So there are some things that really do suck about the game. The framerate is god awful in some spots which is a real bummer and the actual "motivation" for the overall plot that you find out about is SUUUUUUUUUUUPER dumb. BUT having said that what matters in the game the combat is still fucking fantastic. Its different than the past games but you shouldn't try to play it like the past games. You can't constantly spam Wind Run and Flying Swallow or abuse Ultimate Techniques or Wall run jump people to death and honestly I think thats a good thing. It makes the ground combat more about timeful dodges and learning to use new techniques and moves on people rather than relying on a few standbys. Mind you... I played the game on hard. And thats where anyone that wants a sense of challenge should play. In fact... I'd say its as hard as the original in some spots. You can't spam items as a crutch to help you through tough boss fights. No, you have to develop strategy and execute.

If thats the one thing I really like about Ninja Gaiden 3 its the complete dismissal of the items and item system. You can't use items as crutches you have to actually figure out how to beat enemies. And even though the Ultimate Techniques and Ninpo are VERY powerful room clearing moves in some cases they outright lock your ability to earn them in some fights forcing you to do it the hard way. I'll do a full review and post it on the site I write for and really get into the details but needless to say Gaiden fans that are willing to accept it for what it is can still find pretty damn thrilling combat. And even though there is no gore I have to say I think its the most brutal of the games the stabbing and cutting really FELT significant this time and thats a plus. If your interested in a full review keep tabs of my update stream on GB as I'll end up posting the link to the full review when it gets posted. =)

Also, if anyone is on the fence about the game or has questions I'd be happy to field them the best I can. =)

Good to hear. I'd like to lay it, but I'm considering waiting for the Wii U version.

My initial reaction to the game was extremely negative but I warmed up to it some since. The combat is quite different and fun for what it is. Overall I still think it's much worse then NG2 and does not hold a candle to Black.

whats up with ryu's arm?

@Shun_Akiyama: He got cursed with "The Grip of Murder"

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

My initial reaction to the game was extremely negative but I warmed up to it some since. The combat is quite different and fun for what it is. Overall I still think it's much worse then NG2 and does not hold a candle to Black.

I agree with you on that. Also finished it on hard and now almost done with Master Ninja. Might also write a full review but may need to purchase a capture card to record how I played NG2 or NG: Black be able to point out the differences and clear up what old vets meant with the depth of the combat which was clearly lacking in this one. But yeah I wouldn't give a score this low for what it is since it does have its good moments despite the numerous and damaging flaws it has done to the franchise.

While I agree that the game has its moments, the main thing that I liked about Ninja Gaiden (the deep combat system) is gone, everything in NG3 is so inconsistent. Previous games were always at their best when played on the highest difficulty, NG3 is at its worse here, every single fight has a truck load of enemies in it and because they removed any upgrade system there is no incentive to kill them and because any random hit can cause 50% damage you are forced to whore the only relatively safe moves in the game.

For what it is I think you can have a good time with it, but even as a stand alone action game, you can do a lot better without going to either of the previous NG games.

No flying swallow? Damn.

Yes there is a Flying Swallow lol

Seems like you're part of a minority.

thank you for not making another "i liked this game so the reviewers are WRONG" thread

Ive said it a million times, its ok to like shit games. its also ok to think shit games arent shit, opinions and all that.

Yeah, it looks a bit shit. It may whiff, but so what?

I'd likely enjoy it. (at least a little bit)

I agree with this. In a lot of ways I think the core game on offer here is better than NG2. It sucks that they took out weapon variety and upgrades. If those stripped away element still existed, I think it would be straight up better than NG2. As it is, I like them both equally.

It would take a lot more than that to get it up to Black's levels of awesome though.

