an actual mechanically distinctive racing game, inertial drift asks a question abandoned the minute the PS2 entered retirement: "what if the right stick wasn't just for camera control?" as a proof-of-concept it totally nails it.

but in similarly PS2 fashion, the game is structurally anemic, with a barebones story mode that ferries you through the tracks and race types with the most skippable dialogue ever written. the bar for racing game story is subterranean. there is no reason to have shame. we all see what you're doing with the name, go all the way. have a tofu delivery minigame that penalizes excessive g-forces and collisions. make all the characters work at a gas station and fumble every shot at romantic connection

i continue to wait for someone to just remake racing lagoon but with a good driving model

I think you can sum up the modern Ninja Gaiden series through the arc of chapter 7: you storm an airship, fighting a bunch of fun mobs and destroying it from the inside. You face off against a rival ninja, before driving a motorcycle out of the crashing wreckage. So sick... And then you randomly fight a giant turtle that just wanders around in a circle. The game repeatedly builds sequences up to a slam dunk and then punctuates it with a brick.

It was forgivable in the first game, but the sequel foregrounds the issue. Ultimately, this is a consequence of the maximalist philosophy of NG2 - there is no restraint, everything is more. Most of the worst elements could have simply been cut from the game and it wouldn't have even felt like anything was missing. But chapter 7 needed two boss fights, because we can't let that brilliant turtle boss design go to waste. Hell, let's make you fight two of them later on, really get our money's worth. It doubles down on its worst impulses.

Again, the core combat is excellent, but I just can't look past that stuff. Good boss fights are make or break for me, so no game with that Gigadeath fight could ever earn more than three stars, and I'm not even sure that's the worst boss in the game. With such great melee combat, why are there so many boss fights where the optimal (and often only) strategy is just "use bow and arrow until dead," or worse, some lame cheese? I want to square up and fight. These games have a handful of good duels (e.g. Murai, Doku, Genshin) but they just keep giving you lazy ranged fights and giant enemies with limited movesets.

Similar to NGB, a big part of the problem is the game's superlative reputation. For years I heard nothing but praise about these games - the pinnacle of the action genre, total masterpiece. It's not totally unfounded; I can see glimmers, and sometimes the games really shine. But I guess I do understand why, whenever I saw clips of the gameplay, it was never a boss fight.

it's a pretty decent 7/10, PS360 style linear action shooter. no big original ideas, just a Games You Probably Like potpourri with hints of control, horizon, returnal, souls, and an emphasis on elemental combos and environmental hazards to keep things a little more interesting than the basic "shoot the glowing weakspot" which forms the basis of most major encounters.

primary frustration is that you're expected to repeatedly switch weapons mid-combat, but it's mapped to the most inconvenient input - you're constantly moving your thumb from the left stick to the d-pad and back and it just feels clumsy.

story is some whatever sci-fi AI mumbo jumbo. it probably would have worn out its welcome were it a bit longer, but at a breezy 5-6 hours it made for a nice dumb palate cleanser.

I don't mean to come off like a hater, but for The Greatest Action Game of All Time there sure is a lot of shit that sucks in here lmao. I know you're already fuming so keep in mind, I didn't play on Master Ninja and my opinion is not valid. Okay? Cool.

So what do I mean? The occasionally finicky platforming, the tedious (but graciously easy) water level, and especially the part where the game goes DMC2 mode and makes you fight tanks and a helicopter with ranged weapons. C'mon man, how can you directly invite that kind of comparison and not think "what are we doing here?" If the idea was "we can do it better," well sure, you did, but not by much.

Frankly most of the bosses weren't great; the first fight with Murai sets you up to expect a bunch of sick duels and then most of the fights are just giant stationary creatures with three attacks and a nasty grab. I mean you fight four of those worms, man. Is that really making the most of the killer combat system? I understand that higher difficulties mix things up with adds, etc. but to me that kinda illustrates how weak the boss designs were in the first place...

As negative as that came off, when the game is cooking, it is absolutely sick and overall, I had a very good time with it. But given its monstrous reputation I was really surprised how just much of the mid-game felt like a slog.