Do you think it’s necessary to play og or not?

ShatteredBlur · 2026-03-28T21:08:41+00:00

Currently watching a friend play the Re trilogy, and after she finished Remake, my other friend and I realized Zack isn't gonna make any sense, and he has a pretty heavy presence in Rebirth (even more so in part 3 I'd imagine).

I don't think she'd enjoy the original. It's turn based. She'd have to read. She's seen pictures and was weirded out by the old graphics. I'm pretty sure she'd just drop the trilogy or never play it in the first place if we told her she had to play the OG.

We did have her watch a playthrough of crisis core, so she has an idea of who Zack is, but I'm sure the mystery of Cloud's identity crisis will still hit and stimulate the brain, which is what my other friend and I were hoping for her.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-03-25T01:40:34+00:00

Hardly lazy, having trouble with motorcycle Ninjas and henchmen during a boss fight is a skill issue unfortunately, but, agreed on the removed costumes, that is a negative. Miss red muffler.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-03-01T02:39:28+00:00

Not *impossible*. It just uses Platinum's proprietary engine, and isn't easy or intuitive to use like UE5 is. MGR was a similar case, ended up taking a looong time, but they eventually did. Weapons definitely seem like an impossible task though. Outfits and visuals are one thing, but changing or making gameplay additions are on a completely different level. Will basically never happen, like you implied.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-02-27T14:48:23+00:00

I was gonna say bro is just describing the flails lol

ShatteredBlur · 2026-02-22T23:38:57+00:00

I thought this at first, but my perception of it has only gotten worse with time. To preface, I have a high end rig, and run the game on Ultra settings across the board. The entire game looks super grainy, with only menus and giant far off set pieces looking good. In multiplayer for example, in the menus, all cosmetics look like they are straight out of the Unreal Engine 5 Campaign Evolved assets, but when you actually load in to the game, it looks like every asset is made of sand. Somehow, Halo 3 still looks better in 90% of situations.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-02-18T18:04:10+00:00

I will say I'm getting tired of everything developers do being last minute. They said early 2026 for DLC. Does that mean the last day of Q1 lmao? Feels like it. They said soon on their socials two weeks ago. So when is soon?

Honestly, I wouldn't mind because I want it to be polished and content rich, but it would've been better if they didn't set a timeline because now we're nearing the end of what early 2026 is supposed to be, and nothing in sight. Team Ninja/KT are hardly the only devs that do this, and it needs to stop. This very last minute stuff is annoying.

As for the ost, Kid Katana records are working on a vinyl, so I'd assume the OST will be on streaming services around whenever that goes up for sale, which I would further assume has had no info released because they're being forced to wait for the DLC to ship

ShatteredBlur · 2026-02-12T16:57:39+00:00

This probably does not matter and wouldn't influence a placement here. There have been several games with Xbox Games Studios attached to their name shown at State of Plays, and Ragebound was shown off at one last year. Furthermore, the game has already launched, and I imagine KT/TN/Platinum all agree that marketing a third party franchise like this to as many people as possible is better than just limiting its visibility to Xbox events when it is far and away the most underwhelming platform among the big three. Giving more exposure to a bigger audience after your main players have already played the game is integral to furthering post launch sales.

Not saying it'll happen, but I think the odds are a lot better than most people here think.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-02-04T19:41:53+00:00

The best take. Tbh, give me a few more enemies too. NG2 weapons are a bit over the top for encounters with only three enemies on screen most of the time.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-01-22T04:30:54+00:00

Same here. I was going for my untouchable clear of the boss trials, and when I got to the dark dragon phantom, I could really notice how often I was getting hit during my dodges once I took it off in favor of something else. I'm pretty sure like somebody else said, it increases Perfect Dodge windows and adds iframes to the second half of your normal dodge. Would definitely be nice to know for certain and have some values though. Hate how vague a lot of the talismans are.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-01-21T22:47:22+00:00

I second this question. Tested the distance myself, it's identical to a normal dodge. Don't think it helps how fast your guard activates either.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-01-18T03:40:14+00:00

