Ninja Gaiden Master Collection

You are quite welcome as I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives on things even if they greatly contrast with my own. That is how I learn and at least understand where other people are coming from. As I have stated before when it comes to something as subjective as entertainment all that matters is one's enjoyment.

Well, I can not comment too much on Razor's Edge seeing how it's the one I have played the least. When it comes to Black or Sigma one it's mainly due to the mechanics. You have such things as instant blocking, move buffering, shuriken canceling, ninpo canceling, just frame moves, guard crushing, various weapons with their combo potential, instant charging, ultimate techniques, etc. Then there are moves like the Izuna Drop that have tremendous combo potential. The dial-a-combo and freeform combat are addicting when you realize that the only limits this game has in terms of combat are your imagination.

The combat in the second and third games is similar but more streamlined. Such as removing puzzles, keys, or lowering the number of enemies for example. My point of contention was not so much that one game is superior to the other as that is debatable (unless we are talking about Yaiba Z or the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden III). It had to do with being a "button-masher."


I understand if you did not enjoy the game as not every game is suitable for everyone. So in that regard, I respect your viewpoint as you see video games as more of an art form and want them to be the best they can be. I respect and admire those standards as I do not hold any antagonistic sentiments towards other people's thoughts. However, when you state something I disagree with, then I will civilly engage with you about it in an attempt to at least understand where you are coming from.

So thank you for your nuanced perspective on the series. Can not say I agree with you, but I see where you are coming from. Besides, it's not like I do not have views that are considered unpopular with the latest Final Fantasy title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin being ruthlessly ripped apart for its graphics, art, and character design. Yet after playing the demo, I am enjoying the combat and also because I love the Dark Fantasy genre. So I do not care what the critics think as it all subjective anyway.

In either case, it was a pleasure to discuss this with you.
 
How would you guys rank the games relative to each other, out of curiosity? Replaying S2 in the collection after completing S1, and I keep going back and forth on which I prefer.
It depends on what you prefer in all honesty. If you want a more straightforward experience go with Ninja Gaiden II & III Razors Edge. The first game has more puzzle-solving elements but is enjoyable all-around. The combat overall is solid no matter which one you pick up. If you just want to play as Hayabusa, then just go with the first game.

If you want to play as Kasumi, Momiji, or Ayane then the second or third titles should be right up your alley. Also, keep in mind that all the games are hard and you will die a lot even on the easiest of difficulties.
 
You are quite welcome as I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives on things even if they greatly contrast with my own. That is how I learn and at least understand where other people are coming from. As I have stated before when it comes to something as subjective as entertainment all that matters is one's enjoyment.

Well, I can not comment too much on Razor's Edge seeing how it's the one I have played the least. When it comes to Black or Sigma one it's mainly due to the mechanics. You have such things as instant blocking, move buffering, shuriken canceling, ninpo canceling, just frame moves, guard crushing, various weapons with their combo potential, instant charging, ultimate techniques, etc. Then there are moves like the Izuna Drop that have tremendous combo potential. The dial-a-combo and freeform combat are addicting when you realize that the only limits this game has in terms of combat are your imagination.

The combat in the second and third games is similar but more streamlined. Such as removing puzzles, keys, or lowering the number of enemies for example. My point of contention was not so much that one game is superior to the other as that is debatable (unless we are talking about Yaiba Z or the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden III). It had to do with being a "button-masher."


I understand if you did not enjoy the game as not every game is suitable for everyone. So in that regard, I respect your viewpoint as you see video games as more of an art form and want them to be the best they can be. I respect and admire those standards as I do not hold any antagonistic sentiments towards other people's thoughts. However, when you state something I disagree with, then I will civilly engage with you about it in an attempt to at least understand where you are coming from.

So thank you for your nuanced perspective on the series. Can not say I agree with you, but I see where you are coming from. Besides, it's not like I do not have views that are considered unpopular with the latest Final Fantasy title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin being ruthlessly ripped apart for its graphics, art, and character design. Yet after playing the demo, I am enjoying the combat and also because I love the Dark Fantasy genre. So I do not care what the critics think as it all subjective anyway.

