Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Remake Shows That The THIRST For Shorter, Linear Games Is Real

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was a surprise announcement at Microsoft’s recent Xbox Developer Direct presentation, but the shadow dropped remaster has quickly won over our hearts all over again.
Back in 2008, the original Ninja Gaiden 2 was lauded as one of the greatest action games ever made, and over a decade and a half later, it’s remastered/remake release is just as much of a blast to play.
Above all else, however, it also hammers home the notion that shorter, more contained, linear games are never going to go out of style. The focused drive and brevity of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black are among its biggest strengths, and thankfully, it’s one of several examples of games that benefit from just that.

[@komm6668]

It was nice to play a game that doesn't overstay its welcome.

[@mrX666-s9p]

Bullshit a good game never lets you feel is boring. I refuse to pay 70 bucks for a short game that is unacceptable.

[@EmuQuest]

@@mrX666-s9p it's free on gamepass

[@Harvdigity]

Time is money and I don’t have time to waste on searching for 300 items of some odd thing. Modern standard should be challenged.

[@mrX666-s9p]

@ That is an absolute low IQ take as I said a good game doesn't feel long. You clown go play mario games if you want short ones.

[@adamdavis1737]

​@@mrX666-s9pWell this one is 50. You can buy the original for like 30 I don't know when 9 to 10 hours became "short" But part of what these games do is incentivize replay value. So you're likely not done with it in one playthrough. And end up coming back to it for bonus modes or different difficulty runs etc Or just playing through it the same way again because the game is freaking fun. Because I refuse to pay $70 for a game that isn't fun. No matter how short or long it is. Long length doesn't necessarily equate to more fun

[@EuphoriaDeep]

The thirst for GOOD games is real, be they long or short.

[@halo3boy1]

nah, we’re definitely in a good short game drought and aint nobody tryna play 40+ hr game every time

[@redninja3056]

​@@halo3boy1um no were not, there's plenty of indie games

[@Trash-ramen]

Yahh these titles are kinda click baity, there's PLENTY of good short game especially in the indie scene

[@idakev]

Shouldn't have to say this but there's plenty of good games

[@AlphaDwg]

this part. GOOD games and variety not everyone doing cookie cutter games of whatever is the current wave

[@mikereyes2269]

These games are short, but highly replayable. I'm so sick of soulslike games, this felt like a breath of fresh air even though it was released back in 2008 lol.

[@redninja3056]

Then stop playing souls likes there's plenty of games that aren't souls like

[@CrooKdLetterJ]

Yea bro you dont gotta play every souls game i only played elden ring and bloodborne dark soula is kinda over rated

[@MrDream-zm1pw]

Play Stellar Blade.

[@AlbertoFrazatto]

@@redninja3056 not really

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@redninja3056 Actually there really aren't many modern action games that aren't souls-like. And most of the ones that aren't really aren't quite as good as the good classic ones. A game like Stellar Blade doesn't hold a candle to this.

[@senshai1267]

yah this is one of the greatest games ever made ,so it is good

[@OnePolishMoFo]

To Hell with modern standards, I say! Anymore, if a game flaunts about it's million square kilometers of open world and one thousand hours of gameplay I say "Fuck that!" What I want is a tight 8 to 10 hour experience. All killer, no filler. Something I can play on repeat.

[@redninja3056]

Yeah there were always games like that are you guys purposely just not playing them?

[@OnePolishMoFo]

@redninja3056 No. There are plenty.

[@redninja3056]

@OnePolishMoFo then uh whats the problem?

[@OnePolishMoFo]

@redninja3056 I'm saying open world games are the norm. Although there are in fact many short single player games, open world games that you have to play like it's your second job massively outnumber games like that. It's a darn shame. Used to be open world games were rare. Very few and far between. Making them sort of a treat. Now they're a dime a dozen (not literally but you know what I mean) and extremely time consuming and forgettable.

[@redninja3056]

@OnePolishMoFo dude last year I didn't play a single open world game, black myth, space marines 2, hell divers, astro bot, stellar blade was kind of open world but didn't consume your time, like yeah they exist and there's plenty of them, but that doesn't mean it's oversaturted if there were more games that weren't open world.

[@mtownpyro7198]

People are truly missing the mark.. people love Ninja Gaiden because it's tough yet fair....not unfair and literally cheating to be hard..

[@RumerWallace22]

I hate how there is no enemy lock on. Ruins the combat.

