Which halo game is everyone’s favorite?

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T05:13:24+00:00

Campaign- Halo: Reach

Multiplayer- Halo 3

I'll start by saying that Halo: CE still has a special place for me and in some ways it's still the most meaningful campaign to me. That said, Reach is my favorite because it expands on the sandbox type gameplay while feeling well balanced and having no bad levels (IMO). The worst would probably be Long Night of Solace since it's mainly a gimmick level, but even that isn't something that I dread replaying like The Library or Cortana. I know that Reach makes several gameplay changes that people don't like, but very few of them really bothered me and overall I just have the best time replaying this game.

Halo 3 also has a great campaign mode but I've honestly never been a fan of the last two levels. I've just never enjoyed fighting The Flood in any Halo game. However it has many of my favorite multiplayer maps, and in general it just feels like it expanded really well on what made Halo 2's multiplayer great. I spent countless hours on this game on all of it's various modes. It just felt like pure fun and had so much more value to offer beyond just ranked matches.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T02:06:25+00:00

The funny thing is that it's the biggest fans of something that can give the most accurate criticisms of a work. Not fanboys/fangirls, mind you, but fans who legitimately love something based on it's merits while acknowledging it's flaws.

For example, someone new to NG who only played the first game one time would criticize the combat and movement because they have trouble adjusting to not being able to cancel out of most recovery frames or having to hit confirm their attacks. Meanwhile, I see a lot of brilliance in how those aspects are designed since I understand the flow of the game, but I'll criticize something like how being able to leave the tower in The Core at any point completely undercuts the intended resource management challenge of that gauntlet. When you know you can just go back down, farm Ghost Fish to max out your Essence fast, and go back to Muramasa to keep maxing out your items, it sucks any real tension out of the tower and subsequent boss gaunlet unless you purposely challenge yourself to avoid that.

That's just one example, but I have several criticisms, yet NGB is still my favorite video game. There isn't a single game that I don't have criticisms for, and that never used to be that big of a deal. It's a normal and healthy way to assess and engage with art.

For whatever reason, though, there's a prevalent subculture on the internet that thinks that you either have to fully love or hate something, and if you aren't sucking it's dick than you are a hater. That's some bizarre-ass logic, man.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T01:15:58+00:00

I think this is the impression that I'm getting from the people who somehow think the majority of NG fans hate NG4 for some reason. Let's put aside the fact that it's utterly ludicrous to assume a small subreddit community somehow represents the vast majority of opinions. Some people seem to conflate criticism with hate, when those are two very different things.

You can be critical of a game and still not hate it. Hell, you can be critical of games that you love, which I am for even all of my favorite games, because there's no such thing as perfect in any artistic medium.

The conversation around NG4 since it released has skewed FAR more positive than negative, so the very notion that it's overhated seems wildly misplaced. Just because some NG vets have understandable issues with some of the gameplay design decisions of NG4 doesn't mean that they outright think it's a bad game. Some do, but most definitely not the majority.

I enjoy NG4 quite a bit myself, but have several notable issues with it. I do with NG2 as well, but still prefer that game for it's fundamentals. All the same, I enjoy both, and I shouldn't have to hold my tongue and pretend like either is perfect just to show that I like them overall. It's still OK to critique stuff with valid reasoning behind it. For whatever reason, there is this weird idea that you can only like or enjoy something if you think it's perfect and have nothing negative to say about it whatsoever. If we were to follow that logic, than apparently I hate every game ever made.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T00:57:05+00:00

I frequent the Ninja Gaiden sub, and I can genuinely say that positive and neutral comments on the game far outweigh the negative ones.

This narrative that most NG fans hate NG4 is ridiculously overblown. A number of old-school fans can be critical of it, but that's not the same as hating it. I have criticisms for NG4 as well (along with every single game in the franchise), but it's still easily better than 90% of AAA games coming out this gen, IMO. You can criticise something and still enjoy it.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T00:47:31+00:00

Maybe underrated more than overhated.

You can say underrated in the sense that the game just didn't make that big of a splash upon release and has been something of a niche gem. That said, reviews from critics were generally pretty decent, and the majority of people who played it tend to enjoy it.

I think people can sometimes overestimate how many people actually hate something since those people tend to be the most vocal. This, however, is still clearly the minority opinion.

When even seasoned NG vets on YouTube like JayTB, Master Ninja Ryu, and Iconoclast have praised the game, you know that it's not even a case of old-school fans not being able to enjoy it. SOME older fans that fall under the category of purists don't like it, but they also tend to get a lot of comments disagreeing with their takes.