In either case, it was a pleasure to discuss this with you.
 
It depends on what you prefer in all honesty. If you want a more straightforward experience go with Ninja Gaiden II & III Razors Edge. The first game has more puzzle-solving elements but is enjoyable all-around. The combat overall is solid no matter which one you pick up. If you just want to play as Hayabusa, then just go with the first game.

If you want to play as Kasumi, Momiji, or Ayane then the second or third titles should be right up your alley. Also, keep in mind that all the games are hard and you will die a lot even on the easiest of difficulties.
And if you want to play as Rachel skip NG altogether and play some Dead or Alive 😂
 
You are quite welcome as I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives on things even if they greatly contrast with my own. That is how I learn and at least understand where other people are coming from. As I have stated before when it comes to something as subjective as entertainment all that matters is one's enjoyment.

Well, I can not comment too much on Razor's Edge seeing how it's the one I have played the least. When it comes to Black or Sigma one it's mainly due to the mechanics. You have such things as instant blocking, move buffering, shuriken canceling, ninpo canceling, just frame moves, guard crushing, various weapons with their combo potential, instant charging, ultimate techniques, etc. Then there are moves like the Izuna Drop that have tremendous combo potential. The dial-a-combo and freeform combat are addicting when you realize that the only limits this game has in terms of combat are your imagination.

The combat in the second and third games is similar but more streamlined. Such as removing puzzles, keys, or lowering the number of enemies for example. My point of contention was not so much that one game is superior to the other as that is debatable (unless we are talking about Yaiba Z or the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden III). It had to do with being a "button-masher."


I understand if you did not enjoy the game as not every game is suitable for everyone. So in that regard, I respect your viewpoint as you see video games as more of an art form and want them to be the best they can be. I respect and admire those standards as I do not hold any antagonistic sentiments towards other people's thoughts. However, when you state something I disagree with, then I will civilly engage with you about it in an attempt to at least understand where you are coming from.

So thank you for your nuanced perspective on the series. Can not say I agree with you, but I see where you are coming from. Besides, it's not like I do not have views that are considered unpopular with the latest Final Fantasy title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin being ruthlessly ripped apart for its graphics, art, and character design. Yet after playing the demo, I am enjoying the combat and also because I love the Dark Fantasy genre. So I do not care what the critics think as it all subjective anyway.

In either case, it was a pleasure to discuss this with you.
I completely agree with you on the subjectivity of entertainment, and even more so on critics opinions not mattering or being anything more than an opinion. Obviously a statement like "Mario games are on Xbox" is a flat out lie as much as "Mario games are on Nintendo" is an undeniable truth, but outside of stuff like that everything else is subjective with critics of just about anything in life. Most game critics gave CyberPunk 2077 a review higher than 3/10 so I have to wonder how low their measuring stick is for what a good or great game is, while some may view my often unpopular individualistic opinions the same way.

Perhaps the button masher aspect of NG goes along the lines of "easy to pick up, difficult to master" and I have no desire to go further with the combos in this franchise, but I can see how the potential could be there.

Speaking of Yaiba Z, I played about 2 minutes of it on PS Now and did not like the graphic style much. Does it play like sigma 2 or razors edge? Did you enjoy it? I take it from the way your comment is positioned in comparison to vanilla NG3, most likely not?

I appreciate your civility as well as your ability to empathize and see things outside of your own point of view. I too can see why you enjoy NG1, even if its my least favorite of the series. With your intelligent and empathetic approach to discussion you previously had me reconsidering Yakuza, which is not something anyone else has been able to do, and while I couldn't change my stance on that franchise, its the intelligent and respectful interaction with you that encourages me to hold your views in much higher regard, even when we strongly disagree, especially on something as trivial, unimportant and non-essential as video games. I also appreciate that you can love Shenmue with its spiritual message and depth yet at the same time appreciate the avarice, dark anti-hero and shallower aspects of Yakuza that I cannot enjoy. Being real and comfortable with your tastes is a humble and respectable trait and your previous statements about why you enjoy Yakuza didn't bring up anything about trying to shame me for my dislike of the franchise or flaunting critics scores as if they actually mean anything in a respectful discussion of differences. It feels really great to be able to like what we like and not argue over it needlessly but rather challenge the opposing point of view with our own through healthy discussion.

