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Ninja Gaiden 2+ |OT| The Feel of Ninja Gaiden 2

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I have it on 360 and Vita; the framerate on those versions doesn't bother me at all. When I tried the 3DS demo, it was a sluggish, slowdown-filled mess that never appeared to even go as high as 30 FPS. No idea what happened there.
I wasn't interested in buying that version but I'm surprised it would run so poorly as they actually built a separate engine specifically for 3DS (all other versions run on the Sumo engine). If they had to create a separate code base for 3DS you'd think they would have optimized it better.
 
How come no one is reviewing this thing? I've found one review:

N4G - 8/10

Not many reviews for the big handheld games coming out today, don't think I've seen any for Etrian Odyssey IV besides the kotaku preview. Perhaps they got copies late? Or Sigma 2 Plus's case didn't send them because it looks awful :/
 
Since both NGS are the only beat'em up games you can find on Vita right now, I guess it's pretty much useless arguing either way. Vita is less powerful than PS3, I know that. But it's powerful enough to run some demanding games. I'm pretty sure the Vita could handle DMC4 @60 FPS in native resolution. Maybe it's just me, but NGS2 on PS3 doesn't really look more demanding than DMC4 to me.

But unless a developer release a similar game, with better or similar graphics and a 60 FPS (even unlocked) framerate on Vita, I won't argue anymore because it's pointless.

Dude, no.

I think this port certainly could have been handled better, but the vita just cannot do these games at 60 FPS. Let alone at native resolution.
 

jorgeton

Member
Aw. Sucks to see that it runs so poorly. Was kind of looking forward to this. NG+ was pretty good, too. Hope they patch in a fix.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Dude, no.

I think this port certainly could have been handled better, but the vita just cannot do these games at 60 FPS. Let alone at native resolution.
Well....I actually think MT Framework mobile is more powerful than you are suggesting. DMC4 would be difficult, no doubt, but I suspect they could do a better job than Team Ninja did here.
 

OmegaZero

Member
Welcome to the Ninja Gaiden Σ2+ Official Thread.
Where we talk about Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed and Devil May Cry 4 ports.

Not that I blame you guys.

How come no one is reviewing this thing? I've found one review:

N4G - 8/10

A total of two reviews are up, both from Spanish websites. Meristation and Vandal Online both gave it an 8/10 (and both reviews are three pages long, surprisingly).

I haven't got a chance to play the copy I picked up, but I'll post my impressions later tonight if anyone's interested.
 
I've made it to Hyabusa Village - and the game is playable with gore on Single player mode. It feels as fluid as NGS+ (I can't tell much Difference), except for some areas which slow down. There was only one area so far, which crawled and that was emerging from the sky city to a cherry blossom area.

The boss fights are fluid, the game is crisp, until fighting larger mobs and the resolution downgrades, but everything feels consistent. When you have the stylish takedowns, the resolution seems to sharpen, as the camera pans in.

It's a great game so far and I'm actually enjoying more than Sigma +, which I bought in launch day last year. It's just so fun.

One thing of note: I guess I like sharp resolutions and AA (I'm spoiled by modern convenience and iPhone 5) - but look, it's a still a handheld with mobile processors. Remember the Vita runs the most advanced portable games, available on no other mobile device. That we can even play a current gen game in our hands and acceptably ported, who am I to bitch about that?

Considering we are not even a decade removed from the Gameboy advance, no way can I turn my nose up at these awesome games I'm playing on my Vita. Reality has a way of tempering expectations. Can't expect perfect in an imperfect world....

...Oh, I didn't receive any codes, although I preordered the first day Gamestop added the game.
 

dab0ne

Member
Download vouchers were sent to reviewers and the codes didn't work. They just sent out new codes today for review purpose.

That definitely explains it. Didn't wanna come off like I was saying "WTF!?!?! get it together" just thought there was no love for NGS2+. Thanks for the heads up Nate.
 

Revan

Member
I just called EB about the code - the woman I spoke with said that once they get them they will contact me about it.

Taking with a grain of salt but it seems Tecmo might be doing something about it.
 

Dantis

Member
I have my code, but still no game.

And the code doesn't seem to work yet, haha. Probably because it's not out here yet.
 

Yopis

Member
Thanks for all the info guys. Really a big let down. Stll going to get this but will wait for any patch news.
 

NateDrake

Member
Just beat the first stage and the slowdown gets bad when there are about 5 enemies on screen. It's playable but the slowness is noticeable and it lacks any sense of fluidity. Damn shame.
 
Someone on Gamefaqs (and someone else corroborating him) seems to think an unsuspecting option smooths out the framerate even in tag mode:

while previously getting frustrated with the slowdowns and frame rate I came across this solution. Under options under camera settings change 1st and 3rd person cam speed to fast. Ever since I did that it runs extremely smooth even with the gore on and tag team mode actually playable its way smooth this way I'm happy now I can finally enjoy my game *)

Interested to hear others who have the game try it out! Now if only there was an unsuspecting option that fixed the resolution...
 

