Ninja Gaiden II

"Ninja Gaiden II" redirects here. For the 1990 NES game, see Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos.

Ninja Gaiden II
Developer(s)	Team Ninja
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)	Tomonobu Itagaki
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, Hack and Slash
Mode(s)	Single player

Ninja Gaiden II is the sequel to Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox 360, released on June 3, 2008 in North America and June 6, 2008 in Europe. It is developed by Team Ninja and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. This marks the first time a Team Ninja developed game is not published by Tecmo. While sharing the same number as the Nintendo Entertainment System game Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, it is not a conversion of that older title. The game will not be released in Germany, due to lack of a USK rating, and is a Mature rated title under the ESRB.

Gameplay

Ninja Gaiden II keeps most of the core elements its predecessor Ninja Gaiden utilized. Protagonist Ryu Hayabusa (voiced by Josh Keaton) engages the world in a third person over-the-shoulder perspective, beginning the game with basic, low-level abilities and weapons that can be upgraded as he progresses by discovering or buying items. Ryu can interact with the game environment by running along and jumping off walls, swinging from pole to pole, or running across water. Ryu travels around the world, ranging from New York, Tokyo, the familiar Hayabusa Village, the Aqua Capital (with an environment similar to the canals of Venice), and regions of non-human origins, such as the Northern Purgatory, Lifeblood Shrine and Niflheim.

In-game cut scenes serves as the narrative to the story, and dragon busts can be used to save player progress, permitting gameplay to be resumed at a later time. Certain busts enable the player to record films of gameplay and upload the videos onto Xbox LIVE for users to download and watch. Ninja Gaiden II uses the same scoring system, based on the player's speed in clearing encounters, the number of kills achieved, the number of unused magic spells (or ninpos) remaining at the end, and the amount of cash collected. Players can compare their scores on online ranking boards.

The Story Mode for Ninja Gaiden II consists of four difficulties: Path Of The Acolyte being the easiest, followed by Path Of The Warrior, Path Of The Mentor, and Path Of The Master Ninja being the hardest.

Combat System

Ninja Gaiden II's new combat system allows Ryu to decapitate his enemies, severing their limbs and tearing their bodies apart. Compared to Ninja Gaiden, the sequel contains more gore and graphic violence. Dismemberment will weaken or immobilize an enemy, depending on if an arm or leg is severed, but not necessarily kill them. In fact, an injured enemy will be prone to use suicide tactics such as pinning you down and planting an incendiary shuriken on you, forcing the player to quickly finish off his opponents using new, brutal Obliteration techniques before they can get the upper hand.

Aside from his standard melee techniques, Ryu can absorb nearby 'essences' in combat. These colored globes of energy are released from the bodies of enemies, and absorbed into Ryu's body when he comes into proximity with them. Essences have an important role towards general gameplay, acting to heal Ryu, restore his magic, or increase his cash. However, in combat the player can cause Ryu to deliberately draw in essences, which can then be used to unleash powerful attacks known as Ultimate Techniques. New Obliteration Techniques can be triggered in the presence of a handicapped enemy, instantly killing them, but only if they are missing a limb.

Ryu will utilize his signature Dragon Sword in combat, but new weapons, such as the Eclipse Scythe, Blade Tonfas, kusari-gama and the Falcon's Talons (a pair of sharp claws and bladed greaves) will allow the player more variety in enemy encounters. Ryu's new magical spells, in the form of ninpos, includes the Art of Phoenix Flames and the Art of Piercing Void. However, previous weapons and ninpo from Ninja Gaiden will return, in the form of the Lunar Staff, the Vigoorian Flails and the Windmill Shuriken. The bow, renamed the Fiend's Bow, can now draw in essences like all of Ryu's melee weapons.

Game Demo

A demo for the game was released on Xbox Live in Japan on May 31, 2008 and other regions (Excluding India, Germany, the United States and Canada) on June 3, 2008.

Development

Initial screenshots of Ninja Gaiden II surfaced on the Japanese official Xbox 360 website, but were removed within a matter of hours in October 2007. Aside from new weapons shown, new locales were revealed, though they were of a more Eastern origin than the previous game. Ninja Gaiden II was officially shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2007, with the first released trailer. It was previewed at Microsoft's Tokyo Game Show Press Conference and was confirmed as an Xbox 360 Exclusive. Director Tomonobu Itagaki was quoted during the event as saying "Now please enjoy the world's best action game, running on the world's best hardware".

