Is Ninja Gaiden (XBox) too hard? [Archive]

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klausien

01-13-2005, 09:34 AM

I think so. I am up for a challenge anytime, having cut my gaming teeth in the NES age and being big into modern, bullet hell, vertical and horizontal scrolling shoot-em-ups, but Ninja Gaiden for XBox is insane.

All of the gaming publications, online and print, have praised the game, citing its difficulty as one of its advantages. They talk of an excellent camera and well designed levels. I think the difficulty is cheap. The battles are tough all too often because it is too hard to avoid offscreen attacks in the claustrophobic environments. The enemies like to block everything as well. Don't even get me started about the boss battles. It is way too hard to charge up for the ultimates, making them hardly useful. I also don't like that you can't walk while guarding. As I said before, I enjoy a challenge (most games these days are too easy), but I like a game to still be fun. I thought Maximo was hard, but well designed. This is ridiculous. Otogi is better. Period.

I am still at it though. The game is simply gorgeous and does control very well. I really like the game, don't get me wrong, but I am tired of being beat up by peons when I am supposed to be a powerful ninja with a mystic sword.

EnemyZero

01-13-2005, 09:47 AM

ninja gaiden is insanely hard, but thats a good thing because it keeps you coming back for more

RCM

01-13-2005, 01:07 PM

They talk of an excellent camera and well designed levels.

I read a couple reviews and I can't think one that talks about the "excellent camera." I think that's the worst part of NG and a large reason I had difficulty. Most people are able to look past the faults b/c of the amazing graphic engine. I can't. Graphics matter. Gameplay matters more. Team Ninja doesn't seem to get that.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

Cauterize

01-13-2005, 01:34 PM

definately... i gave up on level 1's boss n downloaded a save from xboxsaves.com or what ever that site is

Oobgarm

01-13-2005, 01:46 PM

definately... i gave up on level 1's boss n downloaded a save from xboxsaves.com or what ever that site is

How'd you get it to work? I thought that a Ninja Gaiden save was tied to the footprint of the Xbox's HDD. At least, that's why there aren't any codes on the Action Replay that work without modification of some sort.

sabre2922

01-13-2005, 01:49 PM

I voted yes. I got this game at full price upon release and to be honest it pissed me off to no end :angry: I was not a happy camper after just the first 2-3 hours with this game and paying the heavy price.

Cauterize

01-13-2005, 02:42 PM

Cauterize

01-13-2005, 02:46 PM

okay! Youll need XSaveSig!
http://konsolenprofis.de/downloads/files/xbox/xsavesig1.rar

Read this:
http://forums.ninjahacker.net/index.php?showtopic=1444
Should help!

Hope it works! Its been a logn time since i did the save!

Oh and the save, i thin kthis is the one i used!
http://www.xboxsaves.com/pafiledb/pafiledb.php?action=download&id=2159

If i remeber right u need to check on ur xbox via ftp for your HDDKEY, it should be on the C: drive in a folder called backup!

Good luck adventurer!

Mr. Smashy

01-13-2005, 03:41 PM

I finally got around to buying it a couple weeks ago and I didn't have any real trouble with it on the normal difficulty. I'm playing through it again on Hard with the hopes of finding all the golden scarabs. Maybe this time, I'll actually have some use for the Ninpo.

classicb

01-13-2005, 03:46 PM

I voted yes and I also would have voted yes for Ninja Gaiden II. I still love the game and the series but this game is way too hard for 'me'. Didn't Xbox live offer some sort of download that made it even harder. I also have to admit if I had fewer games I'd be better at it. I haven't spent enough time to really say I tried to get good at it.

-hellvin-

01-13-2005, 04:53 PM

jaybird

01-13-2005, 05:02 PM

YoshiM

01-13-2005, 05:13 PM

It's hard, but I don't think it's *too* difficult (at least on normal). Its camera issues are no different than any other 3D game and I guess the downloadable Hurricane Packs enable a better user controlled camera (I haven't tried it yet but that's what I have read).

I'm going through the game again. I say "again" as my bro-in-law bought the game at launch and between the two of us we got to the demon chick and stopped. He then traded in the game as it frustrated him and then wiped out the NG data off of his Xbox. Doh! But that's okay.

Oh, Fable players who haven't played NG before: your hack, slash and dodge skills are VERY useful here.

dethink

01-13-2005, 05:44 PM

i thought it was jusssst right.

level selects after beating games like this would be cool though. my only major complaint was the camera sucks, but only royally so for certain jumping sequences.

the original was brutally hard for no good reason sometimes too. who can forget the thousands of cheap deaths on little platforms when ryu would lunge backwards after getting tapped by an eagle?

spoon

01-15-2005, 05:16 PM

Nope.

