''YOU'RE THAT NINJA''
Developed: Koei Tecmo
Published: Koei Tecmo
Genre: hack and slash
Release Date: Jan 23rd,2025
Platforms: PC/PS5/Xbox Family
Review copy provided to me by Koei Tecmo
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the definitive version of the game with the same name and it is developed and published by Koei Tecmo. With 2025 seemingly being the year of the Ninja with like 3 or 4 Ninja Gaiden related games releasing, Koei Tecmo decides, you know what? lets release a definitive edition of one our classics. But was borderline re-doing this game in a new engine worth the risk? or should it have been kept in our memories? Only one way to find out, so lets slice em up!
''LOOK AT ME, I AM THE MURDERER NOW''
GAMEPLAY:
Welcome back to the era of not being offended by everything and anything or being disturbed by blood and gore. No that era is not the current era, no way, not even close, but the era I am talkin about is the Playstation 3 and the XBOX 360. During this time period, nothing was censored really at all and it was filled with overly excessive gore and crude language, wild action spots and stuff nowadays that makes you think ''how the heck did that ever end up being an actual game?'', just like Viva Pinata. Ok ok, no, there will be no Viva Pinata slander here, I love that weird ol franchise, but the fact remains true, it was a different day and age back then and developers were able to take more of a risk... so much so that they actually decided to release Duke Nukem Forever in a movie that confused us all, but we played and suffered through it cause.. why not?. Now flash forward to 2025 and we have some of that aspect of the 360 era back and full frontal with the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, with the promise of bringing the gritty aggressiveness that the Ninja Gaiden series is known for and enhancing it for PC and consoles by giving the original games graphics a bit of polish to bring it up to date with the modern era standards. Thankfully without the ultra ''brown era'' that was left behind during the XBOX 360 era where everything had a weird brown and orange tint to it and no one knew what the hell the words ''color pallet'' meant. I'm looking at you Golden Axe. If you aren't up to date on the happenings for this title, then its rather simple to be honest, via the narrative, you take on the role of ''THAT'' ninja, Ryu Hayabusa. The mission for Ryu involves him on his quest to take down and stop the Black Spider Clam from pulling a ''rise from your grave'' Altered Beast moment and reviving demonic archfiends, all of which in the mean time your journey takes you through tons of chaotic and blood filled encounters through Mayan Jungles and even through areas inspired by Russian locations. The level variety isnt stellar, because obviously this isnt a brand new game, its basically a remake in a different engine and still a product of its era, but at the very least with the new graphic enhancements, it still makes the world you're inside feel more realized and livable than it was in the past due to hardware limitations. But even with the limitations of the 360 era, you still cant help but look back on it fondly as that clumsy little console doing its best to fit into an environment they do not belong in.. just like Haru.
Keeping in the sheer level of absurdity that the Ninja Gaiden franchise is known for, which is brimmed to the teeth with action, you slice, cut, de-organ a variety of enemies that range from ninja swarms that you encounter in destroyed buildings and villages, fight Lycans in a gladiator type of arenas and yell to everyone watching your bloody rampage and asking ''ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?'' and if they arent entertained... well then... they DIE TOO, Mwhahaha. Yes even with your murderous rampage and leaving everyones intestines all over the ground, it still remains rather charming due to how relentless the game is via its overall pacing of the combat flow and the enemy variety you encounter, granted the game isnt as difficult as Ninja Gaiden Black was back in the day, but its still very commendable and gives players a good mix of foes to the point where nothing starts to feel overly monotonous. Only thing that's really been overly relation to this title is the media itself with every article going ''THIS IS THE SOULS LIKE GAME FOR THE NINJA GAIDEN SERIES''.. like bro shush it, not EVERYTHING is souls like or should be compared to it, I mean its like eating greasy food from a normal taco place, having a poo and it went relatively well with only minor inconveniences, but then you eat Taco Bell and blow up the damn toilet to the point you pray for death to come due to the pain and suffering, then going on social media and writing ''I just had the SOULS LIKE version of pooping after eating Taco Bell''. Yes I'm annoyed and that was too much info, so sorry, moving on. The games performance on PC feels smooth as butter with very few instances of any frame rate dips even stuttering, with the only mishaps technical wise being some of the environments not being 100% up to snuff due to, again, this being a remake of an older game, so its to be expected overall - but it is saved to an extent thanks to modern advancements using dynamic lighting that make some older and even muddier textures look sleek and new, even if they arent and it keeps the immersion going a ten fold. The bad textures still arent as grand in legend as The Door from Final Fantasy 7 Remake though or the square shaped grapes in Final Fantasy 14... those of which will live on forever in infamy. Praise the almighty door! for I am not worthy!
Back on the combat side, which you already know is bloody and gory like its something out of a Terrifier movie with Art The Clown, you get to slice people to bits using limb dismembering executions with a good chunk of combo possibilities to pull off as well from slick on the ground combos to with speed or powerful combos to overwhelm an opponent before they have any clue whats going on due to the way you can strategically pick which weapons adds more layer to the combat focused situation you are in by experimenting with each new weapon you obtain to see which gives you the advance power rise, speed wise or strategy wise, you pick. But positives aside, this is also where you start running into some of the negatives that get in the way as well, first starting with the Hard difficulty. What is Ninja Gaiden largely known for? Difficulty... yes thats right, difficulty. While this game isnt a walk in the park and still possesses some challenge, its Hard difficulty remains relatively tame and not as much of a difficulty spike as you would expect it to, thus leaving you with a semi feeling of repetitiveness due to how underwhelming it can feel since it doesnt change much from playing on normal mode to hard mode, huge bummer. Beyond the difficulty woes, the camera system still feels flawed and cumbersome and doesnt feel as natural as it should given the modernization of the game itself and has issues with its lock on system which can either get you killed or badly damaged, directly effecting your next boss fight, should you be near one, which is no fun - and dont get me started on how many cuss words were thrown out of my mouth during some of the platforming sections, because if I said them now, I'd probably be banned for all the words and made up words I came up with it. Oh ya, its that bad.
''I FOUND THEM LIKE THIS, I SWEAR''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black ends up a really fun and violent time, albeit with some issues here and there with some wonky camera work and difficulty level on hard more not really living up to its name that it was built upon throughout the franchises entries. However with fast and intense combat, varied combos and weapons to use to take down foes, improved visuals that provides better fidelity for the environments and a no apologetic nostalgia ride that is the stuff B-movies are made of, makes this title for any Ninja Gaiden fan, a must play, whether you purchase it on playstation, pc or xbox gamepass. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW
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