Ninja Gaiden II Black is a full remake of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, with some balance adjustments of the original Ninja Gaiden II carried over. For the most part, strategies and gameplay elements from Sigma 2 carry over faithfully and can be performed here as well. Here are just a few tips and tricks for returning players and newcomers who may be struggling.
Using Your Shuriken
Your Shuriken may seem like a weak tool at the outset. It does little damage to enemies and they barely flinch from them. However, they are absolutely an invaluable tool for how they completely stop enemies in their tracks even for just a moment. They’re fast, have an auto lock-on, and they work on most enemies outside of demons and boss fights. When dealing with ninjas equipped with rocket launchers, guns, and Ninpo, they can allow you to close distances without having to worry about being sniped too far in advance. They also can more easily allow for situations where you can use the Flying Swallow technique, which can occasionally result in an instant kill.
Learning the Gamefeel
If you’re unfamiliar with Ninja Gaiden, I would highly recommend completing the first stage on a lower difficulty to adjust yourself to its feeling before raising the challenge. Ninja Gaiden II Black is a game that does not feature conventional action game mechanics like animation cancels, perfect dodges, or parrying. While it is fast-paced, actions are committal and things like combo routing must be planned in advance of execution. Blocking is also very strong, with the basic feature being able to blank most damage aside from enemy grabs or combo strings that break posture.
Learn Your Options
While there are many tutorials spread throughout the opening chapters of the game, you can actually do most techniques from the start. Likewise, you have full access to every weapon skill and combo the moment you gain access to them. While the game will not record combos until after you’ve performed them or learned about them through an in-game tutorial, you can still do it the moment you know the combo route needed for them. I would highly recommend reading guides on the full breadth of each weapon’s potential, since that may make a difference between you understanding them or not.
Go the Opposite Way
While Ninja Gaiden II Black is mostly a linear game, being thorough about exploring each stage is important in collecting power-ups that will prove invaluable later. This includes things like permanent expansions to HP, gold essence to upgrade weapons, and items needed to upgrade your Ninpo. You are thankfully given a button that will tell you exactly where to go to progress through the level, but there are many points of no return throughout the game. Before continuing down the main path, always be thorough in checking every nook and cranny you can find. Normally these optional rewards will be in glowing treasure chests, but things like corpses that are hiding in plain sight can also carry healing items and the items necessary to upgrade your Ninpo.
Making the Most of Invincibility Frames
During encounters where you’re dealing with several enemies coming at you from all sides, you may feel overwhelmed. This is when you want to start making copious use of attacks that provide invincibility frames to make yourself invulnerable for a brief period, gaining a temporary reprieve and opportunity to reposition yourself. Attacks that provide invincibility frames include:
- Obliteration Techniques
- Ninpo Casting
- Ultimate Attacks
- Izuna Drop and all “Drop” attack variants
Don’t Upgrade The Dragon Sword
Late in the game, you are given access to a weapon that replaces the Dragon Sword and starts at Level 4. While the Dragon Sword is a powerful tool, it is highly recommended that you do not upgrade it, as you can only upgrade weapons a limited number of times throughout the game. Instead, re-invest in your other weapons so you can have a more balanced repertoire going into the late-game contents.
Upgrade the Wind Blade Ninpo ASAP
While other Ninpo are powerful, Wind Blade is especially useful for its ability to automatically delimb nearly every enemy caught in its path when upgraded, allowing you to immediately go for an Obliteration Technique on even the tankiest of enemies. It is unlocked midway through Chapter 4, and an item needed to upgrade it once is found in that same chapter. Like with regular weapons, there are only a limited number of chances to upgrade your Ninpo, so pick wisely.
Change the Battle Venue
In many instances throughout Ninja Gaiden II Black, you will be placed in a large arena and will be surrounded on all sides by enemies, some of which carry projectiles that may strike you from offscreen. While it’s easy to be frustrated in these instances, a common tactic available in many of these scenarios is to simply leave the room and go elsewhere. Once enemies are spawned in, they will follow you everywhere, including through hallways and stairs. Changing your battle location to somewhere more linear affords you the chance to take on tougher enemies at a pace that you may find more comfortable, and greatly mitigates the chance of being flanked from the side. Performing Ultimate Attacks in more cramped spaces also means that other enemies will get caught in your combos, allowing you to deal more damage with fewer resources.
Enjoy Action? Why not check out Rise Of The Ronin?
Many thanks go to Koei Tecmo for a PC review code for this title.
A hobbyist who took up the pen to write about their favorite pastime: games. While a lover of many genres, Isaiah Parker specializes in Platformers, RPGs, and competitive multiplayer titles. The easiest way into his heart is to have great core gameplay mechanics. Self-proclaimed world’s biggest Sonic fan. Follow him @ZinogreVolt