Most games today are just to easy. First game in awhile to give me a "Throw my controller but come back for more" tantrum.

Thank You Team Ninja.

SoulBlazer

01-15-2005, 05:27 PM

I think it is a very hard game....right about as hard as Contra: Shattered Soliders.

Sotenga

01-15-2005, 05:27 PM

I haven't played through this game much, but if dying on the first level on my first try without getting the chance to save says anything about the difficulty of this game... here is my response: It is damn hard, REALLY damn hard, and from the looks of it, it may just be a greater challenge than Devil May Cry. Maybe not harder than Shinobi for the PS2, but I digress. It IS difficult... but I'm sure that some practice, skills, and knowledge of enemies will help any gamer beat it. It may take more effort than usual, but there's nothing that can't be done.

maxlords

01-15-2005, 06:20 PM

Pssh. I think you're all wimps. I personally thought the much vaunted "difficulty" of NG for the Xbox was a big joke. Yes, the first boss is VERY VERY hard. Yes, the second boss is fairly challenging (took me 3 tries). But EVERY boss after that...and I mean EVERY boss...I beat the first try. And I rarely had many problems with most of the enemies either. It was easy as pie after the first two levels. It just takes a bit of practice.

Remember the days when you used to have to PRACTICE to beat games? Play levels over and over and practice moves after you got them? This is a GOOD thing. And I didn't have many problems with the camera either. It's easy to follow your enemies and keep track of where they are off screen. I had no problem attacking enemies off screen from me....I just KNEW where they were. You can follow their trajectories if you're paying attention. Personally I loved the challenge. It was hard, but not brutally hard like Ninja Gaiden 2 or Mega Man 1. Great game, and if you're whining about the difficulty and the camera, you're missing out :)

lendelin

01-15-2005, 06:33 PM

I think the ones of you who voted 'yes' are videogame girliemen. :)

A Ninja Gaiden has to be TOUGH. If you get stuck, you try again, and again, and again, until you beat it. Games are about challenge, and if the control is good, and you can figure out patterns of the enemies, all is well in the Ninja Gaiden universe.

SoulBlazer

01-15-2005, 07:44 PM

Well, I crushed the three Ninja Gaiden games in only a few days, I was just frustarted in this one cause of the cheap hits, the confusing pathways, and the camera.

Lemmy Kilmister

01-15-2005, 11:06 PM

I didn't have any major problems with it, in fact after I figured out a few of the better moves in it, the game became a cake walk. The only reason I think most people got their ass kicked by this game was that they bashed buttons and tried rushing threw it, while if they just took the time to learn some of the moves better they'd have a much easier time with it.

maxlords

01-16-2005, 12:02 AM

Agreed. You HAVE to be able to consistenly use the moves on purpose as they become available and be able to decide what moves TO use. There are some really nice ones, like the dashing beheading move and the wall jumping downward thrust that simply slaughter most enemies. They don't even have a chance.

suppafly

01-16-2005, 10:15 AM

THis game is too hard.....it detracts from the overall fun!

PS2Hawk

01-16-2005, 03:09 PM

I would prefer a better/smarter camera system.

suznjak

01-16-2005, 03:24 PM

Man not only did i beat the game on hard and get the golden scarabs,but i also beat both hurricane packs(and got the sacabs again).you gotta find a spot to build up your essence points.the ghostfish are a good way to build em up.build up dem weapons and kick some booty.

ManciGames

01-16-2005, 03:40 PM

I think so. I am up for a challenge anytime, having cut my gaming teeth in the NES age and being big into modern, bullet hell, vertical and horizontal scrolling shoot-em-ups, but Ninja Gaiden for XBox is insane.

All of the gaming publications, online and print, have praised the game, citing its difficulty as one of its advantages. They talk of an excellent camera and well designed levels. I think the difficulty is cheap. The battles are tough all too often because it is too hard to avoid offscreen attacks in the claustrophobic environments. The enemies like to block everything as well. Don't even get me started about the boss battles. It is way too hard to charge up for the ultimates, making them hardly useful. I also don't like that you can't walk while guarding.

I still think the gaming publications were issued payola in regards to the reviews for that game... It was a beautiful game...with a horrid camera. I think the fact that they made the manual camera control available as a download shows that even they knew it had problems.

ManciGames

01-16-2005, 04:55 PM

maxlords

01-16-2005, 06:15 PM

I also don't like that you can't walk while guarding.

There's a guard button? Um. Actually...I don't know if I used that button in the game....

