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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black – Review

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a remake of the original Ninja Gaiden 2. It follows the journey of Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja who destroys everyone and everything that gets in his way. This might just be the ideal game to wind down after a long day at work. However, you’d have to keep the difficulty level in mind because the game has quite a few challenges up its sleeve. Try and retry might oftentimes be your motto. Yet, the game’s combat and its stunning visuals make it totally worth the effort. Story Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is made up of 17 chapters, and the story is told through a series of cinematic cutscenes in between all the fighting. Ryu Hayabusa, the game’s main character, meets CIA agent Sonia but then discovers it’s a trap. The Black Spider Clan attacks Hayabusa Village and steals the Demon Statue. It’s Ryu’s mission to stop them from realizing their evil plans. At the start of the game, you might get confused as to what’s going on, but fortunately, after making some progress, the story will start to make sense little by little.  The storyline has its moments of suspense, but overall, it doesn’t have much depth to it. Additionally, the combat is so compelling that it completely overshadows the game’s story. Moreover, Ryu’s character also lacks depth. He simply wanders into arenas where enemies monologue at him until he kills them and everyone else in the room.  This version of the original second entry in the series adds three extra chapters in which you play as different female characters: Momiji, Ayane, and Rachel. Each of their chapters is interesting, and these characters are fun to control. But besides the fact that it’s fun to try out their personal weapons, these characters don’t have any depth to them either. Honestly, their sequences don’t add much to the narrative of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black.  As you progress through the story, you’ll notice that the levels are quite linear, and there’s little room for exploration. And if you press the R1-button, Ryu will automatically face the direction you need to go. All of this adds up to keep the pace of the game smooth, which is one of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black’s key features. Thus, it’s not a bad thing that there are no real opportunities for exploration. Graphics Ninja Gaiden 2’s remake looks absolutely stunning. The environments look vibrant, and sometimes, you just want to stop and take in the surroundings. The character models also look particularly rich in detail.  Another feature is worth mentioning here. If you trigger a heavy attack near a wounded enemy, Ryu is sent into a flashy animation of lightning-fast swings, and the camera greedily follows him for a better view as he slaughters his enemy. As combat is the main factor of this game, it’s a big plus that the animations during combat are so impressively fluid and a pleasure to watch even though an enemy is being ripped into pieces. Sound Apart from the menu themes and a few other random ones, the music of the game is pretty bland. Or maybe it’s every other aspect of the game that overshadows the music, just like they overshadow the story. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black could indeed do better music-wise, although you’ll probably pay little attention to it. Luckily, the lack of melodies is compensated for by the gameplay. Gameplay Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is all about the combat, which is fast-paced, brutal, and flashy. As Ryu takes on the Black Spider Clan, there’s not a single attack in the game that doesn’t make blood gush like a fountain. The game offers a wide range of different attacks for each weapon, which are triggered by different button combinations. It takes some time to figure out the whole combat system, but once you do, the gameplay feels magnificent.  Ryu himself feels great to control thanks to those different attacks and weapons. Attacking and dodging will get you by, but the game becomes a lot more fun when you move beyond mashing random buttons and start using those different combinations because they bring out different types of attacks. In this way, you’ll learn to fight your enemies more strategically, and you’ll learn which weapon to use against which enemy.  Ninja Gaiden 2 Black has Ryu find nine weapons throughout his journey, and honestly, all of them are fun to use. Besides his bow, you can switch his blade to a giant scythe or even a pair of flails. Swapping weapons requires you to pause the game, which interrupts the otherwise fast pace of the fights and this leaves little room to experiment with different weapons on the spot. Each weapon can also be upgraded to unlock new techniques.  However, besides the smooth combat and the intriguing combinations each weapon has, some cons should be mentioned here. The camera is fiddly and doesn’t always do as you please, and the controls are fairly stiff. Yet, all you have to learn is how to deal with this, and you’ll be good to go.  Conclusion The gameplay of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black takes a bit of getting used to and has a few flaws, but once you get past the learning curve, you’re guaranteed to have a good time slashing and dicing evil ninjas and demons. The game has its negative aspects, like a bland soundtrack and a shallow storyline, however, the combat and stunning visuals make up for it. If you’re a fan of action games, then this one should be high on your list.