I wanted to highlight one other thing regarding my rating games since it seems to be misunderstood as far back as the 90s, not that I'm suggesting you're misunderstanding but that its more of a thought I ponder and open question to the world: Since when is a 6 or 7 considered a bad score?? Its fairly universally known in every publication that 7 is Good, 6 is Above Average, 5 is Average and 4 is Below Average. It isn't until we go to less than a 4 that things get bad. Overall, I liked the Ninja Gaiden trilogy and I would play a sequel should there ever be one, but as I mentioned elsewhere for me personally there's a ceiling on what rating I can give a game that lacks massive story development, depth, cinematics and character devlopment. I feel that giving the entire trilogy a 7/10 is a really solid score for a game that isn't super deep in the spiritual, art or important message about life catergory. The highest I could probably rate a game that doesn't go super deep on those levels would be about 8/10 Great rating, but its super rare. I feel something like GTA 5 would qualify for 8/10 where most critics and people gave it 10/10, there's just no way with it lacking a spiritual component that I could give it that score, even with its social commentary and otherwise great delivery. I use 8s sparingly and save 9s and 10s for very few select titles, so giving something like Ninja Gaiden, Tekken, Dead or Alive, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Sleeping Dogs and other games like that a 7 or 7.5 makes them good or really good entertainment video games, just not amazing works of spiritual, social or thought provoking art to me.
 
The dojo is indeed avery civic place for the internet where it is still possible to discuss different opinions without getting into meaningless fights. i really like it here so different from other palces compared to the internet.(y)

@otbr87 Although I have not finished even one yet i can understand where your criticism comes from concerning the presentation and the story telling. I cannot agree with the Button Mashing aspect. Could it be that you played the game just an easy?

It is true that the fighting system is not as deep as the fighting in Sekira or Ghost of Tsushima but with button mashing you cannot win in Ninja Gaiden. You have be quite precise to beat the enemies. Especially the Bosses are quite hard if you cannot figure out the right strategy to beat them. Maybe on easy things are different but ont he normal difficulty level I am not sure if button mashing can do anything good. I tried it when I got frustrated with a few bosses I have to admit and did not work out for me.
 
I completely agree with you on the subjectivity of entertainment, and even more so on critic's opinions not mattering or being anything more than an opinion. Alike "Mario games are on Xbox" is a flat-out lie as much as "Mario games are on Nintendo" is an undeniable truth, but outside of stuff like that everything else is subjective with critics of just about anything in life. Most game critics gave CyberPunk 2077 a review higher than 3/10 so I have to wonder how low their measuring stick is for what a good or great game is, while some may view my often unpopular individualistic opinions the same way.

Perhaps the button masher aspect of NG goes along the lines of "easy to pick up, difficult to master" and I have no desire to go further with the combos in this franchise, but I can see how the potential could be there.

Speaking of Yaiba Z, I played about 2 minutes of it on PS Now and did not like the graphic style much. Does it play like sigma 2 or razor's edge? Did you enjoy it? I take it from the way your comment is positioned in comparison to vanilla NG3, most likely not?

I appreciate your civility as well as your ability to empathize and see things outside of your point of view. I too can see why you enjoy NG1, even if it's my least favorite of the series. With your intelligent and empathetic approach to the discussion you previously had me reconsidering Yakuza, which is not something anyone else has been able to do, and while I couldn't change my stance on that franchise, its the intelligent and respectful interaction with you that encourages me to hold your views in much higher regard, even when we strongly disagree, especially on something as trivial, unimportant and non-essential as video games. I also appreciate that you can love Shenmue with its spiritual message and depth yet at the same time appreciate the avarice, dark anti-hero, and shallower aspects of Yakuza that I cannot enjoy. Being real and comfortable with your tastes is a humble and respectable trait and your previous statements about why you enjoy Yakuza didn't bring up anything about trying to shame me for my dislike of the franchise or flaunting critics' scores as if they mean anything in a respectful discussion of differences. It feels great to be able to like what we like and not argue over it needlessly but rather challenge the opposing point of view with our own through healthy discussion.

