Ninja Gaiden III: Saved or Ruined?

Reinventing the gameplay might be the best thing to happen to Ryu.

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Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II were old-fashioned games, relics of Japanese developers unwilling to stray from conventions of the past. This according to current Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi. I love these two titles –Ninja Gaiden Black is one of my top five original Xbox games – but he's right. These games are built from old sensibilities for harcore gamers. Ninja Gaiden III is going to break free of this trap. At least, that's my hope.

Recently, IGN reported three big changes coming for Ninja Gaiden III: the story is a personal journey for hero Ryu Hayabusa, Team Ninja is rebuilding the gameplay from scratch, and it won't feature scream-inducing difficulty. Do these changes mean the Ninja Gaiden series is ruined or saved?

The Hero Within
Ninja Gaiden III may take place after the events of Ninja Gaiden II, but the focus is on telling the story of Ryu past. Ninja Gaiden II's ending appears to dovetail with the storyline of the old arcade game, making the modern series already something of a prequel. But now we're going to see more into Ryu's history, to days when he wasn't easily slashing the heads off enemies.

Story has never been Ninja Gaiden's signature. And to be fair, storytelling has never been a strong suit of Team Ninja. Will a more personal story, perhaps one that doesn't feature the rivers of blood in the Underworld, make for a more compelling experience? It's hard to say. At the very least, it sounds like Team Ninja is making an attempt to deliver something emotional.

To succeed, they need to tone down the melodramatic enemy speeches, the shadowy characters randomly who appear and disappear from the plot for no reason, and the boobs. No, seriously, I get it -- girls have boobs. Bouncing them in my face constantly is not unpleasant, but I can't take a game seriously that does so. It's also time for Team Ninja to stop teasing us about the childhood relationship between Ryu and Ayane. If this is about Ryu's past and we don't finally understand what formed this tight bond between the two, then why bother with an origin story at all?

Feel Every Kill
Turning a game known for expedient kills and easily lopped off limbs into something with different pacing and completely new gameplay mechanics is a considerable risk. My assumption, from speaking with Hayashi-san, is that because we'll experience Ryu's early days, these kills still need to be practiced.

Chopping off limbs sounds like a quick mini-game, something involving button presses, perhaps matching on-screen commands like God of War. It's hard to imagine this from a Ninja Gaiden game. I love Ninja Gaiden Black so much, but perhaps its day has passed. Maybe it is time for something totally different.

Ninja Gaiden never made me feel anything -- except maybe, "Oh yeah, I'm killing s---!" If every kill suddenly feels like a major victory, if each decapitation is a challenge, if Ninja Gaiden III makes you earn it, then maybe (just maybe), there's an emotional toll for what you've done. Make the bodies matter. Make every death feel personal and the game itself should feel personal.

No One Likes a Quitter
Achievements and Trophies have had one significant impact on game development. For the first time, developers get real data not just on how many people finish their games, but on how far people get before quitting. I have to imagine Team Ninja looked at the Achievement rate for Ninja Gaiden II completions and saw that the majority of gamers gave up fairly early. I don't even knowmany hardcore gamers that finished Ninja Gaiden II -- can you imagine how many casual fans stopped a third of the way through?

I love Ninja Gaiden because it's hard as hell. If you beat it, you've accomplished something. But I imagine a developer must be disheartened to spend two or three years making something only to have few gamers play it all the way through. Hell, I'd make my game easier too if I knew no one bothered to get to the end.

That doesn't mean Ninja Gaiden's past gameplay was flawed. Old fashioned, yes, but great for what it was. For the most part, I kept plugging away at Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II because they were so tough, not because the sword fighting was amazing or the story was at all intriguing. It was the need to beat those bastards down. If Team Ninja can replace the extreme challenge with something equally compelling, then I won't miss the difficulty. That's a big "if."

Our Verdict on Ninja Gaiden II

I have a good feeling about Ninja Gaiden III. It's undergoing a lot of changes, and that takes some courage, especially for a development team that honestly hasn't shown an appetite for risk-taking. It's a bold new direction, but Ninja Gaiden needs it.

Team Ninja won't show Ninja Gaiden III until June, at E3 2011, so it will be a while before any of us knows if the risk saved the series. What I can say, and what I know is true, is that if Ryu's adventure hadn't changed, eventually Ninja Gaiden would be ruined.

