I finally got around to playing Mark of the Ninja. I had pretty high expectations based on how people seemed to receive it. I glanced at a FAQ and I'm about 25% through the game (12 "levels" and I've done 4) and it's just not clicking with me. I feel like I'm the worlds klutziest ninja. I'm at a cross roads where I'm debating moving onto something else and just saying this game just isn't for me.

My question is, if I can't get into it now, am I wasting my time playing through the rest with the hope it gets better? Or does everything come together late game and I just need to push through?

If you don't like it no use to keep playing it. I found I always had the tools to deal with any situation. Hardly a klutz. May just take getting used to the systems, or they may just not jive with you. Which is fine.

I finished it last night and I gotta say it felt like a chore by the end of it. They introduce an enemy and an ability later on that changes up the game a bit, but nothing too drastic.

I definitely felt myself get better as the game goes, and the levels get way larger and longer as you go as well. But I liked it right away, so maybe it's just not for you.

@ImmortalSaiyan: I can see the game trying to connect the dots when introducing new tools. It just seems as if more often than not, I'd end up trying to jump up behind someone with the intent of shanking them, only to end up moving too close to activate the assassination which would cause them to freak out and sound an alarm. I also had a problem with throwing the noise maker or leaving a body somewhere trying to get a guard to turn his back to me, and when I'd sneak up on him, he'd turn around and freak out.

@EVO: Part of the problem I feel even very early on is it's a chore. I can never tell if I should just be sneaking past the guards or if I should be shanking them in the back. Whats the new mechanic out of curiosity?

It sounds like the game just isn't for you. I found it an absolute joy to play from beginning to end, basically.

@MEATBALL: @wh1terav3n:

Thanks guys! It certainly sounds like it's a me problem and it's time to move on. Oh well!

Maybe its not for you. I felt like a badass and was pretty much always able to do exactly what I wanted. I already beat it once pretty much killing everyone, and now I am replaying it doing a no alarm no kill playthrough, having a great time with it again. Dunno man! I would say keep trying since I had a blast, but I guess you might now. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

@C0V3RT said:

@ImmortalSaiyan: I can see the game trying to connect the dots when introducing new tools. It just seems as if more often than not, I'd end up trying to jump up behind someone with the intent of shanking them, only to end up moving too close to activate the assassination which would cause them to freak out and sound an alarm. I also had a problem with throwing the noise maker or leaving a body somewhere trying to get a guard to turn his back to me, and when I'd sneak up on him, he'd turn around and freak out.

@EVO: Part of the problem I feel even very early on is it's a chore. I can never tell if I should just be sneaking past the guards or if I should be shanking them in the back. Whats the new mechanic out of curiosity?

The great thing is how flexable the game is. There are many different way you can play the game all of them viable. No need to kill if you don't want. You can get high scores either way.

Yeah, if you're not getting it by now, the game isn't going to click for you. It should take like 2 levels max, because the first level is a little simple.

I mean, if you go later than the point you're at, you start encountering enemies that are better at detecting you (dogs, guys with nightvision goggles, etc.), and the last 3-4 missions change things up a lot in terms of traps and what enemies you're up against, but the basic gameplay that you engage in doesn't dramatically change after the first 4 levels, as I doubt any of the various gadgets or alternate suits are going to make you reevaluate your entire opinion of the game.

@C0V3RT said:

@EVO: Part of the problem I feel even very early on is it's a chore. I can never tell if I should just be sneaking past the guards or if I should be shanking them in the back. Whats the new mechanic out of curiosity?

You get the ability to warp. Makes for some interesting environmental puzzles and a new way to combat enemies.

If you're having trouble stealth killing dudes there's a mask you get early on that makes it a lot easier.

I played some more, and got to the point that @EVO: was referring to, maybe a little before. It's the point after you're asked to kill yourself and you proceed to the level where theres a sandstorm and traps that blend in with the darkness. That was absolutely the worst. I think I'm done. Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

@C0V3RT said:

Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

That's surprising! Because it sounds like you had a terrible time! Your gladness is puzzling! Did you start liking it, but then just really hate the sandstorms and hard to see traps?

Your earnest enthusiasm for having just logged more hours into a game you were not enjoying confuses me.

@BisonHero: You and me both man. I'll go ahead and call it Stockholm Syndrome.

I seem to remember some level early on (I think it was level 5?) where you infiltrate the tower, and I really enjoyed that level and from then on it was an absolute blast. But if you don't like it then you don't like it, s'all good.

My personal Game of the Year!

@C0V3RT said:

I played some more, and got to the point that @EVO: was referring to, maybe a little before. It's the point after you're asked to kill yourself and you proceed to the level where theres a sandstorm and traps that blend in with the darkness. That was absolutely the worst. I think I'm done. Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

If you throw darts at those traps they fall to the ground. Lure a guard over the mine and it'll kill him.

@EVO said:

@C0V3RT said:

I played some more, and got to the point that @EVO: was referring to, maybe a little before. It's the point after you're asked to kill yourself and you proceed to the level where theres a sandstorm and traps that blend in with the darkness. That was absolutely the worst. I think I'm done. Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

If you throw darts at those traps they fall to the ground. Lure a guard over the mine and it'll kill him.

Those 2 missions in fake Middle East (or real Middle East?) basically just encourage you to stop and use the ninja vision every few feet, which makes every trap incredibly apparent. Admittedly, that is kind of tedious, and I had less fun with those levels than I did infiltrating the high tech tower and European castle. Honestly though, COV3RT, you're pretty close to the end, because the third act is significantly shorter than the first act (tower) and the second act (castle). I think the whole thing is only 3 levels?

@BisonHero: You've twisted my arm. I'm back in. If your ears are ringing over the next hour or so, that's me cursing you.