Revan

Member
Someone on Gamefaqs (and someone else corroborating him) seems to think an unsuspecting option smooths out the framerate even in tag mode:



Interested to hear others who have the game try it out! Now if only there was an unsuspecting option that fixed the resolution...

I did this yesterday and noticed a huge improvement in the game. Yes there was still slowdown but nowhere near as bad as right out of the box.
 
The camera option is an odd fix. Can it just be fooling the eye thinking it's faster? If it works than that's great.

Question about motion controls and touch controls. Does this game use motion for aiming with the bow? Does it also use the back touch screen for anything?
 

Mesharey

Member
Ok.

Does it have motion aim though like in Uncharted?
I forgot how it's been used in Uncharted and I didn't try it here. :p

Edit: Great, I have a glitch that crushed the game for me, in Chapter 2 when you take the bow you go to face the spider/ninja, the door didn't open for me, the game tells me to take the bow, which I did. -.-"
I finished the level in warrior difficulty without problems, currently playing in Mentor.
 
Just tested my copy, in regard to those changes of camera speed/gore settings.

The IQ changes when Ryu is in motion, when perfectly still there is AA applied.

Framerate wise, the game is merely acceptable. The frame rate seems to have solidified at what NGS+ is set at, when the camera speeds are both set to "fast". Even better (no slowdown), when gore is off - though gore seems to have a minimal impact, compared to the adjusting camera speed.

So I'll leave gore on.

I have not tested any multi settings.

In regard to the bow:

There is a button on the left touch screen to activate it. Use right trigger to fire. That's it. No gyro, back touch or other touch screen areas trigger anything. Just an acceptably sized icon. Works well, too. Hitting any button will toggle back to your weapon automatically, as both are equipped.

Not intrusive at all.

The system brightness is not limited by the game, so you can set the Vita brightness at 100%, if you so choose.

The game is washed out in brightness, like S+, so alter it accordingly. I like me settings at:

Gamma: 1.5
Brightness: -.50
Contrast: 1.5

Any fan of NGS+ needn't worry, I played half of chapter 2 with the settings adjustments, just to test everything.
 

OmegaZero

Member
So finally got home and booted up the game, my impressions:

bk09nCw.jpg
The first thing I did was watch the Vampire War prologue on the main menu, which looks great on dat OLED.

Graphically, it looked much better then I thought. Sure, the textures and models are Σ Plus quality (and regularly worse in the case of textures) but it looks like a scaled down Σ2 and you tend not to notice the imperfections during combat.

The "gore" effects are definitely not as prominent as NG2's ketchupy fountains but they're still more satisfying then the purple mist vomit. Chunks of the enemy get splattered on the wall, but they fade after a few seconds. Bodies and limbs take almost twice as much time to disappear.

The game's default screen settings make it look faded out, so I suggest you bump up the contrast a bit and lower the gamma and brightness.

The bosses look and play great, despite the 30fps. I will admit that when I first booted up the game, my initial impressions were very negative. I felt like could barely control Ryu and the framerate almost seemed lower then 30fps. After a bit of time, I started adjusting and now have no issues with the framerate (which I directly compared with Σ Plus using a friend's Vita to discover that they run at the same framerate). If you could play through Σ Plus on Master Ninja and enjoy it, then you should enjoy this too.

The controls are about as responsive as Σ Plus, so take what you will from that. Being able to shoot the bow in midair by tapping anywhere on the touch screen is a nice addition imo, and Ninpo doesn't seem to have any gimmicks attached to it. Being able to to disable back touch and motion controls shows that at least Team Ninja learned from Σ Plus.

So far, I haven't encountered noticeable slowdown (playing through Chapter 2 atm). The part in Tokyo City with the cherry blossom trees did slow down, but not nearly as much as Razor's Edge does. In fact, I discovered that the slowdown in generally wasn't too bothersome, at least not in comparison to the actual choppiness of games like Assassin's Creed III Liberation.
EDIT: Though I should mention that there seems to be a micro-stutter every time something gory happens.

The sub-native res didn't bother me as much as I thought. Whatever resolution this game runs at with nothing on screen, it's close to native as the visuals are still fairly crisp.
The resolution does seem to drop a lot though. It drops whenever the game loads something like a menu, and when the scene is too graphically taxing.

This area in Chapter 2 was the first "problem area" I came across so far. The res dropped and stayed low the entire fight, making everything a muddy mess. The rest of the chapter has been going well though.

Loading times seem faster then Σ2, especially when switching weapons. Mid-chapter loading happens in the usual places.

