Ninja Gaiden Master Collection - Catch-All

I wonder if the Rachel mission count for the get master ninja on all mission as her score are ranked as hunter. I get why they added her but it breaks the flow for me.

I am thinking sigma is easier but I cannot quantify that or offer and fact. It just feels easier.

Gratz on Alma, ccesarano. I think I stopped just short of meeting her last night. After getting out of the elevator I started going backwards through the rooms again and fighting endless blink demons. Switched off there because it was getting late anyway. But I keep hearing Alma is a toughy. Maybe if I prepare myself for the worst it won’t be so bad. Sort of like my experience with Hino-enma from Nioh 1.

I don’t have much mileage at all on the dragon sword despite maxxing it out. I hear that izuna drop is the bee’s knees.

AFAIK Sigma is regarded as being easier compared to Black.

I tried to do some searching but as far as I can tell Sigma's enemy AI is closer to the original releases, and the Black AI was harder (though it isn't clear if this is universal or not since most of the AI claims were regarding the game's harder difficulties). Otherwise, it's having the quick-access items available to cycle through and use whenever (I'm guessing if you were in an enemy's death grab, you couldn't open the menu and use an item). The game also evidently has more shops and save points.

It's enough that I think I'm certainly better than I used to be even with these changes.

And yeah, I'd recommend not going through that room. Just drop immediately down to the monastery and fight her.

Woo, took down Alma on the third attempt. And thank god for that: there's no save point nearby so each retry was a swim through the tunnel followed by the ride up the elevator and an avoidable fight with those annoying Black Spider Clan bozos.

Alma was a nice duel. I really leaned on the Flying Swallow to open her up. In terms of keeping mobile through out the encounter the technique of jumping to cancel out the roll recovery was a major key.

I can already tell the rocket troopers in the next chapter are going to a true pleasure.

I keep waking up a minimum of an hour before my alarm these days, a true pleasure, but I decided to take that extra time and play some more Ninja Gaiden this morning. Yeah, those rocket troopers... they're a bit of a mixed bag.

Chapter 10 was actually not so bad, it was kind of brief, and Izuna Drop still works like a champ on most foes. I also decided to take your note about the jump cancel, which really does increase mobility to avoid some attacks. Worked well once you get closer to the rocket guys and they aim towards your feet or so.

Chapter 11, though... well, it took me longer than it otherwise might have since I decided to take a second stab at two fights in order to use fewer resources, and then I game over'd after that second tough fight and... had to do it a third time. So, uh, warning as to when to save your game again:

Spoiler:

After you blow up that helicopter, save your game. You have to go into one tight corridor and kill three rocket guys not once, but twice. They make you backtrack to it.

Looking online, it seems there are 19 chapters in this game. I'm a bit surprised to already be about halfway through. It really is a brutal game, though. Looking back, games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta are definitely more accessible, though they tend to knock down your ranking if you use healing items. It seems like Ninja Gaiden knows you're going to use healing items, and does not at all expect you to get through any encounter without taking damage.

Yeah Ninja Gaiden seems more focused on combos so not getting hit is part of it but they also give a ton of points for having ninpo left at the end of the mission.

I think it makes some sense ad Bayonetta's dodge is way better than anything in the ninja gaiden tool kit. To me they feel like the same core game built around their own limitations.

Youtube has been recommending me loads of Ninja Gaiden content, not surprisingly. I was having my breakfast and minding my own business when this video popped up in the feed:

This is not the NG Sigma but the point of watching it is to marvel at the mastery of the game. Going in I was expecting to see some abusive cheese tactics but on the contrary it ended up being quite a lot of nail-biting sequences and a master class of clean, technical play. The first kill was like something out of a movie. The series continues on from here and I'll probably watch a few more while taking mental notes.

in my own game I'd like to practice nailing that Izuna Drop and experiment a bit with the 360+Y attack and 360+(hold)Y variant for the Dragon Sword. I believe the Lunar has something similar as well. And the above video has gotten me thinking about those shuriken cancels a lot more!

Here, lemme help ya with that.

The "youtube" tag is finnicky, only need the video ID itself to get it to work.

EDIT: Okay, watched it, and yeah, it's really technical. Something I noticed in my game, and was glad was mentioned in The Gaming Brit's analysis of the original and both Black and Sigma (warning: guy that refers to Ninja Gaiden as "a gamer's game", if that sort of speak or attitude annoys you), is that the game seems real inconsistent as to when you Flying Swallow and when you don't and when you target who you want to and when you don't. That player never did a move like a Flying Swallow or some of the others that rely heavily on targeting the right person, and I wonder if the inconsistency of the auto-targeting is why. Could be other reasons, of course, but it just struck me as a curious thing.

