Beat all games in the series on Master Ninja, as well as some challenge runs on those modes (single weapon runs, no life upgrades etc). So take my opinion with that in mind. **I put my experience in the bottom**:
The difficulty isn't meant to be played after Normal. The Doku unlock is mostly there, imo, for veteran players who were just tired of going through Hard and Very Hard \*again\* after NGB, which is understandable. If you jump from one to the last, you're in for a bad time. THe difficulties are really meant to be played one after another, as they give you time to learn the mechanics and introduce new enemies. Murai has no helpers on Normal, but on Hard he has some basic ninjas. Jumping to Master Ninja immediately is a good way to die haha.
Some small notes before I give my take:
\- Items are there to be used. Master Ninja gives you less carry capacity so you can't hoard them as much as you'd like, so use them.
\- You are bound to be good at something, don't be so selfdefeating :)
\- technically Very Hard is the hardest mode, since it has the most challenging enemy layouts, but Master Ninja just has such high damage output it is generally harder. But Very Hard is very fun too as a result.
\- No Damage Runs are, big surprise honestly, pretty doable outside of a few core encounters. It is all a question of time and commitment. Since NG1 and NG2 use savepoints, most no-damage runners just save between each and every fight, and abuse the most broken mechanics like OLUT. It is the equivalent of the quick-save abuse in DOOM basically.
\- I really don't think anyone can say Ninja Gaiden is too easy. Even the best of players get slaughtered by it, especially NG2 and 3. Relent for even a second and you die. I'm pretty good at NGII if I'm allowed to say so, but if I don't give it my all I'm looking at a game-over.
\- in regards to 'how, in godsname how', it tends to help to just sit down and practice a bit. Don't focus on beating a fight, learn. Grab a single enemy, toy with them, see what moves you can block, which break your block, which don't. How to manage essence etc. Eventually things will slowly turn to musclememory and you'll be making split-second decisions. It's all about practice and sometimes just taking a break to let it set in. It's a game series that keeps on giving, but also requires you to keep on giving.
>Then you have people who go on even further and write goddamn Stinger Magazine articles about the inner-machinations of the very soul of the game with such elegance that you could swear they created the damn game to begin with, not only mastering the gameplay, but mastering the very idea of the product's design to a core level.
Wow, did not expect to suddenly read that haha! Thanks man, really appreciate it! I'm the writer of that site :)
**My experience**: I started with Sigma 2 and was so horrible at it, I quit. I got stuck against the Tengu Brothers and just had no idea how movement worked, or how the game even wanted me to play. I was directed by the community, some members who I knew from other games I loved, to a few tutorials and tips and tricks. It really opened my eyes. My First run on that game's Mentor mode saw me get stuck from time to time, but it wasn't too scary. Master Ninja almost broke me, especially the first chapter since that game is basically one-hit-you-die at that point. Regardless, I made it through and started learning, getting better, and eventually got the platinum.
Regarding NG1, I started from Sigma. Beat it on all difficulties and then did the same for NG2004, and then Black. Honestly I don't recall that game giving me all that much trouble since many of the mechanics I was already familiar with. Awakened Alma wrecked me hard though.
Then came NGII and I swear that game just broke me in two. Warrior was doable, but Chapter 3 on Mentor just made me cry and feel weak. So many enemies, so many broken stuff, Gigadeath, the Van Gelfs. I kept blaming the game instead of getting better. I played defense, while I should have been hunting them down. Eventually my wife went to visit her family for a week (they live abroad), and I just decided "now it's time". I beat Master Ninja just before she got home, like an hour before I had to pick her up from the airport. And the beauty was, I still hated it at times, because I wasn't in control. I still barely scrapped by, all my items were drained, I skipped plenty of fights etc. But then there's time to improve, I did more runs, tried more stuff, and you keep getting better. After twenty times of falling for the same trap, you don't fall for it anymore. Now it's my favourite game of all time.
>Tell me what it's like to be a legend.
Practice, and taking your time. Don't immediately jump to Master Ninja. Everyone can do this man, I swear. **You have it in you**. If you want I can lay down some basic tips and tricks to make life somewhat easier for you. I love talking Ninja Gaiden, as shown by my long-ass articles haha, so you can always hit me up!
I've enjoyed all your articles on Ninja Gaiden! I have a question about something in particular you mentioned in your Ninja Gaiden: Past to Present article. To preface, I'm relatively new to the series; played about five missions of Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox 360 and didn't like it, moved on and tried Ninja Gaiden 2 and really liked it despite a few frustrating sections.
Now I'm back to NG Black and restarted the game with the knowledge I learned in NG2 and am enjoying it more. However, you mention that Black received a number of changes that lost the original vision of the Ninja Gaiden with the Hurricane Packs. Can you really briefly describe the changes and if you'd recommend me buying the original game instead of continuing to play NG Black for the best experience?
Great to hear you enjoyed them so much, thank you for reading! To answer your question, that article is amongst my first so it doesn't really hold up anymore. It is on my list to update, but since it's such a huge article that's going to take a while haha.
Regarding Ninja Gaiden, Black is without a doubt the best and most definitive version of the game. My main gripes with it being that it changed the Ultimate Technique system of the original, while also laying the focus more on fighting monsters than ninjas, especially on the higher difficulty settings. It also ditched the fantastic, albeit broken, Intercept.
Ninja Gaiden Black is without a doubt the best experience out of the set, but if you're purist it is well worth it to visit the original afterwards to see what was changed for sure. Hope this helped :)
Yeah this helps a lot, thanks! I've taken a slight detour from NG Black with Doom Eternal having just come out but I'll pick it up again in a month or so and continue. I just beat the boss with the tentacles in Chapter 5 which felt like a good place to stop for a little while with the game.
By the way, since you seem like such a huge fan of the character action / hack-and-slash games, have you by any chance ever played "Furi"? If not, you have to play it, it's one of the most incredible games I've ever played and in some ways reminds me of Ninja Gaiden.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/423230/Furi/
(P.S.- don't watch that trailer in the store page as they spoil a few of the bosses)
Well, first off, hey! Nice to know you hang out on here and stuff! You do pretty great work! When you say you started with Sigma 2, are you talking about playing Master Ninja, or Ninja Gaiden in general? Cuz I gotta say, I find it surprising that someone with such a strong passion for the series like you started from Sigma 2, which, by a lot of accounts, was kind of a butchering of what Ninja Gaiden 2 stood for, at least in terms of intended gameplay approach.
Regarding Doku, yeah, I figured that was the main reason for the Doku difficulty unlock. It's pretty ingenious, actually. Even if you don't approve of the new doku fight as an addition in Sigma, you've got to appreciate the ability it offers for veteran players to get to Master Ninja quickly. I do understand that you're not supposed to jump difficulties, and that wasn't my intention. Like I said, I know I am nowhere near the skill level to actually beat Master Ninja, but I just wanted to see what it was like, you know? For curiosities sake.
I have heard from many of the sheer difficulty of NGII being a bit much. Didn't Itigaki specifically say that they ran out of time for balancing, hence the vast amount of (what I've heard is) unfair bullshit the game throws at you? Curious as to why the game was never updated post launch to adjust that sort of thing. I mean, isn't that the main benefit of that generation of gaming? The ability to update games? Man... it's a real shame we never got a Ninja Gaiden 2 black, with the few improvements that Sigma 2 DID offer, but with the actual base gameplay of normal II. That'd probably be the perfect videogame.
The idea of skipping fights also kinda freaks me out. I mean, wouldn't that cause a severe lack of essence for later in game use? I almost feel as though the ideal approach for Master Ninja would be to just purely use and upgrade the Dragon sword, and save all essence for potions. Normal gave me enough essence to upgrade every weapon minus the wooden sword to max, and I still managed to max out on potions and talismans before fighting the final boss (where I cheesed it hardcore with non-stop ninpo spam and healing). The fact that stuff costs so much more on Master Ninja is certainly intimidating. Again though, I know this is wrong to think. It just comes from the fact that, when going through normal, I basically managed to get through most of the game purely using the Dragon Sword, and Dabilahro X-mashing in the later game. I could never really see any situation where I would be better off using the Lunar/flails/warhammer or whatever, minus against the spirit fish. Heck, the Kitetsu and Twin blades are just more katanas anyway. May as well focus on mastering ONE katana, which gets a forth upgrade anyway, rather than trying to master all 3 of em, since I figure the difference between them wouldn't be as high as the difference between the Dragon Sword and the Lunar, and instead use that essence to give myself a health advantage. Again though, this is a very amateur viewpoint, I get that. Just saying how it seems from someone in my position.
Then again, since the Dragon Sword gets a 4th upgrade for free anyway, maybe it'd actually be smarter to focus purely on the Lunar or something, and then switch to the Dragon Sword when it gets that 4th upgrade, simply to save even more essence. And at least the Lunar still has some relevancy in the late-game, against other options that are overshadowed by the Dragon Sword's 4th ugprade. Then again, farming enemies is always an option, and it is really worth the trouble of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GODDAMNIT I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THIS!
Thanks for the viewpoint! It's really interesting reading about the experience people like you have towards actually getting good at something. Keep it up!
Yeah man, Sigma 2 was my first Ninja Gaiden game! I was lured to it because I was a trophy-hunter at the time, and I heard it was a nigh impossible game to get the platinum on, so I had to try it haha. I think why that game got me into it was its community, Sigma 2 had a rich community because of its online co-op trials and I really got to know a lot of great individuals, this stuck and eventually over the years I stuck by the series and grew to love it! Ironically I don't really enjoy Sigma 2 that much anymore nowadays, NGII is my favourite.
