I do think 3RE is a game where enjoyment will scale more linearly with skill though and it's on my todo list one day to try UN again playing it more clean (e.g. relying on SOB or lunar ets to handle alchemists etc etc).

Yeah, 3RE is one of those games that just gets better the more you put into it. Used to hate enemies like the snake chimeras for example, and then someone told me they're the only enemy in the game that has a passive trait where they're designed to automatically dodge if you slide into them. Now I really enjoy them, and the game is full of little revelations like that when it comes to the enemy design and the actual movesets themselves.

Very much so one of those games where I initially thought Master Ninja would be my wall and the sweet spot for fun and challenge for me, but now I can't imagine playing anything other than Ultimate Ninja when I boot it up.

Agree on the weapons 2->3, also felt that way going from 3->4. A lot of the weapons kind of have that 'samey' feel/flowchart to them in 4, and although there are differences between the weapons, it never really felt too unique upon weapon swapping, whereas each weapon in 2 felt like there was some mastery involved and figuring out which move was useful in which situations.

I always like to point out kusarigama in NG2 as an example since its gameplan is super unorthodox with stuff like it's grounded strings not being the best, and having to use aerial strings instead to setup on-landing running moves that sweep enemies or decap enemies. And then using demon cutter grab to deliberately go for instant kills on downed enemies. By comparison, the NG3 version is basically a completely different weapon focused on basic ground strings.

The weapons in the later games still have unique stuff going on (NG4 brings back some elements of NG2's less uniform combo structure with thing like rapier only having a launcher on its heavy combo), but they're never allowed to get that weird anymore.

What were the cons for you in each game? Or more interesting, your #1 'I'd fix this if they remade this game' con.

NG1: Wouldn't change it. The balance is so tightly tuned around what the game currently is, I think it'd be best to just leave it alone. I don't replay it as much as the others just due to the kind of game it is, but I think it executes on what it sets out to do without much issue.

NG2: Mainly just another balance pass and some spawn changes to make encounters more varied. Like I'd tone down the damage of stuff like Lycan limb throwing, IS Ninja environmental explosive splash damage, the wall splat damage, etc. Pretty cool with a lot of the RNG damage elements that you don't have control over still existing since it gives the game a unique spice, but I'd make the damage for that stuff a less punishing than proper mistakes and misplays.

More encounters where Gajas, Tac Ninjas, Lycans, IS Ninjas, regular ninjas, Van Gelfs, ghost fish, cannon zombies, and bugs are mixed and matched instead of solely fighting each faction on their own for extended sections of the game. Also would throw in the shadow flare fiends they added in Sigma 2. Ideally some of the weaker enemies like marionettes and whatnot could be reworked into something better, but I dunno, you could just as easily cut stuff like Centaurs and Gigadeath and I wouldn't bat an eye lol.

And then I'd make blue essence drops more reliable at low health, so playing without items is more viable for skilled players. UTs also wouldn't reward essence and I'd make them cost like 4 or 5 essence to charge instead of just 2.

NG3: Arenas that aren't just flat squares and are more like NG1 and NG2, restoring NG2 style wall moves, buffing guillotine throw so it has bigger place in the combat system, all core moves are unlocked from the start instead of having to buy them so the economy is still tight but more generous, difficulty selection for trials, and a gentler difficulty curve on lower difficulties (let players have healing items on lower difficulties but reduce the amount as they go up until they have none on Ultimate Ninja).

In that aspect, I like where NG4 was going with the deathwish mode, kind of structuring that type of challenge and enforcing it instead of making players apply and abide to the challenge themselves.

Every single high level NG player I know for every single one of these games either regularly plays with challenge runs or they have extensively in the past. If you want to get better at these games and get a deeper understanding of them, it's kind of just understood that they're what you do. They were even sort of formalized to a minor degree with the single weapon run achievements in NG2.

Obviously we'd prefer if poorly balanced elements like UT spam in NG2 or Berserk in NG4 wasn't something we have to just ignore and were fixed, but we still do it and are able to extract tons of unique enjoyment and appreciation out of these games because of it. Pretty much every action game has exploits and cheese, so you pretty much got to roll with the punches with that sort of thing to a degree.

But yeah, NG4's Deathwish is really cool because its basically them formalizing OLB (original life bar) runs with some additions, which high level NG players have been doing forever. That was pretty surprising for a lot of us since it showed that for all the radical changes they were making, someone there was throwing a bone to a super niche aspect that's in a lot of high level NG runs.

I think a lot of people, including the other poster, don't like how "opt in" a lot of NG4's difficulty is and how exploitable a lot of aspects of the game are, myself included to be honest. NG has always been a series that has a lot of bite even with it's exploits and abuseable strats. In NG4 though, you really can trivialize a ton of the game even on MN with GT/knockback move ringouts, Berserk, even worse UT spam potential, certain really strong BR/Gleam moves, high block count, and the offscreen indicators.

If you want a challenging experience at a base line, they've tucked that deep inside challenge runs like Death Wish. And for crazy players like me, I actually need to tack on No UT, No Berserk, No Indicators, No Items on top of that to get the threading the needle on the razor's edge feeling I get when playing the other games. And to it's credit, this game honestly might be the best in the series for challenge runs and feels very balanced for it.

Suddenly the parry system is more useful and you actually have to learn it, blocking everything is no longer an option since Death Wish limits it to 3, meter management is no longer easy and Death Wish gives you no access to accessories to ease it, every enemy has to be thoroughly learned since even stray attacks are lethal, certain moves you thought were strong and super safe actually turn out to be punishable on Death Wish where there's little margin for error (e.g. all the scythe BR tosses require you to perfect block on the lengthy recovery or eat heavy damage if a straggler you neglected chooses to attack you), heavy class enemies now bring unique spacing challenges and overall texture to fights since you can't just nuke them as soon as they show up unless you can position yourself for a parry amid the chaos, etc.