At the 2008 Game Developer's Conference, new characters and more weapons were introduced, as well as the return of previous weapons from Ninja Gaiden. On March 27, the official website announced exclusive content will be released on April 15, however it was delayed until April 22. The demo was officially announced by Itagaki to be released on the same day as the game itself, on June 3.

Characters

Humans

Joe Hayabusa

The father of Ryu Hayabusa, Joe has returned from training in distant lands to resume his duties as the leader of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan, only to be injured in one of his many battles against the forces of evil. He lays in rest at his home in the Castle of the Dragon, unaware that the evil shadow of the Black Spider Ninja Clan slowly descends upon the Hayabusa Village.

Genshin

Overlord of the Black Spider Ninja Clan, Genshin's lust for power is matched only by his hatred of the Dragon lineage. Hoping to gain an upper hand in the struggle for ninja superiority, Genshin enters into an uneasy allegiance with the Fiends. He will stop at nothing to destroy Ryu and put an end to their clans' centuries-old feud once and for all.

Sonia

A CIA agent, Sonia is searching for Ryu to help her stop the Black Spider Ninja Clan from obtaining the Demon Statue, in possession of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan, to resurrect the Archfiend.

Muramasa

A legendary blacksmith, Muramasa returns from Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword to aid Ryu by providing weapons, items and upgrades in person or via statues of himself. Muramasa himself is aware of the events surrounding the Archfiend and personally joins the fight against the Black Spider Ninja Clan and the Fiends. Despite his old age, Muramasa is shown to be a master swordsman who can dispatch a group of ninjas with no harm to himself.

Fiends

Elizébet

The Ruler of Blood and Queen of the Greater Fiends, Elizébet is tasked with retrieving an important ancient artifact from the ancestral Hayabusa Village, setting into motion the events that threatens the very existence of mankind. Her name and title suggests she is derived from Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the "Blood Queen".

Volf

The Ruler of Storms and one of the Four Greater Fiends, Volf is a vicious, four-armed warrior who seeks an opponent worthy of himself. He and his Lycanthrope underlings have taken over the canal-lined streets of the tranquil Aqua Capital, as he sits on his throne in the castle above, waiting for the one who can defeat him.

Alexei

The Ruler of Lightning and one of the Four Greater Fiends, Alexei's hatred for humankind knows no bounds. He has taken the city of New York in his evil grasp and waits perched atop the Statue of Liberty, challenging Ryu Hayabusa to come and face him.

Zedonius

The Ruler of Flame and one of the four Greater Fiends, Zedonius has nothing but contempt for human life, often addressing them as "apes" and "monkeys". He descends upon the capital of a once-great military superpower, threatening humanity with an ultimatum: submit to the will of the Fiends or die. Ryu must ascend the city's clock tower to put an end to his fearsome reign. According to Zedonius, it was he who bestowed the gift of fire upon humans centuries ago.

Dagra Dai

A human philosopher who gazed into the eyes of the Archfiend Vazdah and became a fiend himself. Now dubbed Infernal High Priest Dagra Dai, he has taken leadership of the Greater Fiends and waits patiently for the Demon Statue he needs to resurrect the Archfiend.

Vazdah

One of the ancient and calamitous Archfiends. The creature and its Greater Fiends were sealed beneath the earth by the Dragons millenia ago. Now, with the aid of its servant Dagra Dai, the destructive creature stirs beneath sacred Mount Fuji. In-game texts suggest that Vazdah is somehow related to Vigoor.

Reception

Initial reception of the game has been met with generally positive reviews. Some of the most common complaints include an inconsistent framerate and an awkward camera that is worse than previous Ninja Gaiden games. The difficulty in the latter levels has also been criticized for being "cheap", regardless of player talent. A review by TeamXbox confirmed that loading issues were not present in the retail build of the game, as they were in the review build.

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	83%
Metacritic	82%

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	B-
Eurogamer	7/10
Game Informer	8.75/10
GameTrailers	8.4/10
IGN	8.7/10
TeamXbox	9/10