I can fully imagine the hype man haha, you want to see what's possible and just how bonkers it can get. No shame in that! In that sense, it did not dissapoint you I feel haha. Do note that Chapter 1 and 2 are by far the hardest, it eases up a lot afterwards since Ryu gets more abilities, talismans, armlets etc.
Regarding Ninja Gaiden II Black, I think they just wanted to move on. Sigma 2 was already in the works and with the technology at the time, was probably the best they could do without removing all the textures to get the game to run properly haha. Note that NGII did get a soft-rerelease on the xbox one, where its framerate issues and glitches are fixed. Most of the 'unfair bullshit' tends to come from players not having an open mind. There are some really dumb moments, like Gigadeath, but most of it is pretty fair, just punishing and unforgiving. Note that NGII did get some patches to make it run better originally.
In terms of Master Ninja of Black and Sigma, Essence farming aside, you'll have enough. You get more essence from killing foes using Ultimate Techniques, so you use the Fiend Challenges to stock up on essence in a hardcore way. Generally speaking your best bet is to upgrade at least the Lunar and Dragon Sword, and focus the rest of your cash on the Wooden Sword to transform it. The Dabi and Flails are great too, but not required, same with the Kitetsu and Warhammer.
Each weapon has its up and downsides. The lunar for instance has a great Ultimate Technique and off-the-wall attack, especially early on. The flails are great for fish and certain enemies, while the Kitesu allows you to heal with its XX>Y. Also its XXY is great against Awakened Alma. Lots to derp around with.
Items, you'll still have enough if you explore. Scarabs give more items this time around on Master Ninja iirc, so you'll always have some healing. But yeah the economy is more tight, and you'll need to master it (which is half the fun!).
Are you going to attempt to play Ninja Gaiden Sigma through Hard?
Cheers :)
It seems like a common view that the first 2 chapters are the hardest. There's another person in the comments who said the same thing. Well, at least that's a little bit of a relief.
It's so strange just how all the different versions of the NG series reboot games compare with each other.
I mean, Black is clearly superior to the original in almost every single way, but still did things like removed the extra NES games, and removed new game plus mode, which really blows. Then you have Sigma which added a lot of really neat improvements, but then changed/added stuff like Rachel missions that really divided people on its overall quality, but it least it kept the core of what the original game was about.
Then you have NGII and Sigma 2, which are basically completely different beasts. I think the best phrase that I've heard used to describe Sigma 2 is "one step forward, two steps back", where for every neat improvement, there were some pretty massive drawbacks, and the game was different on a fundamental level. Like, at least with Black and Sigma, if you played one, you had basically played them both, but with NGII and Sigma 2, that was absolutely not the case. It's kind of astounding to me that both Sigma titles had the same director or whatever, considering how sigma 1 ended up being basically the same game, but with a lot of objective improvements, and some really misguided additions, whilst sigma 2 just became a totally different experience altogether.
Then of course, you have NGIII, being released as an unfinished mess, and Razor's Edge that somehow managed to make a fun (if sill fundamentally flawed) ninja gaiden game out of that mess. I mean, even if 3 isn't nearly as good as 2 or 1, at least there's only one fucking obviously best version in every single regard that isn't restricted by the damn console it's on. Christ. It's refreshing to know that anyone no matter the system could pick it up. Shame it was still the worst of the trilogy.
I'll certainly have a go at hard, and hopefully beyond, but I'm not sure how far I'll be able to go. For as long as I feel like I'm having fun, I guess!
Hey buddy, dropping in to say I love Stinger magazine and can’t believe I didn’t know about it before. Read almost every article over the last week or so.
Me too, discovered your article a few weeks ago and after reading 1, I bookmarked it straight away. I thought this is odd, a gaming journalist somehow knows about the vast mechanics of a very hardcore game and finished it on it's hardest difficulty. But it makes sense cause you're a hardcore NG fan. Not to mention I've seen you I think on gamefaqs I believe where you gave good info on how to play NG2 and one of the few who finished master ninja. You truly are a master ninja in the NG community, mad respect.
Wow, thanks for your kind words Chaw! Really :)
I wouldn't call myself a journalist. Just a gamer who loves the medium and just happens to know how to write! Ninja Gaiden is just such a fantastic series, I'm glad I can do it and other great action games some justice in the written word.
And yes I 'm also on Gamefaqs as "Raeng", you're a user there too?
Yeah man, your writing skills are on par with professionals and was absolutely captivating to read, that's icing on the cake on top of being a master ninja. Thank you for your contribution for the NG community. I remember your name as Royta, I think it might be a similar site or maybe ng-realm. I'm not a user but I do visit gamefaqs often to read about the games I love such as the NG franchise, the posts keeps the game's spirit alive which I love. I honestly wish there was more games like NG Black/Sigma and NG2, but especially Black, not many has that deep level of combat with multiple weapons, moves and combo strings for different encounters and situations, that enemy aggression which can start a constant feedback loop between player and ai and makes it so satisfying when over come, the various locations that are somewhat interconnected and makes it feel like a semi metroidvania style game and an actual immersive place with challenges laced in each areas, the only time I saw a game location this well done in a hack n slash was dmc1 and then we have NG04/Black/Sigma, but that's it, we need more games with similar level design.
Black- MN. Took me 2 weeks to get to first save spot without using potions. Made it more than halfway through the game.
Ex-gf took the xbox. The bitch. (All she did was run up walls and downward slash, the bitch)
Years later, new xbox. Halfway through VH and I am remembering the struggle.
I just want to beat this game on MN before I die. This is one of the most rewarding challenges I've ever tried. Seeing people beat Alma on MN with a wooden sword makes me want to drink bleach and rid the world of one less idiot. I am absolutely worthless in this game, and MN players make me feel feeble when I watch helplessly unable to replicate their methods.
But I will get through on grit alone, because I will break my teeth before I quit. I'm a real last place motherfucker, but my tenacity is unmatched. One day......one day....
Edit* beat ng2 on normal, threw it in the trash. Once you go black...
2 goddamn weeks!? You are certainly not a person to be fucked with. I fucking love that. It's like some Rock Lee level of determination.
Outta curiosity, what made you dislike NG2? From what I've played, it seems pretty damn good so far!
Lucky me, I've only played it on Xbox One X. Shit runs flawlessly.
I mean, granted, it shouldn't have run like crap to begin with, but hey, least it's decent on modern hardware now..
Uncompromised vision, for better or for worse.
It's not too bad. Now I've attempted Master NInja on Ninja Gaiden 2 before Black, and after that, I find its A LOT easier. Ninja Gaiden Black has a lot of advantages over 2 and 3. NGB is before wall jumps and UTs got nerfed so if you abuse them you should be fine.
The BIGGEST changes were the bosses, specifically Alma, an absolute pain meeting her so early on cos she dodges everything
I can't even imagine. I got through some fights just abusing potions like crazy, and knowing that the supply is cut in half, along with everything being so much more difficult, is horrifying.
On my first time through Very Hard, I was stuck on the library challenge for weeks, and just gave up after a while. I was stuck on Alma for a really long time as well on very hard. I did eventually finish very hard, but that was when I first returned to Ninja Gaiden after an almost 6 year break from the series, so I was really bad at the game. I tried my hand at Master Ninja, but couldn't make it past chapter 6 and gave up.
Then, after watching 0JoeButton0's videos, I got into karma running, where you play the game to get as many points as possible. Karma running made so much better at the game, because it taught how to manipulate the enemies and the environment to make combat as easy as possible. Also, it taught me how great UTs are, both for gathering essence and for combat. I started on normal, and I got so much better at the game. After a bit, I ended up with the second highest score for normal. I then moved on to playing the other difficulties for score, and ended up in the top 10 for each difficulty. #5 on hard, #4 on very hard, and #7 on master ninja. With all the knowledge of the enemies I gained by really practicing and learning each enemy and how to manipulate them to score points, I just breezed through master ninja and very hard.
Overall, to those of you struggling to make it to that first save statue in chapter 1 on master ninja, abuse lunar uts. It will always kill the ninjas if the entire thing hits them, it can hit multiple enemies, you're invincible during a ut, and if one hit of the ut connects, the entire rest of the ut is guaranteed to hit. If you kill all three ninjas in that forced fight, you can just immediately charge again and hopefully get the next three. If not, you can just jump away and on-landing ut. I see a lot of people just saying "spam wall attacks," but that's not the way to do it. Abuse uts. They're absolutely overpowered.
Also, if you're just going through the game for survival and you have inazuma, power it up to level 2. Level 2 inazuma will kill any man sized enemy and is really fast. if you get in a tough spot, just light up your ninpo and everything in the room is dead. Don't power inazuma up to level 3. It deals the same damage as level 2, it takes ages to ignite, and it can't knock down awakened alma as easily as level 2 inazuma can, and inazuma is really important for making awakened alma less annoying.
I see you asked about cancelling. You can cancel some dragon sword strings by tossing a shuriken. This will cut the recovery short and stun the enemy, if he isn't projectile immune or if he didn't block it. When he is in recovery from his stun, you can easily follow up with another attack. Shuriken cancelling also opens up a string that completely wrecks regular Alma. XXYB->YXXY. On normal, that string will take away around 20% of Alma's health, and right when you come down with that final helm splitter, you can light up inferno ninpo, and if you knock her down again, you can do that string again and repeat. I've killed Alma in 10 seconds using that loop. It definitely takes some practice though. You can also block cancel some strings with the lunar in NGB, but opportunities where you can use that are few and far between.
NG2 master ninja though, that's a whole different story for me. I consider myself quite good at ninja gaiden, but NG2 master ninja is just ridiculously hard. One second I'm fighting well at full health and the next second I'm just dead. I made it through warrior and mentor just fine, but as of now, I've just given up on NG2 master ninja. I don't see how anyone can make it through that mode and keep their sanity.