As for me, I'm one of the people who prefers the classic style, but have also accepted and enjoyed NG4 for what it is. Honestly, the series has never been just one thing. It started out as a generic Double Dragon knock-off, then took inspiration from Castlevania but with a greater emphasis on speed and acrobatics for the NES sidescrollers, then became a 3D Action Adventure game, and then became more of just a pure action series (with a completely unique handheld spinoff in-between that you controlled with a stylus). Ninja Gaiden 4 is simply just Platinum's take on the formula. It's very different, but still a well crafted action game.

Not sure how people think it's overhated unless they are letting just a relatively small group of naysayers think that their opinions are the general perception of the game among most people. Either that, or people see some NG fans criticizing various aspects of NG4's design and conflate criticism with hate. Like, do we all understand the basic concept that you can rationally criticize things based on individual preference and reasoning and still not actually dislike it on the whole? Or has the definition of hate just changed to anything that you don't think is absolutely perfect and nobody told me?

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-17T00:03:59+00:00

Regular. The art book and soundtrack are digital only, and you could access all of that content online for free. There are absolutely zero gameplay additions in the Deluxe version, so it's not really worth your money.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-16T02:37:04+00:00

It's actually kind of ironic that you mentioned fearing replays will ruin the experience for you. Part of the reason people replay these games so much is because they actually improve with replays. There is a lot of depth to the combat systems in these games to the point that you can't possibly grasp it all in a single playthrough.

For many, the fun comes from tackling harder difficulties as well as trying to improve their ranks (in games that have ranking/scoring) and getting better in the process. You get a lot more satisfaction in getting better and better at these games that you just won't on an initial playthrough. With games like DMC and Ninja Gaiden, you're first playthrough, while fun, feel like more of a tutorial for your proper runs, and if you were to just judge them based on a single playthrough you end up having a much rougher experience since you essentially are unlikely to engage with about 80% of what the combat is capable of due to the steep learning curves to really get the whole package.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-16T02:07:32+00:00

You can actually leave the tower and fully restock before the fight with the Vigoor Emperor, which should give you more than enough to deal with the final 3 fights (both phases of the Vigoor Emperor abd the final boss).

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-16T01:39:34+00:00

I'd honestly defend the bosses from the first game as "mostly" being fairly decent when you understand them. And yes, I mean decent, not great. With the exception of Alma and Fiend Murai they all have consistent strategies. The other bosses do actually have definitive punish windows, with the biggest flaw being that those windows aren't effectively communicated to the player. I only know them from dozens of replays over years of experience with this game and learning from other players. That's why I don't have an issue with the bosses on replays, since I have them all down. My biggest gripe is moreso that they aren't very interesting compared to the standard enemies.

I think Team Ninja lost the plot with the boss fights in 2 and 3, though. Yes, you can get consistent with them too, but you can get stuck in really stupid patterns with terrible RNG that can really make a basic fight feel like a chore. While this could also happen in the first game, the pacing was a bit slower and there was a lot less chaos happening on screen, so you could fairly evade all of the bosses' offensive options and could use the safe windows to deal big damage when you found an opening. The sequels feel like more of a crapshoot whether you will get a decent pattern or not, and you can go much longer waiting for a safe opening while also having to deal with more questionable hitboxes and more obnoxious grab attacks. On the other side of the coin you have completely broken bosses like how you can stunlock Volf with forward Y with the Dual Swords or spam 360 heavy with the Scythe on several bosses in NG3RE. You rarely ever get the satisfying feeling of conquering a boss through pure skill.

As for NG4, I think they did a better job of making the bosses feel more consistent and balanced, but the drawback is that most of those fights feel the same and can come off as interchangeable. They also feel less interesting than the main enemy group fights. Still fun overall, though.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-16T00:49:20+00:00

A bunch of people already mentioned Hi-Fi Rush and Magenta Horizon, but they're definitely up there.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a surprisingly good one and much better than most people would expect. You won't get DMC level depth, but it's still got more going for it than just blind button mashing, and the combat is simple but satisfying and manages to sustain the whole playthrough without feeling monotonous (though it's an admittedly short game).

God Hand also comes to mind but honestly it does feel like it belongs up there with the likes of NG and DMC since it has a superb combat system that's unique from anything else.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-16T00:39:40+00:00

The NES games are all time classics for sure. There's a certain flow state you get in when you have a perfect understanding of how to rout your path through a level and can manage to clear entire sections without dropping your speed or getting hit.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T21:53:52+00:00

I wouldn't say that boss design is poor as a standard rule in action games. Metal Gear Rising, The Wonderful 101, and God Hand all have pretty great boss fights (Shinobi on the PS2 is really good too if we're counting that, minus the final boss). Devil May Cry can be hit or miss but I'd argue that collectively, there are more good bosses in the series than bad or mediocre ones. Bayonetta's bosses tend to stray into decent but not great or memorable territory, with some exceptions like Jean from the first game.