Yeah, lest people forget NG2 was pretty busted in a ton of ways itself. Bad framerates , hacked leaderboard scores and awful level segments. I mean c'mon did ANYONE like that underground tunnel with the worm? I think NG3 is on par with NG2. NGB is in a realm of its own but considering what NG2 was NG3 is an acceptable entry that I don't think fans should so easily dismiss. But hey...opinions and whatnot. I've been on the FFXIII defense squad as well so I'm used to being in the minority. I just wish people would look beyond the reviews and try it before judging.

Yeah, lest people forget NG2 was pretty busted in a ton of ways itself. Bad framerates , hacked leaderboard scores and awful level segments. I mean c'mon did ANYONE like that underground tunnel with the worm? I think NG3 is on par with NG2. NGB is in a realm of its own but considering what NG2 was NG3 is an acceptable entry that I don't think fans should so easily dismiss. But hey...opinions and whatnot. I've been on the FFXIII defense squad as well so I'm used to being in the minority. I just wish people would look beyond the reviews and try it before judging.

NG2 wasn't great, but it still, ultimately, felt like Ninja Gaiden, It was responsive as shit, the weapons were numerous and brilliant, the bosses were huge, and it was often hard without being cheap. Compared to NGB which was almost ALWAYS hard without being cheap. The cheapness was definitely upgraded for 2 by a supreme margin, but as an entry in the franchise, I still liked 2 a lot.

So yeah, I'm on the fence because I effing love Ninja Gaiden Black, and consider it to be the best game of all time if not simply it's generation. (Yeah, I'm only 18, I'm young). Anyway, how many weapons are there? How awesome are the boss fights and do they just boil down to QTEs? Can I flying swallow straight into izuna drop without hitting the floor? And most importantly, regardless of what they've changed, does the core feel the same?

@Demoskinos said:

@Unknown_Pleasures Yeah, its there but you can't abuse it to high hell like you could in past games.

Do most enemies and bosses block it like in Ninja Gaiden Black or did they change how it works?

@Demoskinos said:

So there are some things that really do suck about the game. The framerate is god awful in some spots which is a real bummer and the actual "motivation" for the overall plot that you find out about is SUUUUUUUUUUUPER dumb. BUT having said that what matters in the game the combat is still fucking fantastic. Its different than the past games but you shouldn't try to play it like the past games. You can't constantly spam Wind Run and Flying Swallow or abuse Ultimate Techniques or Wall run jump people to death and honestly I think thats a good thing. It makes the ground combat more about timeful dodges and learning to use new techniques and moves on people rather than relying on a few standbys. Mind you... I played the game on hard. And thats where anyone that wants a sense of challenge should play. In fact... I'd say its as hard as the original in some spots. You can't spam items as a crutch to help you through tough boss fights. No, you have to develop strategy and execute.

If thats the one thing I really like about Ninja Gaiden 3 its the complete dismissal of the items and item system. You can't use items as crutches you have to actually figure out how to beat enemies. And even though the Ultimate Techniques and Ninpo are VERY powerful room clearing moves in some cases they outright lock your ability to earn them in some fights forcing you to do it the hard way. I'll do a full review and post it on the site I write for and really get into the details but needless to say Gaiden fans that are willing to accept it for what it is can still find pretty damn thrilling combat. And even though there is no gore I have to say I think its the most brutal of the games the stabbing and cutting really FELT significant this time and thats a plus. If your interested in a full review keep tabs of my update stream on GB as I'll end up posting the link to the full review when it gets posted. =)

I don't know, I heard you can spam all the old tricks except UT and guilloutine throw, including wind run, head jump and izuna drop. Anyway, have you tried NMN yet? I heard the increased enemy amount causes slowdowns and tedium since it's really hard and you have to fight wave after wave of the same enemies in the same spot.

Why is everyone saying that one of the main reasons they don't like NG3 is cuz of the lack of weapons? We are getting more weapons.. Sooo why all of the crying?