[@tomverstappendrums3423]

​@@RumerWallace22 I grew up on this game. It's a different mind set. Use your camera reset button and get good

[@aleefamran2441]

​@@RumerWallace22Skill issue

[@CanriScrub1]

Shorter games significantly have more replay ability than longer games. I don’t think I’ve ever replayed a game that took me over 15hrs to beat

[@thenonexistinghero]

I have, but for action games I prefer for them to not be too long. I feel like many modern games are too big or too long. I love JRPG's but the 70-80+ hour ones are usually a drag, they used to be like 30-40 on average. I also find myself preferring games a bit on the shorter side in recent years since I can actually beat them in a week or so, maybe 2 if I take my time.

[@MasterGundam-tv8vb]

RPG is my favorite genre but yeah sometimes I just wanna just enjoy a good story and gameplay

[@atlantic_love]

No, they don't.

[@CanriScrub1]

@@atlantic_love I guess it’s only true when you have a life that doesn’t have the time to sink into playing long games over and over again.

[@atlantic_love]

@@CanriScrub1 You have zero idea as to what anyone else here is doing or what they're into. Keep your clueless thoughts to yourself. Maybe manage your time a little better.

[@craigwalz6508]

I love Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. After Refantazio and Dragon Age, this is the perfect pallet cleanser. Just pure action and fun.

[@alex1212456]

Anything is a pallet cleanser after veilgaurd 🤮

[@zedetach]

@@alex1212456 I can't believe you put Refantazio and Dragon Age in the same sentence lol

[@alex1212456]

@@zedetach I didn’t

[@cwavygaming6615]

@@alex1212456fr Game is long af and extremly boring

[@Nortronful]

I had to drop metaphor i loved it but like i dont have all the time in the world and i felt like i wasn't getting anywhere i wanna play other games

[@hankosanko]

i wish ninja gaiden 2 was more like the first one. when i played years ago, i was expecting to solve puzzle, different paths, fight harder enemies and bosses as well(cant say ng2 black has that) etc. thats what made ninja gaiden great.

[@WKMTHEAUTHOR]

Increase the difficulty

[@WKMTHEAUTHOR]

@@hankosanko no way you beat that effortlessly on the highest difficulty

[@215sinakia]

Def agree and sooooo many weapons and you had to upgrade them from the ground up literally

[@cc-vd3oq]

I wish ppl would maybe mention how rogue like and souls like games have oversaturated the gaming sphere. I'm so sick of every other game being the same 2 genres. I filtered those genres from my steam searches and well over 30% of the results were removed.

[@TyleeBrowne]

100%. We need more true hack and slash games for sure. My favourite genre and it barely gets any love anymore. Glad to see its finally changing.

[@redninja3056]

Well no shit dumbass, if you look at games like black myth wukong, or stellar blade they have souls elements that didn't even start with souls games that's going to happen but BOTH are character action games mostly

[@Lhtous]

I've never bothered with rogue likes. The whole 'oh you lose everything when you die' is such a stupid gimmick, and imo designed to waste your time more than anything. 'Procedurally generated' is also video game poison; Oh we couldn't be bothered making interesting levels or areas so we let an algorithm do all the work

[@Mightypepino76]

I agree

[@iganinja6742]

I dont agree. There no thirst for short games. Theres a thirst for ninja gaiden

[@LoneWolfe_XX]

It is a thirst for short but good games. Ppl are tired of big open world triple aaa games.

[@ltw126]

@@LoneWolfe_XXYou are absolutely correct!

[@LoneWolfe_XX]

@@ltw126 man seriously. It gets fatiguing playing 20 plus hour games all the time

[@ltw126]

@ no doubt! It’s like these developers want us to treat these games like a job. Games shouldn’t feel like a job.

[@LoneWolfe_XX]

@@ltw126 facts

[@jeffreylieberman1668]

No , it shows that we need more games with jetpacks and underwater swimming...

[@maskofacryingclown3]

I'm all for this.

[@colinmx.]

Quality over quantity 👌

[@montgomeryfitzpatrick473]

Even Halo had added a run button by the time this game originally released. Jogging slowly between combat encounters when you can run on water faster than that is kind of a retarded "quality"

[@myqs6420]

Black Wyth, is the perfect middle ground between this and soulslike.

[@Ghost-In-The-Machine-II5]

The original is just as good and deserves the same treatment, some aspects of it is even better in my opinion, like the interconnected hub area for instance. Really hope they do it, i'm so ready for another shadow drop. 🤯

[@Uruk02]

Yeah they removed some stuff from the original they didn't add to it like character selection even devil may cry with definitive edition they added character modes 😠

[@Particle_Ghost]

As in the original you mean the first Black, not Sigma? Yeah it is better, it's the only one I currently have installed on Series X. It has better level design, AI may even be a little better as well.