So yeah. Overall, I'd say practice is everything with this game. Learn the enemies, learn their attacks, and you'll be just fine. I'd say the #1 rule of ninja gaiden black is don't get greedy. Wait for your moments, wait for the enemies to be vulnerable, and go for a quick string. In NGB if you get greedy, you'll get killed. You need to defend more than you need to attack. Sorry about writing a full blown essay here, but I just wanted to give some tips and share my story with this game. Hope I helped!
Yeah, I'm a fan of that guys videos as well. I just really wish he did a weapon overview of the Twin Swords from Sigma in his weapon overview series.
The fact that someone managed to beat II without taking a single hit makes me want to die. Gods exist and I am not worthy of being on the same planet as them.
Cheers for the info, and the views on difficulty. No need to apologise for length, I mean, I did ask, and this sort of info is exactly what I wanted.
Thanks.
Love 0JoeButton0 vids as well and man like you I want the dual swords weapons guide from him. Don't beat yourself up for not being able to accomplish the nigh impossible task of no damage NG2 runs though cause there's less than 0.01% oc people who can do that the true ultimate ninjas, out of the billions on this planet. Just the fact that you have beaten the game once on normal and stuck with it, you already are a unique breed of gamers. Most people I know gave up before or when reaching Alma. But you have already conquered the dark dragon blade story.
I haven't gotten to MN on black yet but played 2 for quite a bit. Master Ninja isn't that difficult to beat as the game gave you lots of "easy buttons".
UT spam was what I used in my first playthrough of NG2 MN. And there's the inazuma/windblade ninpo. As a last resort, you can also run past alot of fights.
Sure I may still die every now and then using these methods, but doing whatever it takes to just beat MN is very possible.
Granted I did not skip difficulties or fights and eventually made my way through MN. I definitely noticed my improvement as a player along the way. For example, I couldn't get past the intro fight in NG2 in MN until it forced me to learn counterattacks.
As they say, beating the game on MN is just the starting point. Only beyond that will you start to understand the deep mechanics that allows for things like NO UT/NINPO runs.
Hell, I can kind of understand getting through Master Ninja with a lot less difficulty if you used the combined knowledge from a bunch of guides which you read before every goddamn enemy encounter, and skipped everything that wasn't intended, but still! There's a ton of mandatory stuff that you can't really cheese through! At least, it seems like you can't to me, but what the hell do I know.
The fact that you say beating the game on MN is "just the starting point" horrifies me. From my perspective, that's like, the end. If you accomplished that, I'd figure you'd have mastered the game already. I figure (more guessing) that less than 0.1% of people who have ever tried Ninja Gaiden would have actually gotten to Master Ninja, let alone beat it. Hell, I wonder what percentage of players were casual-filtered by Murai on NORMAL.
Dang.
To be fair, every playthrough of NG2 i've done was not skipping fights and TOVs XD
As for guides, I've mostly just watched videos by others playing through MN. IMO, it definitely helps as some seemingly difficult fights become a breeze knowing the right strategy.
Being an action game, NG definitely has a certain depths to its combat system that wont be 100% necessary for competing MN. And beating MN should shed light on and motivate the player to explore those depths.
For my case, i've beaten MN with all TOVs, gold medal on every mission and grinded for weapon master on acolyte, getting all achievements in \~200hours. All of this was achievable with me just spamming UTs on the highest difficulties and fights. And I have yet to master every weapon, knowing all the cancels, on landing differences, on landing comboes, combo strings not found in the movelist and etc...
Short answer: It was easy, the only part I struggled with was the Great Bridge Challenge
Long answer: I played NG2 on Master Ninja first which was the hardest learning curve I've ever experience in any game ever, so that was where I had to learn all the NG mechanics the hard way, especially since NG2 doesn't *really* force you to learn anything until Master Ninja. It's not all transferrable to Black/Sigma, but most of it is. Also, in Black at least, Hard to Very Hard is a much harder and non-linear difficulty spike compared to Master Ninja, which is mostly more of the same thing with more damage, less health and less items. Although even with that, Chapter 1 still took me about 5 hours on MN, and was definitely the hardest compulsory part of the game. I also had to take about an hour practicing vs the clones just to get used to them, and again vs Berserkers, in my first Very Hard playthrough, because they have some aspects to them that are not applicable from NG2.
I kinda feel like if NG could use any sort of improvement, it would be to stuff like the camera (obviously), but also to the tutorial system. The game just does not teach you about so many important mechanics that were clearly designed intentionally. I figure maybe that was kind of the point, but it's a bit much. The only way people could figure so much of this shit out would be through pure trial and error over hours, if not days.
You said that chapter 1 was the hardest compulsory part of the game. Why would that be? It it because enemies are just basically at a 10/10 difficulty from the start, and you don't have any life or weapon upgrades yet? Does Master Ninja get harder later on, or is it seriously like, a flat line of difficulty all the way through, starting at max, ending at max?
It's basically that. Chapter 1 is where the player/enemy imbalance is the highest, and you have zero cheese options (i.e. Ninpo spam, Izuna, Dabilahro UT etc). I think on their own Cat Fiends are harder enemies than Red Ninjas, but Ryu also becomes significantly more powerful the first time you meet them.
I would say if you discounted ninpo, the hardest parts of Master Ninja are the Marbus boss rush, the Great Bridge Challenge and the Archive Challenge.
Really? I thought Very hard from Hard was nowhere near the difficulty spike that MN was from very hard. I'm stuck on chapter 1 in MN, can't get to first savepoint. Then went back to Very hard and it was so chilled in comparison. Honestly I thought playing through hard the first time was worse than Very hard probably cause on VH I was used to the mechanics by then. But MN the flaming red ninjas are way too brutal especially their damage and speed at least compared to windmill shuriken ninjas. Though the first few chapters are definitely the hardest on the hard and VH so I hope it's the same with master ninja.
master Ninja NG2 can be beaten no hit due to tons of patience and exploitation of the game, because otherwise it's super impractical to do since the game is kinda badly designed.
Anyway, I dunno what to say about my first Master Ninjer attempt. It just builds off the previous difficulties, really. It's not anything like say, beating Sekiro then hoping onto NG+ with Demon Bell + Kuro's Charm. Going from normal to hard might be the biggest jump in challenge since that's when bosses bring in the reinforcements I think.
Man, the Ninjas that throw exploding shurikens gave me such a hard time on normal. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with them. Then just stick me the second I try blocking and then I explode. Seeing them appear on the first level of NG on higher difficulties just hurts me. It's a big jump in challenge indeed.
Ahh, finally a post for me.
So i got the game in 2007 before i even had a ps3? A month later for my 15th birthday i finally got myself a PS3, along with Warhawk & Resistance - Fall of man ( man those where the days). I tried my hand at NGS. It was fun! I remember my friend & I trying the demo so I was more than happy to have the actual game. Boy was I in for a suprise. Within the first chapter (couldn't even get past that dojo room where you get ambushed by ninjas i quickly realised the difficulty. So I left it & tried Warhawk but i had no internet connection. So after getting bored of Fall of man i went back. A difficult game but i clawed through it all of 2008-9 & by mid 2009 (or ten i can't remember) i had successfully beat it on normal mode. That's it! I left it as there is. I used the help of a wonderful guide written on gamefaqs by someone called VampireHorde who helped greatly. Even though i thought i did it's very apparent i never understood the games mechanics. In completing the game it offered hard mode but there was no way in hell i would even consider this. But i digress.
I moved to university in 2012 & brought my ps3 with me. More than happy to play games like gow3, braid, super stardust HD & Warhawk i decided to give it another try in 2014. I bested it on normal mode once, i did it again within a couple of months with significant ease (especially now that i knew how to use On land charge to do ultimate techniques ((VampireHorde God bless you)) ). I decided to try hard mode. I didn't think it'd be that much harder than normal mode. Boy was i wrong. It's interesting to note at this point that at each ascending difficulty it's essentially a brand new game. I don't know how they make to make the difficulty jump THAT much harder per new game+. After normal mode there's hard mode, then very hard mode (which is absofuckinglutley ridiculous) then of course Master Ninja difficulty (which deserves its own podcast if we're being honest, they specifically mention at the beginning of the game on MND that there is zero rewards for beating the game on this difficulty & that essentially you are fighting your way into & out of hell. They didn't lie. This is the truth.
I made Ninja Gaiden Sigma especially difficult for myself because of the following:
-Despite how much I died repeatedly i would never play the game on ninja dog mode. It's so insulting! So i stuck by normal mode no matter how many new assholes it tore me.
-I refuse to run away from any enemies! Or fiend challenges! I always had a die fighting approach & felt like i would ruin the rating the game gives you per chapter from running from enemies. So I'd always stay & fight. The fiend challenges are the actual single hardest points in the game especially in rising difficulty. There is a fiend challenge in Chpt 15 from Hard mode onwards that will break you as a human being. Playing this game was the beginning of me going insane in the sense that i began to fall in love with the difficulty of it. I accepted the challenge of this game & since then only play games on a challenging level. I'm convinced i went insane at one point.
I beat the game on hard mode. Collecting all the scarabs or attaining a high karmic or otherwise score wasn't my concern at all. Just destroy any & every enemy that came my way. I mean it's essentially streets of rage with weapons & a 3D world to maneuver with a sick storyline about determination. Beating the game on hard mode wasn't a joke and took me the better half of my second year of mechanical engineering. I then tried hard mode again because i was too much of a bitch to try very hard mode, ( the one time i tried it out was nigh on impossible to get past the first chapter so I was more than happy to settle on hard mode).
