I believe the purpose of all art is to experience humanity, to see the world through the eyes of another. To play as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption is to better understand the value of life and the joy of community. To watch I Saw the TV Glow is to feel the dread of necessary transitions in life. To listen to Lemonade is to experience the emotional ups and downs of love and betrayal. But these experiences are all things I could reasonably experience in real life. I can come to appreciate the fragility and, therefore, value of life, or experience being on the cliff’s edge of change only to run the other way, or experience the pain of being betrayed by someone you love. But some of the most fascinating art lets us experience things that we could never in real life. And I am absolutely confident that I will never supplex a winged demon from 2 dozen feet up while rocking a six-pack.

Ninja Gaiden Black II is the remake/remaster of the classic Xbox 360 action game Ninja Gaiden II. I use both terms because this game does indeed blur the line between a remake and a remaster. On one hand, it’s been fully ported to Unreal Engine, and it looks like its name suggests. Textures have been added or improved, and lighting, especially makes environments look almost photorealistic. It makes for a beautiful game, but one that may be too goofy to look this good. This is a game in which werewolf kings taunt you, in which blood queens throw hands, where…you supplex winged demons. None of these things exist in real life, so when they are depicted in such hyperrealistic detail, they just come off as out of place. They look less like real people and more like big dumb model figures walking and talking along with actual humans. In some ways, it makes the game look cheap, like the many gooner shooters on Steam like The Killing Antidote. In other ways, it adds to the inherent ridiculousness of the game.

On the other hand, while the game looks brand new, it plays exactly like the original game. I cannot confirm if literally everything is the same, down to animation timing and damage numbers, but after playing the first chapter of Ninja Gaiden II for the first time lately, the perceivable changes in Black II were completely negligible. I initially felt that combat in the original felt more visceral thanks to more graphic gore and more vivid sound design for weapon impacts. But the more I played Black II, that proved not to be quite true, as the meat chunks I saw in the original do exist in Black II, they just blend in a bit more with the more detailed environments. Also, the weapon sounds are only tweaked, not weakened, with weapons like the Tonfa serving as a great example of a weapon that feels just as, if not more, satisfying to use in Black II vs. the original. As Ninja Gaiden stans know, the source code for the original II was lost long ago, so this is indeed built on the base of Sigma II, a version of the game disliked by those fans. But they re-added the blood and gore, removed and tweaked the most annoying boss fights, and Unreal seems to be a flexible enough engine that enemy density has been improved, even post launch. This will never be Ninja Gaiden II, which you can still play with 4K resolution on Xbox Series consoles today, but this is easily the best, most accessible version of the game yet.

Ninja Gaiden II takes itself pretty seriously, despite the over the top scenarios it often places you into. Ryu Hayabusa, the protagonist of the series, nearly never cracks a joke or seems to ever have fun ripping through these hordes of evil-doers. He is clinical and calculating in his techniques and brutality. With every severed limb, you get the impression he vivisects not for pleasure, but out of a need to ensure his enemy is completely down for the count. However, despite his joylessness, the pace of combat and the variety of locations in which he fights will constantly delight and engage the player regardless. Even though the other playable characters don’t lighten the mood much either, but they are all fun to play.

Ayane is a favorite of mine from my several hours playing the demo for Ninja Gaiden II Sigma back on the PS3. She, like all the other playable characters, is just as nimble as Ryu, but caries twin short swords that can really carve up a crowd up close. She also has explosive shuriken that can help you out of a pinch if the detonation timer doesn’t leave you hanging. Momiji’s chapters are also fun to play, but less exciting to me as she isn’t one of the main characters of the franchise I recognize. That is mostly canceled out by her incredible Dragon Nagita weapon, which is one of the best in the game. And, to my surprise, Rachel might lowkey be my favorite playable side character. I think that is due to the contrast between how much I loathed her limited move set in Ninja Gaiden Sigma and how much I was happy to see her return after her absence for most of the first few chapters of Ninja Gaiden II. She still utilizes her heavy hammer, and her flashier moves are much easier to pull off, but she now has a machine gun to riddle fiends with as well. Her return to the series activated a bit of nostalgia on my part, nostalgia for a game I only beat a few weeks ago, and only started less than 2 years prior.

