It's not perfect but there's a lot of good stuff.
It's weird because in many ways this game could be considered an upgrade to Ninja Gaiden Black:
The combat has been expanded to the max, there's a lot of moves and most of them are extremely deadly and the new weapons can be extremely good
The movement was refined, dodges are faster to accomodate the speed of the gameplay
The water running was also refined and you have more control over it (being stuck in water and having to swim is really slow, but not anymore, you can just get on top of the water and water run from inside the water)
The health system was changed but made way more interesting and makes for a dynamic gameplay loop, risking your life at low health to then get most of it back is definitely satisfying or even saving your health upgrades for a free maximum heal opens up very interesting options
The bosses can be extremely fast and aggressive which makes up for very quick fights on your end or theirs
Now if that was my review of it I wouldn't have rated it a 3. Because there is some bad.
To start the story is just a very simple rehash of NGB's story it doesn't even try to make anything new, you end up going around killing greater fiends that give you a totem (only on the second rematch though, not even on the first time) that you use to access the final boss while a femme fatale is being helpful but also unhelpful at the same time. It is what it is, but you don't play Ninja Gaiden for the story or if you do I guess you're a fan of 3/3RE.
The level design is non existent it may as well be a series of corridors that connect you to other arenas at times which sometimes look pretty interesting and even pretty but sometimes they look so generic I practically forgot I was still playing a Ninja Gaiden game.
The bosses for the most part are actually good, but the moment you get the scythe it's over for them and for you, using anything else is probably an handicap: it's fast, hits all around you with most attacks and does a lot of damage. It also has one of the best Ultimate Techniques this game can offer, and since charging up UTs is so fast you're probably gonna abuse it. There's other good and fun weapons and maybe it is better to switch around every now and then or you'll go mad.
There are two or three bossfights which are totally garbage: Gigadeath, Water Dragon and maybe the Giant Skull Worm but he's quick and easy. The game would be better off without them.
The game would also be better off without all the flying enemies which are painfully and excruciatingly dealt with by aiming your bow and arrow at them and hitting them with a UT while standing still. Thrilling gameplay.
The game, atleast on the Xbox Series S|X BC, seems to be endlessly glitchy, I've softlocked myself at least three times and the enemy AI sometimes just gives up and lets you deal some free damage or they get stuck on some geometry. Clearly this game needed to be polished a little more.
There's much to love but there's also a some bullshit that if you wanna put up with it can leave you with one of the goriest and bloodiest games of all time.
It's weird because in many ways this game could be considered an upgrade to Ninja Gaiden Black:
The combat has been expanded to the max, there's a lot of moves and most of them are extremely deadly and the new weapons can be extremely good
The movement was refined, dodges are faster to accomodate the speed of the gameplay
The water running was also refined and you have more control over it (being stuck in water and having to swim is really slow, but not anymore, you can just get on top of the water and water run from inside the water)
The health system was changed but made way more interesting and makes for a dynamic gameplay loop, risking your life at low health to then get most of it back is definitely satisfying or even saving your health upgrades for a free maximum heal opens up very interesting options
The bosses can be extremely fast and aggressive which makes up for very quick fights on your end or theirs
Now if that was my review of it I wouldn't have rated it a 3. Because there is some bad.
To start the story is just a very simple rehash of NGB's story it doesn't even try to make anything new, you end up going around killing greater fiends that give you a totem (only on the second rematch though, not even on the first time) that you use to access the final boss while a femme fatale is being helpful but also unhelpful at the same time. It is what it is, but you don't play Ninja Gaiden for the story or if you do I guess you're a fan of 3/3RE.
The level design is non existent it may as well be a series of corridors that connect you to other arenas at times which sometimes look pretty interesting and even pretty but sometimes they look so generic I practically forgot I was still playing a Ninja Gaiden game.
The bosses for the most part are actually good, but the moment you get the scythe it's over for them and for you, using anything else is probably an handicap: it's fast, hits all around you with most attacks and does a lot of damage. It also has one of the best Ultimate Techniques this game can offer, and since charging up UTs is so fast you're probably gonna abuse it. There's other good and fun weapons and maybe it is better to switch around every now and then or you'll go mad.
There are two or three bossfights which are totally garbage: Gigadeath, Water Dragon and maybe the Giant Skull Worm but he's quick and easy. The game would be better off without them.
The game would also be better off without all the flying enemies which are painfully and excruciatingly dealt with by aiming your bow and arrow at them and hitting them with a UT while standing still. Thrilling gameplay.
The game, atleast on the Xbox Series S|X BC, seems to be endlessly glitchy, I've softlocked myself at least three times and the enemy AI sometimes just gives up and lets you deal some free damage or they get stuck on some geometry. Clearly this game needed to be polished a little more.
There's much to love but there's also a some bullshit that if you wanna put up with it can leave you with one of the goriest and bloodiest games of all time.