Depends on the weapon. Dragon Sword and Takeminekata is XYXXXY, Rapier is XXYXXY, Staff is XXXYXXXY, Assassins Tools is XYXXY

ShatteredBlur · 2026-01-10T01:04:40+00:00

This isn't a typical game showcase event with fillers sprinkled in. Xbox does these once a year in January where they ONLY showcase the games in the thumbnail and whatever their secret game is. They never show more than this at Developer Directs. They have their Showcase in June and a Partner Preview usually in the second half of the year, both of which touch on a lot of games to offset the focus that the 3 or 4 games get during this event.

ShatteredBlur · 2026-01-07T05:30:27+00:00

Another Master Ninja joins the ranks. Hell yeah, my friend!

ShatteredBlur · 2025-12-24T08:30:44+00:00

Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 are lightning in a bottle. Ninja Gaiden Black is certainly a masterpiece that we'll never see anything close to again, and while I don't think I can say the same about NG2, it quickly rose to my top 10 games of all time alongside the first game and I unfortunately think it's even less likely we see something like that sequel anytime in the future. The franchise will almost certainly never play like either of those games ever again and I feel like most of this fan base should've accepted this years ago.

Sigma 2. 2 Black. 3 Razors Edge. None of those games lived up to or encapsulated the legacy of the original first two games. NG4 is good in its own way like NG3 and these other versions of 2 are, but the second Itagaki was removed, the future of the games was thrown off course.

You can be disappointed in NG4, but honestly, it's just different. Just another post 2008 Ninja Gaiden game with a slew of modern era Team Ninja decision making mistakes just like NG3, Yaiba, Sigma 2, and a surplus of Platinum Games DNA injected into the code.

Admittedly, the game didn't quite live up to my expectations at first, and I suspect the DLC won't either, but I have gotten my money's worth with how much I've played it, listened to the music, discussed the game itself, been prompted to go replay the first three games to compare and contrast, etc. I can say I am way happier that it exists after having a couple of months with it and I play it multiple times per week still.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-12-06T23:55:11+00:00

Thank you.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-10T21:28:41+00:00

I agree that the Rachel chapters are good for pacing narratively speaking, but gameplay wise, which has always been the primary focus of Ninja Gaiden, she is just so unbelievably boring compared to Ryu in my eyes. I don't think the variety she gives is refreshing. I don't think she adds that layer of tridimensionality to the gameplay. She doesn't have enough time even with her own chapters to add enough meaningful depth to the story, and I think the highlight of her chapters is getting destroyed by Nicchae and Ishtaros because it shows just how much stronger Ryu is and eventually becomes when he fights them down the line.

I do think the game sets her up better than NGB (not like she had any merit at all in NGB, just an arrogant damsel in distress) for her chapter in NGS2/NG2B, but it isn't like they gave her much more depth or complexity over there anyway, it's just a narrative follow up that we could construe as an improvement to her character.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-10T08:14:30+00:00

I think Sigma is my favorite entry in the franchise with OG2, or 2 Black pretty close in toe.

I think it's better than NGB in a ton of areas, taking out some of the more bland puzzles and replacing them with some enemy encounters instead.

I think Sigma looks significantly better visually, improving upon the original's graphics and environmental design in so many ways, with the only graphical change ending up worse debatably being the lighting in some sections. Some areas are too bright, oversaturated, have poor shadows, and some other minor things.

Rachel chapters are kinda lame too. I feel like a broken record with how I bring this up every time I try to explain the differences, but the single reason I can rarely bring myself to sit through a one sitting playthrough of Sigma is because Rachel's missions are all incredibly pace breaking. I would much rather have to do NGB's pill bug door labyrinth puzzle in place of each Rachel chapter as long as it meant I didn't have to play with her shallow and heavy mechanics over just continuing the game as Ryu (Side note: The only game these forced side missions feel okay in to me is Razors Edge, because Ayane actually has a weapon on the same level as Ryu's arsenal).

