Ninja Gaiden Master Collection Review:
I've finished playing through the Master Collection and here's some thoughts on the three titles. I played 99% of it on the Xbox One versions on Xbox Series and also played a little bit of the PS3 versions on PS5 via PS Now to see if there was any real differences outside of graphics, which I didn't really find any. It took Tecmo over a week to get the bonus app working properly, but they finally did and it's a nice little addition if you're a fan of the series for the extra $5 USD. To start off I'll say that I had high hopes for this trilogy yet I realistically had low actual expectations given the way Tecmo handles the Dead or Alive franchise. I enjoy DOA, mostly 5 and 6, but it's full of wasted potential, and that is the theme with Ninja Gaiden as a whole as well. I will be fair in reviewing them to the simple fact that these titles are all from console gens that weren't capable of delivering amazing games like the ones can in the current era, so no points will be deducted for anything revolving around issues connected to the jankyness of older consoles such as controls, graphics, poor cinematic delivery, etc. They will be rated as if I was playing them during the year of their original release. I will break them down between story mode, bonus modes and overall delivery.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1/Black: Overall Rating 5/10 Average
Boring. Boring. Boring. I honestly don't see how this particular game gets the high praise of the trilogy, it's by far my least favorite. The first two chapters are very nice and rather enjoyable when in Hayabusa Village, but starting with the blimp in chapter 3 the game goes completely downhill. The underground levels and European city levels are bland and uninspired looking, very boring. I felt like I was playing Kill.Switch from the PS2 at times when it came to level design(I actually liked Kill.Switch better than NG1). Rachel is awful in this game and completely unplayable and is out of place within the story. Hayabusa has no charisma in the first title and lacks personality, even for a game of it's time. The bosses aren't interesting. The puzzles are by far the worst part of this game along with the level design. I hated fighting the guys on the horses and motorcycles which was almost as painful as the puzzle solving. The bonus Ninja Trials are also boring. This is the only NG title I didn't finish story mode for because it was painful to go any further, I played about 80% of the title and then youtubed the story highlights and checked to see if there were any other interesting levels coming up but it was more of the same from the previous chapters. The story itself was nothing special and didn't offer anything interesting overall. I enjoyed the graphics on this version for a game of its age and Hayabusa Village was beautiful in some ways. The controls in this game were fairly decent for their time too, even though it's mostly just a button masher with no real skill involved in most battles, it still felt responsive but boring at the same time. If I had played this through in 2004 there's no way I would have checked out a sequel. I feel the game was well intended but still failed to excite in comparison to other level driven brawlers/fighting action games of the Xbox/PS2 era such as Tenchu, BloodRayne or even lesser games like Death by Degrees. While it would have helped to add the girls from the other games, it wouldn't be enough to save this entry from being the weak point of the franchise. It's not a bad game, but its not fun either. Story mode 5/10. Bonus modes 4/10.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2: Overall Rating 7.5/10 Really Good
Overall Sigma 2 is the strongest entry in the series with its only point weaker than 1 or 3 is the lack of over the top blood. Gore isn't a deal breaker for me, but it would have been nice to have the same gore level from the other two entries. The level design during story mode was mostly very nice, specifically Hayabusa Village and Sky City Tokyo. I enjoyed all of the levels to some degree or another including the ones I didn't expect to like. The levels in Europe felt detailed and like an actual experience of Europe unlike the bland ones of the first title. The levels inside Mt Fuji weren't really my cup of tea personally, but they were still very creative and enjoyable and I have no complaints overall about this game. I enjoyed battling the Buddha-like statue boss, the Statue of Liberty in NYC and other interesting boss characters along the way. While I still did not enjoy Rachel being in the game, she was more tolerable during her chapter than in Sigma 1 and was less centralized to the plot, which was a plus as the less Rachel we have, the better. The addition of Momiji and Ayane was the highlight for me as they both have more charisma and personality than Hayabusa who still in this title remains mostly uninteresting as a lead character, but he does show a little bit more personality in this game than the previous title. I wish we could play a story revolving around Momiji, Ayane(and Kasumi)with the Ninja Gaiden formula and give Hayabusa a break or a lesser role as his story is completed at this point. This games story mode was a lot of fun and was well rounded, they did away with bad level design and the bad combat scenarios like the motorcycles and horseback enemies. The story itself unfolded fairly well for a game from the Xbox 360 generation, I could ask for more cinematics technically, but given it's original release year and the limitations of the console it released on I'm happy with what I got considering. The plot itself wasn't over the top amazing, but it was sufficient and made me actually care about Hayabusa, Momiji and Ayane(sorry Rachel)in a way I didn't care about anyone in Sigma 1. The bonus modes are cool with the two highlights being the ability to play Ayane and Momiji and Tag Team mode which is by far the coolest thing in the entire trilogy. Two of the levels from Sigma 2 that were brought to DOA 5 are beautiful and by far my favorite in that franchise. Story Mode & Bonus Modes: 7.5/10.
Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge: Overall Rating 6.5 Above Average
NG3 is the hardest one in the franchise for me to rate because there's a few things that are very nice and the best in the franchise while there are equally as many that suck more than the first title. Getting the negatives out of the way first: I was going to give this a slightly lower review but after playing the bonus modes it redeemed itself a bit. Story mode was not fun, it was actual difficult to enjoy and get through. It wasn't hard from a challenge standpoint as I didn't even die one time, but it was just not fun to play. The levels were still more detailed than Sigma 1, but they were not fun at all, with an exception to Hayabusa Village yet again, I did not truly enjoy or feel immersed into any of the levels outside of that. There were a few that were just ok like London, Abysmo Island, Maritime Facility and Tokyo but none really stood out within the story. The absolute worst part of NG3 hands down is the gameplay itself...its BRUTALLY BROKEN! And by that I'm not saying its hard, I'm saying its absurd. Hitting a basic foot soldier or ninja enemy with the sword 25 times to kill him does not make for an enjoyable experience. Sigma 2 was perfect as you could hit a guy less than 10 times and kill them. I'd prefer if they gave me 3X the enemies in a wave at once with less hits per enemy to kill them. There's nothing psychologically satisfying about hitting an average enemy in a brawler type game that many times, its a huge turn off. The bosses were also requiring way too many hits to defeat. Another thing is the fucking QTE trash, that killed a lot of momentum in combat and in cutscenes for me, this game could have done without QTE completely. I'm not a QTE fan in general outside of Shenmue, but NG should not have incorporated this 'feature' at all. The first two games worked fine without it, if it isn't broke don't mess with it. Combining the mostly below average level design with the awful health meters of the enemies in combat ruined story mode and the only reason I pushed my way through it is what leads to the positive part of my feelings towards NG3: unlocking Kasumi, Ayane and Momiji as well as completing the story itself. NG3 has gotten bad reviews for its story but I feel it's fairly decent and the cinematics are good for their time given the lack of depth the franchise has to begin with. Sure, NG could be rebooted as this amazing over the top cinematic masterpiece, but the first two were nothing like that so I didn't expect the third game to have any real cinematics or story worth getting invested in, yet I found myself feeling pulled in during the scenes involving Hayabusa, Mizuki and the little girl. It's a shame they went the way they did towards the end because they had a chance to give Hayabusa life some meaning regarding his relationship to the woman and child so I didn't like that they chose the lone wolf path, but given the developers reputation for wasted potential in its story telling, they decided to play it safe and not push for anything more than just telling another lone wolf anti-hero story. I didn't hate it either way, I rather enjoyed it but it could have turned out better. Before arriving at the conclusion of the story I did enjoy how Hayabusa came to life, took his mask off at times and actually showed that he has a personality and some charisma, that he actually cares about something. It's the first time I really enjoyed playing as him, regardless of the gameplay itself being broken. The story was nice and had a nice conclusion, although I doubt it's something I'll remember every detail of a week from now. The story, cinematics and cutscenes are much better than the critics attempt to make it sound and the game is mostly broken on a gameplay level, but whats to be expected from a button masher that has no real precision in the moves and combat? The highlight of this game is the Ninja Trails and most of all, Kasumi. Kasumi is fast, powerful and her movements are more fluid than Hayabusa or any other character in the games. She's hands down the most fun and best to use out of any of the characters in the entire trilogy, and this is not because I'm biased towards the character, she just feels tight, fluid and on point. Momiji, Ayane and Hayabusa also feel really good in this games trials as well. The trials add many of the great levels from Sigma 2 and even some of the levels from Sigma 1 which adds variety to the mixture. The most important part? The base line average enemies don't take 25 hits to die in the trials mode, they take an adequate amount of damage more in line with the first two games. This is what redeemed this game and caused me to bump it up a few points. A decent cinematic story and being able to play as Kasumi, Ayane and Momiji wasn't enough for me to give this game a good rating with all its negatives in story mode gameplay and the levels, but adding the great levels from Sigma 2 and making the gameplay feel the complete opposite from story mode and more on point in the ninja trials combined with the older levels and the addition of the best character in the game Kasumi along with the other two female ninjas give it a boost. I wish this one had Tag Team mode as well, but while its missed, its not really needed. Another positive: NO RACHEL!! I love that they removed Rachel from this, she's way out of place in the franchise and is better off sticking to DOA. Story Mode 6/10. Bonus Modes 7/10.
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy Master Collection Overall Rating: 7/10 Good
If you've never played this trilogy it's a good value for $40, or $45 with the bonus content if that's important to you. If you've already played the original versions it doesn't seem like theres any reason to play these games again as they're worth one play through only. I have no regrets making this purchase although I'll never play any of the games story modes through again. I do think I will have a few more rounds of enjoyment in the Sigma 2 and NG3 Razors Edge Ninja Trials modes before removing this franchise from my Xbox and moving on to something else. I look forward to the potential of a Ninja Gaiden 4 in the future, especially if they focus on Kasumi, Ayane and Momiji like the director said he wants to for the next game, but even if they bring back Hayabusa thats ok too. Going forward the franchise needs major work to make it feel exciting and fresh andI feel we can get that out of Tecmo if they really want to take some risks and tap into the potential of the Xbox Series/PS5 console power. If they play it safe though I wouldn't expect much more than what this trilogy has provided. A reboot over a sequel is preferred and one can hope they will tap into the power of story telling with good action on these new consoles.