I wanted to highlight one other thing regarding my rating games since it seems to be misunderstood as far back as the 90s, not that I'm suggesting you're misunderstanding but that its more of a thought I ponder and open question to the world: Since when is a 6 or 7 considered a bad score?? It's fairly universally known in every publication that 7 is Good, 6 is Above Average, 5 is Average and 4 is Below Average. It isn't until we go to less than a 4 that things get bad. Overall, I liked the Ninja Gaiden trilogy and I would play a sequel should there ever be one, but as I mentioned elsewhere for me personally there's a ceiling on what rating I can give a game that lacks massive story development, depth, cinematics, and character development. I feel that giving the entire trilogy a 7/10 is a really solid score for a game that isn't super deep in the spiritual, art, or important message about life category. The highest I could probably rate a game that doesn't go super deep on those levels would be about 8/10 Great rating, but it's super rare. I feel something like GTA 5 would qualify for 8/10 where most critics and people gave it 10/10, there's just no way with it lacking a spiritual component that I could give it that score, even with its social commentary and otherwise great delivery. I use 8s sparingly and save 9s and 10s for very few select titles, so giving something like Ninja Gaiden, Tekken, Dead or Alive, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Sleeping Dogs, and other games like that a 7 or 7.5 makes them good or really good entertainment video games, just not amazing works of spiritual, social or thought-provoking art to me.
I am humbled by the fact I was able to get you to reconsider the Ryu Ga Gotoku franchise as that was not my intention. I say this because I am not out to change anyone's mind as I believe personal change happens internally. Also, I feel as if my words do not carry much weight. Besides, I value your honesty, it is like I stated before, I have more respect for someone honest than someone who appears disingenuous merely to fit in. So thank you very much for your honesty. For what little it's worth, you have my respect.

No, I have only seen clips of Yaiba Z on Youtube and I did not like what I saw. So, therefore, I have never played Yaiba Z and do not have any desire to. The same could be said of the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden III.

I have never put much stock in critic scores as I see them as nothing more than glorified opinions. While there is not a problem with learning about other people's perspectives, they should not override your own. They should only serve to broaden your horizons and get a more holistic view of whatever product or service in question. But too often I see people taking their favorite critic's opinions as gospel as if there is only one way to see things.

When it comes to scores on a technical level, yes, a seven out of ten could be considered a good or mediocre score. However, given the extreme binary thinking people have nowadays anything that is not a perfect ten out of ten is considered garbage. Finally, as I have learned, critics of video games can be influenced (bribed basically) by external forces in exchange for that perfect score. Something that would be impotent if consumers would learn to think more for themselves.

@9dragons I think the civility here has to do with the fact that many users of the dojo are older and approaching middle age. And I treat people on the internet like people or like I am in the same room as them. Also, with all the dangers the Internet possesses, I think the online disinhibition effect does not work as Edward Snowden so clearly elucidated the world about.

Also, I see Ghost of Tsushima's combat as more strategic. It is more grounded and brutal indicating the developers are more interested in realism than sheer spectacle. To be honest, I enjoy that aspect of the combat as not everything needs to be over the top.
 
@otbr87 I gotta be honest, your opinion of 1 kind of hurts my soul a little bit. I get it though, it's just a different deal, and from what I can see it either "clicks" for people or it doesn't. It was nice to read your impressions of all the games, though.

It depends on what you prefer in all honesty. If you want a more straightforward experience go with Ninja Gaiden II & III Razors Edge. The first game has more puzzle-solving elements but is enjoyable all-around. The combat overall is solid no matter which one you pick up. If you just want to play as Hayabusa, then just go with the first game.

If you want to play as Kasumi, Momiji, or Ayane then the second or third titles should be right up your alley. Also, keep in mind that all the games are hard and you will die a lot even on the easiest of difficulties.
It's kinda weird, because in theory I love the idea of playing as the girls, but in practice when it actually happens I feel a little annoyed that I was cut away from continuing on as Ryu. If they ever do an NG4 (they won't because the world is a dark, terrible place), I kinda hope they do something like creating a separate girls' campaign.