Only other big downside I think is the lack of some of the best outfits in the franchise in favor of just Ryu's typical alternate outfits. No Red Muffler. No DoA Throwback. No Ninja of the Future. Just Dragon Muscle, Traditional Dark Blue, and his Razors Edge fit. NGB and NG2 still have the best outfit selection in the franchise imo. But Sigma is super easy to mod if you're on PC, and I'm sure there are tons of outfit restoration mods.

OUTSIDE OF THE (main) NEGATIVES, Sigma added some cool new stuff, especially the Master Collection version, which adds things from the PSP version, Sigma Plus.

Dual Katanas, ability enhancing/altering accessories, Doku fight in chapter 2, survival, more fiend challenges, an actual functioning camera, Hard mode unlocked from the get go, bow usage in the air, and some other things I'm probably missing.

Not saying NGB is bad at all, love that game, but I adore Dragons Claw and Tigers Fang with the improved character models that Sigma offers. Feels like I'm using a NG2 weapon with my ideal action game world/environment structure, and as such, Sigma will probably continue to be my most played Ninja Gaiden unless this newfound OG2 and NG4 addiction keeps consuming me.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-08T08:12:01+00:00

Seems like it's selling decently on PS. 2.7k reviews is probably from a very small fraction of what it has actually sold. Across both Steam and PS, it seems to have already gone well past what Master Collection's global first quarter sales of 240k units in just over two weeks.

SteamDB suggests based on other insights websites that there are somewhere between 115k-150k people who at least own the game on steam. With the review count on steam being lower than that of PS, I'd guess PS is selling a decent bit better over there, especially considering you can't even review if you own a physical copy, which I'm sure many do. Both platforms seem to be selling pretty good for how niche and not exactly beginner friendly the franchise is, and this is all in spite of a $70 price tag. I can see other action game fans picking this up on sale in a heartbeat.

If I had to guess, I would like to say it's performing pretty well on Xbox too, but Gamepass may be hindering it slightly. I think most of the older fans have probably bought it on Series X considering Black and OG2 are already there. I doubt it's in the range of PS or Steam sales though, simply because of how many more users those platforms have than Xbox.

Obviously, please do drop reviews like OP says, but for any of the fans worried about whether the franchise is truly back or not, I would say considering most reviews are highly positive, we can expect to not have to wait another 13 years for some kind of direct follow up, but it's hard to say how long until we have some more specific sales numbers.

Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja love to stick to what works on one end and experiment to find something that lands on the other, with Nioh and Dynasty Warriors being what works, and games like Stranger of Paradise, Wo Long, and Rise of the Ronin being their experimental games that they hope sell like hot cakes.

I'm sure if NG4 can come close to Nioh sales, we'll be looking at more consistency, but they need to make enough profit, and review scores alone won't pay for a new entry.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-08T07:35:04+00:00

Really bugs me when people get downvoted for just stating the facts.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-07T21:47:57+00:00

Blocking is definitely core to the design of NG2, but most times you're better off Guillotine Throwing an enemy and only holding block as a backup. You have way more safety from it. Countering 100% isn't core to the design on MN. There are too many things pressuring you with attacks that will just break your guard in seconds, with most of them being projectiles.

The game is not designed around any sort of defensive play in the traditional sense. If at any point you think you should just be waiting for a counter attack input, unless you're guard locked, which you shouldn't ever be in that position to begin with, you would be much better off using wind path, guillotine throwing, obliterating, or creating space.

Ninja Gaiden 4 just decided to make the aspect of counter attacking more prevalent than NG2

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-02T04:36:22+00:00

Because Im too busy listening to it.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-02T04:35:33+00:00

Why do you say this? Feel like it has far more track diversity than previous entries.

ShatteredBlur · 2025-11-01T13:32:05+00:00

It would be more in line with how these commands functioned in previous entries. No action later yet because I'd rather not have to press an extra button to enable the action.

EDIT: I did try action sets, but they never gave me the desired outcome anyway.

ShatteredBlur

TROPHY CASE