Ben-DutkaIt's like every time you turn around, a once-proud Japanese franchise is suddenly, inexplicably floundering.
We've already caught wind of the possibility that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City wasn't such a hot idea and now, the mediocre reviews are starting to come in for the highly anticipated Ninja Gaiden 3 .
When stuff like this happens, one can't help but to return to comments made by ex-Capcom boss Keiji Inafune. Last year, he criticized the Japanese gaming industry for falling behind the Western competition and only recently, he sounded off again , saying it may have "gotten worse." Thing is, since when do new Ninja Gaiden titles score so badly? Granted, they've been re-releasing basically the same game ( Ninja Gaiden Black ) for so long now, it has started to feel a little old and tired. And that's why Sigma Plus for the Vita wasn't so hot.
But NGIII? The brand new effort? The game that, by all rights, could've and perhaps even should've been the very best action game of 2012? There seems to be no end to this string of Japanese disappointments, and it's kinda depressing. Sometimes you have to wonder: are the developers aware they're letting these glorious franchises slide? Or do they really think they're doing a good job? Will Tecmo and Team Ninja be surprised by the poor critical reception?
Related Game(s): Ninja Gaiden 3
B-b-but…the water in the kettle is already boiled now!
I'm seeing some 3s 5s and 8s as far as reviews for this game. Never seen them that far apart before. Preordered this and now kind of nervous.
"I'm seeing some 3s 5s and 8s as far as reviews for this game."
Almost like your average user-review, right?
Destructoid has a video review worth watching. I wish the dude on our left holding the sword would shut up, but the experienced guy is definately worth listening too. They actually talk about game play changes in more detail than most.
Good point
I think Inafune is right when it comes to the big names and mainstream titles. But i'm still enjoying a lot of niche and underground gems, that came out this gen from Japanese developers. My collection still consist of more titles from the Eastern Hemisphere than the West.
For those of you looking for great Japanese games to play, make sure you take the chance to branch out and try different IPs if you haven't already, I'm not guaranteeing satisfaction if you do, but it might steer you in the right direction.
I think the Japanese are still innovating, still churning good games, but they are usually the ones that don't get much attention. While the titles that most gamers are familiar with…well they tend to disappoint.
So far from what i've played of NG3 there hasn't been a move list from what I could tell and QTE's are in abundance. I do like the new wall climbing but not receiving any chests or money for upgrades or even ninpo so far is saddening for me.
The game so far has been cutscene – QTE defeat enemies – cut scene – QTE defeat enemies. Compared to the other ninja gaidens this one falls behind them most definitely.
-possible spoilers?-
Am I having fun? Yes I am but not as much as the other ninja gaidens have given me. They even teased the Muramasa shop music only to be attacked by another swarm of enemies and when you're done clearing the room you see posters on the wall that says muramasa's shop closed *sigh*
Last edited by Soultaker on 3/20/2012 11:17:01 AM
Sounds really disappointing, the linearity turned me off in the second installment.
Don't get me wrong NG1 wasn't open world or anything, but its illusion of exploration and puzzles that it implemented really helped shake up the pace, which help preserved the fun factor of fighting enemies.
It doesn't matter how joyous something is, if its the only thing you do in a game, its going to get old eventually.
And I already made up my mind that I wasn't going to support Team Ninja's new direction when I saw enemies begging for their lives. NG used to be the only hack n' slash franchise that pride itself on aggressive enemy AI.
Unfortunately I think that was the something that kept it from getting mainstream acceptance, and that's probably what Team Ninja and Temco wanted to achieve with this installment.
Yes Kenji is right because this should have easily been one of the best releases this month and one of kick ass games of the year. I've watched some of the 30 minute preview videos awhile back and knew then that the scores would be everywhere. Lame decisions were made for this title. I'll buy it when its under $30.
No doubt they think they are doing a great job. Unfortunately that not what everyone else thinks. I haven't played NGIII so I cannot say anything about it. But the reviews have been very mixed.
People who dislike NG3 are xenophobic. They probably kick puppies and eat babies, too.
So, did you take offense because you dislike NG3, or because you're xenophobic? :p
No kidding Sir Loin, Greg Miller came to my house last night to kick my dog because my wife is Asian. XD
Neither actually. I've never eaten babies, either, though I have kicked a puppy before (not hard, mind you!)
I don't have much of an opinion on this besides to say that I'm surprised.
Ninja Gaiden is an iconic and critically acclaimed franchise. To have it score so low is a shock to me and to many others, I'm sure. I do agree with Highlander's point that some reviewers really are biased against Japanese games, but in this case, I think it's pretty cut and dry.
A once great franchise that suddenly isn't so great…in fact, mediocre or even bad. And I think that's the decline Inafune was referring to.
Ninja Gaiden 3 should be at my house either tomorrow or Thursday but I did notice on Gamefly NG3 had a user rating of 3.9 but when I check a few hours later it shot up to 7.8 now it's around 7.5.
I still wished we got the game next year when it's Ninja Gaiden sigma 3 it gives team ninja a chance to see what they didn't do right with Ninja Gaiden 3 and improve it on the PS3 side.
Last edited by JDC80 on 3/20/2012 3:17:24 PM
I'm counting on NG Sigma 3 to happen. A re-invisioned game, improved like Black and SIgma iterations were before it. This experiement with an already hardcore following of Haysashi's was obviously a complete mistake. I hope he sees fit to recitify a series he vouched to inherit and do justice to the fans who had no choice in Itagaki's sudden departure. If they can't do it right, I'd sooner see the franchise end, sadly being remembered as a great series that got trainwrecked by misguided new leadership with a mis-calculated or poorly executed new vision. I really don't think Tecmo is in any position to not give their loyal base what they want, because they'll be pretty close to nothing otherwise.
This isn't the first time we've seen this either. Anyone remember DMC2? After the outcry the series was properly restored to it's prior greatness.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/20/2012 3:48:02 PM
Wow this thread got off track. Sad to see another Japanese franchise commit Hari Kari
Yeah, I'm partly to blame, I think. I jsut gotta say this, though.
I've played about 20min of it, on hard. The good: Ryu animates and re-acts just as I expect he would and should. There's also a decent amount of depth so far. Surprisingly, a bit more than some have given it credit for.
The dash appears to stagger an enemy on impact, and air launches an enemey on counter-hit which can be followed up by a reverse take-down. awesome.
Dismemberment may be gone, per se, but characters do appear to be obliteratable after they've reached a certain amount of damage, much like NG2, being quickly dispatched once weakened, and weakened quicker on counter hit. They'll eithre be staggering from loss of blood, or having sustained prior damage. Functionally, it appears to be fine.
The bad:
The texture detail may have gone up but there's much more slowdown. it does affect game play.
the camera does get out of hand, especially with 3-5 rocket launcher men casting vollies at you.
The big change I'm sensing. Pacing. Encounters happen like those 100 man fights in NG SIgma, or like in NG2's test of valor sequences. I'm beginning to wonder if most of the game plays out like this.
It doesn't appear to deny the hardcore of solid and dynamic combat (phew)
But it probably feels too boring and mundane to the standard game player, on lower difficulties. I sense it's sin is having no middleground or backbone. It's either specifically addressing the hardcore or totally ignoring everyone inbetween, and trying to appeal to the mindless.
I think the very opening part is there to install the 2GB's of data, hence the lower looking graphics detail. Beat's that crappy looking comic intro during NGS2's install, right?
Anyway, I'm pleased so far, considering the odds. Can't wait until the kids go to bed =)
I'll shut up for now
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/20/2012 5:18:58 PM
You're not to blame. You're not the one who generalized a certain segment of the population as a bunches of bigots for not liking a video game.
Semantics, I say! Jaw, the dead horse has come back to life and is looking to beat on you for defiling its corpse.
Last edited by pillz81 on 3/23/2012 1:08:38 PM
The game get bad reviews because it isn't a Ninja Gaiden game. The core of the NG were their hardcore game.Of course fans of the franchise aren't going to review it properly because they compare it with the past ones.
Also the fact that there's just one weapon,and the graphics/story sucks doesn't help
I think NG3 is badass. People say a lot of good games are bad because of some dumb reason. Silent hill Downpour ive read that people hate it because "theres no clear goal" they must not have played sh1, 2, and 3. SH Downpour has great atmosphere and feels like a SH game. Yet people say its terrible. NG3 is already getting hate? Probably of the dumbest reasons and i honestly dont want to know what they are. I bet if NG3 was called Call of Ninja 3: Gaiden Warfare people would love it.
going to have to wait for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 3
I dont know why people hate on ign reviews. People hate em when there fav game gets a bad score but praise em when another of their fav franchise gets a high score. They scored silent hill downpour a very low score but also other sites did as well. They pull no punches when reviewing a game and they just now helped make me save $64. Hopefully an inevitable NG3 sigma adresses current NG3 issues. Then they will get my $64 Cuz i loved NGS 1 and 2.
people hate IGN because they have ZERO consistency!
they will bake one game for something, but then praise another game for having the same thing.
how does that work?
if its a bad thing for one game, then shouldent it be a bad thing for all games?
he was whining that NG3 is walk into a room, magic walls pop up and you cant leave till everyones dead.
then once your done, you back flip jump up a wall, some platforming to another invisible walled room.
huh, i wonder why that sounds familiar……
oh thats right NG2 was EXACTLY the same!
so why did that get praised for it, and this gets condemned to the depths of hell?
I think people just hate IGN because IGN is the largest one, the king of the hill. It's often like that. Same syndrome with COD.
More than )/10 IGN scores are well within the range of the final metarating. They are not inconsistent at all. There are exceptions, yes, but IGN is one of THE most predictable and reliable sources for ratings out there. That is speaking from a statistical point of view.
Sometimes, when a game is good enough, it's just silly to nit-pick on details, while other times that same detail stack up with other issues and get focus. That's just how it is.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/21/2012 7:39:38 AM
they are inconsistant.
last year most of their reviews were pretty generous, this year there really harsh.
im sorry but ninja gaiden 3, silent hill downpour, and i am alive DO NOT deserve the scores they got!
there not good games, pretty mediocre, but they certainly dont deserve the low scores they got!
IGN is one of the ONLY outlets that gave i am alive such a low score, most places were a 6 or higher.
resident evil operation racoon city another prime example.
just one of the many problems with that review, where they complained it did not have the horror atmosphere the series is known for.
of course it does not its a squad based shooter for crying out loud!
thats like complaining that red faction guerrilla is not a corridor shooter, it was never suppose to be!
just because its a RE title does not mean its suppose to be scary.
its a squad shooter, its suppose to be like L4D which is not scary!
it was never suppose to be a suspenseful scary title, so to mark it down because its not is just stupid!
you cant mark a game down for not being something it was not suppose to be!
Last edited by ___________ on 3/21/2012 9:15:32 AM
wasnt his point that japanese developers dont make anything that would appeal to western fans?
this proves the exact opposite, thats ALL there doing!
They're trying to make their games more appealing to the West for the sake of sales, but at the same time they look down their noses at Western gamers and think of us as a bunch of simpletons who just want to play as big testosterone-dripping macho guys shooting great big guns at everything. That sort of arrogance and intentional ignorance of a market you're trying to penetrate just doesn't work.
Such a disgrace. They'll regret making a mediocre title. Now back to my Asura's Wrath hehe
I only hope that The Last Guardian will not be a future victim of this trend…
Meh…reviews….I'll wait to see for myself, I hate when critics goes on some trend and ppl follow like sheeps. It can make or break a game sometimes no matter whats the quality of it…