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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Announced | Available Today on Console, PC, and Xbox Game Pass

Buggy Loop

Gold Member
4jpj020ru0fe1.png
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
He doesn't provide any measurements, but he says the 120fps mode is much cleaner on PS5 Pro than on Series X.
Maybe someone else has done precise pixel counts.


The 120fps mode on pro is donkey shit. It ruins hair and various other things. It’s clearly bugged or something. Worst dithering ever.

Wait for digital foundry or something to explain the issues.

Normal 60fps mode is basically perfect though. Although today I did see some minor pop in.
 

Spainkiller

the man who sold the world
LOL

In all seriousness, though: I'm fine with them re-releasing (a prettier version of) Sigma 2. Whatever this franchise needs to become more popular is good by me.

What I am not fine with, however, is them calling this game NG2 Black. That subtitle meant something, damnit. It meant the opposite of Sigma.

It's borderline false advertisement. It's like someone selling you a 'Director's Cut' of a movie only to find out that you're getting an upscaled but neutered Disney+ version.
 
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Gamerguy84

Member
He doesn't provide any measurements, but he says the 120fps mode is much cleaner on PS5 Pro than on Series X.
Maybe someone else has done precise pixel counts.


Yea that's enough really. Honestly for me 60 is fine. I watched a couple YT vids after that post.

I remember starting this back in the day but not finishing because of console malfunction. After watching those videos I'm really pumped up to play through this.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
Played through the first mission. Man, what an upgrade visually. The game looks absolutely stunning in comparison to Sigma 2 and original, but the cost of it all...

I think the game needs more optimization patches to offer rock-solid 60 FPS experience at all times at least in native 1440p + DLAA without RT, cuz as it stands right now, it's not possible on a 3080Ti. And when you turn on the RT is just bordeline unplayable without massive ammount of upscaling, and even then it's still an absolute trash.

On another note, playing the game again in 2025 just makes it even more clear that this is what pure gaming is and looks like without any modern political and social media BS, just pure uncompromising and badass gameplay with lots of gore and relentless combat, basically a purest definition of "They're not making games like this anymore".
 
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Larsowitz

Member


Is it me or this game look now less colored than the original one (at least in this game section)

Only played the first mission so far.

It is missing a lot of the effects and shaders that made the 360 original so unique. They removed many of the cool cherry blossom bloom and the big cinema screen is static.

Tokyo overall looks much less impressive. The original had a super high res 2D picture of real Tokyo in the background combined with 3D models and car/lightning effects. This is all gone.

On top of that, they removed Tokyo tower and cherry blossom move at 30fps (maybe that is my pc?).

Gameplaywise it is definitely the sigma 2 engine. OG plays very different.

21:9 support is nice and the new blood/gore effects are pretty cool.
 

peish

Member
>Play OG NG2
>Dozen ninja on screen
>A dozen more exploding shurikens firing at you off screen
>Spam Ultimate to win
>Pretty much do that for 80% of Master Ninja

“DiS Is the piNnaCLe oF aCtiOn COmbAt!!”

I have the same feelings. Even for its time, i was split with NG2 getting DW-lite enemies spam and losing the hub.

So to say NG2 was pristine, is a bit heavy on nostalgia.

NG2B looks like a good entry point for fast reactive combat that most other 3D action games lacks.

UE5 looks good on areas, but in other areas, the high frequency noisy textures will make enemies spam harder to standout.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
I like the look of Black more cuz it has way more colors (haven't checked HDR but it can look even better), whereas the original is muted and almost black and white, not a fan of bloom effects from X360/PS3 era too (especially in original NG). The biggest problem I've seen so far are shadows on hair that are way too blocky and look ugly during some scenes - it's a UE issue cuz UE4 has the same problems with raster local shadows.

Do we know which RT effects are in the game and is it even hardware RT and not BS software crap? RT local shadows could easily fix shadows on hair and from hair, just like in Cyberpunk.
 

Sintoid

Member
They had a chance to fix Black in the few problems it have. They decided to pick Sigma, paint it gray and call it Black

My interest is completely gone
 

Crayon

Member
Game runs beautifully on Linux mint. No stutters and performance is consistent in general.

UE5 is a big jump in requirements and there are some competitive looking ue 4 games at the top level, but this game is a good case for UE5. That lumen really works and it lets a lower budget game look pretty damn nice.
 

baphomet

Member
Anyone else notice how completely borked the RT is? It was so distractingly bad around level 5 I had to turn it off. You get phantom lights lighting the edges of the screen, crazy reflections that shouldn't be reflecting, in the water dragon area there's like a spotlight on Ryu that lights him and the immediate water around him but none of the other water.

