I can see how this was revolutionary back when it first released. There’s elements to this game that are really cool.

Some of the colossus fights are awesome that’s are grand spectacles compared to games today, while some are kinda underwhelming. There also isn’t a whole lot of complexity to the fights, just one or two mechanics.

I can’t say much on the story cause…well there really isn’t much of one. It’s a general tale but I wish I got some more info about the world.

The main reason I’m scoring this a 3 is that the controls and camera feel awful. The actual act of playing this game is practice in frustration as you will spend more time fighting the controls and cameras than the actual colossi.

It’s an experience that is obviously a relic of its time and while it’s a decent playthrough, I feel no need to ever play it again.

A cool science experiment of a game from a time where Squaresoft making some of the coolest games of all time. Yeah, the run speed can be a bit slow and the combat isn't fully there but I honestly don't even care. This game looks so good in all it's low-poly pre-rendered glory and the story is the dumbest thing I've ever seen (positive). Every time an FMV cutscene starts playing you know you're about to see some of the hardest visuals ever put on the PS1. Also short and sweet clocking in at around 10 hours. It's not life changing, but it's like a really good junk food sci-fi b-movie and it absolutely rocks.

Shinobi is a very conflicting game for me. As I said in my Nightshade review, I find it far too hostile and unwelcoming for me to truly love it, and at some points I really hate playing it. But sometimes it all clicks and the concept on hand shines through.

It never manages to with the aerial combat though, which despite hours testing it out and figuring out how Hotsuma can reset jumps, nothing ever felt consistent or good to do. While Nightshade had very clear rules on how Hibana could deal with enemies in air, Hotsuma feels more rigid and inflexible in this regard, making stages like 6-A absolute nightmares whereas in Nightshade they would have been highlights. Having the kick be a directional move also is a massive pain-in-the-ass as the camera can often make inputs like that difficult to pull-off in the moment. While I think Shinobi tests the player on different skill-sets than Nightshade does, i felt like Nightshade better gave me the means to pass the test.

The level design in general is nothing special, the bosses are middling and the controls feel really stiff, with a lock-on that is just never on the same page as you. What is there to like about this game?

Style, really. The TATE sequences, Hotsuma's incredibly long scarf, the brooding and dramatic narrative, and the brilliant music are what kept me motivated to play this to the end. The design of Hotsuma is fantastic, and maneuvering through dudes to drum'n'bass is always a hook I'll fall right into. Hotsuma looks impossibley cool all of the time and animates stunningly, as I could watch him just stand there with his arms folded for hours.

While Nightshade is a game I adore and love, Shinobi is only a game I can like strongly. It's worth playing on an emulator with save states; I could not in a million years recommend you try something this punitive with its checkpoints on original hardware. Also note the American release excises Easy mode entirely, which is very odd as I think this game needs a mode just for on-boarding as the actual game is not interested in teaching you shit like that. The downside of THAT though is that the whole appeal of Shinobi is the difficulty, so stripping that from it renders the game rather non-descript. So, what the fuck.

I will warn you though, that if you aren't very fond of dogs, the dog enemies in chapter 3 that can block your attacks might make you apply at your local kill shelter. They are some of the most annoying fucking enemies in a game, ever. Miyazaki only wishes his games could have dog enemies this irritating.

That's all I 've got. it's a very simple game, and I love it for that! No extraneous bells and whilstles, just Shinobi brilliance.

𝐎𝐁𝐒: 𝐀𝐒 𝐕𝐄𝐙𝐄𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄, 𝐄𝐔 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐑 𝐔𝐌 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐈 𝐍𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐈𝐎, 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀 𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎.

FINAL FANTASY É BOM DEMAIS

Enfim partindo pra review, esse remake é insanamente bom, eu não joguei o original mas creio que muitas coisas que já eram boas nele foram melhoradas nesse, o combate é muito gostozinho tendo como você usar habilidades no meio dos combos e conseguindo dar um dano maior nos inimigos, sem falar dos gráficos que PUTA QUE PARIU são LINDOS (mas o cloud não se molha na água... enfim né), os personagens tem reações bem clichês mas são bem carismáticos, também existem muitos itens pra tu usar no meio da batalha, mas pra ser bem sincero só usei poção de cura e ressurreição, além de ter outros tipo de espadas pra tu upar e outras armas sem ser só a do cloud.
Agora as partes ruins que acabam incomodando um pouco. como por exemplo, a quantidade de inimigos com escudos, então uma boss battle que era pra durar 10min acaba durando 30min por causa desse escudo e a outra coisa é não conseguir controlar o melhor personagem do jogo. fiquei triste nessa hora😭😭😭😭.
E as músicas são incríveis também, e não é por turno o combate só pra deixar claro, mas no mais é isso amei jogar❤️.

E não enche o saco falando que faltou isso ou aquilo, apenas falo oque lembro que no caso é quase nada.

Enfim essa é apenas a opinião de alguém que ama jogar vídeo jogos☝️🤓.