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Ninja Gaiden II Beta Impressions

dirtmonkey37

flinging feces ---->
I'm disappointed to hear that the graphics leave much to be desired. I was hoping Team Ninja would do something about that as it's seemingly the only aspect of the game whose quality is not on par with the everything else.

Ah well -- there's always Ninja Gaiden 3.
 

USD

Member
Speevy said:
Um...ouch. This is why Japanese developers shouldn't create betas.
It may sound like I'm being down on the game, but I'm really not. All I really care about is the core gameplay, and it's quite awesome. I found it fresh, fun, and challenging.
 
Thanks for the impressions, USD. The latest issue of EGM said Sonya was playable. Well, they said NG2 would have a new playable female lead, and it sounds like you described her. Do you think this was an error or does this seem like something that could be in the cards?
 

Pachinko

Member
So it's coming along nicely then cool. I have faith team ninja won't release the final game with less then a 99% stable 60 fps. Even the demo due in a couple months will likely be shined up like crazy compared to this beta preview. The state you described it being in is pretty much why , in a nutshell, you weren't supposed to take pictures or video. The content my be done but there's still optimizations to be had that could include- better lighting, better textures, removal of slowdown, AI balancing. In the end I wouldn't be suprised at all by a last minute delay of another 2-4 weeks , like really last minute. The games set for June right now and I can see may coming along and it gets pushed to July. Take all the time they need I say, they polished up the original pretty damn well I'd say.
 

USD

Member
a Master Ninja said:
Thanks for the impressions, USD. The latest issue of EGM said Sonya was playable. Well, they said NG2 would have a new playable female lead, and it sounds like you described her. Do you think this was an error or does this seem like something that could be in the cards?
I'm not too sure. What EGM said seems to contradict what Itagaki had said prior, so I don't know who to believe. Maybe it's a translation mistake, maybe it's the real deal. I saw nothing to suggest she'd be playable, but who knows.
 

ElNino

Member
Green Shinobi said:
I didn't even realize that Ninja Gaiden had camera problems until GAF told me about it.
Another example of why you shouldn't believe anything you read on GAF until you try it yourself.
 
alr1ghtstart said:
NG1's camera is probably the WORST 3d camera I've ever seen. It caused me to stop playing the first, and will prevent me from buying the second.
dqovev.gif

Right Trigger.
 
a Master Ninja said:
dqovev.gif

Right Trigger.

simply recentering the camera all the time doesnt solve the problem, it is just an acceptable solution one must deal with because its the best option you have. Idealy, the camera would automatically position itself to always give you the best angle.
 

Speevy

Banned
Ninja Gaiden has one of the most fluid and fun combat systems ever conceived, so they probably shouldn't mess with it too much.

At the same time, this game seems like a rush job.
 
I always thought the bad camera is NG would be helped out a good bit by widening the levels a bit. This way the camera has more room to move around and would snag less.
 

Speevy

Banned
Dr. Kitty Muffins said:
I always thought the bad camera is NG would be helped out a good bit by widening the levels a bit. This way the camera has more room to move around and would snag less.


If you turned the gun-toting soldiers in Warhawk into ninjas and gave them NG's combat, that would be the perfect game.
 

Elbrain

Suckin' dicks since '66
dirtmonkey37 said:
I'm disappointed to hear that the graphics leave much to be desired. I was hoping Team Ninja would do something about that as it's seemingly the only aspect of the game whose quality is not on par with the everything else.

Ah well -- there's always Ninja Gaiden 3.

It will look good man come on now it's beta impressions I have faith that it will look good.
 

big_z

Member
if they dont fix the camera then fuck it, i'll pass. the first was hard but i think a lot of the difficulty was from the shit camera... i died countless times from not seeing wtf was going on.
 

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
Narag said:
I remember a similar DMC4 thread where someone wanted the formula changed up and recommended vehicles :(
Nothing is wrong with that...it would be Lady's Motorcycle for one and Dante your weild it like a moving sword. It would be his reving weapon
 

Kusagari

Member
Agent Icebeezy said:
I never had a tough time managing the camera in Ninja Gaiden.

I never have a problem with the camera in any game. It amazes me how many people bitch about camera angles all the time in so many games. Because they have never bothered me once.
 

Mamesj

Banned
Testicular Sound Express said:
don't pull that on me. Is it so hard to expect more new gameplay elements and fixing the problems fro the first game like the camera.


"limb chopping is the new gameplay element."

"that's not a new gameplay element, that's just like dumb and stuff. It doesn't even do anything. and the camera isn't even fixed."

*explains how limb chopping effects gameplay and how people who aren't dumb can manually control the camera in NG with few problems*

"that's not a new gameplay element, that's just like dumb and stuff. It doesn't even do anything. and the camera isn't even fixed."


There, I got the whole exchange done early to save us both time.
 
Elbrain said:
It will look good man come on now it's beta impressions I have faith that it will look good.
Assuming they continue to optimize the game and don't just leave it in the state USD played, I commend Team Ninja for putting gameplay before graphics. I'll take 720p at 60fps in my games at the expense of amazing visuals.
big_z said:
if they dont fix the camera then fuck it, i'll pass. the first was hard but i think a lot of the difficulty was from the shit camera... i died countless times from not seeing wtf was going on.
God bless saved films. I need to see how other people play this game.
 