It looks terrible.

Plays fine though. For sure easier than the OG though.
 
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SkylineRKR

Member
Well I like this version a ton. I feel the enemy count is actually appropriate for an action game, its still rather hectic at times and this is on Warrior, sorry Acolyte. I prefer the original version, because it had test of valor, mission mode dlc and it was the original vision. But 2 Black has good pacing, and it never gets frustrating. There is one level, the Jungle, where you will be sniped by rocket launchers, but its not that hard to push through.

I remember liking the additional levels on PS3 at first, and yes, I still like them. Especially Ayane. She's great to play as and she gives context to the dragon eye. Rachels aerial minigun finisher is bad ass too.

I also prefer the water level in this version, because in the original this was simply frustrating. Another upgrade is the altered lava level. The dual armadillo sucked ass, instead, we get good ol' Marbus and he obviously has some beef with Ryu. Notice how his horn is already slashed off by Rachel. Gone are those explosives in the lava. Because Zedonius was a piece of shit in the original, and after I killed him I exploded on the way to the exit forcing a rematch. I hated that part. i'd say the dual dragon fight being altered is a huge plus too. And the less said about that tunnel worm the better.

Is it 2 Black? I'd say Sigma 2 Black would've been more fair though as the baseline is Sigma (but this time inspired by the original game). Which means you win some and you lose some. But remember in NG Black we lost intercept, the original NES games, and probably some other things as well. Some people kept their old Xbox with the Hurricane packs and a vanilla NG1 copy.
 
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Orbital2060

Member
The shrine maidens level, and the other named characters. I guess those were added in Sigma? Feels like a blessing to have only played the 360 Ninja Gaiden 2.
 

dave_d

Member
Never played a NG game before. Is the consensus on these games hard as nails but fun to play?
I've said this before but I've only played Ninja Gaiden Black on standard difficulty.(Original Xbox on a Series X) It was a decent challenge for me (in my 50s btw) but wasn't the ridiculous challenge gaming journalists had told me it was. (Just farm essence.) I'm told it's nuts if you play it on harder difficulty levels though. (Those journalists would be curled up in a ball sucking on their thumbs if they tried anything from the NES/SMS or SNES/Genesis era.) FWIW I thought the difficulty curve in NGB was kind of flat. (If you can beat the first level you should be able to beat the game.)
 
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nnytk

Member
Hmm tempted to buy it now. It says ps5 pro enhanced. I'll pick it up when I'm done with HFW. Then I've got until may for DOOM
I bought it without any information or hesitation, after watching the trailer, thursday evening. I'm loving it. It looks great and plays great, if you love Ninja Gaiden, this is for you.
 
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Is it just me or is this suppose to be so blurry? Like someone put Vaseline on my monitor. The frame rate is also horrific.

Playing 4K 120 on a 4090
Sharp and clear on SeriesX. Playing it on 1440p/60

After playing a bit more on Warrior difficulty that feels about right for a good challenge. I'm not sure if I remembering this right, but it seems the Flying Swallow move was much better in the OG compared to Black. Otherwise a very good version so far. As others have said, I don't think it really earns the "Black" moniker, but I do think it is superior to the Sigma version so far.

I did dabble with a Mentor difficulty in the beginning. That runs is going to be nuts for those masochists that want a real tough challenge. Master Ninja difficulty might be the end of me :)
 
This is literally the worst camera system i've ever seen. Jesus christ and i thought from soft camera was bad.

Lui, turn OFF all the camera assist options and specifically the one that centers it to a nearby enemy whenever you reset it by pressing L1.

Upon getting the game, I immediately felt like something was off - and it was the new friggin' camera options, turn that shit off brother 😉
 
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Lui, turn OFF all the camera assist options and specifically the one that centers it to a nearby enemy whenever you reset it by pressing L1.

Upon getting the game, I immediately felt like something was off - and it was the new friggin' camera options, turn that shit off brother 😉
I'm not really having that much of an issue, but will try those settings anyway. I did a back to back run OG and Black and really didn't thing too much of it, but there have been a few times where I've confused the enemy Ninjas and Ryu and ended up getting a cheap hit on me. I hope this helps fix that
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
finally home and downloadingI Somehow never played the original. It's time!
Really? I remember walking into GameStop to get my copy at launch and the employees were gloating how they had already been playing it. Freaking killed me at the time, but the game was a bloodfest.

Does anyone else dash+jump wherever they go? I don’t just run. I got into that habit years ago. I’m having a good time playing it on PS5 Pro. Some of the trophies are super simple to get. I’ve got like 15 trophies within an hour or so.
 
