NG first playthrough

Starting with normal mode.

The fight near the start with 3 white ninjas was kind of tough. They attack nonstop and they're all doing different stuff. It's critical to keep moving near as I can tell.

I haven't read any guides so I'll just ask here.

I keep doing the charge attack instantly by accident. This is that on landing thing right? It requires essence to be present correct?

I also keep doing a counter after blocking but not sure how.

When fighting games ninjas I'm usually doing X, Y (launcher), in air X, Y or throw some shurikens. I've been hit a few times coming down with Y.

Just beat Murai.
Let me see if I have this right. Everything he does is blockable. Wait for him to finish his fast string then hit back. He has a big single hit that doesn't break guard but pushes you back. His grab is instant. I couldn't see it coming. Started to dodge back on reaction to any movement.

Got him in a loop near the corner where I jumped off the wall and did that powerful downward slash with the blue shadows. Then after he tried his big dash attack. I wall jumped and slashed down again, and he keep repeating himself. Then I pressed something wrong and he got out.

Is any of this the correct way to fight him?

These guys on horses are a pain. Ended up just chasing them around by roll then jumping and trying to do that air spinning slash.

Enemies attacking non stop - Yes, this is NG. Enemies here are really aggressive, but they also die fast, even on higher difficulties.

Charge attack by accident - This is probably on landing UTs.

you can throw shurikens in the air as means of keeping an enemy juggled before doing that downward Y slash (forgot if X is any different). You can also use it to stay in the air as means of avoiding an attack on the ground.

Murai - IIRC, the correct way to fight him is to bait him into attacking you and attacking him during the recovery. I think you can also attack him during his attacks, perhaps via wall attacks, but I don't remember. Been a while since I last played it.

Didn't you start playing this a few years ago? I remember having a similar topic at the time. Read on Twitter that you're playing the original release (not Black) so that does change a few things since Black was already quite the overhaul.

> white ninjas
Note that non-black ninjas can't grab you, and lack any sort of guard-breaking attacks, so you can just hold block.

> Aggression
This is the typical NG experience yeah haha. Movement is key and I always suggest taking a break in this game and just jumping around a bit. Getting comfortable doing stuff like dodge>jump>walljump>wall-attack is essential when under pressure. Don't underestimate the importance and power of the head-stomp either (jump towards a foe, press Jump on their heads).

> Guide
Note that there's a guide made for beginning players on Stinger: https://stinger-magazine.com/side-stories/how-to-enjoy-playing-ninja-gaiden/

I can understand (and appreciate) that you want to experience and discover it all yourself, but NG can be a bit obtuse at times.

Stuff like how OLUTs work and how you can prevent them from happening or how you can use essence smartly are game-changers.

> Murai
He's completely open after he dodge-rolls, which you can bait by standing towards him with your back turned.

> horses
Yeah they suck. You can sort of loop them or skip the encounter entirely with Ninpo; but it sucks, badly.

NOTE: NG2004 has a few key differences compared to NG:B, which will make for some confusion. For one, the difficulty modes are all the same in terms of content. The only thing NG2004 changes is damage-values, as opposed to NG:B which changes enemy-layouts, boss designs and even item-pickups.

The Ultimate Attack System is also different. In NG2004 you can ONLY do a UT by charging with Essence. In NG:B it's a 'quicker' way.

EDIT: also note that Mission Mode is not in this game. I'd generally say to avoid this version unless you're a perfectionist who wants to play every version or is just curious about the game's roots (like I was). If you can, play Black. But that version can be a bit rare/expensive depending on where you live.

>similar topic
Yeah. Totally forgot about that.

>guide
That redirect jump is nice.

UT uses my currency? Might lay off those for a while until I've bought everything.

Note that UTs increase the essence gained from a kill by a ton, so there's a nice back and forth. For example killing a bat to fuel your UT to kill a ninja, gives way more essence than just flat out absorbing both.

Cool. Will keep that in mind.