That nostalgia is motivated by the maximalist vibes this game has. Those new here should know that Bayonetta is my favorite game of all time, and part of why it is has to do with just how extreme every moment of that game is. Ninja Gaiden II has that same energy, but in a slightly different way: it isn’t ridiculous from every angle. Bayonetta will have you fighting angels from heaven in the middle of the free way using your demonic hair, which is also your outfit, and dual pistols that are strapped to your feet. There is absolutely nothing to ground you to reality in that scenario. In Ninja Gaiden II Black, you will fight giant werewolves with a scythe, chrome-covered centipedes in subway stations, and spider armed ninjas with a bladed flail. On the level design side, you do these actions in city streets and generic tunnels rather than the massive cathedrals and European cities of Bayonetta. But in each and every scenario, Ryu, again, treats it like the professional he is. For Bayonetta, her work is play, but Ryu don’t play about his work. This positively feeds back into his character, however, as his dedication to the morals and devotion of being a Ninja is reflected in his actions. Plus, as someone who button mashes through most of these games, I felt pressured to learn a bit more combos and nail block timing, as the more skilled I became at the game, the more I felt in line with my avatar.

Oh yea, and about that combat, it fucking rules. This game already feels incredible with the starting, iconic Dragon Sword, but, when compared to the first Ninja Gaiden, the additional weapons all have much more expanded move sets and play to gameplay niches that are really fun to lean into. Enemies are relentless, more so than most games in the genre, but the never-ending pressure they provide force players out of safe actions. You can block most attacks, but your guard can be broken and you can be grappled at any point. This just means that your best defense is offense, which pushes you to engage more consistently and more technically with this excellent combat.

And once you do, the game throws several bones to you, like letting you execute any de-limbed enemy down in one strike or letting you consume currency, health, or nimpo orbs dropped by enemies to more quickly rev up charge attacks. But if all else fails, you do have several nimpo abilities that let you get a few massive hits of damage out for free, or you can collect health and nimpo consumables that will help you in particularly challenging fights. Hell, the game is even more forgiving than Ninja Gaiden Sigma by far thanks to you regenerating health after each combat encounter, with exception to built up permanent damage, and even that can be cleared with consumables or free heals at every save point. These generous editions help make the game much more welcoming to new players, which likely helped with the reception of the original Ninja Gaiden II as being a widely loved classic. But I didn’t feel I needed the helping hands until the last few chapters of the game, especially with enemy bosses going down very quickly compared to the first game.

Oh, and you might have noticed that I have not once mentioned the narrative of this single-player game. That is because it really just does not matter. This is the 3 iteration of the original Ninja Gaiden II, and each of those iterations has different chapters, bosses, and playable characters. This modular treatment of narrative moments is only possible because the plot is not important, but the moments are. The seemingly never-ending fight up the staircase in hell, the return to Ryu’s village from the first game, and the military airship that you leap onto while it’s in flight- these moments help make the game iconic. But none of us, not even the most die hard fans, seem to care why or how any of these moments happen, or even what they mean for the characters. The story is only here to set up cool events, and it is incredibly efficient at that purpose.

Ninja Gaiden II Black is the definitive version of one of the greatest melee action games ever made. I’m still kicking myself for not fully diving into this series until this year, but it seems I’ve chosen the perfect time after all. I opened the year by completing Sigma, now Black II, and soon I plan to finish the original Ninja Gaiden II as well on Xbox before timidly attempting playthroughs of Ninja Gaiden 3 Razer’s Edge and, potentially, Yaiba Z. We even have the long awaited 4^th game on the way near the end of the year! This is the best time I could have possibly chosen to enlist into the Dragon Clan, and it’s inspired me to go back and consider other action games that I’ve always admired from afar that deserve a modern visit. I wish the online co-op of II Sigma was able to carry forward to this release, but  Ninja Gaiden II Black is still incredible, even all this time, and the new coat of paint and gameplay refinements, though nice, don’t change that fact in the slightest.