Oh shoot, I should have QA'd the video link before posting. I never used to have issues posting from the Share direct link in Youtube. Strange. Thanks for fixing!

Re: Flying Swallow. Yes it seems to be a combo of auto targeting and distance from target. There's another room for error that I've always approached the move as having a small amount of RNG and react accordingly.

Thanks for the link to the Gaming Brit!

How has everyone been handling the "Fatso" boss? Ran into him again in the city and have to say this is the only enemy in Sigma that has made me feel real rage. Both times I've just brute forced my way past him and haven't picked up on a "trick" to dispatching him without turning into an elixir addict. Stay in the pocket? Nope. Hit & run? Nope. Run away from the lasers? Fine for a while but eventually, nope. Projectiles? Nope.

He was one I should have tried a second time but didn't bother. It's weird because he has such wide range. Basically I didn't run directly at him but instead sort of around and towards, like a spiral, so that his projectile didn't hit me. Unfortunately his next attack was usually unpredictable. Usually it's a specific attack that'll break your block but you should be able to dodge towards/away from, which leaves him open. Thing is, he's only open for a hit or two. What's the next follow-up? Is it the grab? Another block breaker? The super charge I gotta escape from?

I dunno if I ever came up with a particular strategy, but it largely involved run a spiral towards him, only hit one or two times, then roll out of the way of his next attack if I can. If block isn't broken, hit him another one or two times.

I just fought the chapter 12 boss four times trying to use minimal healing, and I feel like my second attempt was actually my best. He's pretty good but I just wish I didn't use so many standard elixers. Bosses hit hard, even with the defense boosting bracelet.

What might help with fatso is the fire wheel Ninpo. It does damage when you're touching an opponent, so if you do get grabbed by fatso, he'll at least take some damage.

EDIT: I just realized, regarding that no-damage video, that Sigma doesn't have a NG+, if I am recalling the comparisons I read correctly. Which means the player wouldn't have even had moves like Flying Swallow yet.

I am the dumb.

Another note: not recommending it for Fatso, but for bosses with any sort of stun phases, I recommend Ryu's Dragon Sword combo of X -> X -> Y -> Y -> Y. On PlayStation that'd be Square -> Square -> Triangle -> Triangle -> Triangle. On the chapter twelve boss, who could really use a lock-on ability, that's the combo I accidentally stumbled into that does the most damage in the least span of time. I kind of timed some button presses wrong trying to do a different combo, and instead Ryu did a bunch of fancy moves that removed a decent chunk of the boss' health bar compared to everything else I'd been doing. I don't really do a lot of combos due to how quick I need to be ready to dodge or block an enemy's attack, which means I'm probably playing wrong (it's all about that Izuna Drop, babyyyyyyyy), but discovering that one was a real treat.

I don't remember there being so many motorcycles. I feel like they removed larger groups of standard baddies and adding in motorcycles in sigma. Thank and maybe the location of some fights or my memories are bad?

Chapter 11 was awful. Maybe I was just playing tired. The challenges weren’t satisfying even after I conquered them. The two tanks were particularly bad. The attack chopper was better by a slim margin. Loading into a new area only to be swarmed by bats immediately wasn’t lethal but added to my overall distaste for this game’s dated design.

I’m very much looking forward to putting this one away so I can start on Sigma 2 with a clear conscience.

I didn't have nearly as much of a problem with Chapter 11 as you did, though 12 was actually my favorite for a while. It felt more combat light, though there was an area where enemies respawn indefinitely (or so it felt).

However, those two tanks I ended up having a couple attempts against, and did the Helicopter two additional times (though one unintentional) in order to do better. I think the insistence on projectiles there was the issue, because the projectile controls are not very good. The tanks at least take damage to Inferno, though. Most bosses seem to dodge or just... repel that spell somehow.

I'm actually surprised to still be enjoying this as much as I am. I keep expecting to hit a level that's too hard for me, and haven't hit it yet. So I'm curious to see if I manage to beat this one on Normal, and if that means I might actually be able to beat Sigma 2 on Normal as well. Then I will truly have surpassed my former self!

Oh I forgot to mention the rain of rockets from the "tower of babel" in Chapter 11. That was doable on the first attempt. After a minute or so of jumping around I thought to myself "oh are they really asking me to use the manual aiming controls for bow and arrow under this kind of pressure? Yes they are!"

Followed closely by some swearing as I would inadvertently find myself aiming into the wall because it's based on Ryu's current facing of course and not the camera's.

Yuuuuup. I thought I had to kill all the dudes at first, too. Didn't realize they want you to aim at all the spotlights.