[@Ghost-In-The-Machine-II5]

@@Particle_Ghost Yep

[@kcub07]

Tbh it emulates really well so playing the original xbox version of Ninja Gaiden Black on Xemu is basically peak ninja gaiden on modern hardware

[@Particle_Ghost]

@@kcub07 It's Series X enhanced and those games go on sale often for dirt cheap. I just go ahead and purchase it and then just transfer it on an external hard drive.

[@atlantic_love]

Absolutely zero thirst for shorter games. NONE.

[@RavusNox-z5i]

I really wish they gave the first game this treatment. Don't understand why they skipped to the second one straight.

[@SonoftheFortunate]

More fluid combat is appealing, first game is also longer and needs a bit of extra refinement if they’d release it now

[@sadihy]

The only complaint I have about Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the camera, other than that it's great. I hope 4 is more like 1 and 2 and less like 3.

[@airem5861]

I read an interview yesterday that they are aiming for NG2B because the director is a big fan of the original, let's hope it's as good or better than 2

[@Ill-Kilo-INI]

I wonder if mods can fix that

[@adamdavis1737]

It wouldn't be Ninja Gaiden without a terrible camera

[@MillerTheOriginal]

I've heard about the camera. What exactly from your point of view is wrong with it?

[@CrooKdLetterJ]

​@@MillerTheOriginali like ninja gaiddn but the camera is a product of its generation

[@pavlotverdokhlib7627]

Nah, short linear games are coming out all the time, and they get little media attention, and few sales (because no one knows about them) Ereban, Rakugaki, Gori Cuddly Carnage, Akimbot, The Inquisitor, Fractals of Destiny, Skystrider, Dustborn, Mythwrecked, Slitterhead. Here's a bunch of linear games that came out just last year, that almost no one talks about. The only reason Ninja Gaiden is getting attention, is because KT and Microsoft want people to talk about it. If it was a new IP, most of us would probably never hear about it. We keep expecting the big developers and publishers that are the only thing anyone pays attention to, to go back to making short, linear games. Except they can't, because they know people won't pay the same amount of money for them as they would for the next Ubiworld or Rockstar game. And when smaller developers and publishers try to fill the niche, we condemn the games for being "budget" or "last-gen-feeling", and they immediately get lost in the algorithm as soon as the next trailer for Call of Duty, or Fortnite, or one of the myriad anime gacha games drops. It'll be interesting to see how much NG4 sells and whether it can move the needle in the "content per dollar" discussion in any meaningful way.

[@KamiKoroshi_]

I need Razor's Edge on Unreal Engine 5. Especially after playing the goat Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. More Ninja Gaiden any day of the week.

[@Thiccness_Is_Delicious]

No 3 is dogshit they ruined every combo the dragon sword has had for 2 games for no reason.

[@KamiKoroshi_]

​@@Thiccness_Is_DeliciousNobody cares. Drooling fanboy.

[@Anonymous20242]

We want the Combat of NG3RE but change everything else, you're free

[@KamiKoroshi_]

​@Anonymous20242 Yeah, I love Razor's Edge combat. Honestly, 4 looks like a mix of Razor's Edge and Gaiden 2. Which to me is a good thing.

[@MiniBeas]

This is one of the only game series where I just love to come back and play on harder difficulties.

[@chilltown1414]

the average gamer is in their 30s. they likely have a)disposable income, b) a full time job, and c) a family. what they don't have is unlimited time. why companies keep making massive repetitive games is very odd. game dev time and costs have skyrocketed and it seems like more people prefer shorter games they can actually finish. the broke kids who want to buy one game a year and play it for 500 hours are not buying your game anyways!

[@sallydrum7669]

Don't use NG2's greatness as an excuse to defend Western AAA lazy slop. These are not the same

[@nick12088]

I think the majority of gamers that actually remember good games free of microtrans etc are now in their 30s and have kids or other responsibilities. Gone for us are the days of hundred hour rpg games. That being said a solid 6 to 14 hour game is now ideal. The other thing this game finally has going for it is a easier mode, which removes the barrier to entry for alot of us that just want to enjoy a great story and dont have hours and hours to die. If you still want a harder mode go for it but a easier mode is a welcome addition.

[@ColonelCarnage]

You can play hundred hour RPGs just play it over a long period of time

[@cwavygaming6615]

You don’t need NG2 to tell you this.. titles like this irritate me because this is exactly how the big wig CEOs act when a game everybody already enjoyed gets re released it’s like “ OH WHAT?! People like this?! NO FUCKING SHIT the game is 13 years old it was popular back then

[@NPDStudio]

Love a good short game with a story - but my love for long adventures like Elden Ring, FF7 Rebirth, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Okami, etc, is endless ❤

[@rootbeermcgee]

Thank God, the damage fromsoftware and "soulslike" games did to action games needs to be studied. Theres a generation of people that believe dodge rolling, slow combat and relying on "builds" is better than real character action games. Soulslikes are boring and garbage man and I don't care who gets mad

[@cwavygaming6615]

It’s no different than what COD and Fortnite did to gaming as well.. I’m SICK OF MODSRN GAMING it’s time to revive the golden era!!

