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What happened to Ninja Gaiden?

Hollywood Hitman

Hollywood Hitman

Gold Member
https://youtu.be/Q6onyaj12V8

Hard to believe the series reboot on newer consoles at the time was back in 2004 and it was a great ride. This was a series that would truly put about 8 inches of hair on your dick, I loved it tho. But it seemed the series just fell off the face of the earth this gen and I just realized we haven't had a new one.

Someone catch me up, what happened to NG?

I love Nioh for what that series is, but Ninja Gaiden is a completely different style of game. Just a bummer there isn't even plans that surfaced for a new one.
 
Ninja gaiden 3 vanilla happend. Razor's edge was a fun game and actually playable compared to NG3, but NG3 vanilla absolutely damaged the brand.

Now they are thinking about how to bring it back, but in the meantime growing new IP's like Nioh and expanding on their successes with DOA
 
One of the studio heads left and took some of the talent with him.
They helped make a bad Metroid and then they ruined their own franchise.
Took them copying Dark Souls to get some attention again.
 
NG3 and Yaiba happened.

This is what they said about NG most recently I think?
Lee replied that the outfit wouldn't be able to call itself "Team Ninja" if they decided to retire Ryu Hayabusa. "Maybe I can say that Nioh is a gateway into the next chapter for Ninja Gaiden. [Ninja Gaiden] is a very important, if not the most important franchise, for us. But at this point I think this franchise needs to be in the shadows for a while until we bring it back. There will be a time, and when the time is right, we will bring it back."
Click to expand...
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/team-ninja-ninja-gaiden-needs-to-be-in-the-shadows-for-a-while
 
Inuhanyou said:
Ninja gaiden 3 vanilla happend. Razor's edge was a fun game and actually playable compared to NG3, but NG3 vanilla absolutely damaged the brand.

Now they are thinking about how to bring it back, but in the meantime growing new IP's like Nioh and expanding on their successes with DOA
Click to expand...

Razor's Edge was just a continuation of the dumbed down shit Hayashi was known for since the Sigma titles.

Also, you can only shine a turd so much...
 
You know what I want? Tecmo needs to pull a Capcom and make Ninja Gaiden IV in the same retro style as Mega Man 9/10. Go back to the NES style and make it challenging as hell.

I miss those days.
 
Word.

First result

2017-04-14_10000bowj.png
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Razor's Edge was just a continuation of the dumbed down shit Hayashi was known for since the Sigma titles.

Also, you can only shine a turd so much...
Click to expand...

?? Ok if that's your opinion. I thought RE was enjoyable but clearly inferior to previous entrees, and i thought the Sigma games were fine with their respective pros and cons to the original versions, but hyperbole is fine i guess.
 
Miles Quaritch said:
I mean, it's not like the dude went onto greatness afterwards. He's a great guy and I'll forever love him for Black, but it was a collective effort.

A game that came about through everyone being in the right place at the right time. Lightening in a bottle.
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Many from team Ninja left with him,
Just look how messed the series has been after him departed from 3 and so on.

So yeah, he is the key. Black and 2 were amazing.
 
Inuhanyou said:
?? Ok if that's your opinion. I thought RE was really good, and i thought the Sigma games were also fine, but, hyperbole is fine i guess.
Click to expand...

Fair play, I'm not going to shit on anyone who liked or preferred the lesser versions of Black and 2.

They were targeted at two different types of gamers. One challenged gamers to get good, the other allowed them to dumb things down so they could just breeze through without being challenged.
 
Detective said:
Itagaki left.
Click to expand...

Precisely this.

Team Ninja aren't complete shit though, as we've seen with Nioh, they just really fucking suck at making character action games. I really enjoyed Wii U owners pretending that exclusive version of NG3 was good for a couple months. Gave me a laff.
 
Did NG2 sell better than 1? What about the Sigma titles or 3?
Outside of NG1, ive never thought of the series as a popular one.
And im not speaking of its quality, I just dont know how this series has sold.
 
Detective said:
Many from team Ninja left with him,
Just look how messed the series has been after him departed from 3 and so on.

So yeah, he is the key. Black and 2 were amazing.
Click to expand...

There was only 3 since. What got messed up? Team ninja didn't work on Yaiba.

Strangelove77 said:
Did NG2 sell better than 1? What about the Sigma titles or 3?
Outside of NG1, ive never thought of the series as a popular one.
And im not speaking of its quality, I just dont know how this series has sold.
Click to expand...

Nioh has already sold more than any of them.
 
The dude left, and Ninja Gaiden 3 was ass.

I kind of felt salty about Ninja Gaiden 2 Black as well. The nerfing of the gore really kind of ruined the port for me.

And then Ninja Gaiden 3 just felt like a total series downgrade
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Fair play, I'm not going to shit on anyone who liked or preferred the lesser versions of Black and 2.

They were targeted at two different types of gamers. One challenged gamers to get good, the other allowed them to dumb things down so they could just breeze through without being challenged.
Click to expand...

Hot stuff coming through...
 
Detective said:
Many from team Ninja left with him,
Just look how messed the series has been after him departed from 3 and so on.