Ninja Gaiden is a really good game but I feel like it is just such moments that are going to prevent it from feeling as infinitely replayable as some other action games of its ilk.

EDIT: Two tips. End of Chapter 14, just die to the boss, you can't beat 'em.

Beginning of Chapter 15, don't bother with the fiend challenge. Just use the platforms to wall-run and collect stuff. The reward is a Lives of a Thousand Gods if you can beat 'em all, but I used so much magic and burned all my restorative items and still there was no end in sight. Don't know the point of extending my life if I got nothing else on me.

I have a feeling I'm about to creep into some major, major B.S.

I am on chapter 18 of 19 and I am at the point where I want to beat the game just to be done with it. I've come too far to give up now but at the same time I am so sick of some of its bullcrap. Tomonobu Itagaki is, in some ways, one righteous game director with a sense for slick action combat.

The dude is also a major A-Hole. And I mean that both in terms of the allegations that helped get him fired and some of his design choices.

There is a trick to the chapter 16 boss. I figured it out. Wanna know the secret?

Spoiler:

Use flying swallow to knock her down and stun her.

You know the problem? It's not just targeting, it's an inconsistent understanding of when she's invincible or not. Which seems to be consistent across many enemies and bosses. Oh, they're in the middle of some lengthy attack where they're breathing fire? Guess that's an opening! ....aaaaaand they block-canceled out of their attack because reasons.

It's so weird how this is the same thing that some bosses do in No More Heroes, only that game at least has the excuse of being insanely jank. This is just mocking you, it feels like. I don't know how people can play this on a higher mode of difficulty. Devil May Cry 3 and above are at least far more consistent with this stuff, as is Bayonetta. This? This is just... incredibly frustrating.

There are some weapons that do a better job of breaking through enemy blocks. Better. But still inconsistent. What works one time might not work another.

I'm going to beat this game. I hope. And then... I'm going to take a break and not move directly on to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

Just... criminy.

I’m somehow not surprised and that sucks to hear. The oppressiveness of the current heat wave and some minor side effects from my last COVID jab have kept me from playing as much. I too would really want to put the NGS notch in my belt and be done with it. But you’re so close! Hope there’s a rewarding cutscene waiting for you at the end.

Well I've beaten it, and I'm here to warn you that there's no stinking Muramasa shop in Chapters 18 and 19. Not along the critical path, at least. You can head back into Chapter 18 if you want. I considered doing some money grinding but not sure what the best way or place to do it is. There is a fiend challenge that can net you a Talisman of Rebirth, which is nice if you take a hit that's stronger than you anticipated and kills you flat out.

Those complains regarding Sigma being easier, though? Especially with "added checkpoints"? Man, screw 'em. As I said, no shops in Chapters 18 and 19, and Chapter 18 is such a rush of tough enemies followed by a semi-boss rush and then two other bosses one after the next and then one final boss in Chapter 19.

It's. Stupid. And all I wanted was one stinking Muramasa shop at least at the top of that demon tower thing. By the game's end I had over 30,000 soul things and it would have been nice to purchase a security blanket but no. Itagaki needs you to know whether you are or are not a bad enough dude to rescue the Dragon Blade.

What is helpful for at least two of those fights is the Fire Wheels, though. So, spoilers for some bosses.

Spoiler:

Chapter 18, you fight the goat-like devil demon fiend guy, and he has a tendency to summon little fiend minions. If you have fire wheel on, they basically get bounced back away from you. I didn't focus on them much, maybe just running into them when circling the bad guy waiting to dodge his flying-charge attacks which provide the greatest opening. If they die they can either drop health or ninpo orbs, which means less use of potions. However, you want to be careful not to hang around him too long if he lands from the big, whirlwind charge, because he likes to try and do a grab move on you. So, best to try and not get greedy. Unfortunately, he also follows not only two arena fights with fiends, but a refight of the... um... Tall Sarlaac fiend with twin tentacles? Do you remember the Sarlaac Pit as interpreted in the Super Star Wars game on the SNES? That guy but in Ninja Gaiden. I hate that guy. Snow Wampa is a lot easier to defeat without taking much damage. But yeah, if you die or use too many resources on Goat Demon then you are either screwed in the next few fights or have to redo it all.

Which leads to the next two bosses of Chapter 18. Big Tall Angel Guy? Don't use anything but your sword on him. Just... make sure you have a separate save file after Goat Demon Guy that you can load and practice on, because getting adjusted to the platform is the biggest key to this fight. You'll need to be pressing and releasing the guard button constantly to move the platform, and you'll want to take every opportunity between beams to get at least one hit. So you're always moving the platform, just depends on when you're guarding whether you're locked on the... z-axis I suppose. No guard? Move in just as beams are ending to get a slash or two, then immediately back up, then guard to move up and down as well as side-to-side. He's actually quite easy, and you'll need to occasionally watch out for a punch, but otherwise it's not that bad of a fight.