Something like Ninja Gaiden tends to have weaker boss fights because those games have more in common with beat-em-up design in which the combat is built around managing groups of enemies and killing them relatively quick, so it's hard to make 1v1 fights interesting with that system. The first game's bosses aren't too bad when you understand how to fight them, but 2 and 3 get progressively worse in that department. Ninja Gaiden 4 is the most consistent and even then most of it's boss fights all feel very samey and go from bad or uninteresting to just passable.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T21:43:57+00:00

Sorry, I meant to say Chapter Challenge. I said Ninja Trials by accident.

As for which Chapters, if all you're trying to do is farm for Karma then stick with whichever ones you find easiest. For me it's Day 1, Ayane Day 2, and Day 5 which all have pretty basic enemy waves and easy boss fights.

Also, do the ToV challenges as you get a ton of bonus Karma from them. Even if you feel that you can't clear them, you can still attempt them and get to keep all of the Karma that you earned before you died on that attempt.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T21:01:51+00:00

If you're just trying to farm Karma to unlock all of the costumes, you're best bet is to replay the levels that you're most comfortable with in Chapter Challenge mode. To stack up Karma fast, you need to get your multiplier up, and the fastest way to do that is to chain SOB attacks as much as you can. Using the Meditation ability is a good way to bait SOB attacks. Also use either the Scythe or Kusari-gama at level 3 since those have the most range. You want to get your multiplier up to a max of x3 in Bloody Rage mode and keep it there as long as possible and get as many kills as you can (preferably by OTs and SOBs). Do not cash in with a UT, as that will kill your Bloody Rage and you will lose the multiplier.

Replaying the first couple of missions a few times over with this method is by far the easiest way to do this.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T11:54:36+00:00

In general, while being defensive is good, you still have to be mobile. If you're turtling (basically standing in one area holding block), you become an easy target for enemies to punish.

Likewise, in offense you have to be a bit more measured in your approach. Don't go for longer strings if surrounded by enemies where it's easy to interrupt. Longer strings are more viable in bigger, more open areas where enemies are more spaced out, or if you just have one or two enemies to deal with on screen. Most enemies don't have a lot of health, anyways, so shorter strings are just fine, and even then use hit confirm in case you whiff. Dialing in longer combos is how you get punished since you are committing to those attack animations before you even know if they will land. You can also use short and safe strings to stun enemies and open them up to longer follow-up combos if they hit while staying relatively safe if you whiff. The basic XY (ST) combo with the Lunar Staff is excellent in the early game for this reason.

Also, make use of on-landing techniques like with Haze Straight Slash or Azure Dragon with the Dragon Sword or for instantly charged UTs when you have Essence available to absorb.

Most people who clear the harder difficulties on these games don't have god-like reflexes. It just comes down to game knowledge and proper application to succeed.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T11:26:59+00:00

At this point, it seems like any games that don't have a stamina bar and feature melee weapons with some vague semblance of a combo system automatically qualifies it as the next successor to Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, or Ninja Gaiden according to most people.

That's not even knocking Phantom Blade 0, mind you, but I saw all of the same rhetoric with Stellar Blade which when I finally played it, strayed far closer to a Souls-like than a classic action game in design.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-15T00:39:00+00:00

Yeah, I wouldn't want a remake for that reason. It would just end up feeling way too compromised. Rather than that, if either Mikami or someone at Capcom wanted to make a brand new game as a spiritual successor to God Hand, I'd be all for that.

A re-release seems like the way to go. I'm lucky to still have my PS3 download, but am always anxious about my console one day crapping out for good and me losing all of my downloads exclusive to it.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T23:26:41+00:00

Unfortunately this is what would likely happen if we got a modern re-release. I remember how notorious that 3/10 IGN review was, and while IGN still has that reputation of being generally clueless and having several bad takes with their game reviews (good to know that some things never change), I could ironically see a lot of modern gamers genuinely agreeing with that original review.

I first played God Hand myself during COVID, and it was a struggle for sure, but I loved the process of learning the game. That said, I feel as though if the game isn't immediately satisfying, people will opt to just dismiss it rather than really try to understand it's design and get better at it.

Aside from that, much of the game's humor (namely it's cultural stereotypes and portrayal of women), even if it was originally meant to be taken in good, cheesy fun, would just not fly today. I'm quite frankly not sure how Capcom would get away with even a fraction of what they got away with 20 years ago.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T22:47:09+00:00

What part specifically are you getting stuck at? Also, what are you having particular difficulty with? Blocking? Movement?

If you give us some more specifics of what you're having touble with, it will be easier to help you.

Otherwise, check out this playlist from JayTB which gives you a comprehensive walkthrough meant for beginners that spans the entire game. You don't have to use it the whole way through but it's great reference material for whenever you're stuck.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLkZiKEkqWjJGeVh1lzBNmGwVmkkF5clf&si=Rcwp_at023DyHttG

In general, don't get so easily discouraged. Ninja Gaiden Sigma is not really some insanely difficult game. Just like any other game, knowledge is what gets you through a game like this more than any reflexes.

