{"id":34829,"date":"2025-03-27T21:16:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T01:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=34829"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:37:36","slug":"ninja-gaiden-black-ii-review-back-in-black-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=34829","title":{"rendered":"Ninja Gaiden Black II Review: Back in Black…Again!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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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\u2019s 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\u2026you 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    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\u2019t lighten the mood much either, but they are all fun to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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\u2019t leave you hanging. Momiji\u2019s chapters are also fun to play, but less exciting to me as she isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t

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