But you still have no save point before Mountain Skull Man. This is where Fire Wheel is useful, but if you can, have some arrows of all kinds prepared. I know, would be easier if there was a Muramasa shop, but what can you do? And who knows how many resources you'd use climbing down the tower just to head back into the city. Fire Wheel for the ghost piranhas at least, meaning you'd need some devil elixer. Still, there's a phase where the big mountain demon is just wading through lava into a new position. During this phase you can use your bow to hit the skull a few times. Not much damage with regular arrows, but I imagine the explosive or armor-piercing cores might do more. So if you are willing to travel out to a destination you know has either before going into the demon tower, I'd advise it... so long as the journey itself doesn't cost many potions. In addition to the bow, he'll send two skulls after you that you can hack down, but then use firewheel for all the others that charge you (or, if you can get a long enough lasting combo, Vigoorian Flail, but I'd more advise firewheel since it doesn't stop as soon as a Flail combo). Each skull counts towards damage to the boss, just make sure you're out-running the boomerang path of the big skull. After that phase, he'll hop up onto the platform or across to the other side to land in the magma. If he lands on the platform, just hack and slash under him, maybe use one of the bigger weapons, but be careful of the feet. Watch them and make sure to roll out of the way when they stomp down. If you got plenty of Ninpo or elixers, go ahead and activate fire wheel again as you'll continue doing damage while under him. If he's in the magma, just arrow up that face.

Those are my tips for the chapter 18 bosses. I barely managed to survive my second attempt with the Chapter 19 boss, and if you die you need to repeat some platforming. Simple platforming, but still time consuming.

The ending is not worth it.

Itagaki is a jerk.

I'd say the game is pretty great up to mission 16 (well, maybe 15 because Rachel's missions kind of stink), but after that it steadily gets more frustrating. Some highs, but Itagaki is just completely unfamiliar with the notion of tension release. You get done a really tough, teeth grinding fight, and you give the player a moment of calm and readjustment. You don't fling 'em at a tough boss only to then fling them at three armored fiends with barely any flinch that move far faster with their giant blades than you do with yours.

When I beat the game, an achievement popped up congratulating me on my first playthrough of it. Bold of them to assume I'd want to go back after all that.

EDIT: Oh yeah, final ranking was "Head Ninja" for the whole game. Dunno if that'll mean anything in the end.

Congrats!

Ok l will remember to gird my loins and brew myself some patience tea when I get to those final stages.

Which weapon did you main at the end or were you switching about depending on the enemies?

I hated it at first but I’ve returned to Tiger Fang & Dragon Claw lately. This was one of my most used back in the vanilla NG2 days but noticed it feeling a bit “off” in Sigma. The recovery from some moves isn’t great. I use it to get a flying swallow without having to use boring ol’ dragon sword haha.

Hit Chapter 15 in Sigma and began to feel burnt out on it. Something that's vexed me about the game has nothing to do with the challenge but rather the seemingly random way it changes the Game Over restart prompt. Most of the time it asks if you want to try again (Y/N) and you can jam on the A button to immediately restore from the last checkpoint. Every so often it precedes this prompt with a different one, asking if you'd like to quit the way of the ninja, or something to that effect. If you hit the preselected "yes" option, you're taken to a bizarre cutscene with Ayane and... I don't know what the point of this is except to further infuriate the player who may have already died a frustrating death and just wants to get on with it.

I thought it might be fun to take a break from Sigma and try out Razor's Edge for the first time. So... this game feels like it was tuned for a hyperactive drug-addled 13-year old Ninja Gaiden professional. I got up to the spider tank and decided that was enough for now.

Leave it to the second game in the trilogy to effectively be the Goldilocks of the series. Fired up Sigma 2 and immediately right at home. Quicker-paced & more mechanically sound than Sigma but without the key hunts and platforming. And slow & measured enough to not feel like an absolute mosh pit spaz fest that is Razor's Edge.

Yeah, I was never quite sure what would trigger that prompt myself. It also seems to be what unlocks the "ninja dog" difficulty, rather than just dropping you to the default easy mode. At least that's what the Internet says. I think I accidentally hit "yes" too many times once and noticed I got sent back to the beginning of the game and said "nope" and loaded back up.

I haven't gone back to the collection yet, but still plan to after I have cleared through some other games. Sigma 2 is the one that evidently had the most changes, including a reduction of enemies on screen. Maybe Sigma 3 didn't have that many changes in comparison since it was already an easier time? I know I had an easier time with Razor's Edge than the original 2.