Ninja Gaiden 2 : Ninja Harder

Between the blood-curling cries of exuberance from a black spider ninja, stands Ryu Hyabusa and his deadly yet lethal blade, the Dark Dragon blade. In the sequel to 2004's Ninja Gaiden, you are once again tasked with the opposition of many foes, and it's up to you to stand straight and stop a great evil from destroying the world. But story, as tertiary as it often could be in the all-action genre, stays the same here as well, with no vicissitude on the part of the developers. So how is the gameplay? It adds different weapons the first game didn't have, and more moves with the change pace-wise. Slicing your way from enemy to enemy was never as blustery and impetuous as it is here, but it's in the long run that it counts, and this game will definitely still be among the greats in some of the years to come. It's a long game too, so you'll want to buckle down in your favorite couch for hours at a time until you get to the end.


Speaking of the end, there are many boss fights in a row without a save or Muramasa statue, so you'd better be on the tip of your toes to get passed them. As indisposed as I think that kind of design is, in Ninja Gaiden 2 your remonstrance will get the best of you, and eventually you'll finish the game, high-fiving anyone in the room with you and you'll feel a sense of consummation that few other games offer in pure twitch gameplay despite the many offerings other developers try to proposition you with. Something should be said for the viscerality on display, because other games such as Heavenly Sword, try as it might have done, just doesn't equal or surpass the level of intuition in regard to the combat abilities. It's a colloquy to Team Ninja and the (former) head, Tomonobu Itagaki.


The levels on a whole are better, I think, than the first Ninja Gaiden. There are forests with ninjas going furtively from tree to tree, and even though you don't know that until they're on top of you, I still think forests and ninjas coalesce greatly. There are also waterfalls and raindrops of blood that dot the sky if you were to look up, and it's breathtaking to behold. If only I had a cup big enough, I could catch it all and take a sensuous bath in it!! Besides that, you also get to go to New York. I don't think that's really what New York looks like, though. Despite those perceptions against it, all the locations are great, and you'll be waiting persistently for the next one to arrive.


Ninja Gaiden is a game of many pitfalls of circumstance. While not your own, it still makes you ask of it, why is it so hard? I died many the time to a fusillade of blows before I was able to react, and before you say it, I'm good at games. Especially the action genre, so it's not because of skill lacking. I think the game is cheap at times, but when you finally get to the denouement, you'll be the better person of it. Ninja Gaiden is a must-play action game for anyone with proclivity towards as such, and obviously, its rewards will satiate even the most jaundiced of gamers.

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