey]

Good stuff, thanks Mark!

[@circa2008]

great video bro love your content keep it up