On the airship now. Got the key card and went back to open a locked door near where I started for goodies.
Liking the level design. I think this is my favorite kind. Really similar to GoW with lots of little hidden corners.

Died to the boss. Seems he has to reload his gun after a few shots. He also melee if you get close. As soon as I saw him miss I tried again and it looks like you can get him in a loop.

Got the counter move earlier. Pretty useful. Bought an upgrade for Dragon Sword, a new spell, and Izuna.

Got the Wooden Sword too. What is this? Why so many stars to upgrade?

Forgot to mention the earlier boss. It was the big guy on a horse with two wizards or whatever they are. They can shoot magic shit and teleport. Kept fighting them and they eventually stopped respawning. The boss himself was really difficult to approach. Could only safely hit him from behind. Then I tried UT attack. Just sat there charging and releasing when he got close.

>Why so many stars to upgrade?
I'll just say that that weapon is really worth upgrading, but the only great upgrade is the final one. Do it when you have the money.

> airship
Note that the game vastly changes its level-design after that level, becoming a bit more 'open' which is pretty cool. NGII is more akin to what you see in like the second-mission of NG2004 (lineair).

> Dynamo
Really fun boss. You can sort of loop him by attacking him from behind and blocking his 'turn punch'. Fantastic boss. In Black you can do even more funky stuff with him thanks to Smoke Bombs.

> Counter
Very, VERY powerful in this game.

> Izuna
It's a bit of a trap (great move though), don't abuse it too much I'd say.

> wooden sword
If you upgrade it to max something cool happens.

> guy on a horse boss
There's a lot of cool things you can do there. The Mages always drop blue orbs (unless you kill them with UTs). So you can kill one and use his orb as fuel for a max-charge. Or you can keep them off-screen (only one will teleport to you at worst, at best they'll just leave you alone completely).

I’ve been wanting to play this again, despite all the stuff I still have to finish. This thread isn’t helping.

>It's a bit of a trap (great move though), don't abuse it too much I'd say.
What are the dangers?
When he bounces back after landing?

Works pretty well on these soldiers, though I've only used it when they're close and they all get hit.

Edit:
>becoming a bit more 'open' which is pretty cool.
Just got there. This is still the type I like. Some bigger spaces with linear paths.

> dangers of izuna
It's got three flaws:
1) the recovery can leave you in harms way at times
2) it can lead to a very singular playstyle, meaning you don't experiment with other cool and interesting moves because of it.
3) it is absolutely garbage in subsequent entries, so it builds bad habbits.

I love the throw and Flying Swallow. I used both of these in the little I played of NG2.

I love how you can do the jump where you land on them then Flying Swallow from there.

Are there hidden weapons or do you get them all through the story?

>the recovery can leave you in harms way at times
Just had this happen.

>it is absolutely garbage in subsequent entries
Is that due to the move properties being worse or the enemies being different?

> Throw
It's SUPER fun and good, it's even more potent in NGII where throwing enemies into walls is a guaranteed delimb, rewarding good positioning.

> headstomp into flying swallow
Wait until NGII where you can headstomp into a wallrun into a flying swallow. The mobility options in these entries are endless.

> hidden weapon
There's a few, but most of them you'll get normally.

> Izuna in subsequent entries
In NGII the recovery has less i.frames, meaning you can get absolutely SWARMED by enemies in your recovery if you're not careful. In NG3RE it has a similar problem, while also being harder to connect.

I can't read what groups of brown ninjas are going to do.

Was getting destroyed until I realized I need to hold block all the time and dodge to the side while blocking or I'll get assaulted by what feels like a hundred sword attacks in 2 seconds with exploding shurikens.

Once I started doing that their attacks missed nearly all the time but there are some instances where they'd still catch me like after landing from a throw or at the end of a roll. Even got caught by a bomb shuriken after Flying Swallow. No idea how they tracked that.

Then I had to fight 3 dinosaurs that were easy after learning their ability like when they turn around it's unblockable, if you stand in front too long they can grab (humans also do this which I assume is to stop you blocking forever) and their running attack which can come from offscreen.

Got killed on the boss twice since I'm trying to learn all these enemies on my way there. The boss is that mutant with lots of eyes and tentacles. They have an annoying move where they start spazzing suddenly. Waited for it to finish then did a quick jumping attack. The tentacle sweep first hit can be blocked but not the return.

Just beat skeleton dinosaur. Hated that fight.

What's with these bats? Do they actually attack of does just touching them hurt you. I jump through them slashing and I take damage.

> tentacle boss
For him, you can use Flying Swallow > Shuriken > downwards slash to quickly dismember his tentacles. Once removed a good combo would be to use Flame Wheels and use the dropped Essence (usually blue) for a max UT. Doing the UT with the Flame Wheels absolutely *melts* him.

> red dino enemies
Very fun foe, you can also jump on their head which prompts their 'turn around attack' which you can then exploit. Their grab is INSANELY dangerous on higher settings though.

> skeleton dino
He's not my favourite either.

> bats
They technically attack you, but the startup is like a single-frame. You can kinda avoid it by using rapid attacks like of the Vigorian Flail or using forward-jump attacks.

>tentacle boss
Just fought the second one using your strat. The fire wheel did crazy damage and I got the UT in too.

>bats
Reminds me of the ones in Dragon's Dogma.

I just saved after the second tentacle boss. Will play a bit more after dinner.

Just beat that pink demon woman. Beat her on my second try.

I know it's only normal mode but so far she was the easiest thing to fight. That tentacle thing annoyed me more. Not even sure why. Maybe because her attacks are easier to see coming.

Back to Pinky, she dodges a lot. Sometimes Flying Swallow would connect and knock her down but not sure why. Then I'd hit her with my new ice spell or just sword strings. What decides if you can hit her? I feel like it's after one of her moves but I was too busy trying to avoid her to notice.

Had to jump around a lot to avoid her orbs and when she throws chunks of those pillars. Sometimes they hit me anyway. Need to practice changing roll direction more while roll jumping.

Got the hammer too.

> Pinky
That's Alma, you'll find a lot of notes on her online since she's quite the gatekeeper on higher difficulties. On Normal she's pretty doable. Here's a funky setup for her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxY0YoSU5rM
You can technically infinite her that way.

> sometimes it connects
It's quite literally random, with some caveats. At the start of the fight while she's standing up she's vulnerable for a hit. Most people start the fight by having Essence from the room before, and draging it to that room to start with a strong UT in her face.

> Hammer
Fun weapon, bit invalidated at times by other heavy-weapons but those can be missed. Note that the hammer has a hidden damage-bonus against Fiends, which is neat. Especially noticable against certain bosses.

>Here's a funky setup for her
Wow. That damage.
What's happening here? The fireballs keeping her in hitstun so she can't dodge?

>on higher difficulties
What changes?

>At the start of the fight while she's standing up
She sometimes goes back to standing during the fight. I wasn't able to notice when due to being so focused on her attacks. It's hard to stop and just test and observe because everything kills you so fast.

>bit invalidated at times by other heavy-weapons
I found it too difficult to use due to its speed. You lose a lot of mobility. Can it be used effectively against fast enemies?

>hidden damage-bonus against Fiends
That's cool. Because it's Rachel's and she hates them I guess.

Wish I had the Lunar Staff but it's only in Black.

> fireball setup
What it does it it keeps her in the air, so that when you relaunch she hasn't landed yet which resets her state.

> higher difficulties
In NG2004 nothing changes except damage values. In NG:B every difficulty increases her projectile amount by a few more i.e. on Hard she fires 3 orbs instead of 2 and 2 pillars instead of 1 while on Master Ninja she fires like 10 orbs and 8 pillars while also of course getting an agression upgrade. She also gets adds on higher settings in that game, on Hard she's joined by 2 imps that respawn every 25%. On Master Ninja by Crow Fiends (you haven't fought those yet).

> Standing
You can bait and punish her leg-grab that she does when standing for a semi infinite:
https://youtu.be/dlqy6wQpzHU?t=119

> warhammer
Its wall attacks and aerials are plenty fast, it also has a great UT that you can abuse.
Otherwise it's >YY and 360Y are decent, but you need to apply them smartly.

> Lunar
It's kinda good that you don't, it's a quite busted weapon haha. Well, not busted, but a bit too universal like the Dragon Sword making it a good solution for nearly every problem.

>so that when you relaunch she hasn't landed yet which resets her state.
That's excellent.

>on Hard she's joined by 2 imps that respawn
That's nasty.

>leg grab
Why is she repeating that string?

>Warhammer
It's a completely different play style. Was so used to zipping around with Dragon Sword.

>Lunar
Looks like it has amazing range and area. The UT looks insanely good.

Got up to a giant bird demon that shoots lasers.

> giant bird daemon
You mean Paz Zuu?

> Warhammer
Yeah it takes a bit of a different approach, but it's pretty fun. I did a Warhammer-Only run (as far as possible) in NG:B on Master Ninja and it opened my eyes to a few of its niches (like the damageboost).

> leg grab
RNG, she only has three options in melee when grounded:
1) leg grab
2) launcher
3) fly away.
She won't (or almost never) fly away when up close, so he can sort of controle her that way. It's super risky though, that grab is a tough cookie.

Beat the dragon in the caverns last night.

I really don't enjoy the platforming. Did Black remove any of it?

No, The base campaign of Black is pretty much the same as NG2004 on normal, aside from some differences between the versions.

Sigma removes nearly all of it. That said I'd recommend at getting more confident at it, it's very useful mobility skills to use during combat.

It helps to use shurikens and the downwards thrust (helm splitter? falling daemon?) to control your location more precisely.

I think I'm at the end now.

Looks like I have to fight some enemies and that tentacle thing in some hellscape. He killed me again.

Yeah that's close to the end! Note that if you play Black now, because you beat 2004 you can immediately start on Hard which is nice.

Done.

And how was it looking back? Going to try Black later?

Aside from some annoying sections with platforming and swimming, fantastic game.

Don't have access to Black. Sigma sounds more interesting to me since it removes some stuff I didn't like.

Really want to try NG3 too. I don't own any of these but will look into getting them.

Understandable! Sigma is pretty good, though it misses out on some advanced weaknesses, tricks and loops since the AI was ported over poorly. Some moves also behave a tad weird.

> NG3
Why in godsname. Play NGII first.

>stuff missing in Sigma
Did it lead to any of its own cool stuff?

>NG2 or 3
Always been curious to see why everyone hates it so much.

I'm looking into finding cheap copies of both.

> sigma
Depends on the version. Sigma Plus/ Sigma MC has a lot of borked gear-systems that nuke the game from orbit by making you far too powerful. Sigma's basic version honestly plays like a nerfed Black, I'm not a big fan to be honest.

> why everyone hates NG3
Tbh, while it's already plenty ass by itself, you really have to play NGII to appreciate just how bad it was since the comparison is just painful.

>Sigma plus
So there's original Sigma the Plus

>MC
Is this the one in the recent collection?

>borked gear systems
What does this mean?

>Tbh, while it's already plenty ass by itself, you really have to play NGII to appreciate just how bad it was since the comparison is just painful.
Now I'm even more curious.

> Sigma versions
You have:
Sigma: the original PS3 release
Sigma Plus: the vita release, added some additional things.
Sigma MC: part of the master-collection, is basically the Vita release.

> gear system
You can find helmets and other special arm-guards that give statboosts. Costumes now also give stat-changes. You can get nearly a 200% damage boost this way, nuking the game.

>plays like a nerfed Black
What does this mean exactly? Does Sigma have less enemies/difficulty level?

>gear boost
Totally optional though?