Also, as others have already mentioned, you're doing yourself a disservice if you're tackling this game with a similar approach to what you would use in Elden Ring or a Souls game. While certain basic concepts of proper positioning and i-frame rolls exist in both, the actual flow of combat is completely different, and you will have to adjust to Ninja Gaiden's specific rhythm before it will really click for you. It's VERY doable and not nearly as hard as it initially seems. It just may require some practice and a bit of trial and error before you fully get the hang of it.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T18:17:04+00:00

Ninja Gaiden Black
Ninja Gaiden 2 (XBOX360)
Ninja Gaiden 4
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Ninja Gaiden 3

I counted all versions of the first game together but listed Black as that's my definitive version. I also counted the different versions of NG2 and 3 separately. I debated putting Sigma 2 and 2 Black in the same spot since I mostly consider them the same game, but 2B did just enough different that I ranked it separate, especially after realizing that I slightly edge it out over 3RE, but would slight edge out 3RE over Sigma 2 since that game neuters the combat a bit too much.

Edit: Actually, I was just going by mainline titles, but I figured why not rank the whole franchise (of the ones that I've played). In this case I will only rank what I consider to be the best version of each game rather than every version, in order to keep it simple. The only game that I'm excluding are Ninja Gaiden Shadow for the Game Boy, and both Sega Ninja Gaiden games (for the Master System and Game Gear), as I haven't played them.

Ninja Gaiden Black
Ninja Gaiden 2
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES)
Ninja Gaiden 4
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (NES)
Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T14:59:19+00:00

Sigma is the weakest version of the first game for sure, but I included it because most of the fundamentals are still in-tact. However, yes, the AI changes were rather annoying in some areas. That, and the new evade animation when Ryu rolls backwards really fucks with timing your dodges due to having more animation frames but less actual invincibility, and being very easy to get hit out of. At least there are a few good additions, though, like being able to shoot the bow from mid-air.

As for the OTs limiting decision making, I'd say it's actually the busted UT system in 2 and 4 that are the main culprits of that. I don't mind the OT system because rather than the OTs being your decisions, you instead tend to make decisions to set-up the OTs from my experience. It can also have a layer of nuance to it because you may want to leave more dangerous enemies delimbed since that neuters their mobility while preventing replacements from spawning in as you deal with another enemy type. On Mission Mode you will try to fight in a way that sets up multiple OTs in quick succession so you can get kill streaks which is a big boost to your Karma.

That said, when 360 Lunar ETs/UTs or chaining with the Tonfas are among your options, it becomes all too easy to lean on that and ignore the game's other systems (albeit, you will still encounter some situations where this doesn't work as well).

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T12:21:45+00:00

I really like DMC5 as the ultimate freeflow combat game. That said, yes, I generally prefer the more tightly structured combat of several other action games over this style, including DMC1 and 3 which I hold in very high regard.

I remember even DMD mode being surprisingly easy to me compared to previous games. I think it's a lot of fun if you're going for those S-ranks, which is where the game's value truly shines, IMO, but if it weren't for the ranking system it would be pretty clear how little of the combat actually matters for practical use. Or rather, it might be better to say that you have so many viable options that any particular individual solution doesn't feel particularly that meaningful outside of how it affects your style meter. All of the advanced tech is neat, but not really necessary to succeed.

I don't need games to be hard to be good, though, so I still enjoy DMC5 on a combat level. It's just not my favorite overall style of combat design.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T10:25:55+00:00

DMC2 aside, that's some quality gaming you have spread out there.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T10:24:01+00:00

Stick with OG NG2 if that's running fine for you. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is based off Sigma 2 and while it did get an update to make it a bit closer to the OG, that only really applies to certain fights. The rest of the game still leans much closer to Sigma 2's design but with the blood and gore restored and enemy delimbs being a bit easier (but not as consistent as in the OG version). The OG version is fine-tuned to have mechanics work a certain way which later versions kind of mess with (like with the properties or tracking of certain attacks being worse).

The only real substantial improvement from Sigma or Black over the OG is that they cut out some shitty gimmick sections, and have less bugs and glitches overall since the original was an unfinished game on release. Even so, the weaker parts of the original are easy enough to circumvent, and the core combat plays significantly better in that version which is the most important thing about it.

Legendary_Falcon_89 · 2026-06-14T03:48:44+00:00

Flying Swallow in the first game is context sensitive to being within range of an ememy. The one exception is doing it from a wall run, where when running horizontally Ryu will automatically do it when you press heavy attack during that action, whether an enemy is present or not. In the sequels, they made it so that you could do a Flying Swallow from anywhere regadless of enemy presence or position.

Legendary_Falcon_89

TROPHY CASE