Edge: Ninja Gaiden II walks all over DMC 4 and God of War

[ZenfoldorVGI]

Lord N said:

Perhaps you consider an action game composed primarily of platforming and puzzle solving to be rather boring, but many people would say the same thing about a game that's primarily composed of beating up the same braindead AI ad nauseum, the degree of difficulty notwithstanding.

And seriously, since when does the degree of difficulty have anything at all to do with the quality of a game?

Scrolling shooters like Dodonpachi Da-Ou-Jou or Mushihime-sama Futari are a hell of a lot harder than Ikaruga. Does that make them better games?

 

 

 

To respond to the bolded section, of course I don't consider every game composed of platforming and puzzle solving, boring. GoW, however, has a particularly boring and tired puzzle system.

I also agree in theory that beating up the same braindead AI would be very tedious, however, I'm not sure you have played Ninja Gaiden, because the AI in that game is rather good, and the combat is quite refreshingly intense in every battle. Ninja Gaiden is the F.E.A.R. of the action genre, if you catch my drift. You have some very intense powers, but the enemies are strong and overwhelming, even just a few of them. Not to mention the far superior boss battle showcases in Ninja Gaiden which historically are the draws to these types of games.

 

 

Intense difficulty on the lowest setting usually lowers the review scores of a game. See Shinobi, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Devil May Cry 3, the original Ninja Gaiden, which was underscored by many outlets.

So, game developers, like Capcom, have finally given in to reviewers and made DMC4, which due to the ease of the game, dissapointed a lot of long term fans, including myself. However, it also added a lot of new fans to the series.

 

Now, I never contended that difficutly makes a game better. However, difficulty past a certain level accomplishes several things that make the game better to the audience at which it is targeted:

1. The game stuck by its guns. It didn't give in to the system, and therefore gets credibility with the core audience. Imagine the outrage if NG2 had been easy.

2. The game requires a much greater knowledge and skill behind the controller, due to intense difficulty, even on easy mode.

3. The game has much more replayablity, due to the bulk of its content not relying on story and puzzles that can easily be solved on the second playthrough, but instead relying on a combat system and many excellent boss battles that have interesting and unique tactics required for each difficutly level.

 

So, why if GoW sucks so much, did it rate so highly? Several reasons:

A. The story. GoW still manages to have one of the best narratives in gaming.

B. The production value. Excellent, all around, VA, FMV, Graphics. The trifecta.

C. The genres is repetitive by nature. GoW adds in variety, to break up that repetitiveness, and reduce the intensity of the game at the same time.

D. The game is "cool" as hell. Sex minigames, nudity. These things make the game stand out, so people take notice. The graphic violence and unforgiving setting also help to intensify the feeling of freshness.

E. Kratos is a great character.

 

What GoW does not do, is provide a deep or compelling combat system, a rich or rewarding playstyle, or the major feeling of accomplishment that you get when you've beaten a boss on DMC or NG with a complex strat.

 

GoW has several "good" elements, and I see how some people love it. I however, do not. I feel that all of those talking points simply serve to cover up the underlying gameplay which is as musty as the genre has ever seen. This genre has a long history of problems, as reviewers don't really like it very much. Never have, since the days of Final Fight. However, if to improve this genre, we need to destory it and rebuild an entirely different genre based on platforming and block puzzles, then count me O U T.

As for GoW2, watch the cutscenes on youtube and save yourself 30 bucks, unless your into block puzzles and clunky combat.

If you want an action game, with some actual fun action in it and a lot of playtime required to even be decent, pick up DMC3, NG1 and 2, or Shinobi.

 

That's my opinion, but I can see how some others would differ.

That is also why I agree with Edge, as without a doubt, the gameplay in NG2 is far superior and deeper to any we've seen in this genre before, bad camera and everything.

Not that it's important, but the graphics are also better.

Now you won't be getting a great narrative, but you will get some amazing moments of fighting in the rain, running on water, executing bosses in one strike, dying a billion times because you weren't good enough, and a hell of a feeling of accomplishment when you manage to do what most gamers and critics cry about because it's "too hard."

When you beat Ninja Gaiden 2, you feel like you're better than everyone else.

The day GoW does that, I'll give it a third chance.

 

If you've ever beaten a DMD mode, you should know what I'm talking about.