A much more forgiving game than Sigma 1. The difficulty is more balanced, the action more fast-paced, the new systems for health regeneration outside of combat and enemy executions are very welcome, there's much less need to grind for essence and items, and the additional characters aside from Ryu are much less awkward to play as than Rachel in Sigma 1. The game is a lot more linear than Sigma 1, and much less difficult. Overall, for someone like me, it's easy to say that this is far superior to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1.