[@douglasj5490]

Soulsborne are considered smart, but they are actually so dumb. Take any game, even Kingdom Hearts and God of War, than take out cutscenes, tutorial, checkpoints, maps... You have a soulslike

[@liamgaul2702]

Completely agree. Elden ring and sekiro had enough going on for me that I kept playing and loved those games, but I don’t understand why everyone glorifies fromsoftware’s two button combat systems. Dark souls is boring af. There’s fuck all variation in any of their games, fromsoftware fans will tell u that they’re the most expansive games ever cos of all the different builds, but no matter what the combat is STILL attack, roll, attack, roll. And it sucks that so many companies are copying that boring ass format

[@TyleeBrowne]

The thing about soulslike games is the combat always boils down to being super simple without much style or variation. They get their variation from enemy types and environments but Combo madness is where its at for true hack and slash action games.

[@annababydaddy]

Everything you said is correct.

[@Cloud_Alchemy]

A solid linear game you can beat in a whole weekend for $50 or less reminds me of the PS3 golden era

[@dominicspizzirri4399]

I’ve been beating this drum for YEARS now. Also, give me more FAST action games. I’m so sick and tired of souls inspired titles. It’s BORING. I want more Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry style stuff too. Also, let’s see what else we can do. But I swear to god, if I see another souls rip off copy game I’m going to scream. I’m so fucking tired of them.

[@alexkogan9755]

I enjoyed Stellar Blade as of late as it was the closest to a proper Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry styled hack & slash game that I’ve wanted for years, DMC5 being the last time this happened. I don’t mind the existence of Souls-like games, but I also hate the trend of other games that are clearly trying to be the other way around bending over backwards to chase a gameplay trend they don’t fit in.

[@Walamonga1313]

The most measured take here and I agree. I love action games as well as soulslikes (and action RPGs in general). That said there's definitely been an oversaturation with new games mostly copying the same style. Thankful Koei Tecmo are taking the reigns with NG4 this year

[@alexkogan9755]

@ Much as I’m annoyed at Team Ninja’s shoddy release of Black 2, I hope NG4 does the series right and returns the franchise back to glory, and further motivates developers for this style of game to come back in proper form (I enjoyed Code Vein but it would’ve been far better served as a more DMC styled game since even the characters themselves admit the stamina mechanics did not fit the lore, and Black Myth Wukong could not make up its mind as to whether it wanted to be a spectacle action game or a grounded Souls-like).

[@xwulfd]

@@alexkogan9755 its really hard considering itagaki left after Ng2 so NG3 became so bad even razors edge fix was too late

[@biddirkarim9351]

Always beautiful writing articles/Videos by GamingBolt

[@midwestyle]

Its also nice to play an action game that is simply action. Not an ARPG. You're make due with what you got and not what you acquire.

[@MisterX867]

AC Odyssey is what made me start despising long games with enormous maps. 90% of the time they just make you walk from one end of the map to another...

[@matttipton6009]

The extensive customization saved it for me. Tons of loot that was good for aesthetics even if underleveled. Granted I did take month a break after beating main and dlc stories before getting platinum though!

[@luizfa17]

I dont like Open world games anymores cause this , If they Game duration is 90 hours, 1/3 of this time is walking/driving/ etc to point A to point B. waste o f time.

[@JimC1984]

Ninja gaiden 2 has more animations and moves by 4 fold then ff16, yet the msq is like 1/3rd shorter. Meaning u can beat the game and appreciate its intricacies at your own pace, rather than padded out empty grind fests for nothing.

[@TearsInReign]

FF16's combat was so bad. I couldn't even finish it

[@ColonelCarnage]

FF16 was a real struggle to get though I enjoyed it but then by the end I got so sick of it.

[@DevicCypher]

No this has nothing to do with shorter and more linear games at all. That’s a dumb take. It was nostalgia and the fact that it was a good game back in the day. It’s the fact that there aren’t many good games these days so when one comes along, even being a remake, people will eat it up.

[@ltw126]

It definitely has something to do with shorter linear games.

[@DevicCypher]

@ nope

[@Savage80]

I prefer these kinda games i wish we had more of this and games like space marines 2

[@richytang21]

Is there new game plus + ?

[@crabyjoe]

I just finished it , its an amazing game 🔥

[@chesterfieldthe3rd929]

These awful companies are raising the prices for games......only a fool would want shorter, more linear boring azz games.

