I came to this series from the carefully considered gameplay-loops of Devil May Cry 1 and God Hand. It made the combat impossible to consider in a vacuum because Ninja Gaiden doesn't really have the singleplayer-AI equivalent of a neutral game. That opinion did evolve over time. I do like games where enemy-interaction is simple, but the goal is just to survive and get from point A to B. This is how the NES games worked, and those are great. However, these Ninja Gaidens, from what I'd observed, don't mix the combat and platforming in a meaningful way and the way to deal with enemies is cut and dry. Izuna-drop spam and Ultimate Technique spam are the way to go. Not to say it's easy, but I like more variety and strategy than this. The games are somewhere between good and bland for me currently, but I'd like see what I can find on my own and not just go solely off of what I've discussed and what I've seen. It's always possible that players are simply doing what they can and that it's not ideal. My biggest fear is that the games are liked because the sandbox-elements of its combat aren't safe to attempt, when I don't care about creativity in a vacuum in the first place. I want to mix it up because I have no choice, not to pad out the fun. 2.5/5 for now.

man they just do not care about these games. i have to do 4 stars because Ninja Gaiden is a must-play even if it's the Sigma version, but Sigma 2? if you have NO OTHER OPTION to play 2, yeah it's fine. The changes the Sigma games make can be very weird and misguided, such as the dumbass motorcycle guys or cutting the shortcut to Muramasa's from the drawbridge. Of course the gore and enemy count in Sigma 2 is a huge detriment but it's still playable. Razor's Edge is also here, and it's honestly not bad, just a hard course correction that sometimes doesn't work.

I genuinely wish NG would get more love, as it's simply the best action game series ever, and we will never get anything as methodical and complex as NG1 or as bananas insane as NG2 ever again.

If you are new to the series you absolutely SHOULD buy these, because you will still get into NG and they are great to play. If you become a die-hard you will end up buying Black and a CRT television to play it on whether I advise you to or not.