Also I agree on the 2D Ninja Gaiden stuff: my mind immediately went to BRING BACK SHINOBI. God those games are so fucking good. But yeah, 2D Ninja Gaiden from what I played of the first one is fun and all, but 3D Ninja Gaiden is just a fucking masterpiece. Even something as flawed as 3:RE with it's walk-and-talk section in the village, mandatory limping to cutscene trigger-zone, hold RT to carry child (lmao), etc is something that I would say is easily better than 99.999% of what else is out there. That freaking combat is just so gosh darn hecking fun.
 
@Tsukuyomimagi99 Yes of course we are older here but that is not the only reason. Just look at politic discussions in the interweb. People at our age our even much older people can take things too serious and start discussing in a not very objective and mature way. Normal discusions in the internet are rare today and if they are happening it is important higlight it in a good way.

@Old Ninja Gaiden Games Have never played them I just know the new ones and they look quite genertic. The Shinobi Games did way better job in that genre. I think Ninja Gaiden should remain in the status quo. The Ninja Gaiden /Ninja Gaiden Sigma Formula works really well for the series.
 
Last edited:
The dojo is indeed avery civic place for the internet where it is still possible to discuss different opinions without getting into meaningless fights. i really like it here so different from other palces compared to the internet.(y)

@otbr87 Although I have not finished even one yet i can understand where your criticism comes from concerning the presentation and the story telling. I cannot agree with the Button Mashing aspect. Could it be that you played the game just an easy?

It is true that the fighting system is not as deep as the fighting in Sekira or Ghost of Tsushima but with button mashing you cannot win in Ninja Gaiden. You have be quite precise to beat the enemies. Especially the Bosses are quite hard if you cannot figure out the right strategy to beat them. Maybe on easy things are different but ont he normal difficulty level I am not sure if button mashing can do anything good. I tried it when I got frustrated with a few bosses I have to admit and did not work out for me.
I agree for the most part with the people here in the dojo, there's a few thought/word/feeling/opinion police types floating around, but outside of those few it's a really nice place to interact on a more civil level. I tried the NG games on both easy and moderate and it felt no different regarding the way buttons were pressed outside of not having the automatic blocking with the higher difficulty level. What I'm trying to say I guess is that there doesn't seem to be a crisp flow of pressing a combo of buttons and getting the same result. In Streets of Rage or Final Fight there's one button dedicated to either a kick or punch so its easier to perform consistent combos, although button mashing could be done as well. Think about MK, DOA, Tekken or VF all of those have very specific buttons you press to get a proper response on the screen, I didn't see that as often with Ninja Gaiden. It's true you have to properly dodge enemies and use the block button, but it doesn't feel as coherent otherwise and there wasn't the same smooth satisfying feeling that I get from the button responses of the other franchises I just mentioned. It's not a horrible system, but its often feeling like a chore. Even with Sekiro, which I didn't like at all as a game overall I still felt the controls in Sekiro were more responsive than the NG franchise despite actually liking the NG trilogy overall.
 
I am humbled by the fact I was able to get you to reconsider the Ryu Ga Gotoku franchise as that was not my intention. I say this because I am not out to change anyone's mind as I believe personal change happens internally. Also, I feel as if my words do not carry much weight. Besides, I value your honesty, it is like I stated before, I have more respect for someone honest than someone who appears disingenuous merely to fit in. So thank you very much for your honesty. For what little it's worth, you have my respect.

No, I have only seen clips of Yaiba Z on Youtube and I did not like what I saw. So, therefore, I have never played Yaiba Z and do not have any desire to. The same could be said of the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden III.

I have never put much stock in critic scores as I see them as nothing more than glorified opinions. While there is not a problem with learning about other people's perspectives, they should not override your own. They should only serve to broaden your horizons and get a more holistic view of whatever product or service in question. But too often I see people taking their favorite critic's opinions as gospel as if there is only one way to see things.