[@OtakuUnderground92]

Show’s a thirst for REAL action games too. Not all this soulsborne stuff. 😒

[@TropicaIJay]

The game also has attractive women and it isn't the slightest bit preachy. So there's that

[@rootbeermcgee]

you people that scream "woke" at everything are just as preachy and annoying.

[@Yokokurama777]

Really?!?! I thought the depiction of women was ridiculous with the porn star boobs. I wish they would portray men in video games in a similar way so men can understand how ridiculous it is.

[@Huh300x]

People are just tired of woke games ​@@rootbeermcgee

[@smokeinthetrees1]

​@@rootbeermcgeeLet them believe in their boogeymen.

[@darthmisogyny3828]

​@@rootbeermcgeelmao they don't know any better😂

[@luckygluxx]

Man, if they can throw in 2 player co-op campaign mode, that would be beast.. 3 or 4 player co op campaign mode would be sick!

[@BonzerMrT]

A NG co-op would be insane. I’ve always wanted to run around with Ryu and Hayate

[@CJBhattarai]

How about 2 Ryu fighting in online match? In ninja garden 1 you will fight your mirror enemy which was so cool when we both did the inzuna drop and flying shallow

[@xwulfd]

@@BonzerMrT ninja gaiden sigma 2 on psvita had co-op

[@luckygluxx]

@@CJBhattarai in Ninja Gaiden Razors Edge, you had 4v4 ninja multiplayer.

[@CJBhattarai]

@ razor edge wasn’t good as 1 n 2 so I skipped it

[@ImTheMan0fSteel]

No. Wrong. Multiple of these kinds of games have come out in the last few years. And you cant even name them. People claim this, and then they dont sell. Over and over.

[@UtopieKid]

I've been sick of the open world trend for years now. Yes, a good open world game is fun but most of the games just slap it onto the game to pad out playtime with pointless collectibles/points of interest and travel time. I'm all for going back to linear 10-15 hours games that I'd actually want to replay.

[@henryh2007]

"almost for the sake of it" - nah mate, not "almost" at all...

[@SwatBeatsOfficial]

I miss short linear games with good stories. Every game now is open world and filled with a million boring side quests

[@derekpowell2297]

Why do people keep saying remake? It's a remaster. An example of a Remake is Resident evil 2 from 2019.

[@henryh2007]

Every single game has its own time frame that suits it, largely related to how soon you grok the game. I hate the obsession with Quantity over Quality. It's part of the reason we receive so many less games these days. I'm sick of open world being added as a last ditch idea because it's the zeitgeist and because long running series don't know what else to do to stay fresh. Add a dog? lol A perfect example of this IMO is the Original Hellblade, great game, and it's relatively very short but it still massively over stays it's welcome. Because you have seen everything the game has to offer within 3-5 hours and it lasts 5-7, towards the end becomes so repetitive, tedious and minotanous, its really grueling and painful imo.

[@Cettywise]

Or ninja gaiden is just a really good game...

[@deltest1770]

Not if they are not priced right and balanced right or are just as boring as open world games gameplay. Linear design isnt automatically better than a quick compact metroidvania level design.

[@AEMNinja98]

For me personally I have to give it 7/10. I love Ninia Gaiden btw I have NG Black, NG Sigma, OG NG2, and NG3 RE. I never played Sigma 2 because well…..it was trash, it wasn’t an upgrade from NG2 (360) they made a lot of things easier and coming from an OG player I want the challenge! Itagaki and his team wouldn’t have just made a better remake he wouldn’t have released NG3 or that Yaiba trash. Back to why I rate it a 7/10 they try to take the main focus off Ryu by allowing some other characters to get some light I don’t like that. If they just had some cutscenes like how Rachel did in Black ok sure not bad but Ryu is the main character in this! Crazy to say I feel like NG2 360 is more responsive and has Ryu flow a lot better on the battlefield with every button input, vs NG2 Black there’s a delay. Graphics wise it looks good but clearly they didn’t iron out the wrinkles, too many frame drops and a lot of things look pixelated (unfinished) more specifically. The game is watered down, we have a sense the path option now?! This is a linear ass game how can you get lost? 😂That wasn’t a smart choice to add that personally. You are forced to use all health bar upgrades you can’t store them that’s another thing. What if I want to challenge myself and go through the game without upgrading my health bar. Another thing there are no Tests Of Valor, they don’t show you your rating after each chapter anymore. No windmill shuriken no incendiary shuriken. They watered down boss fights, more specifically there’s a part when you’re closing in on the arch fiend and you fight two armadillos. Apparently they scratched that idea to bring them both back unfortunately. I’m judging this hard because I’m a long time fan and I’d wish for Tecmo to treat this series like how Santa Monica treats God Of War or how Capcom treats the DMC series like man. I’m just sick of the half ass treatment they’ve been putting in their games man! The so called upgrades that they added aren’t really upgrades just downgrades to me personally 🤷‍♂️. This game should be $34.99 realistically $50 is a bit much imho. 7/10 game great for beginners tho. It’s a blast to play I’m ngl but, as a long time fan there’s much missing to this “remake”

[@TyleeBrowne]

Cheers for the review. I can get it for £30 and ive never played. So it definitely sounds like it will be worth it for me.