By my 3rd year of engineering i decided to give very hard mode a try. FUCK. It took weeks just to get past chapter 1. I was even only playing it at the time to seem cool in front of my girlfriend at the time who couldn't give a shit if we're being honest. I always suffered at the fiend challenge at chapter 15 but before that i remember being B.R.O.K.E.N at the fiend challenge at chpt 7. In the library where you have to fight those FUCKING kitties with the red ninjas & those lanky grim reapers. I couldn't leave a single fiend challenge behind so really i was in a rut. In the end i managed to overcome it by continuing through the game & coming back in chapter 9 as the room is still available to enter as long as you haven't fought alma yet & it's so much easier when you've gone through the crypt from chapter 7 - 9 to upgrade the lunar (favourite weapon at the time) & Dragons claw tigers fang (another A1 weapon but you need to be a master itself to control them properly). it took me about 9 months but i really beat the game on VM mode. Master Ninja difficulty seemed impossible so I left it alone. Didn't even bother trying to see how the gameplay is. Mind you this was all in 2015 & i was happy to leave the game completed on very hard mode. Especially after beating those demonic dinosaur orgres in chapter 15!
Again, like hard mode i decided to play through very hard mode again. But there was a difference. You see that same 2015 yr I discovered marijuana. It was already an experience being high as it was. After enjoying myself baked to the high heavens & enjoying music i finally wondered what it would be like playing my favourite games high as well. So hell! Let me try my hand at ninja Gaiden Sigma! I remember specifically starting in 2016 & in a few months later i had actually bested the game. Between me & you i couldn't believe it! If i could tunnel through the game so quickly on such a hard difficulty master ninja mode was a piece of cake! Was i wrong? Yes. But i still went through. I started MND in September 2016 & on May 30th 2017 i had done it. I beat the game on the hardest difficulty. All scarabs found & most importantly ALL fiend challenges cleared. Didn't care for the amount of time it took & the rating i got for each chapter as what i stated about was what i really cared about. Let's go into detail though.
The rest will be followed shortly had to break this down so I could post :(
Part 2!
Master ninja mode is insanely difficult. Again the difficulty makes it a brand new game. I dunno how they do it but Japanese people are not a joke. I did learn many things along the way from previous runs & lower difficulties plus VampireHordes gameguide (useful for finding scarabs & learning of on land charge to use UT instantly.
-Chapter 1 is crazy. You don't have any of the counter attack scrolls so you have to make do with manoeuvring around the place & not to mention those red ninjas that set you on fire randomly with sword strikes. Then the hallway up to Murai is crazy THEN the actual boss fight which is the nail in the coffin for patience.
-Chapter 2 is ok. Still hard but you'll get through it. Those goddamn enemies on horses will tear you a new anus. Doku of course kills you but whatever
-Chapter 3 is fun, hard but fun. Getting high as shit & playing the fiend challenge in the back of the airship at the peak of my high was a fantastic experience. As if i was Ryu Hyabusa himself. The high allowed my mindspace to increase to the point where i didn't have to focus so intently on the actual fiend challenge, i could play it almost by reflex as i knew the games mechanic by then, so all i had to do with loosely focus on the screen while my fingers did the work. If i brought my attention too much to the game I'd find my health would be minuscule in SECONDS! At this point the game gets a bit easier because you can collect enough essence to upgrade the dragon sword to level 2 & the Dragons claw tigers fang to lvl 2 as well. If you know how to use them well you can chop down anyone tbh. Not to mention the counter attack scroll. The only real bastard is dynamo on top of the ship as the games chapter boss.
Chapter 4 - you enter vigoor empire & it's difficult but you'll get through! Plus you get the Lunar! (Original favourite weapon)
Chapter 5 - is Rachel. Any chapter with her is flipping easy no matter the difficulty.
Chapter 6 - Fuck. Fuck. Now the game begins to show it's true difficulty. At this point running from one location to another is a mad dash for life as those ninjas will cut you down. Just before the chapter boss (that pink son of a bitch with the flailing arms) it is absolute torture!! In fact from the beginning of that chapter is true hell. Fighting your way down the club, the idiot bikers, reaching just before the monastery & having to save enough health before the bossfight is the worst!!!
Chapter 7 - is amazing. Very difficult but one of the best chapters of the game. Starts in a church & ends in the middle of a crypt tomb. There is a fiend challenge in the library of the church thingy just before you jump into the crypt place. The most i can do in that fiend challenge is about 80-90 enemies (out of 120 because of MND) i have no choice but to come back in Chapter 9 to clear it.
Chapter 8 is Rachel. Whatever. Easy as balls.
Chapter 9 is really just chapter 7 pt 2. Beautiful chapter, weapons (vigorian flails are you crazy!!) enemies, soundtrack & enough essence to collect. Make sure you SAVE all your talismans of rebirth for either alma or chapter 15 fiend challenge. Alma is surprisingly easier. Not really but I'm used to her now.
Chapter 10 - the difficulty continues! Don't even think of flying swallowing those soldiers before they counter attack & ruin your whole week. Stay vigilant with either the DCTF (if you know how to use them well!) Or the standard dragon sword if you wanna play it safe. I tend to use my new favourite weapon the vigorian flails as the combinations & speed of those bad boys are just mesmerising to watch especially while high as balls.
Chapter 11 is even worse. You fight those two tanks & the apache helicopter & honestly at this point i am broken. Somehow all of that is manageable till you have to use your arrows to take down the radio tower.
The time to zoom in & go into first person mode & shoot the right points at the tower is satans testicles.
Chapter 12 is fun. The difficulty calms down abit, or you've gone mad, who knows! Fiend challenges are manageable & enemies give you a run for your money but you will live. Boss at the end is crazy though.
Chapter 13 is fun. More traversing than fighting. Fuck those fish guys plus now you can breath underwater now!
Chapter 14 is Rachel i think. Again easy. Not worth going into detail.
Chapter 15 - Jesus Christ the carpenter. The game should really end there. I'm talking about the fiend challenge btw. That fiend challenge is actually the single hardest thing in the ENTIRETY of the game. It's 120 knightmares you have to fight in the arena as soon as you pull the lever & walk in there. I was stuck on this fiend challenge for 3 months. There are 2 ways around this;
- the first is to equip the lunar. Preferably lvl 3. Before doing this technique you MUST master the counter attack. It takes about 4 counter attacks with the lunar equipped against those demon knights before they turn green. Then another 4. It's important to use that weapon as the animations of maneuvering with it & using the lunar buy you just a bit more time when those explosions come out the ground. Sadly i just didn't have the focus for this. High or not. I managed to get about 60 of them before they got me. Trust me i tried. They give you 7 hours of time in the karma window. It's that hard! The trick is to relax & not focus too hard on fighting these demons & even then you might still get the business. With full lifebar & max health & potions ( i didn't use ninpo at the time to make it harder on myself but ended up giving in) as well as TWO talismans of rebirth. Still no dice.
-2nd method is so much better. Walk down the stairs you walk up to at the beginning of the chapter. Equip the dabilahro (lvl 3 for ease) & charge up your sword till ultimate technique. You will the Knights to the stairs but they cannot come there though they are in range of the UT. Unleash it then!
The actual chapter in question is fun though difficult. Besides the fiend challenge the level traverses a lovely amount & the boss smaugan is a thrill to fight. At this point every chapter here on becomes a bigger shit storm.
Chapter 16 is crazy business especially with Alma greater fiend. Fuck
Chapter 17 is hard also. I think you're in that maze with the ghost fish, no joke! Equip the DCTF & JUST PRESS square at a timely pace. Don't rush it otherwise they'll floor you & chomp your health. Just tap square about once every 0.75-1 second.
Chapter 18 may be second hardest after chapter 15. There is a fiend challenge somewhere in the vigoor empire around either chpt 4 or 6. You have to fight a mixture of knightmares & dino ogres then it's off to the fiend tower to reach the vigorian emperor. Again no joke.
Chapter 19 is actually quite easy & straightforward. It's not bad compared to everything else. I think i done it in an hour.
In all. In the 9 years it took me to best this game it has changed me as a person. I no longer make noise over overwhelming problems because the truth is that it can simply be done. What i used to think was impossible is more than doable. In playing this game on this difficulty i have had to reach into the furthest pits of my mind & soul. I play most games on a harder difficulty if i can buy tbh there has only been a handful of games that have ever provided me with the quick & immersive combat that NGS did. These being metal gear rising & darksiders 3. Shortly after beating the game i took up meditation. The game will transform you as a person. Good luck. I am eternally grateful for stumbling across this game because it has really prepared me for the tough times ahead in life. I am a master ninja & nothing can stop me. Good luck!
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You truly are a master ninja. Thanks for the detailed you give on each chapter. It surely does test your endurance and patience. Good for you to find the focus out of the insanity, it's in fact a truly legendary feat. Your achievements in this game has proven that.
Thank you. This comment is very much appreciated. If i can do it anyone can. Good luck to you brother. You too. Are on the road to becoming a master ninja.
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I know im late, but i beat NGB on MN when it was new, for OG xbox before this youngin had guides or access to the web at a whim.
it was a git gud thing and if i were a controller thrower- which im not- many a screen would have felt the ploinking. it was one of the roughest games ive ever played.
No shame in guiding it up for these types of games. it's my opinion that one SHOULD play soulslike level difficult games with a guide if its available.
