Game Discussion of the Week: Ninja Gaiden 3 (+ Razor's Edge)

I haven't the vanilla 3 version, but I've played Razor's Edge a couple of times.

From what I've heard, the original 3 is a terrible sequel. First of all, all the different weapons from Black/2 are gone and Ryu can only use the Dragon Sword. Then there is the introduction of QTEs, and a story that is just kind of shit and tries to turn Ryu into a Batman expy - The Dark Knight was all the rage at the time, so I guess Team Ninja tried to go for the dark hero thing.

Most of that was fixed in Razor's Edge. The weapons are back, most of the QTEs went out and, while the story is generally the same, it was edited to make it a bit better. So how does it compare to the previous games and its competition? Still not very favorably, I guess.

Here's the thing: NG Black and 2 couldn't be compared to anything at their releases, since the closest game to their style was DMC, which just had a very different style of movement, combat and gameplay in general. Even with all the problems in 2 (half-finished levels, excessive linearity and framerate problems), the series would still get a good following and word of mouth. But by the time Razor's Edge was released, we already had Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising - which means that NG was getting much better competition in the genre. Consequently, even if it fixed the most glaring flaws from 3 and even some from 2 (like the framerate), it was still just an "ok" game in the series, and in a genre that now had very damn great games.

Let's compare Razor's Edge to NG2. The bad things: it got even more linear, with most levels being corridors, so there was almost no thought in the level design department. Most bosses are just not as good, both in concept and execution: besides most of them being annoying to fight (the helicopter and the cyborg dinossaur are especially egregious), sometimes the AI doesn't work as intended and the entire fight looks dumb, which is especially notable in the bonus fights against bosses from previous games. The story, as I already said, is a huge step down from Black and 2, with a ridiculous plot about mutants or something - in this respect, the modern trilogy closely resembles the NES originals. Some of the levels don't even fit well in the story, like the entire section in Ryu's village and the fight against the witch from NG: Dragon Sword, who is brought back without any explanation. There are a few unnecessary QTEs (like the one for climbing or for the falcon-dive) and a very half-baked stealth mechanic that is used only once in the entire game.

Now, for the good things: the framerate/slowdown issues from NG2 were resolved, so the game plays much smoother while also looking better. That said, the graphics are gorgeous - I'm impressed at how well it looks for a 360/PS3/Wii U game running at 60fps. The combat mechanics got a very nice upgrade: especially notable is finally having a way to counter grappling attacks, which immediately starts a satisfying sequence in which Ryu will cut through every enemy near him with a single strike (the "steel on bone" technique that was reworked from vanilla NG3). The ultimate techniques and ninpos were also reworked, and are all the better for that. Enemy behaviour is also generally better, with some of the most unfair and annoying parts from NG2 being absent here - the rocket launcher guys, for example, were certainly fixed (a bit easier to dodge and go down faster), providing much nicer encounters. There are a few levels were Ayane is the protagonist: they provide a nice change of pace, especially since they focus a bit more on platforming (combat in these sections is very easy once you learn her overpowered combo). Also, you can replay the entire game with Ayane, Momiji or Kasumi, or do the huge number of extra challenges with them (there are so many that I never even tried to complete them).

So, basically, the combat and graphics are awesome, but the level designs, bosses and story are terrible. Sometimes I even prefer it over NG2. But the truth is that the character action genre in general just demanded a better game at the time: Bayonetta was better in pretty much every single area (only the combat is subjective) and Metal Gear Rising had some of the most memorable boss fights ever, a great story and some mechanics that made it as fast and brutal as NG. If we think about ninja games in general, there was also Strider, which had great level-design (being one of the best metroidvania games at the time), bosses, a good mix of combat/platforming and a great art direction.

What Team Ninja needed to do was to take the same combat and go back to the more complex level-designs found in NG Black, better mixing combat/platforming/exploration... Too bad the next entry in the series was a spin-off with completely different combat mechanics, even more linear levels and braindead enemies (literally zombies). That was Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, the only game in the modern series that I refuse to buy - besides being a spin-off, it was not even developed by Team Ninja/Tecmo.

I had originally given this game a 5 (yeah, I like its combat that much), but, thinking better, I'll be more honest and bring it down to a 4, almost a 3.

So that's it, we finally discussed all the main games in the modern Ninja Gaiden series! I hope Team Ninja/Tecmo goes back to it in the future, as the series still has a lot of potential that was never tapped into.