[@orbitertrajectory]

No, we do not ask for shorter or linear, don't speak for us. We just want a fun game to play that doesn't have a debacle aka cut-scenes that take a ten minutes or half of hour to watch for each of cut-scenes whether it skippable or unskippable. Gameplay, combat systems, level design and exploration should be the main content for video games. Dark souls somehow is the answers for this debacle for gaming industry but somehow they were also completely missing the point on what makes dark souls franchise great which the results is we got a lot of souls-like slops or even worse a cinematic trash hollywoodfication for this past ten years. Let me get this straight then, i just want more variety for each genres and subgenre in video game that doesn't play the same, video games industry needs to go back to the day when everything is purely experimental on video game design.

[@LukeE94]

Shame it’s unplayable on game pass on the legion go. I did however complete the original version and found it fell a little flat compared to the first game. Each level in NG2 just felt like chop chop big boss with a different random location chucked in for the sake of it. The ending felt very abrupt and lacked the triumph of overcoming the final boss like the first game.

[@non-fictionaltoughguy1208]

I’d rather play this game 3x over than play Assasins Creed: Shadows even once

[@estossala1]

All my favorite games are linear games.

[@chilly6470]

I love linear games that don't last too long. I'm just going back over the Onimusha series again at the moment and I'm loving it. Open world games are way too boring and time consuming.

[@wantsome-zs5sq]

I'm fine with linear shorter games. I do not want to spend 100 hours on an open world game.

[@HAMMERFOOT1]

It is great, the face-lift is outstanding looking. I do appreciate linear and enjoy the style. I did complete NG1 & 2 in it original design and release. The only drawback is the constant camera angle to adjust. That's why I am completely excited for Ninja Gaiden 4 because you won't have that to deal with.

[@MillerTheOriginal]

I've heard about the camera. What exactly from your point of view is wrong with it?

[@chanwooksook]

@@MillerTheOriginal the camera is generally normal) let's say - with an old-school vibe.) not clearly fixed behind the hero, sometimes the angle and composition - in different locations - create minor inconvenience during the fight. I turned off camera assist and turned the cam speed to maximum and it got better.

[@diegomireles]

Shorter... LOL trynto beat it in Very Hard and Master Ninja, could take weeks, months or never.

[@mattmanley7118]

The pendulum is finally swinging back!! Linear used to be the trend now it’s gone in favor of bloated (often) yet gorgeous open world design where a player a human being oftentimes with too little time to game just can’t enjoy such experiences. Sometimes less is more really. I’m glad to see it.

[@lambert801]

I like those "bloated" games, but too much of anything is just bad. There's way too many games like that on the market right now.

[@noonekennedy1282]

It's just filler to make the games longer. Just reskin the mats and rename the skills. 100 hours to beat! Yea and %75 is picking flowers, chopping trees, mixing and cooking. I am sick of the loop.

[@diego1294]

But it has to translate in sales. Im very happy with this surprise release, but it has to sell. I agree with a lot comments here and soulslike. I miss hack n slash like that, but video games is business. I doubt this game is going to sell well because of game pass. So, its kind of like remedy games. They are all fantastic but they dont sell well. At some point it will stop releasing.

[@Magicman1625]

The liner games had creative new IP's to back them now they just take other IP's and make them multiplayer and slap on a battlepass. All the creativity is gone because they make more money stretching out games with established IP's I would much rather replay a liner game again then grind out the same gameplay loop thousands of times for FOMO cosmetics that once I finally earn I don't want to touch the game to enjoy them anyway I miss the day when games came finished with cool FREE unlockables for people that go the extra mile and any new ideas were implemented in a sequel

[@marvelex96]

to expensive, if i were 20 dollars yeah why not... ill wait till its 10 ahaa

[@SkaerKrow]

Only if they’re cheaper.

[@legoblocksstarwars]

I am totally down for that… I would much rather play and enjoy a 30 hours game with linear missions and good combat system. That a generic boring 🍑ss game that takes you 200+ hours to finish… Like I have a life… I can’t play that much a same game, and it becomes tedious and repetitive.