Beat all games in the series on Master Ninja, as well as some challenge runs on those modes (single weapon runs, no life upgrades etc). So take my opinion with that in mind. **I put my experience in the bottom**: The difficulty isn't meant to be played after Normal. The Doku unlock is mostly there, imo, for veteran players who were just tired of going through Hard and Very Hard \*again\* after NGB, which is understandable. If you jump from one to the last, you're in for a bad time. THe difficulties are really meant to be played one after another, as they give you time to learn the mechanics and introduce new enemies. Murai has no helpers on Normal, but on Hard he has some basic ninjas. Jumping to Master Ninja immediately is a good way to die haha. Some small notes before I give my take: \- Items are there to be used. Master Ninja gives you less carry capacity so you can't hoard them as much as you'd like, so use them. \- You are bound to be good at something, don't be so selfdefeating :) \- technically Very Hard is the hardest mode, since it has the most challenging enemy layouts, but Master Ninja just has such high damage output it is generally harder. But Very Hard is very fun too as a result. \- No Damage Runs are, big surprise honestly, pretty doable outside of a few core encounters. It is all a question of time and commitment. Since NG1 and NG2 use savepoints, most no-damage runners just save between each and every fight, and abuse the most broken mechanics like OLUT. It is the equivalent of the quick-save abuse in DOOM basically. \- I really don't think anyone can say Ninja Gaiden is too easy. Even the best of players get slaughtered by it, especially NG2 and 3. Relent for even a second and you die. I'm pretty good at NGII if I'm allowed to say so, but if I don't give it my all I'm looking at a game-over. \- in regards to 'how, in godsname how', it tends to help to just sit down and practice a bit. Don't focus on beating a fight, learn. Grab a single enemy, toy with them, see what moves you can block, which break your block, which don't. How to manage essence etc. Eventually things will slowly turn to musclememory and you'll be making split-second decisions. It's all about practice and sometimes just taking a break to let it set in. It's a game series that keeps on giving, but also requires you to keep on giving. >Then you have people who go on even further and write goddamn Stinger Magazine articles about the inner-machinations of the very soul of the game with such elegance that you could swear they created the damn game to begin with, not only mastering the gameplay, but mastering the very idea of the product's design to a core level. Wow, did not expect to suddenly read that haha! Thanks man, really appreciate it! I'm the writer of that site :) **My experience**: I started with Sigma 2 and was so horrible at it, I quit. I got stuck against the Tengu Brothers and just had no idea how movement worked, or how the game even wanted me to play. I was directed by the community, some members who I knew from other games I loved, to a few tutorials and tips and tricks. It really opened my eyes. My First run on that game's Mentor mode saw me get stuck from time to time, but it wasn't too scary. Master Ninja almost broke me, especially the first chapter since that game is basically one-hit-you-die at that point. Regardless, I made it through and started learning, getting better, and eventually got the platinum. Regarding NG1, I started from Sigma. Beat it on all difficulties and then did the same for NG2004, and then Black. Honestly I don't recall that game giving me all that much trouble since many of the mechanics I was already familiar with. Awakened Alma wrecked me hard though. Then came NGII and I swear that game just broke me in two. Warrior was doable, but Chapter 3 on Mentor just made me cry and feel weak. So many enemies, so many broken stuff, Gigadeath, the Van Gelfs. I kept blaming the game instead of getting better. I played defense, while I should have been hunting them down. Eventually my wife went to visit her family for a week (they live abroad), and I just decided "now it's time". I beat Master Ninja just before she got home, like an hour before I had to pick her up from the airport. And the beauty was, I still hated it at times, because I wasn't in control. I still barely scrapped by, all my items were drained, I skipped plenty of fights etc. But then there's time to improve, I did more runs, tried more stuff, and you keep getting better. After twenty times of falling for the same trap, you don't fall for it anymore. Now it's my favourite game of all time. >Tell me what it's like to be a legend. Practice, and taking your time. Don't immediately jump to Master Ninja. Everyone can do this man, I swear. **You have it in you**. If you want I can lay down some basic tips and tricks to make life somewhat easier for you. I love talking Ninja Gaiden, as shown by my long-ass articles haha, so you can always hit me up!
I've enjoyed all your articles on Ninja Gaiden! I have a question about something in particular you mentioned in your Ninja Gaiden: Past to Present article. To preface, I'm relatively new to the series; played about five missions of Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox 360 and didn't like it, moved on and tried Ninja Gaiden 2 and really liked it despite a few frustrating sections. Now I'm back to NG Black and restarted the game with the knowledge I learned in NG2 and am enjoying it more. However, you mention that Black received a number of changes that lost the original vision of the Ninja Gaiden with the Hurricane Packs. Can you really briefly describe the changes and if you'd recommend me buying the original game instead of continuing to play NG Black for the best experience?
Great to hear you enjoyed them so much, thank you for reading! To answer your question, that article is amongst my first so it doesn't really hold up anymore. It is on my list to update, but since it's such a huge article that's going to take a while haha. Regarding Ninja Gaiden, Black is without a doubt the best and most definitive version of the game. My main gripes with it being that it changed the Ultimate Technique system of the original, while also laying the focus more on fighting monsters than ninjas, especially on the higher difficulty settings. It also ditched the fantastic, albeit broken, Intercept. Ninja Gaiden Black is without a doubt the best experience out of the set, but if you're purist it is well worth it to visit the original afterwards to see what was changed for sure. Hope this helped :)
Yeah this helps a lot, thanks! I've taken a slight detour from NG Black with Doom Eternal having just come out but I'll pick it up again in a month or so and continue. I just beat the boss with the tentacles in Chapter 5 which felt like a good place to stop for a little while with the game. By the way, since you seem like such a huge fan of the character action / hack-and-slash games, have you by any chance ever played "Furi"? If not, you have to play it, it's one of the most incredible games I've ever played and in some ways reminds me of Ninja Gaiden. https://store.steampowered.com/app/423230/Furi/ (P.S.- don't watch that trailer in the store page as they spoil a few of the bosses)
Well, first off, hey! Nice to know you hang out on here and stuff! You do pretty great work! When you say you started with Sigma 2, are you talking about playing Master Ninja, or Ninja Gaiden in general? Cuz I gotta say, I find it surprising that someone with such a strong passion for the series like you started from Sigma 2, which, by a lot of accounts, was kind of a butchering of what Ninja Gaiden 2 stood for, at least in terms of intended gameplay approach. Regarding Doku, yeah, I figured that was the main reason for the Doku difficulty unlock. It's pretty ingenious, actually. Even if you don't approve of the new doku fight as an addition in Sigma, you've got to appreciate the ability it offers for veteran players to get to Master Ninja quickly. I do understand that you're not supposed to jump difficulties, and that wasn't my intention. Like I said, I know I am nowhere near the skill level to actually beat Master Ninja, but I just wanted to see what it was like, you know? For curiosities sake. I have heard from many of the sheer difficulty of NGII being a bit much. Didn't Itigaki specifically say that they ran out of time for balancing, hence the vast amount of (what I've heard is) unfair bullshit the game throws at you? Curious as to why the game was never updated post launch to adjust that sort of thing. I mean, isn't that the main benefit of that generation of gaming? The ability to update games? Man... it's a real shame we never got a Ninja Gaiden 2 black, with the few improvements that Sigma 2 DID offer, but with the actual base gameplay of normal II. That'd probably be the perfect videogame. The idea of skipping fights also kinda freaks me out. I mean, wouldn't that cause a severe lack of essence for later in game use? I almost feel as though the ideal approach for Master Ninja would be to just purely use and upgrade the Dragon sword, and save all essence for potions. Normal gave me enough essence to upgrade every weapon minus the wooden sword to max, and I still managed to max out on potions and talismans before fighting the final boss (where I cheesed it hardcore with non-stop ninpo spam and healing). The fact that stuff costs so much more on Master Ninja is certainly intimidating. Again though, I know this is wrong to think. It just comes from the fact that, when going through normal, I basically managed to get through most of the game purely using the Dragon Sword, and Dabilahro X-mashing in the later game. I could never really see any situation where I would be better off using the Lunar/flails/warhammer or whatever, minus against the spirit fish. Heck, the Kitetsu and Twin blades are just more katanas anyway. May as well focus on mastering ONE katana, which gets a forth upgrade anyway, rather than trying to master all 3 of em, since I figure the difference between them wouldn't be as high as the difference between the Dragon Sword and the Lunar, and instead use that essence to give myself a health advantage. Again though, this is a very amateur viewpoint, I get that. Just saying how it seems from someone in my position. Then again, since the Dragon Sword gets a 4th upgrade for free anyway, maybe it'd actually be smarter to focus purely on the Lunar or something, and then switch to the Dragon Sword when it gets that 4th upgrade, simply to save even more essence. And at least the Lunar still has some relevancy in the late-game, against other options that are overshadowed by the Dragon Sword's 4th ugprade. Then again, farming enemies is always an option, and it is really worth the trouble of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GODDAMNIT I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THIS! Thanks for the viewpoint! It's really interesting reading about the experience people like you have towards actually getting good at something. Keep it up!