So yeah, he is the key. Black and 2 were amazing.
Click to expand...

And yet the only game he released after leaving was Devil's Third. Maybe he was still pissed about what went down at Tecmo, but he hasn't exactly done anything to capture the same magic of Black or 2.

What is the guy even up to these days?
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Fair play, I'm not going to shit on anyone who liked or preferred the lesser versions of Black and 2.

They were targeted at two different types of gamers. One challenged gamers to get good, the other allowed them to dumb things down so they could just breeze through without being challenged.
Click to expand...

You just said you weren't going to shit on anyone yet your tone is completely ridiculous and condescending. Come on my friend lol
 
I think the real answer is that Ninja Gaiden is a brand that was very much revived and built up under Itagaki's reign, but unlike Dead or Alive it was never really all that popular in sales, especially in Japan itself. It makes sense that given the opportunity to move beyond the shadow of constant comparisons and expectations with each new title after Itagaki's departure, that Hayashi's Team Ninja would prefer to create brands which they can be proud of. Metroid Other M was a huge misstep, but with stuff like Hyrule Warriores and NiOh being very well received, I think there's little reason for them to want to return to Ninja Gaiden anytime soon.
 
Ascenion said:
Itagaki left. Hayashi is incapable of producing anything on the level.
Click to expand...
This is some bullshit. Hayashi helped produce Nioh which might have the best 3rd person combat ever outside of Ninja Gaiden.

There's still people over at Team Ninja who can produce a kick ass action game. When they have the vision for what NG should be in this day and age, I'm sure they'll deliver.
 
If you guys want to know what the brainchildren of Ninja gaiden 1 and 2 are working on right now, go buy Naruto to Boruto Strikers when it comes out. Literally all the main leads of Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 are working on that game as a subsidiary of valhalla studios.

It looks like brainless online mush to me, but hey, if your curious
 
I'm fine with letting Ninja Ryu take a breather, because between Nioh being a new property that they should cultivate and just wanting to make sure the stank from NG3 completely dissipates, Team Ninja has plenty of reasons to sideline him for now.

I have every confidence that he'll return soon after Capcom and Itsuno are ready to bring their own action star back.
 
I enjoyed the Sigma games, haven't played Razor's Edge yet. I enjoyed Black and original Ninja Gaiden 2 though the latter had major issues.

I think Hayashi can make a great Ninja Gaiden game. Itagaki is not the end all be all, his work on Devil's Third pretty much proves that.

I like that Team Ninja is taking an extended break from NG so that they can come back to it with fresher ideas and not just fart out another sequel.
 
Sigma 2 was dumbed down. Sigma 1 was still good. Worse than Black but better than vanilla.

Get it right, gaf. Sigma 1 haters please leave.
 
Itagaki left, and then NG3/Yaiba happened. That being said, Team Ninja is in much better shape now thanks to Nioh, so I wouldn't outright reject a new Ninja Gaiden by them (though I would still be incredibly cautious).
 
Inuhanyou said:
There was only 3 since. What got messed up? Team ninja didn't work on Yaiba.



Nioh has already sold more than any of them.
Click to expand...

If you can't tell the difference between Black and NG2 Games and how inferior the title has been after Itagaki left than telling you what's messed up is waste of time really. No offense.
 
NG1 was great because of the graphics, gameplay, and challenging difficulty.

NG2 was still good because of the gore (OG version) and the gameplay was still top notch.

NG3 seemed like a distant cousin, that was half baked, perhaps unfinished, and pretty much put the franchise in it's current state.

Pretty sad because it was one of my favorite franchises.
 
If NG hadn't lost its way, would we have Nioh today? How I tend to look at things when hope may be lost, at least in the short term.
 
kuYuri said:
I enjoyed the Sigma games, haven't played Razor's Edge yet. I enjoyed Black and original Ninja Gaiden 2 though the latter had major issues.
Click to expand...

Don't ever play vanilla, just go straight to razor's edge. Vanilla 3 will taint your opinion of the series completely, RE will just be marginally disappointing for those expecting something better, let alone as good as 1 or two. Its still pretty fun though.

Detective said:
If you can't tell the difference between Black and NG2 Games and how inferior the title has been after Itagaki left than telling you what's messed up is waste of time really. No offense.
Click to expand...

Uh, as i said, i already know that 3 was very bad. And i know Yaiba was shit as well. But its a fact that team ninja has only worked on 3 and Razor's edge since Itagaki left in the NG franchise. THat's just a fact
 
I actually didn't catch or pay attention to the exit of Itagaki, missed the memo.

But nioh is incredible, I'd like to think they could still pull off a new Gaiden. The series was feeling so damn awesome for 1 and 2
 
Miles Quaritch said:
And yet the only game he released after leaving was Devil's Third. Maybe he was still pissed about what went down at Tecmo, but he hasn't exactly done anything to capture the same magic of Black or 2.

What is the guy even up to these days?
Click to expand...

He is good friend with MS,
Hope they can approach him for som Ninja tilte :/

Probably won't happen though.
 
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