[@jamess.3013]

I really, REALLY want linear 10-15hr games to come back. One of the best games I played in the last few years was Space Marine 2 and knowing I’d be done in under 20 hours was a massive appeal

[@excludedkratos]

Be quiet. You don't speak for me. I want what i want when i f**cking want it and right now i want the windmill shuriken in the game.

[@i3looi2]

I mean we are bored of subscription games with battle passes and episodic content. Who want us to play for 5y+ non stop. We want games that start and end. So we can play more games. Not be tied up to 3 live-games that take up all of our "gaming time". Singleplayers are back, baby !

[@MrOuest]

But why no Ninja Gaiden Black remaster? I want them both to have the remaster treatment.

[@cwavygaming6615]

Now a days the only version they remake a million times is sigma.. they won’t touch the originals for whatever reason

[@redninja3056]

Because you already have the black version of the first one go play it

[@a.p.3192]

Black 1 is almost perfect tho

[@darthmisogyny3828]

Tecmo said they "Lost" the source code lmao

[@Anonymous20242]

They needed to come out with a bang and NG2 is the most loved title of the series

[@ajanimandara9048]

Y’all say that but no short game sold 30 million or 25 million copies like Elden ring or cyberpunk did. I think it’s just a small number of gamers who like less than 10hr games.

[@TearsInReign]

Those games also have the budgets to match. Not all games need to cost hundreds of millions to make and need to sell 30+ million. There is clearly a market for games like these that are tighter that don't require ludicrous budgets to make

[@ajanimandara9048]

@ what I’m saying tho is I hear a lot of internet talk about how ppl are tired of long open world games but then you have a game like Astro bot that is short and not open world and it doesn’t sell like an open world game.

[@cwavygaming6615]

You’re acting like those games aren’t literally household names of course they’re going to sell

[@TearsInReign]

@ajanimandara9048 Astrobot's budget was also smaller than Elden Ring and Cyberpunk, plus it released exclusively on PS5, whereas the others launched on last and current gen consoles as well as PC. I doubt Sony considers it a failure

[@cwavygaming6615]

@@ajanimandara9048Astro bot literally isn’t even nearly as big as those two companies you just names wtf are you talking about.. astros playroom was only played by not only PlayStation owners cause it was a. Ps tech demo but not even the entire playerbase on PlayStation played it. Astro bot is literally a brand new IP from an unknown studio your comparison makes ZERO sense. How long has dark souls/ cd project red been around? They are stables in gaming they can shadow drop tomorrow and it will sell MASSIVELY based off their name and reputation alone

[@sumstuff6956]

It’s only short compared to open world shit it’s actually a long non open world game

[@Gambit_41]

Great game 💪

[@kitezzz360]

I like linear games but you hi-jacked the review to push your agenda against bloated open World games

[@lololdus101]

Well it’s not a remaster of NG2. It’s a remaster of NG sigma 2

[@tomverstappendrums3423]

Kinda. There's aspects from OG 2 as well

[@ALI-soon1Milli]

Well we always see people.. only 6-7 hours I’ll wait for a sale. If this holds true because people are dumb. No wonder they feel the need to add bloat so they can say 20-30 hours. Sad but let’s not pretend many gamers aren’t at fault here.

[@Fonzflicks]

I was tempted to replay this, but going to wait for a sale. I think this game will receive updates like New Game Plus or maybe co-op like Sigma 2 later on. I will just go back to Sigma 2 to quench that Ninja Gaiden urge for now. The PS3 version still holds up.

[@mlgxxx808]

Japan is done with Xbox

[@kjer2540]

Yeah, that’s why Koei and Platinum are working with them to make NG4. Foolish comment.

[@Huh300x]

🤨

[@smokeinthetrees1]

Microsoft fully funded development for Ninja Gaiden 4...

[@mickaelazi5759]

Easily finished in 9-10 hours…..? Uh, I don’t think so.

[@grimreaper5864]

Bigger games are better and ng isn't short only if your skilled gamer okay

[@HadesHatredEdge]

It's good to have a game where you can just cut loose om enemies in brutal fashion.

[@akuskus]

Couldn't get into it at all. The camera is atrocious. How hard could it have been to fix it...

[@uncletone614]

Should be the smaller the cheaper.

[@danfisher8334]

Still love these games. Definitely feel the nerf in the difficulty. Miss the rod of trials, too. I do like the addition of sigma characters, some new levels and getting late level weapons earlier. I would love to see an x men origins wolverine remaster with more moves, more finishers from a team like this. But i'd say get ngb2 for the cleanest all around experience.

