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Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z |OT| Hobo Raiden's Bizarre Revengeance

M

Mdk7

Member
I will be sincere: i was not so secretly hoping Yaiba could be somehow good. Certainly not as good (and good means fucking divine in this case, i know) as old Ninja Gaidens, yet like a solid and competent action game.
Boy, i was so goddamn fucking WRONG.

This game is another legendary trainwreck: we're talking about abysmal, NG3 levels of epic shitness. I frankly can't say which game is worst between this and NG3, yet somehow Yaiba probably offends me even more as a fan.

This is by no means a Ninja Gaiden title (and don't even start with the spin-off excuse, that's bullshit): it's a bad action game with the Ninja Gaiden brand attached to it in a pathetic effort to try to sell more copies, with a very very bad marketing move that will hurt Hayashi, Team Ninja and the whole franchise as a result.

Some points:
- Combat system plays nothing like Ninja Gaiden, it's a bland button masher with no technique whatsoever, more akin to God of War (just a million times worse, of course) than to Ninja Gaiden
- Ridiculously bad camera
- Action is confused and at times incredibly hard to read (you loose track of your character and you have to guess who's who among the dozens of enemies)
- Battle system revolves around 3 elements: Fire, Electricity and Corrosion (was "bile" in Italian), you need to combine them to vanquish elemental foes
- No extra weapons apart from Katana (X button), Cyber arm (Y) and Whip (B). If you execute some elemental enemies, you get temporary elemental attacks assigned to the B button
- No jump button
- QTE finishers (by pressing LT) that
lets you regain health
- Bad (and scarce) boss fights
- Surreal platform sections with automated jumps à la Prince of Persia 2008 (just completely without the cool flow and rhythm) that basically link one combat arena to another. Press A on B to look at Yaiba jumping across the screen: boring at first, it becomes unnerving later on due to trial & error moments
- Atrocious balance: even at normal (and i usually play action games at hard/very hard) the game suddenly becomes madly frustrating here and there. I spent more than one hour (out of 8, the time that took me to beat the whole adventure!) against a single fucking boss
Ryu Hayabusa, mission number 5
, to the point of making me consider to stop playing at all
- Over the top atmosphere, with forced gags and terribile (penis) jokes. The game tries so hard to be brilliant and bold kinda like Deadpool, but fails 90% of the times, making the matter even worse
- Terribile plot, basically
you see Ryu Hayabusa TWO TIMES in the whole game, with Momiji standing there in the back during the last (unnerving) fight. In the end, Ryu is not your real nemesis, he serves more like a ridiculous cameo to akwardly justify the Ninja Gaiden monicker and that's about it. Plus zombies being undead dicks in Great Mother Russia, with no sense at all... and a final battle that's so bad it's good.
- Interesting cartoony art direction, even if the locations are overall pretty dull and uninspired.

Horrible game, i frankly have no faith and respect whatsover left for Hayashi and Team Ninja after this mess.
As a passionate, longtime fan it hurts me like hell to see the brand in this state.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
Mdk7 said:
I will be sincere: i was not so secretly hoping Yaiba could be somehow good. Certainly not as good (and good means fucking divine in this case, i know) as old Ninja Gaidens, yet like a solid and competent action game.
Boy, i was so goddamn fucking WRONG.

This game is another legendary trainwreck: we're talking about abysmal, NG3 levels of epic shitness. I frankly can't say which game is worst between this and NG3, yet somehow Yaiba probably offends me even more as a fan.

This is by no means a Ninja Gaiden title (and don't even start with the spin-off excuse, that's bullshit): it's a bad action game with the Ninja Gaiden brand attached to it in a pathetic effort to try to sell more copies, with a very very bad marketing move that will hurt Hayashi, Team Ninja and the whole franchise as a result.

Some points:
- Combat system plays nothing like Ninja Gaiden, it's a bland button masher with no technique whatsoever, more akin to God of War (just a million times worse, of course) than to Ninja Gaiden
- Ridiculously bad camera
- Action is confused and at times incredibly hard to read (you loose track of your character and you have to guess who's who among the dozens of enemies)
- Battle system revolves around 3 elements: Fire, Electricity and Corrosion (was "bile" in Italian), you need to combine them to vanquish elemental foes
- No extra weapons apart from Katana (X button), Cyber arm (Y) and Whip (B). If you execute some elemental enemies, you get temporary elemental attacks assigned to the B button
- No jump button
- QTE finishers (by pressing LT) that
lets you regain health
- Bad (and scarce) boss fights
- Surreal platform sections with automated jumps à la Prince of Persia 2008 (just completely without the cool flow and rhythm) that basically link one combat arena to another. Press A on B to look at Yaiba jumping across the screen: boring at first, it becomes unnerving later on due to trial & error moments
- Atrocious balance: even at normal (and i usually play action games at hard/very hard) the game suddenly becomes madly frustrating here and there. I spent more than one hour (out of 8, the time that took me to beat the whole adventure!) against a single fucking boss
Ryu Hayabusa, mission number 5
, to the point of making me consider to stop playing at all
- Over the top atmosphere, with forced gags and terribile (penis) jokes. The game tries so hard to be brilliant and bold kinda like Deadpool, but fails 90% of the times, making the matter even worse
- Terribile plot, basically
you see Ryu Hayabusa TWO TIMES in the whole game, with Momiji standing there in the back during the last (unnerving) fight. In the end, Ryu is not your real nemesis, he serves more like a ridiculous cameo to akwardly justify the Ninja Gaiden monicker and that's about it. Plus zombies being undead dicks in Great Mother Russia, with no sense at all... and a final battle that's so bad it's good.
- Interesting cartoony art direction, even if the locations are overall pretty dull and uninspired.

Horrible game, i frankly have no faith and respect whatsover left for Hayashi and Team Ninja after this mess.
As a passionate, longtime fan it hurts me like hell to see the brand in this state.
Click to expand...


But that's exactly what Yaiba is, it IS a spin off. It always has been ever since it was announced, it's not a 'bullshit' excuse, it is what it is.

Thanks for your thoughts though, still lookin forward to giving it a go on Friday anyway. I firmly refuse to believe it's as bad as Ninja Gaiden 3, it just fucking won't be.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Nobody should be shocked at all the shit scores. This game never looked good except to people who get off on cartoon gore and dumb jokes.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
Mdk7 said:
Horrible game, i frankly have no faith and respect whatsover left for Hayashi and Team Ninja after this mess.
As a passionate, longtime fan it hurts me like hell to see the brand in this state.
Click to expand...


I lay this at the feet of Infuane just as much as Hayashit. The guy just doesn't get action games in the slightest, i dont give a flying fuck what he ever achieved with megaman. He is now partly responsible for arguably the worst entries in not one but two of my favorite franchises this generation.

He is also the the one that closed clover, and while we now have the amazing platinum from its ashes, you have to see what a lack of vision the man has when it comes to the genre.

His formula for western appeal is basically, unreal engine, dumb everything down, loads cutscenes and QTEs. Oh and Zombies.

Seriously, fuck him. I don't give a fuck how many nostalgic heartstrings he has pulled with the mighty no 9 project. The dudes a cancer to action gaming.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
I lay this at the feet of Infuane just as much as Hayashit. The guy just doesn't get action games in the slightest, i dont give a flying fuck what he ever achieved with megaman. He is now partly responsible for arguably the worst entries in not one but two of my favorite franchises this generation.

He is also the the one that closed clover, and while we now have the amazing platinum from its ashes, you have to see what a lack of vision the man has when it comes to the genre.

Seriously, fuck him. The dude a cancer to action gaming.

As for spark unlimited, they have made out like a badit. Back to back shitty spinoffs in respected franchises. At least Double helix tried to improve.
Click to expand...


:( Lost Planet 3 isn't shit damnit!
 
K

Kiant

Member
So much for that blood-boner, then, not that you'd be able to keep it up during the game's first major showdown, which drops to single-digit frame rates in the heat of battle.
Click to expand...

Holy Moly
 
R

R0ckman

Member
Was secretly hoping that there would be a Ryu mode to unlock to save the game. Fuck this shit. Moving pre-order money to Mario Kart 8.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
LMAO this CVG review

"You'll suspect something's up straight away when same cutscene plays twice after you hit start. Then you'll notice that the camera seems dedicated to obscuring the 'action', either hanging over Yaiba's shoulder or pulling back to near-orbital distance, immediately losing him in the mob. Then comes the enemies standing in the foreground and thus obscuring everything. Then, when you're in trouble, various filters smother the screen. Then, when close to death, the display turns black and white.

Then you'll notice how often the simplistic, glorified QTE platforming sections manage to collapse, despite their thoroughly directed nature, as the camera fails to show the next grapple point. After that, you'll probably notice how characters, including Yaiba, tend to slide around and teleport when their scripting breaks.

And then, if you're lucky, you'll have the enemy AI and Yaiba's combat controls simultaneously disable during a fight, plunging you into a videogame limbo from which there is no escape. And then you'll find out that the checkpoint restart system actually restarts the whole level, knocking you back an hour. And then you'll probably give up, because making up the lost time just is not worth it."
 
G

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
Mdk7 said:
I will be sincere: i was not so secretly hoping Yaiba could be somehow good. Certainly not as good (and good means fucking divine in this case, i know) as old Ninja Gaidens, yet like a solid and competent action game.
Boy, i was so goddamn fucking WRONG.

This game is another legendary trainwreck: we're talking about abysmal, NG3 levels of epic shitness. I frankly can't say which game is worst between this and NG3, yet somehow Yaiba probably offends me even more as a fan.

This is by no means a Ninja Gaiden title (and don't even start with the spin-off excuse, that's bullshit): it's a bad action game with the Ninja Gaiden brand attached to it in a pathetic effort to try to sell more copies, with a very very bad marketing move that will hurt Hayashi, Team Ninja and the whole franchise as a result.

Some points:
- Combat system plays nothing like Ninja Gaiden, it's a bland button masher with no technique whatsoever, more akin to God of War (just a million times worse, of course) than to Ninja Gaiden
- Ridiculously bad camera
- Action is confused and at times incredibly hard to read (you loose track of your character and you have to guess who's who among the dozens of enemies)
- Battle system revolves around 3 elements: Fire, Electricity and Corrosion (was "bile" in Italian), you need to combine them to vanquish elemental foes
- No extra weapons apart from Katana (X button), Cyber arm (Y) and Whip (B). If you execute some elemental enemies, you get temporary elemental attacks assigned to the B button
- No jump button
- QTE finishers (by pressing LT) that
lets you regain health
- Bad (and scarce) boss fights
- Surreal platform sections with automated jumps à la Prince of Persia 2008 (just completely without the cool flow and rhythm) that basically link one combat arena to another. Press A on B to look at Yaiba jumping across the screen: boring at first, it becomes unnerving later on due to trial & error moments
- Atrocious balance: even at normal (and i usually play action games at hard/very hard) the game suddenly becomes madly frustrating here and there. I spent more than one hour (out of 8, the time that took me to beat the whole adventure!) against a single fucking boss
Ryu Hayabusa, mission number 5
, to the point of making me consider to stop playing at all
- Over the top atmosphere, with forced gags and terribile (penis) jokes. The game tries so hard to be brilliant and bold kinda like Deadpool, but fails 90% of the times, making the matter even worse
- Terribile plot, basically
you see Ryu Hayabusa TWO TIMES in the whole game, with Momiji standing there in the back during the last (unnerving) fight. In the end, Ryu is not your real nemesis, he serves more like a ridiculous cameo to akwardly justify the Ninja Gaiden monicker and that's about it. Plus zombies being undead dicks in Great Mother Russia, with no sense at all... and a final battle that's so bad it's good.
- Interesting cartoony art direction, even if the locations are overall pretty dull and uninspired.

Horrible game, i frankly have no faith and respect whatsover left for Hayashi and Team Ninja after this mess.
As a passionate, longtime fan it hurts me like hell to see the brand in this state.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your impressions.

I think the "spin-off" argument holds merit, but the game just sounds bad based on your description. I'll probably still try it at some point, for the same reason I beat Ninja Gaiden 3.
 
N

Ninja Dom

Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
I lay this at the feet of Infuane just as much as Hayashit. The guy just doesn't get action games in the slightest, i dont give a flying fuck what he ever achieved with megaman. He is now partly responsible for arguably the worst entries in not one but two of my favorite franchises this generation.

He is also the the one that closed clover, and while we now have the amazing platinum from its ashes, you have to see what a lack of vision the man has when it comes to the genre.

Seriously, fuck him. I don't give a fuck how many nostalgic heartstrings he has pulled with the mighty no 9 project. The dude a cancer to action gaming.

As for spark unlimited, they have made out like a bandit. Back to back shitty spinoffs in respected franchises. At least Double helix tried to improve.
Click to expand...

Here is my entire guess on the events. Inafune created this Yaiba character, or a Cyber Ninja who kills zombies. In order to give this character some sort of credibility they tied it into the Ninja Gaiden franchise with Hayashi & Team Ninja's blessings.

Honestly, I think it's an interesting perspective to take to have a somebody who wants to kill Ryu Hayabusa in revenge.

But Hayashi/Team Ninja never wanted to develop the game themselves. The task of developing was handed out to Spark Unlimited who were happy to take on the task, they were available and "cheap". Inafune gave advice on the character and development with Team Ninja handing out advice on the combat.

I haven't played the game yet and what I wrote is purely my assumption.
 
K

Kiant

Member
Ninja Dom said:
Here is my entire guess on the events. Inafune created this Yaiba character, or a Cyber Ninja who kills zombies. In order to give this character some sort of credibility they tied it into the Ninja Gaiden franchise with Hayashi & Team Ninja's blessings.

Honestly, I think it's an interesting perspective to take to have a somebody who wants to kill Ryu Hayabusa in revenge.

But Hayashi/Team Ninja never wanted to develop the game themselves. The task of developing was handed out to Spark Unlimited who were happy to take on the task, they were available and "cheap". Inafune gave advice on the character and development with Team Ninja handing out advice on the combat.

I haven't played the game yet and what I wrote is purely my assumption.
Click to expand...

Funny thing is, it's probably pretty close to the truth.
 
M

Mdk7

Member
Ninja Dom said:
Here is my entire guess on the events. Inafune created this Yaiba character, or a Cyber Ninja who kills zombies. In order to give this character some sort of credibility they tied it into the Ninja Gaiden franchise with Hayashi & Team Ninja's blessings.

Honestly, I think it's an interesting perspective to take to have a somebody who wants to kill Ryu Hayabusa in revenge.

But Hayashi/Team Ninja never wanted to develop the game themselves. The task of developing was handed out to Spark Unlimited who were happy to take on the task, they were available and "cheap". Inafune gave advice on the character and development with Team Ninja handing out advice on the combat.

I haven't played the game yet and what I wrote is purely my assumption.
Click to expand...
I agree.
Too bad the game - apart from being bad - is not really about that.
 
G

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
It's ironic that this comes straight off Hayashi's statement about making "damn good sushi" instead of a "Japanese hamburger" with regard to Ninja Gaiden 3.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
GuardianE said:
It's ironic that this comes straight off Hayashi's statement about making "damn good sushi" instead of a "Japanese hamburger" with regard to Ninja Gaiden 3.
Click to expand...


Fuckin Hayashi didn't say that about Ninja Gaiden fuckin 3 of all games seriously ? Really ?
 
G

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
Big_Al said:
Fuckin Hayashi didn't say that about Ninja Gaiden fuckin 3 of all games seriously ? Really ?
Click to expand...

He said it after Ninja Gaiden 3's poor reception. Basically, they tried to incompetently make the game more casual and Westernized, and it blew up in their faces. I do agree with his assessment, though the game was plagued with other issues as well.


danmaku said:
It would've been awesome if the final boss was Ryu and he just killed the player no matter what.
Click to expand...

This is honestly what I wanted and was expecting.
 
The Incredible Muffin

The Incredible Muffin

Member
I didnt follow this game at all

But to me it looks pretty cool if you are into Ninja Gaiden type games? I thought those games were very popular in the right crowd?
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
GuardianE said:
He said it after Ninja Gaiden 3's poor reception. Basically, they tried to incompetently make the game more casual and Westernized, and it blew up in their faces. I do agree with his assessment, though the game was plagued with other issues as well.
Click to expand...

Ah right sorry I misread that, I thought he was calling Ninja Gaiden 3 'fine sushi'.

The Incredible Muffin said:
I didnt follow this game at all

But to me it looks pretty cool if you are into Ninja Gaiden type games? I thought those games were very popular in the right crowd?
Click to expand...


It's not like those games, it's more brawler rather than fine, focused action game (it's more like say God Of War, well that's the impression I get). I'm just hoping I get a laugh out of it the way I do with my guilty pleasures like the new Splatterhouse from a few years ago and the Onechanbara games.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
Ninja Dom said:
Here is my entire guess on the events. Inafune created this Yaiba character, or a Cyber Ninja who kills zombies. In order to give this character some sort of credibility they tied it into the Ninja Gaiden franchise with Hayashi & Team Ninja's blessings.

Honestly, I think it's an interesting perspective to take to have a somebody who wants to kill Ryu Hayabusa in revenge.

But Hayashi/Team Ninja never wanted to develop the game themselves. The task of developing was handed out to Spark Unlimited who were happy to take on the task, they were available and "cheap". Inafune gave advice on the character and development with Team Ninja handing out advice on the combat.

I haven't played the game yet and what I wrote is purely my assumption.
Click to expand...

I would say this is a far assessment, only I doubt Team Ninja gave any advice on combat, only really lore and how to fit Hayabusa in the game.

Id also argue that Inafune pitched it to upper management as a game that could break into western markets in a similar way to dead rising. He didn't give a fuck about the series' heritage or legacy.

This was not a DmC scenario where a publisher at least wanted to at least have some similarities with the old series combat wise.

I mean, good god... does Yaiba even have a Izuna drop?

Hayashit is a hack but as much as everyone hates NG3, it still combat wise is a Ninja gaiden. Nowhere near as polished, but the core is still there.

The Incredible Muffin said:
I didnt follow this game at all

But to me it looks pretty cool if you are into Ninja Gaiden type games? I thought those games were very popular in the right crowd?
Click to expand...


This is nothing like a "Ninja gaiden type game"
 
N

Noema

Member
Getting Lollipop Chainsaw vibes out of this.

Which is good since I really enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw. Will wait and see.
 
M

MjFrancis

Member
Noema said:
Getting Lollipop Chainsaw vibes out of this.

Which is good since I really enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw. Will wait and see.
Click to expand...
I'll probably wait on Ninja Gaiden Z, especially given Mdk7's impressions. Lollipop Chainsaw was a fun enough hack and slash game, but I still have Killer is Dead to mow through and buying another merely decent action game doesn't sound appealing right now.

I'll continue to watch the reviews pour in though, some of those are impressively poor.
 
M

Mdk7

Member
Noema said:
Getting Lollipop Chainsaw vibes out of this.

Which is good since I really enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw. Will wait and see.
Click to expand...
Lollipop Chainsaw is a legendary masterpiece compared to this.
LC is a honest brawler, like a 6.5/7 game IMHO... This is a whole different story.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
Mdk7 said:
Lollipop Chainsaw is a legendary masterpiece compared to this.
LC is a honest brawler, like a 6.5/7 game IMHO... This is a whole different story.
Click to expand...

What exactly does this even mean ? That Yaiba is somehow dishonest or something ?
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Man...kinda sucks that Inafune has his name somewhat tied to this. I mean a game with a cybernetic ninja...takes alot of work to make a cyberninja suck in a video game.
 
S

Shinta

Banned
Teknoman said:
Man...kinda sucks that Inafune has his name somewhat tied to this. I mean a game with a cybernetic ninja...takes alot of work to make a cyberninja suck in a video game.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be the first bad decision he's been tied to. The guy was hated pretty intensely online for years due to his tendency to talk shit and overrate all western studios. After Mightly No. 9 I guess he's been rebranded, but that's all relatively recent.
 
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