When it comes to scores on a technical level, yes, a seven out of ten could be considered a good or mediocre score. However, given the extreme binary thinking people have nowadays anything that is not a perfect ten out of ten is considered garbage. Finally, as I have learned, critics of video games can be influenced (bribed basically) by external forces in exchange for that perfect score. Something that would be impotent if consumers would learn to think more for themselves.

@9dragons I think the civility here has to do with the fact that many users of the dojo are older and approaching middle age. And I treat people on the internet like people or like I am in the same room as them. Also, with all the dangers the Internet possesses, I think the online disinhibition effect does not work as Edward Snowden so clearly elucidated the world about.

Also, I see Ghost of Tsushima's combat as more strategic. It is more grounded and brutal indicating the developers are more interested in realism than sheer spectacle. To be honest, I enjoy that aspect of the combat as not everything needs to be over the top.
I'm in agreement that change happens internally, but sometimes others trigger thoughts or feelings to encourage change or people to give a second look at something in life. I gave Virtua Fighter a second look and was pleased with it and see that its not a low budget Tekken as I once thought it was in the 90s. Yakuza I just cannot get around as a whole for many reasons, and I'm totally cool with that but its your quality of delivery on the things you say combined with your reasonable taste in games that got me to think "if he likes Yakuza, perhaps I'm missing something from it?" and while I can see your reasons for liking it, it hasn't been able to change my core opinion, nor does it need to, but the important part I take away and appreciate about it is that your case for Yakuza wasn't just telling me "you not liking it is negative" "the critics gave it an 8 or higher score" "aren't you worried what others will think if you express your dislike for it?", your reasons were based in the premise of the games lore, which made me reconsider momentarily, but there's just too many issues I have with it, but I respect your opinion on it and that's something I value. You're far too humble and your opinions have value, thoughtfulness and actual weight to them, that's far more than I can say for most people I encounter who just parrot whats trendy or what the critics say. 9dragons is another user on here whose opinions I respect a lot as well for what its worth.

That's why I clarified the controversy around rating scores so I'm not misunderstood when I use the actual definitions of the ratings. Not all games are a 10/10 or 9.5/10 nor do they need to be. 6's and 7's are completely respectable ratings especially if the game isn't literally perfect or damn near perfect.

I am very pleased Ghost of Tsushima doesn't have a fantasy style of gameplay, that would take it down a few points for me, although it wouldn't exactly have ruined the game if it was done right, but I prefer realism over fantasy elements in a title like that.
 
@otbr87 I gotta be honest, your opinion of 1 kind of hurts my soul a little bit. I get it though, it's just a different deal, and from what I can see it either "clicks" for people or it doesn't. It was nice to read your impressions of all the games, though.


It's kinda weird, because in theory I love the idea of playing as the girls, but in practice when it actually happens I feel a little annoyed that I was cut away from continuing on as Ryu. If they ever do an NG4 (they won't because the world is a dark, terrible place), I kinda hope they do something like creating a separate girls' campaign.

Also I agree on the 2D Ninja Gaiden stuff: my mind immediately went to BRING BACK SHINOBI. God those games are so fucking good. But yeah, 2D Ninja Gaiden from what I played of the first one is fun and all, but 3D Ninja Gaiden is just a fucking masterpiece. Even something as flawed as 3:RE with it's walk-and-talk section in the village, mandatory limping to cutscene trigger-zone, hold RT to carry child (lmao), etc is something that I would say is easily better than 99.999% of what else is out there. That freaking combat is just so gosh darn hecking fun.
You have my respect as well sir/ma'am. This is the kind of disagreements I enjoy seeing. While we clearly don't feel the same about NG1 or the use of the girls(I'd prefer to never use Ryu if I could use the 3 girls, not including Rachel), I can see your point of view as well very easily as it's simply our difference in taste. I enjoy that the people in this thread so far are understanding that my reviews are nothing more than my opinions and experience with the trilogy, much like the professionals or other people giving an opinion online. None of it is really from a factual only standpoint.

