Ajinin has 2 chronicles

1. Ninja Gaiden II (Review) - - Master Ninja Pwns You
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Sep 04 2008

   Ninja Gaiden II (NG II) is the sequel from the mind of the the creator /producer, Tomonobu Itagaki, of the first. It truly is a great game and even though I guess Ninja Gaiden Black (NGB) was somewhat of a sequel it never really was. This game is an absolute must have for anyone of the adventure kill things on a whim genre.
   
   I wish I could say the story has gotten better with this one, but this isn't a game developed to wrap people into the storyline. Who needs a storyline anyway when you see over 70 corpses (all with a loss of limbs, guaranteed) lying all over your screen every 15 steps you take? It's the same basic plot as the first one -- obliterate everything in your path and kill the main bad guy /recover an artifact.
   
   You play a ninja, named Ryu Hayabusa of the Dragon Lineage clan, who is some uber ninja who likes to show off his coolness by killing opposing ninja clans, bad ninjas :x, and fiends (demons). You are tasked with trying to stop the revival of the almighty 'Archfiend.' This, of course, means slaughtering 99% of anything that gets in your way.
   
   A great addition to the game is the new melee weapons. There are several: Kusari-gama (my favorite wepaon), Eclipse Scythe, and the almighty Tonfas. There are no new ranged weapons, however, there are two new Ninjutsu, called the Art of the Windblades and the Art of the Piercing Void.
   
   Another new addition is the difficulty setting. Be forewarned young one, the game can be {Incredibly tough} at times and when I say {Incredibly tough} I mean really f'ing hard. I mean die like literally 100 times and still not get it. I wish I am I exaggerating in telling you of that previous sentence, unfortunately, I am not embellishing.
   
   The lower difficulties in the game have been 'toned down' somewhat but only on the easiest difficulty and on the medium difficulty (Way of the Acolyte and Way of the Warrior). This is true simply because many people complained of the difficulty found in the first game (including NGB too). I was an avid fan of the first game and was ranked well within the top 150 in the world for my skills; however, Master Ninja on NG II is pretty much like sticking a fork in your eye, then while cringing in pain, stepping on a rake so it smacks you in the face, which in turn makes you fall to the ground and into a bear trap. Even I have difficulty with this err difficulty I guess.
   
   There have been some tweaks to the Health Gauge in conjunction with the Ki Gauge as well. Previously, Ryu was only able to recover health upon using an item (for both NG and NGB). In this installment Ryu's health is recovered periodically after each battle he has fought and through the use of items. How does this new health system work? Well, since you asked...
   
   Ryu has his main health bar (blue colored) and that is self-explanatory, it's his health bar. However, every time Ryu gets hit a sliver of it goes away, I bet ya saw that coming <_<, but the trick lies in the red bar, which is hidden behind the blue bar. The more damage Ryu takes the more of the red bar you see, and the less of the blue, meaning -- his health does regenerate after every fight, but it will not regenerate fully. It, his health, will only regenerate to the extent to which the red bar is. That's probably a little confusing but that's the only explanation I can come up with as of now. The Ki guage used to only allow Ryu to cast up to five Ninjutsu, however due to a glitch, Ryu can now use up to seven.
   
   Out of a scale of 12.7 I give this a 10.1. The new additions make it a great game and an amazing sequel but the harder difficulties will turn most casual gamers away and even create some of the most irritating /difficult game play for the most experienced of gamers.
   
   *Throws flash bomb and disappears*

   
   

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Ajinin has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Sep 05 2008

   I rented this game and gave it a try, even though I didn't play the first one. I thought it was fairly cool, but I also felt like it was alot of button mashing and fighting the same characters who may or may not have looked different. I'm sure it would be cooler on an HD tv, but I played it through the first 2 chapters and sent it back for another game.
   
   Great video game review though and I loved the conclusion!