I've been trying to play "new" games on my New 2ds XL. So i've been browsing around for games i don't usually play and found this.

Gotta say it's quite amazing. With a good and engaging story and fun combat system. The bosses are especially fun here although progression feels weird, as some of the earlier bosses are harder than the ones you face later. Although that might just be me.

Replayability? ehhhhhhh, idk.

Ninja Garden: Dragon Sword has a surprisingly intuitive combat system using the touchscreen controls. The controls are very responsive and I was able to execute all the moves I wanted to do effectively. It really does feel like Ninja Garden but on a DS. It's easier than the console Ninja Garden games. There's a nice enemy variety and plenty of bosses. But quite a few of the bosses are extremely easy. The story is mid but no one plays NG for the story lol. All in all, a decent action game on the DS.

Quirky and interesting perspective on the Ninja Gaiden idea, despite looking like it could never work, it sort of did? Hear me out.

The early DS games had to display in full what the console was able to do. A touchpad wasn't anything new at the time, but something as responsive as a modern handheld device (from which I'm typing this review by the way) was completely and utterly game changing, even if it was just a gimmick. Most games were gimmicks, at their hearts, very few titles utilized the full potential of the touch screen more than a few times; even fewer were entirely basing their gameplay on the new technology, which in and out of itself is a crowning achievement. I respect the dev team for pulling through this.

The game is kind of ass though. Ninja Gaiden has to be precise with its input and, punishing as it is, you'll sometimes be screwed and there's nothing you can do. It feels unfair and it takes enormous effort to beat.

Everything else gets my seal of approval, the prerendered backgrounds look fantastic and the atmosphere is stellar. Holding the console vertically can get tiring when you're playing this game, so I'd recommend playing it just for its novelty and as a time capsule of early DS games, more than anything. If you want to play a Ninja Gaiden for its tight gameplay, you can go and play Dead or Alive or get your hands on the OG Xbox, but at the same time Dragon Sword works just as well as the intended to-go & portable alternative.

Terribly underrated and even a little too hated from what I've seen on Steam. It's not perfect but none of the game's flaws are real deal breakers unless you have Beth Wilder's ever dwindling level of patience. Gamers whine about everything these days and can't simply have fun anymore without constantly feeling the need to overly scrutinize every single pixel they come across.

I mean, come on... you can manipulate time in this game (!!!), it has some genuinely impressive level designs, you get a fun little TV Show with Lance Reddick and Aidan Gillen (who unintentionally turns out to be kind of hilarious as Paul) and while the writing fluctuates and strays a bit from "peak Remedy" it has some really great moments. Which are especially present in the details, aka. all those scattered notes, emails and documents.

Some of you guys just need to take a step back and approach games with a little more whimsy again because that is what gaming is essentially all about! :)

(oh you died to the boss 50 times on hard? stop crying on the internet, thats a skill issue. get good. hop on a souls game and then we'll talk. nerd lmfaooo)

Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the abyss peer the eyes of a demon
Behold the Razgriz, its wings of black sheath

The demon soars through dark skies
Fear and death trail its shadow beneath
Until men united wield a hallowed sabre
In final reckoning, the beast is slain

As the demon sleeps, man turns on man
His own blood and madness soon cover the earth
From the depths of despair awaken the Razgriz
Its raven wings ablaze in majestic light

A near perfect gem! Unlike Breath of the Wild (which it's been compared to), its flaws are a little harder to ignore. Jumping and climbing never felt quite right, the character animations can be janky (at least in the base game. They were improved a bit in Frozen Wilds), some NPCs are rather flat, and the melee combat is...there. The option of overriding the machines was sadly undercooked as well.

Everything else was amazing though!! I love all the different ways you can kill your enemies. Your focus allowing you to scan for any weaknesses and also read up on people from the past. I was so caught up in the lore, I did just about everything. I only require five remaining Blazing Sun medals. I only did a little bit of Frozen Wilds, yet I still made sure to get every artifact. The environments are absolutely gorgeous. I learned from The Completionist that the areas were based on Colorado and Utah. Having visited the former, yeah that's about right. Finally, Aloy is one of my favorite protagonists in recent years. A great arc combined with a fantastic performance by Ashly Burch.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming sequel. The comic sounds promising too.