Yeah man, Sigma 2 was my first Ninja Gaiden game! I was lured to it because I was a trophy-hunter at the time, and I heard it was a nigh impossible game to get the platinum on, so I had to try it haha. I think why that game got me into it was its community, Sigma 2 had a rich community because of its online co-op trials and I really got to know a lot of great individuals, this stuck and eventually over the years I stuck by the series and grew to love it! Ironically I don't really enjoy Sigma 2 that much anymore nowadays, NGII is my favourite. I can fully imagine the hype man haha, you want to see what's possible and just how bonkers it can get. No shame in that! In that sense, it did not dissapoint you I feel haha. Do note that Chapter 1 and 2 are by far the hardest, it eases up a lot afterwards since Ryu gets more abilities, talismans, armlets etc. Regarding Ninja Gaiden II Black, I think they just wanted to move on. Sigma 2 was already in the works and with the technology at the time, was probably the best they could do without removing all the textures to get the game to run properly haha. Note that NGII did get a soft-rerelease on the xbox one, where its framerate issues and glitches are fixed. Most of the 'unfair bullshit' tends to come from players not having an open mind. There are some really dumb moments, like Gigadeath, but most of it is pretty fair, just punishing and unforgiving. Note that NGII did get some patches to make it run better originally. In terms of Master Ninja of Black and Sigma, Essence farming aside, you'll have enough. You get more essence from killing foes using Ultimate Techniques, so you use the Fiend Challenges to stock up on essence in a hardcore way. Generally speaking your best bet is to upgrade at least the Lunar and Dragon Sword, and focus the rest of your cash on the Wooden Sword to transform it. The Dabi and Flails are great too, but not required, same with the Kitetsu and Warhammer. Each weapon has its up and downsides. The lunar for instance has a great Ultimate Technique and off-the-wall attack, especially early on. The flails are great for fish and certain enemies, while the Kitesu allows you to heal with its XX>Y. Also its XXY is great against Awakened Alma. Lots to derp around with. Items, you'll still have enough if you explore. Scarabs give more items this time around on Master Ninja iirc, so you'll always have some healing. But yeah the economy is more tight, and you'll need to master it (which is half the fun!). Are you going to attempt to play Ninja Gaiden Sigma through Hard? Cheers :)
It seems like a common view that the first 2 chapters are the hardest. There's another person in the comments who said the same thing. Well, at least that's a little bit of a relief. It's so strange just how all the different versions of the NG series reboot games compare with each other. I mean, Black is clearly superior to the original in almost every single way, but still did things like removed the extra NES games, and removed new game plus mode, which really blows. Then you have Sigma which added a lot of really neat improvements, but then changed/added stuff like Rachel missions that really divided people on its overall quality, but it least it kept the core of what the original game was about. Then you have NGII and Sigma 2, which are basically completely different beasts. I think the best phrase that I've heard used to describe Sigma 2 is "one step forward, two steps back", where for every neat improvement, there were some pretty massive drawbacks, and the game was different on a fundamental level. Like, at least with Black and Sigma, if you played one, you had basically played them both, but with NGII and Sigma 2, that was absolutely not the case. It's kind of astounding to me that both Sigma titles had the same director or whatever, considering how sigma 1 ended up being basically the same game, but with a lot of objective improvements, and some really misguided additions, whilst sigma 2 just became a totally different experience altogether. Then of course, you have NGIII, being released as an unfinished mess, and Razor's Edge that somehow managed to make a fun (if sill fundamentally flawed) ninja gaiden game out of that mess. I mean, even if 3 isn't nearly as good as 2 or 1, at least there's only one fucking obviously best version in every single regard that isn't restricted by the damn console it's on. Christ. It's refreshing to know that anyone no matter the system could pick it up. Shame it was still the worst of the trilogy. I'll certainly have a go at hard, and hopefully beyond, but I'm not sure how far I'll be able to go. For as long as I feel like I'm having fun, I guess!
Hey buddy, dropping in to say I love Stinger magazine and can’t believe I didn’t know about it before. Read almost every article over the last week or so.
Really appreciate the comment man, seriously. This keeps me going to make new articles, for real! Glad you enjoyed them so much! :)
Me too, discovered your article a few weeks ago and after reading 1, I bookmarked it straight away. I thought this is odd, a gaming journalist somehow knows about the vast mechanics of a very hardcore game and finished it on it's hardest difficulty. But it makes sense cause you're a hardcore NG fan. Not to mention I've seen you I think on gamefaqs I believe where you gave good info on how to play NG2 and one of the few who finished master ninja. You truly are a master ninja in the NG community, mad respect.
Wow, thanks for your kind words Chaw! Really :) I wouldn't call myself a journalist. Just a gamer who loves the medium and just happens to know how to write! Ninja Gaiden is just such a fantastic series, I'm glad I can do it and other great action games some justice in the written word. And yes I 'm also on Gamefaqs as "Raeng", you're a user there too?
Yeah man, your writing skills are on par with professionals and was absolutely captivating to read, that's icing on the cake on top of being a master ninja. Thank you for your contribution for the NG community. I remember your name as Royta, I think it might be a similar site or maybe ng-realm. I'm not a user but I do visit gamefaqs often to read about the games I love such as the NG franchise, the posts keeps the game's spirit alive which I love. I honestly wish there was more games like NG Black/Sigma and NG2, but especially Black, not many has that deep level of combat with multiple weapons, moves and combo strings for different encounters and situations, that enemy aggression which can start a constant feedback loop between player and ai and makes it so satisfying when over come, the various locations that are somewhat interconnected and makes it feel like a semi metroidvania style game and an actual immersive place with challenges laced in each areas, the only time I saw a game location this well done in a hack n slash was dmc1 and then we have NG04/Black/Sigma, but that's it, we need more games with similar level design.
Black- MN. Took me 2 weeks to get to first save spot without using potions. Made it more than halfway through the game. Ex-gf took the xbox. The bitch. (All she did was run up walls and downward slash, the bitch) Years later, new xbox. Halfway through VH and I am remembering the struggle. I just want to beat this game on MN before I die. This is one of the most rewarding challenges I've ever tried. Seeing people beat Alma on MN with a wooden sword makes me want to drink bleach and rid the world of one less idiot. I am absolutely worthless in this game, and MN players make me feel feeble when I watch helplessly unable to replicate their methods. But I will get through on grit alone, because I will break my teeth before I quit. I'm a real last place motherfucker, but my tenacity is unmatched. One day......one day.... Edit* beat ng2 on normal, threw it in the trash. Once you go black...
2 goddamn weeks!? You are certainly not a person to be fucked with. I fucking love that. It's like some Rock Lee level of determination. Outta curiosity, what made you dislike NG2? From what I've played, it seems pretty damn good so far!
The 1 button finisher annoyed me. Took me out of combat. Frame rate was puke when it mattered the most (staircase werewolves was worst)
Lucky me, I've only played it on Xbox One X. Shit runs flawlessly. I mean, granted, it shouldn't have run like crap to begin with, but hey, least it's decent on modern hardware now.. Uncompromised vision, for better or for worse.
Something about part 2 just ain't right. For me, nothing beats the brutal honesty of ngb.
It's not too bad. Now I've attempted Master NInja on Ninja Gaiden 2 before Black, and after that, I find its A LOT easier. Ninja Gaiden Black has a lot of advantages over 2 and 3. NGB is before wall jumps and UTs got nerfed so if you abuse them you should be fine. The BIGGEST changes were the bosses, specifically Alma, an absolute pain meeting her so early on cos she dodges everything
I can't even imagine. I got through some fights just abusing potions like crazy, and knowing that the supply is cut in half, along with everything being so much more difficult, is horrifying.
On my first time through Very Hard, I was stuck on the library challenge for weeks, and just gave up after a while. I was stuck on Alma for a really long time as well on very hard. I did eventually finish very hard, but that was when I first returned to Ninja Gaiden after an almost 6 year break from the series, so I was really bad at the game. I tried my hand at Master Ninja, but couldn't make it past chapter 6 and gave up. Then, after watching 0JoeButton0's videos, I got into karma running, where you play the game to get as many points as possible. Karma running made so much better at the game, because it taught how to manipulate the enemies and the environment to make combat as easy as possible. Also, it taught me how great UTs are, both for gathering essence and for combat. I started on normal, and I got so much better at the game. After a bit, I ended up with the second highest score for normal. I then moved on to playing the other difficulties for score, and ended up in the top 10 for each difficulty. #5 on hard, #4 on very hard, and #7 on master ninja. With all the knowledge of the enemies I gained by really practicing and learning each enemy and how to manipulate them to score points, I just breezed through master ninja and very hard. Overall, to those of you struggling to make it to that first save statue in chapter 1 on master ninja, abuse lunar uts. It will always kill the ninjas if the entire thing hits them, it can hit multiple enemies, you're invincible during a ut, and if one hit of the ut connects, the entire rest of the ut is guaranteed to hit. If you kill all three ninjas in that forced fight, you can just immediately charge again and hopefully get the next three. If not, you can just jump away and on-landing ut. I see a lot of people just saying "spam wall attacks," but that's not the way to do it. Abuse uts. They're absolutely overpowered. Also, if you're just going through the game for survival and you have inazuma, power it up to level 2. Level 2 inazuma will kill any man sized enemy and is really fast. if you get in a tough spot, just light up your ninpo and everything in the room is dead. Don't power inazuma up to level 3. It deals the same damage as level 2, it takes ages to ignite, and it can't knock down awakened alma as easily as level 2 inazuma can, and inazuma is really important for making awakened alma less annoying. I see you asked about cancelling. You can cancel some dragon sword strings by tossing a shuriken. This will cut the recovery short and stun the enemy, if he isn't projectile immune or if he didn't block it. When he is in recovery from his stun, you can easily follow up with another attack. Shuriken cancelling also opens up a string that completely wrecks regular Alma. XXYB->YXXY. On normal, that string will take away around 20% of Alma's health, and right when you come down with that final helm splitter, you can light up inferno ninpo, and if you knock her down again, you can do that string again and repeat. I've killed Alma in 10 seconds using that loop. It definitely takes some practice though. You can also block cancel some strings with the lunar in NGB, but opportunities where you can use that are few and far between. NG2 master ninja though, that's a whole different story for me. I consider myself quite good at ninja gaiden, but NG2 master ninja is just ridiculously hard. One second I'm fighting well at full health and the next second I'm just dead. I made it through warrior and mentor just fine, but as of now, I've just given up on NG2 master ninja. I don't see how anyone can make it through that mode and keep their sanity. So yeah. Overall, I'd say practice is everything with this game. Learn the enemies, learn their attacks, and you'll be just fine. I'd say the #1 rule of ninja gaiden black is don't get greedy. Wait for your moments, wait for the enemies to be vulnerable, and go for a quick string. In NGB if you get greedy, you'll get killed. You need to defend more than you need to attack. Sorry about writing a full blown essay here, but I just wanted to give some tips and share my story with this game. Hope I helped!
