G-pinions

Awwwww Snap. So I finally picked up Ninja Gaiden. Well, more accurately, traded Disgaea for it. I played a good six hours of Disgaea, and just decided it wasn't the game for me. I can completely understand the appeal, and if you have the time and the interest I'm sure you could lose your life in it. However, I found myself with neither, and thusly had no use for the game. I also felt like unless I was going to play the game on the deepest level possible, fully understanding everything, I wasn't going to get the most out of it. So anyhow, I got Gaiden.

I've only played through the first two or three levels, but I wanted to give some early impressions, partially for my own interest to see how things change throughout the game, and partially to impart any pertinent information about the game. Such as, whether I would recommend purchasing it or not. So far, I must say, it's pretty badass. Almost as much so as all the raving reviews, which was a bit of a surprise actually since action games rarely live up to the hype some of the flashier ones gather. Obviously, the game is gorgeous. I wouldn't quite say it puts Prince of Persia to shame, simply because of PoP's ungodly beautiful soft lighting techniques, but it's one sexy sexy game. It's probably the first game I've seen show off the X-Box hardware to any real extent, and obviously couldn't be replicated on a lesser system. The presentation is also nice, with some very pretty CG cutscenes and ninja atmosphere. Another element which is really great in NG is the exploration. As much as I adore Otogi, all the gorgeous demons and delicate Japanese tunes on earth can't disguise bland level design. Like too many games in the crowded genre, you basically progress through each stage by taking on little pods of enemies one at a time until you've worked your way to the end. Gaiden, on the other hand, is structured more like Onimusha or Devil May Cry. You still fight batches of bad guys at a time, but they're more casually inserted into the stages, which themselves are incredibly varied in architecture and in the way you approach each section. Some of the wall-running and acrobatics needed to proceed in some areas are also very reminiscent of PoP, while not quite as refined. The combat is eons more interesting and dynamic though. Ah, yes, the combat. I'm still undecided on some aspects of it. It's definitely very fluid and very intense, and I feel like once I start to get a better hang of the moves, it will feel a lot more rewarding. It is structured after a fighting game after all, so it does take some investment. Considering how deep the combat can get though, some of it just doesn't work in certain areas within the levels. Jumping off a wall to slash some evil samurai horseman in the head sounds like a great idea, and usually is, unless the stone is angled slightly the wrong direction, which will fuck your flight path completely. And the camera...curse this evil beast, it's the worst enemy of all. All the movement is mapped to the left analog stick, and the camera pretty much goes where it wants while you move. You can always center it by hitting R, but this makes smoothly running around a corner and seeing what's around the bend impossible without coming to a complete halt. The game is hard enough as it is, I don't need to lose a bit of life every time I enter a room just because I couldn't immediately see my attackers. There's just no reason why the camera controls can't be mapped to the now-standard (for FPS' and 3rd person games) right analog stick, it would make ninja life a whole lot easier. And yes, as I said, and as everyone knows, the game is damn hard. I beat the first two bosses without dying, but it was no easy feat. And I did die at the hands of some random samurai thugs a coupe of times in the middle of the level. I'm glad it's not a cakewalk though, because it forces you to master the controls and moves faster than you normally would - learn or die, that's the idea.

So yes, those are some admittedly early impression. I'll be back with more soon enough. Right now, this Ninja needs some rest. All those disembowlings can wear a guy out.