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Hmm so Ninja Gaiden is going to have an easy mode this time:P I had to give up on NG1 due to its ungodly difficulty and as for NG2 I lent that to a friend and never got it back when i moved.So hopefully I will be able to finish NG3 if it aint going to be so damn hard

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But now we're going to see more into Ryu's history, to days when he wasn't easily slashing the heads off enemies.

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Thats sounds lame,because it means there is not gonna be tons of decapitated enemies n blood =( What a shame

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it sounds like Team Ninja is making an attempt to deliver something emotional.

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No no no, i dont wanna "Press X to call Jason" (с) Heavy Rain
I never played the first NG, but at least completed the second one!!! (barely, dropped n picked up the game a couple of times!!!)
So i hope the third one gonna be at least less difficult then the previous one

well hopefully there will still be awesome parts

I would like to see an origins story. yea we have the very first one from nes but i would constitute this as being a remake if thats the direction they are going.

Well hopefully they still make it a awesome game

New details from E3. The game will be available on xbox360, PS3 and Wii-U



Ninja Gaiden 3 is finally playable at E3. The new elements are a two-sided coin, where longtime fans may go into an uproar, and new fans may be pulled into the experience. Here are the major points you need to know.

New Ninja Moves

Ryu Hayabusa comes equipped with a new book of moves in this adventure. First up is the evasive slide that gets him out of combat danger and under objects. Executed with the block button, this new move replaces the roll. When used in an offensive manner, he can tackle opponents to the ground and wail on them with a new combo. It's a fast and slick move that works cleanly and will be effective on bigger battlefields. When perched on top of buildings, Ryu can launch himself into the air and soar safely downwards, much like a flying squirrel. While it sounds ludicrous, it sets up action sequences where he'll dodge rockets midair and land on top of enemies, slitting their throats and flinging them to the ground. It's a little silly, but it did made for several epic moments against the London skyline.

Is there a wall in your path to move through a level? Utilizing two knives, Ryu can now Kunai Climb up the wall. This grappling maneuver is a rotation between the trigger buttons that allow him to stab and climb upwards. During this feat, Ryu can still throw knives to get out of a tight situation, while hanging on with his other arm.


Ryu's demon also has new powers. After a particularly heated battle his arm glows red. By holding strong attack, Ryu can unleash this energy and attack all surrounding enemies to deadly effect. It's a great way to get out of tight corners, and save Ryu's life when he'd otherwise be bleeding out on the streets.


Combat

Fights are no longer full of severed appendages and body parts flying around the screen. While blood still flows freely from freshly-opened arteries, the combat no longer features the slice-and-dice gameplay of the earlier titles. After battling several dozen enemies through the demo, I didn't notice a single arm, leg, or head roll through the city streets.


After pulling off a successful combo, an indicator will pop up on screen saying which button will finish off the enemy. The soldiers populating the level staggered weakly, clutching their recently stabbed organs, and simply dropped rather than being cut in half. It's bloody, sure, but lacks the satisfying limb-severing of yore.


Quick Time Events

Set against the backdrop of modern London, the demo showcases some epic set pieces. Explosions, cars flying through the the air, and enemies sneaking out of fog all lead to instructions popping up on the screen. By quickly pulling off the indicated move, Ryu's life will be saved and he'll slide under a projectile, reverse an attack, or leap out of the way. While it's outside of the gameplay of previous Ninja Gaiden titles, it does present an air of excitement.


Difficulty

Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II both destroyed any sense I had that I was good at video games. The series is very polarizing in this respect. Purists want the satisfaction of a hard-earned win, but new players to the series are scared off by the prospect of this seeming-impossibility. Battling through the demo on "normal" wasn't a monumental task. Ninja Gaiden II's "normal" mode certainly killed me a few times in the first level, Ninja Gaiden III's didn't even get close.


After a battle with a large spider-robot, the demo ended. The experience was fun; slashing through the streets of London was memorable and I'm looking forward to seeing more. The demo provided just a glimpse at the full game, but it will be a while until we know about all the modes and settings that may satiate longtime fans.

HMMM based on the gameplay footage where are the dismemberments, the severed limbs n stuff from NG2 thats the biggest disappointment to me the difficulty level was neva an issue for me personally:tristedepart: