Ninja gaiden 2 general discussion.

That's really wack, I'll give it a look on my current run when I'm there since...I never saw that chest hahahahaha!

What were the ranks at the end of a level again? All I got is Master Ninja and Head Ninja.

They are simply tied to the karma score you got :) The requirements of them differ per stage.

Posted some tips over on Reddit, thought I'd share them here too!

Some tips:
- Chapter 1, 2 and 3 are the hardest by far. There are some other spikes later-on but generally these are the worst ones since Ryu is still undergeared;

- don't fight where enemies spawn. Imagine that where they appear is where they want to fight you. And you don't want that. For the first fight, quickly delimb a foe using a GT against a wall, and run to the save point and funnel them there. For the fight immediately after, trigger it and walk back to Muramasa to lure them to you. The next one, open the door, and backtrack and hit them with an UT as they enter. Etc. Don't stay in the open, ever. Stay near walls for quick GTs.

- always keep OT's on demand when you need them, don't immediately go for the kill. Delimb a foe and OT them when you need i.frames. Not going for the kill also allows you to regulate enemy spawns in larger fights.

- know your moveset. You'd be surprised how little veteran players know the difference between a weapon's WallX, Off-The-WallX and WallRunX and the up and downsides of each.

- know what gives i.frames. Claws have an >XXY attack that ends with a grab that is i.framed, great for when stuck with IS. Same with certain aerial moves and wall attacks.

- don't use UTs and OTs too much in the open, when you're in those animations you will get absolutely showered in IS. Use them as an escape, not an offensive. Practice doing attacks by quick releasing block without absorbing essence, same with doing OTs while holding block to keep the essence in play.

- practice enemy patterns. IS Ninjas will always do a backflip into IS shower after a grab for instance or when you're going for an OT. Running white-ninjas tend to do their flip grab. The white-ninja jump combo ends in a feignt to bait your counter etc.

- know your counters. The Dragon Sword's X counter is fan-fucking-tastic and can - like all others - also counter projectiles. It is great to counter IS with it;

- don't go for no damage. Ninja Gaiden II simply isn't made for it, there's a reason why only one guy did it in the world and the run is the most boring around to watch. The old axiom of "dying slower than your enemies" holds true here.

- manage your economy, especially early on you'll need cash. You can farm if you want (there's a few points close to savestations), but honestly that takes the fun away. Try to kill as many foes with at least a 20x combo, an OT or a lvl3 UT for maximum orbs. Try to use 'failed' orbs as UT fuel, same with Red and Blue orbs.

- NGII lets you backtrack quite a lot. Make mental note of Blue and Red orb chests and plan your Ninpo usage around them. Those pesky archers can be wrecked badly using Ninpo for instance;

- upgrade smartly, if you're still new to the game the best method of upgrading is Lunarlvl2 > Claw lvl2 > Dual Kats Lvl2 and the rest is up to you. This setup can counter basically everything you encounter in the game. Weapons like Tonfa and Scythe are already pretty great at level 1. The Katana is up to you, you get a free level 4 upgrade in the end-game, but its level 2 is pretty sweet if you have the spare essence.

- every boss can be avoided 100%, but some really need tight planning. Gigadeath in Chapter 3 may seem impossible, but I no-damage him without life upgrades and without using Ninpo. Knowledge goes a long way. Practice, adapt, take notes!

I would love to see a video of your no damage/ninpo Gigadeath, I could only find either no damage, or no nipo on YT.

I will probably be a farmer in this game until I get very comfortable. I love not having to worry about items so I can play very aggressively and try things I never would if I was low on money. I would never try to style on guys and learn strings if I was low. I have been coming up with some cool shuriken juggle combos with the Flails, it has been a lot of fun. Favorite weapon by far for me.

What is the pro concencis on the Phoenix ninpo? The only use I have found is using it to help keep dogs at bay.

Phoenix Ninpo is seen as useless outside of Survival Mode where it has some uses - but even there it is only good for Karma. Wind Blades at Level 3 is the best against regular enemies, Void is best for bosses and Inferno best for 'tanky' enemies like those mini-gundams.

And don't worry, I too am most comfortable with a maxed out healthbar. It is just that I want to give this a shot. I die a lot haha!

My major focus when I start this game is to score on the survival missions. Iconoclast is one of the best NG II players. He has rejected the Xbox One version because of the dropped inputs. I was patiently waiting to see if anyone would throw up a video with a good survival score on the Xbox One because I returned the Xbox One X after hearing his opinion.

I do still have the Brooks Converter (360 to Xbox One adapter), though. I offered to send it to Iconoclast free of charge on the condition that he streams the survival missions with it. We shall see if this helps. If not, I will eventually get around to score attempts on the 360 version.

Iconoclast is a fantastic player I agree, but the glitches he's had with the Xbox One X version in terms of dropped inputs are not the norm. He's had it at least 20x worse, that video he uploaded showed a nearly 70% dropped input rate on directional inputs, while mine is less than 5% now - a small sacrifice for a solid frame-rate.

I really think in his case the Elite Controller is at fault, I've heard numerous tales about this being an issue. I've recently switched to a regular X1 controller with a batterypack and my dropped inputs are basically gone now.

I never really 'got into' the Survival Missions. I have a few Gold Medals in them but they really are a game of their own. I like the scoring system as a concept, but it isn't really something I enjoy. I tend to just toy around in it which leads to really boring gameplay at times haha!

I would have rather been on master ninja on the first chapter, all of the rocket launcher ninjas are terrible on mentor. I think they are the worst enemy in the game. Is and mages to me are fair and understandable, there are ways to mitigate them. I-frames for IS, off camera for mages.
The rocket launcher ninjas are just a mess. I never wanted to de-spawn guys in this game, but I have no problem doing it for them. Thank god you can if you want.

One little thing I did always like about the way Razor's Edge handled ranged foes was to just give them really low HP. I don't mind the RPG dudes too much in NGII but they can also get quite tanky.

I would take an IS over a Tac ninja any day of the week too. IS stay in your face circling you and are a great challenge imo, one of the best "difficult" enemies in games. I can't stand the Tac ninjas ai routines, especially in open areas. They were made for the corridors of the airship, and should stay there.
They just don't work great thrown in willy nilly through the campaign.

I have that with the Van Gelfs in Ninja Gaiden 3, just feels out of place. I like the tactical ninjas in NGII but the RPGs can be troublesome as you noted. I remember in the train-station in the Russia chapter they were an absolute nightmare to fight against.

In other news, past chapter 5 yesterday in NGII on my OLB/NoNinpo run. In typical NGII fashion, against the large fight of Gaja, I actually had a perfect run! Only to have the last Gaja OHKO me because I got cocky haha! Stay classy NGII.

I could only imagine how tough that will be later on. God speed

The tac ninjas aren't really that bad at all, I guess. It is just combined with the rocket guys, which they always are, that is such a pain in the ass.

It is getting a lot easier now thankfully, I managed to clear a few Tests of Valor without item usage which netted me a lot of Essence to get ahead of the upgrade curve. Have quite a few level.3 weapons right now. I don't expect too much resistance also because I allow save-scumming and UT/Delimb abuse.

The parts I'm dreading are:

- bone giant: never was really good at that fight;
- the bridge before Volf, with all the ranged foes;
- the post-volf arena fight, pretty large fight and if you die you have to redo Volf again;
- the dual dragon fight since I used to spam Void there;
- the Ratetsu Rush;
- the acid-pit (hate that part);
- the staircase (though I can skip it if I wish but fuck that);
- chapter 11;
- the mega-Volf fight with the horses;
- every fight afterwards with the horses;
- Dagra Dai;

That's it.

What are the top BNB strings I should be learning for the talon's? I currently know forward Y is broken, and FS into Izuna is pretty great also.

Like with every weapon, basically every string is good and has its uses, but I'll go over the most important ones:

>XXXY: great room clearer, high i.frames and ends in a one-demand-grab that's great for avoiding IS.