Speevy

Banned
a Master Ninja said:
Assuming they continue to optimize the game and don't just leave it in the state USD played, I commend Team Ninja for putting gameplay before graphics. I'll take 720p at 60fps in my games at the expense of amazing visuals.
.


At the expense? It's the minimum standard for the genre and console.
 
Speevy said:
At the expense? It's the minimum standard for the genre and console.
Heavenly Sword wasn't 60fps. If the question here is why doesn't NG2 look as good as DMC4, then I don't know the answer. Resource taxing limb physics? I blame the bad art, personally. Seems like bad texture work wasted on high poly-count models.
 

ckeur

Member
Can you tell me where it was at? I go to Tech, maybe saw one flier, thought it was a tournament, so didn't pay attention where it was at. Today, I wanted to go play, but couldn't find another flier or announcement anywhere on campus.

On a side note, I thought it was funny that the fliers said Ninja II Gaiden blah blah blah, because of the way the logo looks. Haha :lol
 
a Master Ninja said:
Heavenly Sword wasn't 60fps. If the question here is why doesn't NG2 look as good as DMC4, then I don't know the answer. Resource taxing limb physics? I blame the bad art, personally. Seems like bad texture work wasted on high poly-count models.

I blame bad art also. Stop doing lame doll looking characters, team ninja! You can do better, the CG video from Ninja Gaiden 1 looked awesome as did several of the endings from DoA3.
 

dirtmonkey37

flinging feces ---->
Elbrain said:
It will look good man come on now it's beta impressions I have faith that it will look good.

I'm going to boldly profess that the visuals of the final retail copy will look entirely identical to the gameplay videos released a month or so ago. Ninja Gaiden 2's draw, as "a Master Ninja stated above", will be its gameplay. Top-notch technology to power the primary development goal of the project -- which is again, the gameplay -- is a conscious ancillary objective and as such, it wasn't deemed important enough to spend development resources on.

It's presence isn't integral to the experience, but I would have enjoyed some uncanny next-gen lighting, textures, and shader techniques to accompany the gameplay bliss that will be Ninja Gaiden 2. You can't have everything and since this may very well have been a one-or-the-other situation, I'm glad Team Ninja valued playability as opposed to an extra coat of "high definition."
 

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
Was I the only one who didnt have an problem with the camera in the first one? Id definitely rather have an action camera like in NG than a camera that moves with the right analogue stick but wont let me invert left and right.
 

Speevy

Banned
Gen X said:
Was I the only one who didnt have an problem with the camera in the first one? Id definitely rather have an action camera like in NG than a camera that moves with the right analogue stick but wont let me invert left and right.


Of course you weren't. Ninja Gaiden is widely considered the first or second best action game of its type ever released. The camera thing is a minor quibble which doesn't even concern most people.
 

Draft

Member
McDragon said:
the game framerate dips to 30 when using ninpo.

it was always like that.
Itagaki addressed that directly in an interview. He said that NG1 dropping to 30 for Ninpo was a compromise he regrets making, and that 60fps will be the only FPS rate in NG2.
 
Like, it just seems....what's the point? The way it's sounding, they should have just made it another upgrade pack.

I was anticipating DMC4 so much, and when it turned out to be pretty damn mediocre, I pinned my hopes on NGII as a real next gen hack n' slash action game, and this seems to be now following in DMC4's path of being a barely incrementally improvement, despite moving to a completely new system.
 

USD

Member
ckeur said:
Can you tell me where it was at? I go to Tech, maybe saw one flier, thought it was a tournament, so didn't pay attention where it was at. Today, I wanted to go play, but couldn't find another flier or announcement anywhere on campus.

On a side note, I thought it was funny that the fliers said Ninja II Gaiden blah blah blah, because of the way the logo looks. Haha :lol
It was at the CRC.
 

Draft

Member
The-Switcher said:
Like, it just seems....what's the point? The way it's sounding, they should have just made it another upgrade pack.

I was anticipating DMC4 so much, and when it turned out to be pretty damn mediocre, I pinned my hopes on NGII as a real next gen hack n' slash action game, and this seems to be now following in DMC4's path of being a barely incrementally improvement, despite moving to a completely new system.
Just walk away then, buddy. DMC4 was amazing and if NG2 can match it in excellence than 2008 truly is the year of the action game.
 

Draft

Member
The camera hate is really just out of control.

I imagine at this point it's rationalization from people too limp wristed or slow of mind to tackle the intense action of Ninja Gaiden. Bubububu the camera got me killed!

It's not a perfect camera, or even a great camera, and it does occasionally get itself into a spot that's less than conducive to, you know, seeing stuff. But the idea that you need to wrestle with it is asinine. It generally affords a good view of the action, and the snapping it behind Ryu is an inelegant but effective remedy for when it wonks out.

Go ahead, quote this post and my avatar. It will help alleviate the shame that lives deep in your heart.
 
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