I'd like to see them give us a Ninja Gaiden 4 with Ryu only for those who enjoy that franchise and a spinoff done with the NG2-NG3 style mechanics where Ryu is not in it(other than maybe in cutscenes as a NPC)and it's just the girls only. That gives us 2 separate games and they can take twice the cash inflow for their work. Its a win win.
 
It is ok not to like same games. Not everbody likes the same stuff and that is good. It also important to admit that dislking a game because it goes against personal Preferences does not mean that the game is bad from a technical point of view necessarly.

I genuinely dislike lots of everbodys Darling games of the last Generation, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2 and many many more.

These games just do not resonate with my taste. I find these games boring and way overated. But are they bad games from a technical point of view? Of Course not they are well made and I can totally understand why People like them. They are just not made for me and my taste in Gameplay, Storytelling and the overall presentation.
 
Last edited:
It is ok not to like same games. Not everbody likes the same stuff and that is good. It also important to admit that dislking a game because it goes against personal Preferences does not mean that the game is bad from a technical point of view necessarly.

I genuinely dislke lots of everbodys Darling games of the last Generation, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2 and many many more.

These games just do not resonate with my taste. I find these games boring and way overated. But are bad games from a technical point of view? Of Course not they are well made and I can totally understand why People like them. They are just not made for me and my taste in Gameplay, Storytelling and the overall presentation.
I did enjoy Last of Us 1 to some degree(I'd give it a 6.5 or 7/10)for one play through only. Last of Us 2 is an entirely different discussion. Red Dead Redemption 2 isn't nearly as enjoyable as the first one, and that one isn't even that interesting either. I suppose for me its simply because I cannot stand cowboys in real life(I live around them and even had to work with them at one point playing the part of a cowboy myself)so I'm not able to vibe with a game about cowboys, unless they were to be depicted accurately perhaps standing across from the Native Americans. God of War is very over-hyped, and the reboot didn't do it any justice in making it any more interesting, just another run of the mill 'its cool to be the anti-hero' type of game. Horizon Zero Dawn was sadly very disappointing, I went into it expecting an 8 or possibly even a 9/10 and came out with a 5/10. The gameplay is bad and the story isn't as good as it could have been given the rest of the production being over the top I expected a lot more. From a technical standpoint I wouldn't call Last of Us or RDR2 bad games, but the jury is out on God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn being anything more than average.
 
I decided to visit Ninja Gaiden 3 Vanilla again and play through the first two chapters to get a little more contrast with the Trilogy. Admittedly, overall I prefer the combat in vanilla NG3 over both Sigmas and Razor's Edge as it feels more streamlined, direct and impactful yet at the same time there's more QTE elements mixed into the general combat which is totally unnecessary and hurts it a bit. So, overall I still prefer the NG Sigma 2 combat mechanics cause the QTE elements are distracting, but the vanilla NG3 still has better combat elements than Razor's Edge simply for the fact that attacks feel more direct and the low level enemies take less than 10 hits on average to defeat so it feels more impactful and makes more sense. I also enjoy the additional cutscenes and plot elements along with the really badass Ninpo additions that were removed from Razor's Edge. Aside from a stuttering framerate at times(which is probably due to it being a PS3 title, but I was shocked with it doing that on a PS5) and the addition of even more QTE than in the Razor's Edge version I don't see why NG3 needed 'fixing' as it feels more rounded and player friendly than the games that were in the trilogy. I can see why the people who like to play this franchise on the hardest difficulty or add a plethora of un-needed combat mechanics to the point of exhausting and complicating it to make it feel more complex wouldn't like vanilla NG3 as it's way too average player friendly and its more streamlined for sure which is no doubt why it wasn't well received as it plays almost nothing like Sigma 1 or 2 and while Razor's Edge is still different than Sigma 1 and 2, it feels closer to them than vanilla NG3. I actually wish that vanilla NG3 had the addition of the girls and was on a current gen console as I would have much preferred to play through story mode this way than with Razor's Edge, but it is what it is.

I also revisited NG Yaiba Z and this game is really bad. The combat feels like Street Fighter in that every time you connect with an enemy the framerate stutters and start/stops. The graphics don't fit the vibe of the franchise and theres literally no story at all.
 
Back
Top