Mr Mort

01-16-2005, 08:42 PM

The only part that gave me problems was the first battle with Alma.

She owned me for the first 25 times I fought her. After that many times fighting her, I pretty much had her patterns memorized & can take her out at will now.

I think it had just the right amount of challenge. The first two horse-back scenes were tough (I blame the camera), along with the helicopter. But, it was nothing to make me throw the controller down and walk away.

It's one of the few games you can be proud that you beat.

That's how I feel. Alma's fist form was a bitch, but after that point, I began to understand the mechanics of the game, and the game actually got easier for me.

The game is simply brutal when you first start playing, but as you acquire new moves, the game does get easier the more you progress. It sounds strange, but that's my perception of it.

I can now proudly say I've beat all the NES NG's, the GB one, and now the XBox one.

DynastyLawyer

01-17-2005, 03:50 AM

YES.

This game turned me off in a large way. Why? THE CAMERA. I hate it. I got to some boss with a large staff riding a horse and he kept going off camera and reaming me from behind with his valiant steed. Then I never played the game again. Granted I gave up fast, but that damn camera....

A winnar is you. It's one thing for a game to be challenging by setting up legitimate challenges that can be beat with a fair amount of brainpower or fast reflexes, but when the challenge is largely owed to game systems like the camera and bosses taking 30 hits when you can only take one or two, I cry bullshit.

I could fight the last boss of Shinobi in a brutal deadlock for a solid afternoon, and I'd regard him as a fair opponent. The moment I saw those two worms in the underground, I quit this game and have not returned to it.

Remember the days when you used to have to PRACTICE to beat games? Play levels over and over and practice moves after you got them? This is a GOOD thing.

I guess that's a matter of opinion. Personally, I emphasize story and fun factor in games. If I wanted tedious tasks that were difficult to endure, well, that's why people have jobs and go to school. I don't mind replaying stuff because I made a mistake, or I slipped up in some manner, but when I have to replay a tough fight because I didn't get that crucial twentieth hit in and the boss killed me in one hit due to my not being able to see him owed to an errant camera, that's a major turn-off.

I think the ones of you who voted 'yes' are videogame girliemen.

A Ninja Gaiden has to be TOUGH. If you get stuck, you try again, and again, and again, until you beat it.

You mean fight the boss over and over again? Or engage in a three minute swim to the boss, fight her, and die over and over again? Poor Game Design.

Sotenga

01-17-2005, 06:34 AM

[quote="klausien"]I also don't like that you can't walk while guarding.[quote]

There's a guard button? Um. Actually...I don't know if I used that button in the game....

..................................... O_O

Dude... you must either have horseshoes up your butt, or you have a guardian angel that watches over you. Either way, that's impressive.

maxlords

01-17-2005, 10:57 AM

Heh...actually, I looked at the manual and remembered I used that button on the first boss. It's impossible not to. That's actually why I had so much trouble with the first boss...I hadn't bothered to learn where the block button was...had to look up strategy online and it's all like "You MUST block!" etc etc....

SoulBlazer

01-17-2005, 02:09 PM

DynastyLawyers comments summed up very well why I disliked the game.

Add to it the fact that I got lost very soon in and could'nt find how I was susposed to advance in the game.

BTW, did they indeed leave the NES Ninja Gaiden games in the game as a unlockable? How do they play?

Cirrus

01-17-2005, 04:14 PM

No, it's not too hard. It's wonderfully hard, and you will get beaten down and pissed over and over. However, it actually forces you to get better at video games. You'll find yourself being able to breeze through a part on your second run, not because of new knowledge (like Resident Evil games), but honest skill.

I love that people have a game that a walkthrough won't help them cheat their way through.

Lemmy Kilmister

01-17-2005, 07:38 PM

BTW, did they indeed leave the NES Ninja Gaiden games in the game as a unlockable? How do they play?

Yes their all in there, but their well hidden. What you need too do is find all 50 gold scrubs, and go back and talk to the old man in town. As for how the actually games play. Just picture Ninja Gaiden trilogy running on your xbox.

Sotenga

01-17-2005, 07:45 PM

Welp, currently, I'm in Chapter 6, I just ran through an incredible tribute to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I'm in a giant cave right now. I gotta say, this game gets easier as you go along. Its frustration is overwhelming at first, sure, but once you get a feel for the somewhat unorthodox play control and get used to rolling around a lot in battle, things get better. Thanks to counterattacks, I don't consider those Black Spider Ninjas to be so bad. Truly, this game gets easier as it goes along... but I have yet to fight with Alma. I hear she's a bitch-and-a-half. Well... I say, "Bring it, you... you... evil mean lady!" :texaschain: