🗡️ Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (consoles, PC). UE5 remake🌟

[Cyan]

The original was one of my favorite games of its era. The fast-paced combat, insanely fluid animations (even more if you play it on a high refresh display), and brutal difficulty made it quite the experience.

It's made on UE5 and they modernized the graphics while staying true to the original. It has the iconic weapons (Lunar Staff, anyone?).

It remains a stylish world of shurikens and swords and breasts with physics and fellow ninjas.

 

[Cyan]

 

[cheapchips]

I didn't play 2 on the 360. I'd not got that far into the first game before it became too hard for my feeble skills. Enjoyed a few hours of this so far though.

I did try the 120fps model on the Series X and quickly switched back to 60fps. The image quality trade off was too great and the art demands a certain crispness.

 

[Cyan]

I didn't play 2 on the 360. I'd not got that far into the first game before it became too hard for my feeble skills. Enjoyed a few hours of this so far though.

I did try the 120fps model on the Series X and quickly switched back to 60fps. The image quality trade off was too great and the art demands a certain crispness.

there is a new hero mode, to make the game a bit more accessible. True fans of the series comment that the path of warrior is the true difficulty level of the game, but well, those are the super fans. I completed the game back in the day, it was that good, but my skill is average.

I am currently playing it with a kb+mouse (this one is mmo style).

 

[vspectra]

It looks fantastic. The game is based off of the Sigma 2 version (with some tweaks) instead of the OG NG2 version that most fans prefer when it comes to enemy design, A.I., and encounters that changed the flow of the game. Hopefully Team Ninja patches in a new difficulty mode to get it closer to OG NG2.

https://imgur.com/ZchDqBK

 

[QPlayer]

It looks fantastic. The game is based off of the Sigma 2 version (with some tweaks) instead of the OG NG2 version that most fans prefer when it comes to enemy design, A.I., and encounters that changed the flow of the game. Hopefully Team Ninja patches in a new difficulty mode to get it closer to OG NG2.

https://imgur.com/ZchDqBK

To clarify, this remake contains elements from the original NG2 and Sigma. Many consider it closer to the original NG2. And the level of difficulty is extraordinary by today's standards on the hardest level that can be selected. Anyway, the graphics are really amazing.

 

[mr magoo]

It is oddly satisfying when enemy falls on knees without arm and you cut his head off with one ultra fast strike. Also weapons combos/technics are crazy so many of them and the animation is top notch.

 

[Cyan]

To clarify, this remake contains elements from the original NG2 and Sigma. Many consider it closer to the original NG2. And the level of difficulty is extraordinary by today's standards on the hardest level that can be selected. Anyway, the graphics are really amazing.

It is oddly satisfying when enemy falls on knees without arm and you cut his head off with one ultra fast strike. Also weapons combos/technics are crazy so many of them and the animation is top notch.

something I really like about this game is the animation fluidity. It's like in the original and it feels s o good. I am currently playing at a base 40 fps x 9 (FG) to achieve stable and locked 360fps and the animations are so smooth regardless of the framerate.

What I'm having a harder time with is how difficult is to make UE5 perform even with the lowest settings -except AF- and using TSR.

It's been very difficult for me to get past 50fps, and when I use LS, 45fps base x 8 (FG) is impossible to achieve.

When I am done with RE2 Remake, I am going to complete this game next. So fun.

 

[neckthrough]

Playing NG-Black on the OG Xbox using a wired controller and a CRT was one of the most sublime gaming experiences of my life. The way Ryu felt in your hands was just intense. The animations were superb, the sound effects when the attacks connected were oh-so-satisfying. I've played a few other games like DMC, Bayonetta, Sekiro but none of them had the blend of swiftness and heft that NGB did. Ryu was agile, but also hit like a truck. It wasn't perfect -- the camera sucked and the bow was god-awful, but the swordplay was just incredible.

Sadly it's all been downhill from there. I played NGB in BC mode on an Xbox 360 but the game lost its crisp responsiveness. Button presses would get lost. I was still using the CRT but I think either the wireless controller or the BC layer added some latency that screwed things up.

NG2 didn't fix things on the 360, despite now being a native implementation. It just felt sluggish and imprecise. I feel Ryu's attacks also lost some of their weight -- the game leaned way more heavily into the animation and acrobatics.

 

[mrcorbo]

Playing NG-Black on the OG Xbox using a wired controller and a CRT was one of the most sublime gaming experiences of my life. The way Ryu felt in your hands was just intense. The animations were superb, the sound effects when the attacks connected were oh-so-satisfying. I've played a few other games like DMC, Bayonetta, Sekiro but none of them had the blend of swiftness and heft that NGB did. Ryu was agile, but also hit like a truck. It wasn't perfect -- the camera sucked and the bow was god-awful, but the swordplay was just incredible.

I completely agree. Once it clicked with me it was of the most connected feelings I've ever had with a game. Felt 100% in control of the avatar in the world at all times.

 

[neckthrough]

I completely agree. Once it clicked with me it was of the most connected feelings I've ever had with a game. Felt 100% in control of the avatar in the world at all times.

Block, roll away, turn toward the poor sod and the moment he lets his guard down .... X Y X X X Y .... Boom!!! Then jump away, hit Y for on-landing insta-absorb, let go and BOOM!!! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Hai!!!

 

[Seanspeed]

NGB toned down enemy counts in favor of making individual enemies more dangerous and exciting to fight against. And it wasn't hyper sped up, so everything felt more weighty and grounded. Much preferred this to NG2's wild enemy counts and simply having to fly around the screen everywhere all the time, especially to avoid spammy ranged attacks.

NGB also had far more interesting level design and some exploration and secret hunting and all that, while NG2 was a lot more straightforward and basically just pushed you from crazed encounter to crazed encounter.

I liked NG2, but NGB is a formula I like a lot better, and sadly nobody out there has ever tried to replicate or expand on, which is sad, especially with how loved it is. It's like Team Ninja themselves didn't quite grasp the brilliance they created.

 

[mr magoo]

Block, roll away, turn toward the poor sod and the moment he lets his guard down .... X Y X X X Y .... Boom!!! Then jump away, hit Y for on-landing insta-absorb, let go and BOOM!!! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Hai!!!

IZUNA DROP all the way baby! Charge attack and watch gore fest .... amazing game!!!

 

[London Geezer]

Wait, there's a NG4 and a NG2 coming out close to each other?

 

[cheapchips]

@London Geezer NG4's not out until the autumn.

 

[mr magoo]

NGB toned down enemy counts in favor of making individual enemies more dangerous and exciting to fight against. And it wasn't hyper sped up, so everything felt more weighty and grounded. Much preferred this to NG2's wild enemy counts and simply having to fly around the screen everywhere all the time, especially to avoid spammy ranged attacks.

NGB also had far more interesting level design and some exploration and secret hunting and all that, while NG2 was a lot more straightforward and basically just pushed you from crazed encounter to crazed encounter.

I liked NG2, but NGB is a formula I like a lot better, and sadly nobody out there has ever tried to replicate or expand on, which is sad, especially with how loved it is. It's like Team Ninja themselves didn't quite grasp the brilliance they created.

I am 100% sure that NGB was the first game to introduce respawn points not directly at boss location for the extra level of frustration, something that is a standard today in Soulslike games.

 

[London Geezer]

I am 100% sure that NGB was the first game to introduce respawn points not directly at boss location for the extra level of frustration, something that is a standard today in Soulslike games.

Ugh so annoying. Hate it when they do that.

 

[neckthrough]

I am 100% sure that NGB was the first game to introduce respawn points not directly at boss location for the extra level of frustration, something that is a standard today in Soulslike games.

Ugh, please let's not have any Soulslike mechanics. I hate them. It literally made me stop playing Jedi Fallen Order, right after I had really started enjoying the combat.

 

[Cyan]

there's a new patch. I noticed they added XeSS support. Dunno about any other changes.