One of the worst action games of all time, and one of the worst games of the 2010s. Nearly everything this game does is an absolute affront to the action genre.
The animations and graphics of the game definitely deserve some amount of praise; Team Ninja has always been at the top of the industry when it comes to animations in action games that are fluid and believable, yet wonderfully stylized and over-the-top, and that's no different here. That's about where my positive comments for the game ends.
The gameplay is a borderline parody of Ninja Gaiden. 1 weapon in the base game, with 2 locked behind DLC. Upgrades entirely out of your control, and driven by story. Myriads of technical issues, from slowdown, to bugs, to dropped inputs, the works. An utterly broken instant kill mechanic with no clear triggers, while also being arbitrarily restricted in certain sections. Terrible bosses that make the chopper from Devil May Cry 2 look like Vergil by comparison. Endless quick-time events in and out of combat. A smaller, and less interesting roster of enemies than both 1, and 2. And of course, walking sections!
The game was also called out for being overly simplistic and mashy when it came out, and that's only half right. Because Master Ninja mode exists! And if you want to use the Dragon Sword on that version, I pray for your sanity. Master Ninja on this version of Ninja Gaiden 3 will absolutely change a person, and I only got through about halfway on there. A tedious, unrelenting nightmare that has to be among the worst higher difficulties of a game I've ever played.
What was all this even for, anyway? To focus in on a better story? Well, they even failed at that, because the story is utter nonsense. It's riddled with plot holes, the characters are flat, and has some of the most insane ludonarrative dissonance ever to be put in a game. This is most notably, and hilariously shown with the ending, which decides to try and outright spell out the moral of the game to the player and give THE answer to its central question (Ryu Hayabusa, hero or murderer?). But get this: It's straight-up wrong. I don't think I've ever seen any piece of media feature writing this blatantly, incompetently blind to what was shown and told directly on-screen. How the hell did Team Ninja consider this to be an improvement over the past game's stories?
All-in-all, just no. This was a complete misfire on Team Ninja's end, and I couldn't be any happier to say that they've redeemed themselves with Razor's Edge as well as their more recent, original output starting from Nioh. This game deserves to be remembered as one of the most embarrassing miscalculations in gaming, and a shining example of how NOT to change a franchise to appeal to a wider audience.
The animations and graphics of the game definitely deserve some amount of praise; Team Ninja has always been at the top of the industry when it comes to animations in action games that are fluid and believable, yet wonderfully stylized and over-the-top, and that's no different here. That's about where my positive comments for the game ends.
The gameplay is a borderline parody of Ninja Gaiden. 1 weapon in the base game, with 2 locked behind DLC. Upgrades entirely out of your control, and driven by story. Myriads of technical issues, from slowdown, to bugs, to dropped inputs, the works. An utterly broken instant kill mechanic with no clear triggers, while also being arbitrarily restricted in certain sections. Terrible bosses that make the chopper from Devil May Cry 2 look like Vergil by comparison. Endless quick-time events in and out of combat. A smaller, and less interesting roster of enemies than both 1, and 2. And of course, walking sections!
The game was also called out for being overly simplistic and mashy when it came out, and that's only half right. Because Master Ninja mode exists! And if you want to use the Dragon Sword on that version, I pray for your sanity. Master Ninja on this version of Ninja Gaiden 3 will absolutely change a person, and I only got through about halfway on there. A tedious, unrelenting nightmare that has to be among the worst higher difficulties of a game I've ever played.
What was all this even for, anyway? To focus in on a better story? Well, they even failed at that, because the story is utter nonsense. It's riddled with plot holes, the characters are flat, and has some of the most insane ludonarrative dissonance ever to be put in a game. This is most notably, and hilariously shown with the ending, which decides to try and outright spell out the moral of the game to the player and give THE answer to its central question (Ryu Hayabusa, hero or murderer?). But get this: It's straight-up wrong. I don't think I've ever seen any piece of media feature writing this blatantly, incompetently blind to what was shown and told directly on-screen. How the hell did Team Ninja consider this to be an improvement over the past game's stories?
All-in-all, just no. This was a complete misfire on Team Ninja's end, and I couldn't be any happier to say that they've redeemed themselves with Razor's Edge as well as their more recent, original output starting from Nioh. This game deserves to be remembered as one of the most embarrassing miscalculations in gaming, and a shining example of how NOT to change a franchise to appeal to a wider audience.