[@TheMrNukeman]

Gaming is an incredibly cheap hobby 😂😂😂

[@yangbomb2]

As a person who plays 30 mins to 1 hour after work (sometimes), this is a blast. On my 2nd run. This reminds me of Devil may cry. You can enjoy different combo, perfection rather than 2000 quests and open world that requires 100000 hours of play time.

[@XBlazePS3]

lame you censored the blood

[@derekofbaltimore]

I think the "desire for shorter games" is the results of a culmination of multiple modern social effects. I think number 1, people are truly tired of gaming and just need to take a multi year break (games will still be around when you get back and you will enjoy them more) 2 the Internet, where people have fallen into a cycle which is supposed to be reserved for journalist, "having" to finish as many games as possible (you don't, you could do three -five games a year, like we used to do back in the rose colored past) to keep up with journalists who are more accessible to the average gamer than ever, keep up with friends, or keep up with the current conversation 3 the sheer amount of games that release every year WITH huge advertising budgets and FOMO

[@dalewarren81]

No just good games

[@vexicution5533]

I`m bloody looking forward to Ninja Gaiden 4, I'm calling it now this is going to be "The Year Of Hack & Slash Games". We have Lost Soul Aside, Captain Blood and Ninja Gaiden 4 coming sometime this year. For all you ppl that talk about bloody soulslikes saying soulslikes are good coz of the difficulty, nah Ninja Gaiden back in 2004 had difficulty, did it first. GO PLAY NINJA GAIDEN! And speaking of H&S games... Here are some more H&S games you can check out: Soulstice Valkyrie Elysium Wanted: Dead Etenights Stella Blade Project DT Project M Lost Soul Aside Ninja Gaiden 4 Phantom Hellcat Arise of Awakener Granblue Fantasy Relink Yasuke A Lost Descendent Shred & Tear: Explosive Kajun Phantom Blade Zero SuperSimmer Astor: Blade of the Monolith Captain Blood Mightreya 13Z There are a lot more that are out there, H&S games are really fun to play and I'm so glad to see more of them. Shouts out to hack & slash games, they are making a comeback.

[@pancakes2726]

Now I need a Ninja Gaiden 1 remake it doesn't even need to be "Ninja Gaiden Black" I just want an excuse lol

[@williamillington]

I just played & beat Bioshock for the first time. It was so short and sweet. Memorable. Amazing. I am digging linear single player games in general.

[@Tdrums8]

Every game on consoles are a sim .. Ninja Black is a breath of fresh air bringing back Arcade fun .. If you go way back when computers were all the rage all the games were sims .Then consoles came out like Nintendo , Coleco Vision and had "Games" then all of a sudden when the new consoles came out they switched to all Sim type games .Right there is where gaming changed .. Theres no balance of sims and fun games my opinion anyway stay well

[@lambert801]

👍👍👍👍

[@Tdrums8]

@@MahmWithThePlan haha what ever kid and yes i do .do you tough guy

[@TheMarine316]

I don’t mind shorter games as long as the price reflects that, if a game is under 10 hours it should be under $50

[@napalmsanctuaryx4129]

That it plays almost exactly like the original does not make it like a remaster. It's got nothing to do with it. It's a remaster if you're dolling up the original assets to re-use. It's a remake if you are remaking those assets from scratch. This is probably the best remake I've seen since they remade the original resident evil. Don't get me wrong. It feels a little too much like sigma in all the wrong ways, especially since they gave it the "black" subtitle. There's nothing black about it. It is not the hardest or even the most complete version. But it is still good.

[@MiyazakiSama19]

It's exactly the same game with exactly 4 changes they removed buddah statue in chapter 1 and removed liberty statue in chapter 4 and added some enemies in one encounter in chapter 6 after getting 4th ninpo spot and added some enemies with the big guy in chapter 10 That's it ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 with better graphics

[@aizentaicho82]

Its a great change of pace. Some times you want the big games. And some times you just want to kick some ass real quick.

[@rudyg6922]

Ain’t nobody waiting for south of midnight

[@WKMTHEAUTHOR]

😂😂😂

[@sulaymanhamid6628]

Excellent Of course One of the reasons I don't play as much these days, is that games are unnecessarily HUGE They should be, intense, action packed and rewarding. Not open world with endless objectives taking forever to complete

[@EstePensativo]

No I want open world non linear ninja gaiden and dmc. Linear sections for some missions in the open world like caves etc. bad bloat is no good though but designs like botw and elden rings open world work great. At the very minimum metroidvania world design I hate games where you pick missions.

[@cwavygaming6615]

Botw and Elden rings open world we complete dog shi 😂

[@KamiKoroshi_]

No dude every game doesn't need that open world BS.