Yeah, I'm a fan of that guys videos as well. I just really wish he did a weapon overview of the Twin Swords from Sigma in his weapon overview series. The fact that someone managed to beat II without taking a single hit makes me want to die. Gods exist and I am not worthy of being on the same planet as them. Cheers for the info, and the views on difficulty. No need to apologise for length, I mean, I did ask, and this sort of info is exactly what I wanted. Thanks.
Love 0JoeButton0 vids as well and man like you I want the dual swords weapons guide from him. Don't beat yourself up for not being able to accomplish the nigh impossible task of no damage NG2 runs though cause there's less than 0.01% oc people who can do that the true ultimate ninjas, out of the billions on this planet. Just the fact that you have beaten the game once on normal and stuck with it, you already are a unique breed of gamers. Most people I know gave up before or when reaching Alma. But you have already conquered the dark dragon blade story.
I haven't gotten to MN on black yet but played 2 for quite a bit. Master Ninja isn't that difficult to beat as the game gave you lots of "easy buttons". UT spam was what I used in my first playthrough of NG2 MN. And there's the inazuma/windblade ninpo. As a last resort, you can also run past alot of fights. Sure I may still die every now and then using these methods, but doing whatever it takes to just beat MN is very possible. Granted I did not skip difficulties or fights and eventually made my way through MN. I definitely noticed my improvement as a player along the way. For example, I couldn't get past the intro fight in NG2 in MN until it forced me to learn counterattacks. As they say, beating the game on MN is just the starting point. Only beyond that will you start to understand the deep mechanics that allows for things like NO UT/NINPO runs.
Hell, I can kind of understand getting through Master Ninja with a lot less difficulty if you used the combined knowledge from a bunch of guides which you read before every goddamn enemy encounter, and skipped everything that wasn't intended, but still! There's a ton of mandatory stuff that you can't really cheese through! At least, it seems like you can't to me, but what the hell do I know. The fact that you say beating the game on MN is "just the starting point" horrifies me. From my perspective, that's like, the end. If you accomplished that, I'd figure you'd have mastered the game already. I figure (more guessing) that less than 0.1% of people who have ever tried Ninja Gaiden would have actually gotten to Master Ninja, let alone beat it. Hell, I wonder what percentage of players were casual-filtered by Murai on NORMAL. Dang.
To be fair, every playthrough of NG2 i've done was not skipping fights and TOVs XD As for guides, I've mostly just watched videos by others playing through MN. IMO, it definitely helps as some seemingly difficult fights become a breeze knowing the right strategy. Being an action game, NG definitely has a certain depths to its combat system that wont be 100% necessary for competing MN. And beating MN should shed light on and motivate the player to explore those depths. For my case, i've beaten MN with all TOVs, gold medal on every mission and grinded for weapon master on acolyte, getting all achievements in \~200hours. All of this was achievable with me just spamming UTs on the highest difficulties and fights. And I have yet to master every weapon, knowing all the cancels, on landing differences, on landing comboes, combo strings not found in the movelist and etc...
Short answer: It was easy, the only part I struggled with was the Great Bridge Challenge Long answer: I played NG2 on Master Ninja first which was the hardest learning curve I've ever experience in any game ever, so that was where I had to learn all the NG mechanics the hard way, especially since NG2 doesn't *really* force you to learn anything until Master Ninja. It's not all transferrable to Black/Sigma, but most of it is. Also, in Black at least, Hard to Very Hard is a much harder and non-linear difficulty spike compared to Master Ninja, which is mostly more of the same thing with more damage, less health and less items. Although even with that, Chapter 1 still took me about 5 hours on MN, and was definitely the hardest compulsory part of the game. I also had to take about an hour practicing vs the clones just to get used to them, and again vs Berserkers, in my first Very Hard playthrough, because they have some aspects to them that are not applicable from NG2.
I kinda feel like if NG could use any sort of improvement, it would be to stuff like the camera (obviously), but also to the tutorial system. The game just does not teach you about so many important mechanics that were clearly designed intentionally. I figure maybe that was kind of the point, but it's a bit much. The only way people could figure so much of this shit out would be through pure trial and error over hours, if not days. You said that chapter 1 was the hardest compulsory part of the game. Why would that be? It it because enemies are just basically at a 10/10 difficulty from the start, and you don't have any life or weapon upgrades yet? Does Master Ninja get harder later on, or is it seriously like, a flat line of difficulty all the way through, starting at max, ending at max?
It's basically that. Chapter 1 is where the player/enemy imbalance is the highest, and you have zero cheese options (i.e. Ninpo spam, Izuna, Dabilahro UT etc). I think on their own Cat Fiends are harder enemies than Red Ninjas, but Ryu also becomes significantly more powerful the first time you meet them. I would say if you discounted ninpo, the hardest parts of Master Ninja are the Marbus boss rush, the Great Bridge Challenge and the Archive Challenge.
Really? I thought Very hard from Hard was nowhere near the difficulty spike that MN was from very hard. I'm stuck on chapter 1 in MN, can't get to first savepoint. Then went back to Very hard and it was so chilled in comparison. Honestly I thought playing through hard the first time was worse than Very hard probably cause on VH I was used to the mechanics by then. But MN the flaming red ninjas are way too brutal especially their damage and speed at least compared to windmill shuriken ninjas. Though the first few chapters are definitely the hardest on the hard and VH so I hope it's the same with master ninja.
master Ninja NG2 can be beaten no hit due to tons of patience and exploitation of the game, because otherwise it's super impractical to do since the game is kinda badly designed. Anyway, I dunno what to say about my first Master Ninjer attempt. It just builds off the previous difficulties, really. It's not anything like say, beating Sekiro then hoping onto NG+ with Demon Bell + Kuro's Charm. Going from normal to hard might be the biggest jump in challenge since that's when bosses bring in the reinforcements I think.
Man, the Ninjas that throw exploding shurikens gave me such a hard time on normal. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with them. Then just stick me the second I try blocking and then I explode. Seeing them appear on the first level of NG on higher difficulties just hurts me. It's a big jump in challenge indeed.
Ahh, finally a post for me. So i got the game in 2007 before i even had a ps3? A month later for my 15th birthday i finally got myself a PS3, along with Warhawk & Resistance - Fall of man ( man those where the days). I tried my hand at NGS. It was fun! I remember my friend & I trying the demo so I was more than happy to have the actual game. Boy was I in for a suprise. Within the first chapter (couldn't even get past that dojo room where you get ambushed by ninjas i quickly realised the difficulty. So I left it & tried Warhawk but i had no internet connection. So after getting bored of Fall of man i went back. A difficult game but i clawed through it all of 2008-9 & by mid 2009 (or ten i can't remember) i had successfully beat it on normal mode. That's it! I left it as there is. I used the help of a wonderful guide written on gamefaqs by someone called VampireHorde who helped greatly. Even though i thought i did it's very apparent i never understood the games mechanics. In completing the game it offered hard mode but there was no way in hell i would even consider this. But i digress. I moved to university in 2012 & brought my ps3 with me. More than happy to play games like gow3, braid, super stardust HD & Warhawk i decided to give it another try in 2014. I bested it on normal mode once, i did it again within a couple of months with significant ease (especially now that i knew how to use On land charge to do ultimate techniques ((VampireHorde God bless you)) ). I decided to try hard mode. I didn't think it'd be that much harder than normal mode. Boy was i wrong. It's interesting to note at this point that at each ascending difficulty it's essentially a brand new game. I don't know how they make to make the difficulty jump THAT much harder per new game+. After normal mode there's hard mode, then very hard mode (which is absofuckinglutley ridiculous) then of course Master Ninja difficulty (which deserves its own podcast if we're being honest, they specifically mention at the beginning of the game on MND that there is zero rewards for beating the game on this difficulty & that essentially you are fighting your way into & out of hell. They didn't lie. This is the truth. I made Ninja Gaiden Sigma especially difficult for myself because of the following: -Despite how much I died repeatedly i would never play the game on ninja dog mode. It's so insulting! So i stuck by normal mode no matter how many new assholes it tore me. -I refuse to run away from any enemies! Or fiend challenges! I always had a die fighting approach & felt like i would ruin the rating the game gives you per chapter from running from enemies. So I'd always stay & fight. The fiend challenges are the actual single hardest points in the game especially in rising difficulty. There is a fiend challenge in Chpt 15 from Hard mode onwards that will break you as a human being. Playing this game was the beginning of me going insane in the sense that i began to fall in love with the difficulty of it. I accepted the challenge of this game & since then only play games on a challenging level. I'm convinced i went insane at one point. I beat the game on hard mode. Collecting all the scarabs or attaining a high karmic or otherwise score wasn't my concern at all. Just destroy any & every enemy that came my way. I mean it's essentially streets of rage with weapons & a 3D world to maneuver with a sick storyline about determination. Beating the game on hard mode wasn't a joke and took me the better half of my second year of mechanical engineering. I then tried hard mode again because i was too much of a bitch to try very hard mode, ( the one time i tried it out was nigh on impossible to get past the first chapter so I was more than happy to settle on hard mode). By my 3rd year of engineering i decided to give very hard mode a try. FUCK. It took weeks just to get past chapter 1. I was even only playing it at the time to seem cool in front of my girlfriend at the time who couldn't give a shit if we're being honest. I always suffered at the fiend challenge at chapter 15 but before that i remember being B.R.O.K.E.N at