XXYY: great grab ender

XXXY: I think this is the string that you have to end with a Hold command to ripp of a limb. Absolutely fantastic. Great way to also kill delimbed foes as it doesn't count as a OT, but still has i.frames, so it has a chance of giving a blue/red orb.

XXXX>XXXX: huge string, great against large foes from behind or styling.

XX>XYYY: the best move in the game, or close to it. Huge tracking, insane damage, guaranteed delimb and almost impossible for foes to dodge. Destroys bosses, if it completely connects it can deal around 40% HP to Alexei in one stroke. One of your few melee attacks that can attack Dagra Dai in the air. Only downside is the slow start. Can be canceled into OLUT as well just because it couldn't do enough already.

XX>Y: underloved string, the >Y can combo into wall attacks if there's a wall nearby to absolutely insanity.

Walljump X: this is the one ending with a spin in the air, huge damage, huge range, huge delimb%. Always gets a decapitation.

YY>YY: good fast string for a heavy-attack. Lots avoid it and I don't know why.

>YY: the second attack in the string is often forgotten, huge damage on that.

WaterYY: best water attack imo.

Thank you very much. I looked around for some kind of general weapon guide online but didn't see anything.
I know all of the strings have their uses, but the huge move list is kind of intimidating when learning a new weapon. Wish there was a bayonetta combo practice during loads or something, it is annoying trying to suss out the moves list with rocket ninjas up your ass.

What I tend to do when I want to learn a new weapon, I have a save at the first save-station in Chapter 1 with all weapons maxed out, I walk out the gate and go back. One ninja will follow you. And I just toy with him. See what works. There's 4 in total, so I let the last one kill me (I delimb him and let him grab me or something). If you give up the will to survive, you can make a lot of progress!

And no problem, I know a lot of guides of NGII don't scrape anything but the bare surface i.e. OLUT and >Y spam. If you have any other weapon questions, feel free to let it rock! I'm going to boot up NG2 now too haha!

That's a good idea. I never thought about loading up my New game plus warrior save to learn weapons.

At work now and seriously excited for tonight haha, reached chapter 7 in Ninja Gaiden II again - my favorite chapter by a country mile. Going to have a lot of fun playing that one!

Finished Chapter 7. A blast as always, mostly used the Flails this time around, off-the-wall-X is really good for quick delimbs. Such a fantastic game, can't say anything else about it other than that. How's the run going Hed?

I got a bit distracted by a few games. The Fresh Supply re-release of BLOOD got me back into that. Though I am not even playing Fresh Supply, I have issues with it and am using BLOODgdx. I think it is one of the best FPS games ever made. Also been messing with some switch titles like Hyrule Warriors. I will be getting back into it, for sure. I still plan on going through Master Ninja, and Black Master Ninja. Nothing compares to the thrill of NG.

Can someone tell me where to get the Test Of Valor Orb or something to get me into the TOV? I don't remember how to do it.

In Chapter 2 there's a big fight just after you get the Claws (just before the towers with archers). Complete the fight for the orb thingy.

Favorite boss fight?

IS ninjas.

Jokes aside, probably Elizabet.

Seraphim just doesn't get it man.
Ninja Gaiden 2 always gets backhanded praise.

"It's good, but full of bullshit"

It is filled with enemies that require knowldege, split second decision making, and the player not being afraid of putting their neck on the chopping block for success.

But it's NEVER bullshit.

There is reason there has never been a game as good since. It requires an extremely open mind to understand fully.

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Ha, you saw the twitter topic? Were you the 'Blake' guy that also replied? Other than that, yeah NGII really needs a style of play of its own. It goes absolute bonkers and requires perfection and smart out of the box thinking. I was a bit stuck today on my OLB-No Ninpo run in the IS room in Russia. Then I had this idea: https://xboxclips.com/Raeng15/38de1f63-0d6d-4f1c-a101-c0009f150030

Basically I used the Kusarigama's >Y to delimb them all and then focus kill them one by one using the scythe and the pillars as cover. If you just run in 'swords blazing' in that big open room you're looking at 200 shurikens up your ass. And I think that's the biggest mistake a lot of people make.

They see enemies in an area and thing "this is where I fight them" and when they delimb them, they immediately go for the kill because "that's one foe less, right?", and that's such a bad way to go about it. But the game doesn't really tell you how to do it either, it just throws death at you and hopes you adapt.

God it is a fantastic title.

Also, for those interested!

Yes, that is my name haha. Username is still hedfone on twitter.

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I know this is not impressive at all, but I just beat the Tengu brothers as Momiji in Path of the Mentor. And it was fucking exhilarating, after being stuck on it since yesterday.

I just kept on countering, and kept the pressure on one guy, and then moved to the next right after.

That fight can be quite tricky at first for sure! Especially since it's two of them.

Just an update, almost got the Rasetsux6 fight with IS ninjas down on my OLB-No Ninpo run in NGII. It is...pretty nuts. Getting the IS ninjas downed really depends on my first few seconds of play, after that it's all about keeping control of the fight and never letting up.

But the final Rasetsu setup is pretty annoying. I keep getting swarmed by projectiles or by them rushing me down, I really just need to find a setup that works. Probably going to resort to 360Y spam of the Dual Katana in this case.

My best attempt so far. Really cannot think of how to deal with that second phase where you focus on the Rasetsus.

What just happened?

Utter chaos, that is what happened hahah!

You might have lost but I am sure you will do better. I'm not an expert but it looks like the staff might be the best method. What does the OLB stand for?

Original Life Bar, basically means you don't upgrade your life. It is only really used in reference to Ninja Gaiden, not sure why. And I did experiment a tad more today, got another tactic, use the Tonfa's UT instead of the Lunar's. Mostly because if I do a raw-charge and need to cancel, its cancel is i.framed. Making it a lot safer.

OLB
For all NGs?

https://www.facebook.com/tomonobu.itagaki/posts/2366213070309464

Itagaki is making a new action game. In the comments he says multiplatform.

HOLY SHIT

The man himself is FUCKING BACK

The third pillar in the trio of Japanese action game pioneers, the main others being Kamiya, and Itsuno.

Been 4 years since he last made a game, and that one was... rough. I hear that it's not bad, according to Roy at least, but the combination of it looking bad, and running bad turned off a lot of people.

If the reviews for the game are good, day one buy for me. If not... Well, I'll wait for your impressions.

That is great! I can't wait to see what is.

Ninja Gaiden 2 definitely does not work for No Damage runs.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 on the other hand... Actually works well there, and isn't boring to watch because players are able to be more aggressive, thanks to the lower projectile spam, and the smaller number (Albeit individually more dangerous) of enemies.

>pillar of action game pioneers

No Mikami? He is the most skilled and important of them all in my eyes.

Shit, how did I forget about Mikami? That guy's definitely part of the... Uh, quartet, I guess.

Just got to chapter 5, trying to see how long I can go without healing. I know I’m only playing on Normal but I’m proud of myself for not using any items so far.

Don't take Warrior Mode too lightly, it can still offer a challenge at some points if you let it! Mentor is already pretty crazy and it took me quite a while to become comfortable with Master Ninja. It is still my goal to one day just sit my ass down and do a Master Ninja speedrun, see if I can break the current record (6 hours).

What weapon are you using right now?

>break the current record

What’s your best time so far?

>what weapon

Just the DS for now, I really want to get the movement down and study the enemies before I try other weapons, unless you recommend something else.

>Just the DS for now

I did the same thing until I felt comfy enough with the DS to switch, that was when they gave me the scythe.
I eventually used the flails as well and I would recommend using 2-3 weapons per playthrough to grasp as much as you can with them. They are each so complex, there is a reason there is achievement for beating the game with each weapon.

The flails might be my favorite weapon in any game ever.

Hell yes, the flails are amazing. I really want to learn how to use the tonfas as well.