Ninja Gaiden III Will Be Completely Different

Ninja Gaiden III will make you feel what it's like to cut through someone's bones.

That's what Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi told IGN during an interview today. He says the third game, which was first revealed at this past Tokyo Game Show, will give a new meaning to the term "slicing and dicing."

[NYC_Gamer]

how can this be ninja gaiden without the challenge?

[InTheLab]

Exactly why NG2 was trash. They replaced "challenge" with "cheap" and they somehow broke the already broken camera from the first game.

[ABizzel1]

I wish them the best of luck. The series needs a refresh/reboot.

1. Ninja Gaiden 3, needs to revamp the gameplay. The gameplay is great, and probably still the best, but every other game is catching up.

2. Graphics. It's time for a new engine. Ninja Gaiden was the best looking game of it's genre when it came out last gen, not it's one of the worst when compared to the other high profile hack and slash.

3. Story. The story sucks. Make a decent story, and make it more realistic. The Archfiends need to go. It should be a ninja war. There are a bunch of ninja movies, animes, and more, so take inspiration from them and make a good story, with a good cast.

4. Camera. Fix it.

5. Expand the audience. Co-op was great, now take it a step further. Keep the difficulty the series is known for, but add new features to make it easier for people who are beginners. If a Master plays with a beginner, then the difficulty needs to scale for those players.

[Omega Archetype]

@ABizzel1:

I agree almost completely. Only thing is is that there likely won't be a game that can (and hasn't yet happened) surpassed Ninja Gaiden when it comes to gameplay. Combat-wise anyways.

Ninja Gaiden was far better then NG2 due to all the small things such as equipment (armlets, sun/moon etc. as well as puzzles.) Wish they would've kept those things in for NG2, but at least the combat held up and was improved.

Still the best combat in any action game ever IMO!

Hope this one is a significant improvement to the franchise!

[gamer2010]

The biggest change I am hoping to see in Ninja Gaiden 3 really doesn't have to do with difficulty.

The biggest problem I had with the Itagaki-directed Ninja Gaiden games is that they were very weak in atmosphere and storytelling. The environments felt so lifeless and synthetic.

I want them to focus more on ninja lore and tell an interesting story with characters we can't help but care about.

The original Ninja Gaiden games were great because they were some of the first videogames to really tell a story with depth. The music was also very good for the time.

We need better music in Ninja Gaiden 3 (not generic rock music like we often heard in NG and NG2), a better narrative, and more atmosphere and detail in the environments.

[sunnygrg]

Exactly.

The path of the Acolyte is there for a reason.

[R2D2]

Metal Gear Rising says hi Team Ninja.

The true slicing and dicing experience.

[MegaMohsi]

More accessible as in easy? Please no, I loved the first 2 games, don't n00bify it.

[NYC_Gamer]

also sounds like they wanna add QTE battles,in my opinion that does not fit in to the NG style of gameplay : (

[gamingdroid]

Oh, that would be terrible. It would be like playing Ninja Blade, which I hated. Completely wasted my money and worse my time on that game.

I'm trying to stay open until I see the game in action, but I'm concerned very concerned. It is starting to sound more and more like a game to avoid.

[jimbone79]

I agree, the QTE thing has been done to death. I hope they stop beating the sh!t out of that dead horse.

[gcolley]

the game doesnt sell because it is too hard. gotta think about the developers here. this is why we have difficulty settings??? i didn't buy the second one because the first was too hard (for me to enjoy)

[DJMarty]

To hard, LOL.

Thats the whole point of gaming, it's a challege. Why does everything have to be handed to ya on a plate.

[gamer2010]

Not everybody is an early-20s bachelor with plenty of time on their hands. I have alway enjoyed difficult games (I beat the original Ninja Gaiden games on the NES), but at times the newer Ninja Gaiden games crossed over into pure frustration.

I don't have time to sink 50 or 60 hours of my life into replaying difficult games over and over again until I finally beat them.

If they can make the difficulty more flexible so that it can be enjoyed by more people, that can only be a good thing in my opinion.

With proper design there should be no reason that a game can't have different difficulties that would keep different kinds of gamers happy.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

haha not really, but I did beat it on the hardest setting. Then I DL the Master Ninja Tournament online because I wanted more of a challenge.

I really hope they dont make this game alot easier, Id like some challenge still.

NG1 and 2 on easy should be simple enough for anyone to play.

EDit-- Seems like they might be catering to people who are not even fans of the series at the expense of the true fans who enjoy the challenge. LAME.

[etowntwo]

I agree with Gamer2010

I really liked Ng2 ... but the end boss (if that was the end ...) was just too frustrating. Maybe I wasn't powered up enough to beat him or maybe I just sucked .... either way, it's the only game I gave up on this gen out of pure frustration.
And I play all my games on the hardened level, never normal and never expert. Just a good challenge on Hard.

Maybe they can do like Gears2 did and other games where the difficulty can be changed mid game.

[UnSelf]

u gamers sicken me

"too hard" im playin Sigma 1 on Ninja Master and im loving every fkin minute.

i hate this gen

[TronEOL]

People disagree with this? He is a gamer talking about a game he was interested in, but could NOT play because of the breakneck difficulty on Easy through Hard.

Every good developer knows that there is a wide variety of gamers out there, and many gamers who don't play many different genres. But what happens when a FPS gamer wants to play this game because it looks cool to him/her? They just aren't allowed because the developers don't cater to all types of gamer?

That's BS and Team Ninja knows this. Hence why they would make it possible for new players to play on the LOWER DIFFICULTIES. If there is an Easy mode, it better be easy enough for anyone to play. If you want a challenge, play on Hard you twat.

P.S. Making broken enemies and game mechanics has nothing to do with difficulty. It has to do with terrible game design.

[Christopher]

Completely different? So... first Ninja Gaiden FPS? Or are we running away with hyperbole again?

Anyway, I think it's possible to make the game 'more friendly towards the general public' while maintaining the difficulty through proper difficulty level balancing.

[gamingdroid]

I thought Acolyte difficulty was pretty approachable already, but they could always be gentler about introducing features or slow down the needed reaction time.

[FAGOL]

The casual gamer disease is spreading.

[Fishy Fingers]

Personally, its welcomed, I found the series becoming stale, it's only real sales bitch being it's difficulty. Which sometimes was more of a grind than challenging enjoyment.

[gamingdroid]

Really?

Because in my eyes, there is a huge difference between playing NG1 and NG2. So far there hasn't been even a single game out there that in my personal opinion matches up to the excellent NG2.

I'm not sure how that translates it into being stale.

[peowpeow]

Agreed gamingdroid. Absolutely loved NG2, also didn't think it was cheap but I do consider myself lucky getting through some parts so no frustration there.

[Burning_Finger]

Proabably a dating sim including girls with massive rack.

[Magris]

Yay! I would love a more accessible Ninja Gaiden. The combat was fun, but the retarded camera and stupid suicidal ninjas just made it frustrating. Frustration =/= fun.

And besides, if you want difficulty, play it on the hardest. That's why we have multiple difficulties.

[Sevir04]

Cant wait to see what they've been coming up with. Sounds like This will give the series a well deserved attention to story. and i like the fact that Ryu wont be some generic bad ass ninja! i cant wait.

[pushergreen]

Gawd.... if they add qtes then count me out. Such a gross gameplay element. Should not be in any game let alone NINJA GAIDEN, noobs need not apply. I guess they could at least make the difficulty adjustable. Loved the xbox NGII, what a great game. All complaints are unfounded imo. Man or woman up you lames! Please don't ruin this franchise, do not cater towards the unskilled.

[sonicsidewinder]

Good lord, trying to make Ninja Gaiden less hard is like trying to make Cheese less Cheesy.

It can be done but WHY would you want less o' the cheese?!

[bebojet]

If the game has a dark story and new emenies other than Fiends, it'll be a day 1 buy for me. But I know I'll get it regardless because I'm a fan of the franchise.

[multipayer]

From the description, I'd think they were highjacking mgs rising mechanics.

[GuruStarr78]

They should go back to a 2-D game...with metroid like exploration.

[Optical_Matrix]

I just want an improvement in story. That's the only thing Ninja Gaiden lacks. I can't really attach myself to the characters...or Ryu specifically. He seems so lifeless. I guess that re-enforces the idea that he's a silent ninja but, still. I would love them to go more in depth into Ryu's character as well as flesh out the plot more.

As for this 'making the experience easier' stuff...as long as there's a mode for hack n' slash vets then I'm alright. Hard mode should be made available from the get go.

[TronEOL]

Now this is one game I will read every article about, and I really like the title of this one. I've owned both Ninja Gaiden games in some form (NG on XBox, NGS2 on PS3) and I've enjoyed them a lot, minus a few setbacks (like the story that is as deep as the characters, for example).

So I'm very curious about how and what they plan on changing with/for Ninja Gaiden 3.

[Aberdasher]

Am I the only one that finds it a tad ironic in that fact that the user that has the "Ninja Gaiden 3 is sic! :)" tag at the bottom of every post they make, regardless of what article they may be in, is absent from this one?

[mysterious_warrior]

Someone mention the music. I thought the music was great for NG and NG2

[ssbains]

Game was too hard ... sales were poor.

Since Metal Gear Solid Rising will feature a sword and you can cut anything and went multi-platform.

I think Team Ninja's bulb went off, ping ... I'll have some of that ...

bigger sales audience if I make it easier and ride some of the cutting off Metal Gear Solid Rising. After seeing the difficulty of the first two games I'll pass.

[Der_Kommandant]

I want it Hard, Not to sound gay or anything

[mightyboot]

Chalenging is the proper word XD