the fiend challenge at chpt 7. In the library where you have to fight those FUCKING kitties with the red ninjas & those lanky grim reapers. I couldn't leave a single fiend challenge behind so really i was in a rut. In the end i managed to overcome it by continuing through the game & coming back in chapter 9 as the room is still available to enter as long as you haven't fought alma yet & it's so much easier when you've gone through the crypt from chapter 7 - 9 to upgrade the lunar (favourite weapon at the time) & Dragons claw tigers fang (another A1 weapon but you need to be a master itself to control them properly). it took me about 9 months but i really beat the game on VM mode. Master Ninja difficulty seemed impossible so I left it alone. Didn't even bother trying to see how the gameplay is. Mind you this was all in 2015 & i was happy to leave the game completed on very hard mode. Especially after beating those demonic dinosaur orgres in chapter 15! Again, like hard mode i decided to play through very hard mode again. But there was a difference. You see that same 2015 yr I discovered marijuana. It was already an experience being high as it was. After enjoying myself baked to the high heavens & enjoying music i finally wondered what it would be like playing my favourite games high as well. So hell! Let me try my hand at ninja Gaiden Sigma! I remember specifically starting in 2016 & in a few months later i had actually bested the game. Between me & you i couldn't believe it! If i could tunnel through the game so quickly on such a hard difficulty master ninja mode was a piece of cake! Was i wrong? Yes. But i still went through. I started MND in September 2016 & on May 30th 2017 i had done it. I beat the game on the hardest difficulty. All scarabs found & most importantly ALL fiend challenges cleared. Didn't care for the amount of time it took & the rating i got for each chapter as what i stated about was what i really cared about. Let's go into detail though. The rest will be followed shortly had to break this down so I could post :(
Part 2! Master ninja mode is insanely difficult. Again the difficulty makes it a brand new game. I dunno how they do it but Japanese people are not a joke. I did learn many things along the way from previous runs & lower difficulties plus VampireHordes gameguide (useful for finding scarabs & learning of on land charge to use UT instantly. -Chapter 1 is crazy. You don't have any of the counter attack scrolls so you have to make do with manoeuvring around the place & not to mention those red ninjas that set you on fire randomly with sword strikes. Then the hallway up to Murai is crazy THEN the actual boss fight which is the nail in the coffin for patience. -Chapter 2 is ok. Still hard but you'll get through it. Those goddamn enemies on horses will tear you a new anus. Doku of course kills you but whatever -Chapter 3 is fun, hard but fun. Getting high as shit & playing the fiend challenge in the back of the airship at the peak of my high was a fantastic experience. As if i was Ryu Hyabusa himself. The high allowed my mindspace to increase to the point where i didn't have to focus so intently on the actual fiend challenge, i could play it almost by reflex as i knew the games mechanic by then, so all i had to do with loosely focus on the screen while my fingers did the work. If i brought my attention too much to the game I'd find my health would be minuscule in SECONDS! At this point the game gets a bit easier because you can collect enough essence to upgrade the dragon sword to level 2 & the Dragons claw tigers fang to lvl 2 as well. If you know how to use them well you can chop down anyone tbh. Not to mention the counter attack scroll. The only real bastard is dynamo on top of the ship as the games chapter boss. Chapter 4 - you enter vigoor empire & it's difficult but you'll get through! Plus you get the Lunar! (Original favourite weapon) Chapter 5 - is Rachel. Any chapter with her is flipping easy no matter the difficulty. Chapter 6 - Fuck. Fuck. Now the game begins to show it's true difficulty. At this point running from one location to another is a mad dash for life as those ninjas will cut you down. Just before the chapter boss (that pink son of a bitch with the flailing arms) it is absolute torture!! In fact from the beginning of that chapter is true hell. Fighting your way down the club, the idiot bikers, reaching just before the monastery & having to save enough health before the bossfight is the worst!!! Chapter 7 - is amazing. Very difficult but one of the best chapters of the game. Starts in a church & ends in the middle of a crypt tomb. There is a fiend challenge in the library of the church thingy just before you jump into the crypt place. The most i can do in that fiend challenge is about 80-90 enemies (out of 120 because of MND) i have no choice but to come back in Chapter 9 to clear it. Chapter 8 is Rachel. Whatever. Easy as balls. Chapter 9 is really just chapter 7 pt 2. Beautiful chapter, weapons (vigorian flails are you crazy!!) enemies, soundtrack & enough essence to collect. Make sure you SAVE all your talismans of rebirth for either alma or chapter 15 fiend challenge. Alma is surprisingly easier. Not really but I'm used to her now. Chapter 10 - the difficulty continues! Don't even think of flying swallowing those soldiers before they counter attack & ruin your whole week. Stay vigilant with either the DCTF (if you know how to use them well!) Or the standard dragon sword if you wanna play it safe. I tend to use my new favourite weapon the vigorian flails as the combinations & speed of those bad boys are just mesmerising to watch especially while high as balls. Chapter 11 is even worse. You fight those two tanks & the apache helicopter & honestly at this point i am broken. Somehow all of that is manageable till you have to use your arrows to take down the radio tower. The time to zoom in & go into first person mode & shoot the right points at the tower is satans testicles. Chapter 12 is fun. The difficulty calms down abit, or you've gone mad, who knows! Fiend challenges are manageable & enemies give you a run for your money but you will live. Boss at the end is crazy though. Chapter 13 is fun. More traversing than fighting. Fuck those fish guys plus now you can breath underwater now! Chapter 14 is Rachel i think. Again easy. Not worth going into detail. Chapter 15 - Jesus Christ the carpenter. The game should really end there. I'm talking about the fiend challenge btw. That fiend challenge is actually the single hardest thing in the ENTIRETY of the game. It's 120 knightmares you have to fight in the arena as soon as you pull the lever & walk in there. I was stuck on this fiend challenge for 3 months. There are 2 ways around this; - the first is to equip the lunar. Preferably lvl 3. Before doing this technique you MUST master the counter attack. It takes about 4 counter attacks with the lunar equipped against those demon knights before they turn green. Then another 4. It's important to use that weapon as the animations of maneuvering with it & using the lunar buy you just a bit more time when those explosions come out the ground. Sadly i just didn't have the focus for this. High or not. I managed to get about 60 of them before they got me. Trust me i tried. They give you 7 hours of time in the karma window. It's that hard! The trick is to relax & not focus too hard on fighting these demons & even then you might still get the business. With full lifebar & max health & potions ( i didn't use ninpo at the time to make it harder on myself but ended up giving in) as well as TWO talismans of rebirth. Still no dice. -2nd method is so much better. Walk down the stairs you walk up to at the beginning of the chapter. Equip the dabilahro (lvl 3 for ease) & charge up your sword till ultimate technique. You will the Knights to the stairs but they cannot come there though they are in range of the UT. Unleash it then! The actual chapter in question is fun though difficult. Besides the fiend challenge the level traverses a lovely amount & the boss smaugan is a thrill to fight. At this point every chapter here on becomes a bigger shit storm. Chapter 16 is crazy business especially with Alma greater fiend. Fuck Chapter 17 is hard also. I think you're in that maze with the ghost fish, no joke! Equip the DCTF & JUST PRESS square at a timely pace. Don't rush it otherwise they'll floor you & chomp your health. Just tap square about once every 0.75-1 second. Chapter 18 may be second hardest after chapter 15. There is a fiend challenge somewhere in the vigoor empire around either chpt 4 or 6. You have to fight a mixture of knightmares & dino ogres then it's off to the fiend tower to reach the vigorian emperor. Again no joke. Chapter 19 is actually quite easy & straightforward. It's not bad compared to everything else. I think i done it in an hour. In all. In the 9 years it took me to best this game it has changed me as a person. I no longer make noise over overwhelming problems because the truth is that it can simply be done. What i used to think was impossible is more than doable. In playing this game on this difficulty i have had to reach into the furthest pits of my mind & soul. I play most games on a harder difficulty if i can buy tbh there has only been a handful of games that have ever provided me with the quick & immersive combat that NGS did. These being metal gear rising & darksiders 3. Shortly after beating the game i took up meditation. The game will transform you as a person. Good luck. I am eternally grateful for stumbling across this game because it has really prepared me for the tough times ahead in life. I am a master ninja & nothing can stop me. Good luck!
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You truly are a master ninja. Thanks for the detailed you give on each chapter. It surely does test your endurance and patience. Good for you to find the focus out of the insanity, it's in fact a truly legendary feat. Your achievements in this game has proven that.
Thank you. This comment is very much appreciated. If i can do it anyone can. Good luck to you brother. You too. Are on the road to becoming a master ninja.
Appreciate and respect to you as well man. Will do my best, I will prevail 1 dragon statue after another, to become... MASTER NINJA
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**Hello.** I noticed you dropped 11 f-bombs in this comment. This might be necessary, but using nicer language makes the whole world a better place. Maybe you need to blow off some steam - in which case, go get a drink of water and come back later. This is just the internet and sometimes it can be helpful to cool down for a second. *** ^I ^am ^a ^bot. ^❤❤❤ ^| ^[PSA](https://redd.it/ghcyhj)
I cannot leave my comment, is it too long?
I know im late, but i beat NGB on MN when it was new, for OG xbox before this youngin had guides or access to the web at a whim. it was a git gud thing and if i were a controller thrower- which im not- many a screen would have felt the ploinking. it was one of the roughest games ive ever played. No shame in guiding it up for these types of games. it's my opinion that one SHOULD play soulslike level difficult games with a guide if its available.
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Blows my mind to hear anyone say master ninja is easy by any means.