I myself had more fun about midway through, but that's because I was a beast with the Path of Nightmares costume.  It probably also made the game a lot more easy...I think the trick with Mark of the Ninja is to find your preference for how you want to play it.  I liked scaring everyone and having guards kill each other (makes me feel sort of bad about myself saying that, haha).  Perhaps you just haven't found that one ability yet?  But then again, while I had more fun with the Path of Nightmares costume, I also had fun early on.  Perhaps its because I didn't have too high expectations and was simply intrigued by the visual aesthetic.
 
But now that I've beaten the game, I have little interest in playing any more of it, including NG+...

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

That's surprising! Because it sounds like you had a terrible time! Your gladness is puzzling! Did you start liking it, but then just really hate the sandstorms and hard to see traps?

Your earnest enthusiasm for having just logged more hours into a game you were not enjoying confuses me.

Really? I figured he was glad to have gotten to a point where he is no longer uncertain about not liking the game. The thread is after all titled "Does this pick up any?" and at the point of that post I suppose he was glad to have played enough to find an answer for himself.

But now he's decided to finish the game anyways.

Confounding.

@TheHT said:

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

Glad I pushed through though to where I did!

That's surprising! Because it sounds like you had a terrible time! Your gladness is puzzling! Did you start liking it, but then just really hate the sandstorms and hard to see traps?

Your earnest enthusiasm for having just logged more hours into a game you were not enjoying confuses me.

Really? I figured he was glad to have gotten to a point where he is no longer uncertain about not liking the game. The thread is after all titled "Does this pick up any?" and at the point of that post I suppose he was glad to have played enough to find an answer for himself.

But now he's decided to finish the game anyways.

Confounding.

DON'T JUDGE ME. I COULD QUIT IF I WANTED TO!

@C0V3RT

:

@commonoutlier said:

But now that I've beaten the game, I have little interest in playing any more of it, including NG+...

I did the NG+, but I was like you and also not like crazy enthused to do the whole thing again. So I decided to just use the stealth suit, and just try to run to the end of each level as quick as possible, not exploring everywhere, not picking up all the haiku (no point if you got them in your first playthrough), etc.

It made for an interesting change of pace, since like you, I mostly used the terror suit the first time around because it was awesome. But man, can you ever cook through levels in the stealth suit, since you can just keep the run button held down, and there's a surprising amount of times where you can run and jump and use the glide ability to skip like an entire outside courtyard area. Also I was way more ballsy in chaining together grapples even if guys almost saw me as a result. Also the smoke bomb with poison gas upgrade is your catch-all answer for any enemy that is guarding an area too effectively.

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

@BisonHero said:

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

Laugh it up, chuckles!

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

Laugh it up, chuckles!

Are you drunk? You seem drunk.

Channel your drinking into completion of Mark of the Ninja.

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

Laugh it up, chuckles!

Are you drunk? You seem drunk.

Channel your drinking into completion of Mark of the Ninja.

No I'm not drunk. WHAT THE CRAP... THE NINAJS CAN TELEPORT NOW?!

Edit: In hind sight, I knew this was coming based on Evos warning. I don't know why this pissed me off so much.

I was in love with the game from the first minute. And then they continued to blow my mind with all the neat tools and mechanics that they layer throughout the experience. It really felt like it took inspiration from something like Super Mario Galaxy: each level was completely additive and fresh mechanically. This is the second best game I've played all year (behind The Walking Dead). But then again, I'm a really big fan of stealth games.

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

Laugh it up, chuckles!

Are you drunk? You seem drunk.

Channel your drinking into completion of Mark of the Ninja.

No I'm not drunk. WHAT THE CRAP... THE NINAJS CAN TELEPORT NOW?!

Edit: In hind sight, I knew this was coming based on Evos warning. I don't know why this pissed me off so much.

Pro-tip: in the level where you get the teleport, the solution to every scenario is teleport.

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@C0V3RT said:

@BisonHero said:

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

Hahaha, I love the weird turn this thread has taken.

Laugh it up, chuckles!

Are you drunk? You seem drunk.

Channel your drinking into completion of Mark of the Ninja.

No I'm not drunk. WHAT THE CRAP... THE NINAJS CAN TELEPORT NOW?!

Edit: In hind sight, I knew this was coming based on Evos warning. I don't know why this pissed me off so much.

Pro-tip: in the level where you get the teleport, the solution to every scenario is teleport.

If whatever you do for a living doesn't work out... Prima Strategy Guides has a desk job with your name on it.

I did the NG+, but I was like you and also not like crazy enthused to do the whole thing again. So I decided to just use the stealth suit, and just try to run to the end of each level as quick as possible, not exploring everywhere, not picking up all the haiku (no point if you got them in your first playthrough), etc.

It made for an interesting change of pace, since like you, I mostly used the terror suit the first time around because it was awesome. But man, can you ever cook through levels in the stealth suit, since you can just keep the run button held down, and there's a surprising amount of times where you can run and jump and use the glide ability to skip like an entire outside courtyard area. Also I was way more ballsy in chaining together grapples even if guys almost saw me as a result. Also the smoke bomb with poison gas upgrade is your catch-all answer for any enemy that is guarding an area too effectively.

I love this thread.

I actually preferred the early game when things are simple. I got everything up to the last three levels, and I find myself having a hard time going back to 100% them.

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

That picture is real rape-y.

@Napalm said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

@Napalm

@TheHT said:

@C0V3RT

:

That picture is real rape-y.

Spoiler: the caption is from her perspective, not his. So it's very rape-y.

Jesus fucking Christ.

God bless you for digging this back up by the way.

Oh god damnit.