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Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
For anyone using the Claws, heavy attack works well for de-limbing the purple fiends that start appearing in Chapter 3. Lunar or Flails are probably a better option for them but I like to stick to one weapon per chapter for fun.

Does anyone else dash+jump wherever they go? I don’t just run. I got into that habit years ago. I’m having a good time playing it on PS5 Pro. Some of the trophies are super simple to get. I’ve got like 15 trophies within an hour or so.

Yeah I think most people eventually start doing that for faster movement heh.
 

Podge

Member
I'm having a great time so far playing this on my Series S. Am I the only one having trouble telling Ryu and the enemies apart in the heat of combat? Maybe I'm just old and blind haha 🥲
 
I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger and buy OG Ninja Gaiden Black digital even though I have the OG disc with the updates on my X360.
It's 50% off right now, so $5. And somehow I also got reward points for $1.25. So got it for $3.75.

It was a steal at $5 so even better now. Only way it could've been better is if it was also on Gamepass...lol
 

Buggy Loop

Gold Member
>Play OG NG2
>Dozen ninja on screen
>A dozen more exploding shurikens firing at you off screen
>Spam Ultimate to win
>Pretty much do that for 80% of Master Ninja

“DiS Is the piNnaCLe oF aCtiOn COmbAt!!”

I mean I played it. I loved it.

It exists

Nobody went to patch the game and remove features. So I don't know why every goddamn NG elitist acts like Team Ninja pissed in their cereals.

Even /r/ninjagaiden is HAPPY to have NG2 Black. They were like ~5 users peak in a day. Ninja Gaiden was almost dead. Now we have 3 Ninja gaiden games in a year.

Imagine seeing this and not be hyped




Or seeing how they remain based even in modern times

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Its like having 3 mistress. Its all good. I want to fuck them all

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Never played a NG game before. Is the consensus on these games hard as nails but fun to play?
It's not really that difficult no, ninja gaiden essentially runs on fighting game logic so it's more about proper spacing and blocking so you can kill anything in one combo; the staff is also super good and you can have it fully upgraded by chapter two.
Once you master on land ultimate techniques, the game becomes a cake walk tbh.
 
Got to Chapter 3 and decided to restart because I forgot all about finding the Crystal skulls :(
Should go a lot faster now that'm warmed up again to get back to where I was, so not a giant time loss.
 
Yes it's hard, but very fun/gory and rewarding. Superhero fans can only hope Wolverine will be half as fun and brutal.
Equip the claws and the game is pretty much a Wolverine game.

I also prefer the water level in this version, because in the original this was simply frustrating. Another upgrade is the altered lava level. The dual armadillo sucked ass, instead, we get good ol' Marbus and he obviously has some beef with Ryu. Notice how his horn is already slashed off by Rachel. Gone are those explosives in the lava. Because Zedonius was a piece of shit in the original, and after I killed him I exploded on the way to the exit forcing a rematch. I hated that part. i'd say the dual dragon fight being altered is a huge plus too. And the less said about that tunnel worm the better.
The lack of the scenic waterfall (switch deactivates it), empty first fountain, and howling cannon instead of underwater minigun in the level soured me on it. The dual armadillo fight was a cakewalk with the explosive kunai. Marbus was far more bullshit as he flew away faster than you could move while being invincible until he decided to do a dive attack and stay grounded for some reason. He was even worse for Rachel with her slow moveset. The grounded dragon fight is not challenging in the slightest unlike the dragons raining hell down on Ryu as he frantically tries to get a good shot. The tunnel worm is a good source of Essence and since using fully charged Ultimate makes Ryu invincible it makes the worm's deadly telegraphed ram a non issue.

Does anyone else dash+jump wherever they go? I don’t just run. I got into that habit years ago. I’m having a good time playing it on PS5 Pro. Some of the trophies are super simple to get. I’ve got like 15 trophies within an hour or so.
I try but NG2's dash is a lot worse than the roll in NGB and slide in NG3RE for that purpose.

For anyone using the Claws, heavy attack works well for de-limbing the purple fiends that start appearing in Chapter 3. Lunar or Flails are probably a better option for them but I like to stick to one weapon per chapter for fun.
It is ideal for the fiends because they have an armored claw grab that does not work against jumping Ryu and aerial barrage of claws is fantastic.

An hour after posting how sad I was at my not meet the min requirement, I fired up the OG Xbox, play Ninja Gaiden Black and just managed to beat the first boss (Murai). Forgot how difficult to he was but had fun trying to figure out the pattern to beat him.

Still such a fun solid experience.
Your PC might be able to run the modded NG2 Sigma from Master Collection. Black is damn good though (outside of water running and lack of aerial bow shot). Has a much more unique arsenal as well.
 
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