@JTB123 said:

While I agree that the game has its moments, the main thing that I liked about Ninja Gaiden (the deep combat system) is gone, everything in NG3 is so inconsistent. Previous games were always at their best when played on the highest difficulty, NG3 is at its worse here, every single fight has a truck load of enemies in it and because they removed any upgrade system there is no incentive to kill them and because any random hit can cause 50% damage you are forced to whore the only relatively safe moves in the game.

For what it is I think you can have a good time with it, but even as a stand alone action game, you can do a lot better without going to either of the previous NG games.

This has been my experience as well with hard mode. The hard mode just increases the amount of enemies and damage they do instead of actually making the combat itself more difficult and challenging. I miss Ninja Gaiden Black. No game has yet matched what it did with Difficulty settings.

@Demoskinos said:

@Grissefar Many enemies you arent even able to izuna drop at all until they have low health. You'll land the first hit but they will almost always block the launcher. Lowly grunts you can izuna drop whenever but at least on Hard they pepper so many "armored" guards in that you'll end up having to switch up your izunas with other moves.

FYI, those enemies you can use XY on landing 360 Y into the izuna drop. Knowing that before tackling MN is a god send.

@JTB123 said:

@Demoskinos said:

@Grissefar Many enemies you arent even able to izuna drop at all until they have low health. You'll land the first hit but they will almost always block the launcher. Lowly grunts you can izuna drop whenever but at least on Hard they pepper so many "armored" guards in that you'll end up having to switch up your izunas with other moves.

FYI, those enemies you can use XY on landing 360 Y into the izuna drop. Knowing that before tackling MN is a god send.

Is the karma system worth anything this time around? At glance, it just seems crammed in, like NG2. I don't get how it is supposed to set apart a good and a great player.

@Grissefar: Not really, if anything it seems tailored for the easiest difficulty. Isolating an enemy then getting a SoB to obliteration technique gives you the most points per kill. But doing that on MN is impossible because of how many enemies there at once and the damage you take is completely insane. I'm really confused as to why you only get the karma system on the MN mode, my guess is that they thought only people who played that mode would care enough, but didn't realise they actually needed to properly balance that mode in order to accommodate it and make playing for score actually fun.

@Demoskinos said:

@Hailinel Man I traded Other M in.... I feel like I need to give that game another fair shake.

Other M is a great attempt at bringing a very Japanese feel to the universe Retro games reinvented. I agree on par with the story-line not being one of the strongest components, but to be honest, it usually isn't the case for most Nintendo games. It even has an extended ending with you going back to the ship at a later time to retrieve something important to Samus. It certainly is one of the most unpopular, underrated games, just like Ninja Gaiden 3.

love Ninja Gaiden, don't like this one too much. absolute nonsense on the harder difficulties. playing Master Ninja is pretty much like watching a slideshow.

ah well. at least some people like it. more power to ya. it's just a bigger waste of time than usual for me.

@AjayRaz: The harder difficulties are the only ones worth playing really. Haven't tried MNM yet but I will say the frame rate's tendency to go south pretty quickly is disappointing.

@Demoskinos: it's really bad. it's hard to get anything done because the response time is much slower with the sluggish frame rate. i really don't like their lazy apporach to the hard mode.

"YEAH LET'S JUST ADD MORE ENEMIES COOL"

great. how about you make sure there's a stable frame rate before you do that, please? i can't even imagine what that Ultimate Ninja DLC difficulty is going to be like.

I just finished it a few moments ago, the experience was bar none the most enjoyable experience I have had with the current Ninja Gaiden games. I could really tell the writing differences between Tomonobu Itagaki and Masato Kato, although it was not enough to merit a Pulitzer prize. It did however, merit the emotions and total feel for the game as a whole. I tend to conflict with almost everyone's initial reactions to to this game but maybe because I was more willing to give it a chance since I have been expecting it to be akin of Metroid: Other M's quality of work. But hey, what do I know, I was that guy who perfered Sega's "Shinobi" to current generation Ninja Gaiden 1 and am actually looking forward to the new DMC game, I feel that series has been stale since Kamiya left.