Overall, I'm enjoying it. When I get to the Tag Missions, I may have a different story to tell but right now I have little complaints. It's portable Σ2 at 30fps, which is what I wanted and expected.
I'm definitely going to buy this digitally and give the retail copy to a friend.

EDIT: Lol, the Genshin Lunar loop defintely works.
 

Revan

Member
Has anyone figured out how to get Ryu's DOA costume? I've gotten everything else but that so far.

EDIT: also - you don't get the trophies for beating the game on the higher difficulties for the lower difficulties ie; beat on mentor for warrior/acolyte trophies - you need to run through the game 4 times to get all 4 trophies.
 
Edit: Great, I have a glitch that crushed the game for me, in Chapter 2 when you take the bow you go to face the spider/ninja, the door didn't open for me, the game tells me to take the bow, which I did. -.-"

same thing happened to me, I had to restart the chapter.
 

Mesharey

Member
You unlock costumes by playing tag missions.

The framerate is still bad in some tag missions even after adjusting camera and removing gore.
 

Mesharey

Member
Played chapter 2 again but still can't proceed on mentor after taking the bow. :(

This time I didn't save by using the checkpoint near the bow. >.>

Will try it by using the previous checkpoint again.
Edit: worked now finally. XD
 

OmegaZero

Member
Any tips fellas?

I'm just a noob NG player.

Press X and Square at the same time to do a homing jump toward an enemy. Press X when you're above them to stomp on their heads and stun them for a combo. Mainly works with human-sized opponents.

Block is your friend. Dash out of the guard breaking animation when you get guard broken.
More info in the OP.
 
Never played NG2 before, even though I loved the first game. Having a really good time with this one. I'm not really noticing the frame drops in the story mode, but the resolution is all over the place.

Has there been any mention on whether DOA5 Vita will the varying resolution too?
 

reson8or

Member
Someone on Gamefaqs (and someone else corroborating him) seems to think an unsuspecting option smooths out the framerate even in tag mode:



Interested to hear others who have the game try it out! Now if only there was an unsuspecting option that fixed the resolution...

I did this yesterday and noticed a huge improvement in the game. Yes there was still slowdown but nowhere near as bad as right out of the box.

Wow great find, thanks for posting that guys.
 

OmegaZero

Member
Eurogamer Italy gave it a 7/10, stating (according to Google Translate) that
Daniel Cucchiarelli said:
The additions made are interesting but not enough to justify a second (if not third) purchase, even by the most loyal fans.
No English review outlets seem to have reviewed it yet.

Also, Alexei is a pushover compared to Razor's Edge.
 

Apocryphon

Member
The resolution/rendering problem appears to be tied to camera changes. It happens after closing menus, picking up items and performing UT's but can quickly be rectified by simply pressing 'R' to reset the camera.

The framerate is handled like NG2 where it enters a sort of slow-mo state. It happens more often than NG2 and it is frustrating but I would rather have a portable NGS2 with and unstable framerate than no portable NGS2 at all.

I picked the game up for £22 so I don't feel cheated. The image quality isn't as good as the first game and the framerate isn't anywhere near as stable, but its still a much better game than most portable titles.
 
I love this game! It's so campy ^_^

The action is fast, frantic and feels bad ass. After I complete the game, I'll hunt down the 360 version and play that too! That version will probably be superior, but I can't deny how stellar it really is, to have this experience in my pocket (not literally, the system is too big)....

Tecmo is boss for even bringing this to Vita.

Sorry guys - I'm so giddy, the Vita was my first experience with the new era of NG games. I had the original on the NES - but man, these are great. I did play the NG2 demo on 360 some years back and wanted it, but it kind of fell off my radar. It re-emerged when NGS+ released, it I never pursued that. Then, when I heard this was coming for Vita, I had to get it to establish library continuity. I hope they bring 3(RazorEdge) and Yaiba:Z over, too.

Guys on the fence, if you enjoyed Sigma+, you'll enjoy this. Feels the same - except no clunky gyro or touch gimmicks. Presentation wise, it's better = neat finishing moves (so flashy!)

:eek:>
 

OmegaZero

Member
Sorry guys - I'm so giddy, the Vita was my first experience with the new era of NG games. I had the original on the NES - but man, these are great. I did play the NG2 demo on 360 some years back and wanted it, but it kind of fell off my radar. It re-emerged when NGS+ released, it I never pursued that. Then, when I heard this was coming for Vita, I had to get it to establish library continuity. I hope they bring 3(RazorEdge) and Yaiba:Z over, too.

So this is your first experience with NG2? It'll be interesting to see your later impressions.
What chapter are you on?
 

DR2K

Banned
So turning camera to fastest and turning off gore fixes up most of the major framerate issues. Game still has some frame dips, but it's completely playable.
 
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