I absolutely HATED Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The game was ridiculously hard in some parts. But not hard in a good way, hard in a BS, cheap-shot way. You get hit by bombs and stars from Ninja that aren't even on the screen. Then you finally get to the last boss and he's like the easiest one in the game.
First time I played NGS I felt the same way... just a ridiculously cheap game. I've beat plenty of difficult games, but for that one I actually let my ego go and got dropped down to ninja dog (easy) mode because those stupid exploding shurikens from out of nowhere in the 3rd chapter just ruined my day.
So I beat the game.
For some reason though I immediately came back to it. I was embarrased at the idea that I had to settle for an easy mode complete. That's just brutal. I skipped normal mode this time and went straight to hard mode.
Not gonna lie... I spammed wall attacks much of my way through hard mode but damn did it feel way easier and managable than I remembered my first time through. Adding minions to bosses didn't even make a difference thanks to the art of the wall attack spam
but i still never felt like I was all that skilled at the game. halfway through I did finally bother to learn some moves (pathetic, i know, but it's tough to practive moves against exploding shurikens thrown at your back!). There was one challenge in hard mode that I was very proud to complete (it involved 100 giant ogres in a colleseum, 3 at at any given time IIRC)
Anyways I finished the game on hard mode and was satisfied with how good I was getting. At this point everything I felt cheap in easy/normal mode was a cinch as long as I used positioning and skill to my advantage.
...so of course I started up very hard mode.
Holy crap the first chapter was total hell! Purple Ninjas in level one, where you have barely any real moves at your disposal? That's beyond cheap!!!!!!!! After I slogged through the earlier stuff and finally got unlocked the important move (i think it was the air juggle? STSSST or STSSSS one of those) in chapter 3 or so I actually made my way through very hard mode with a sense of dominance! That's when I actually started to enjoy the game. On my third damn play through. It WAS very hard, actually, but I was finally skilled enough to deal with it. It was on this difficulty level that I really felt I was enjoying every moment.
And then I got to the UBER CHALLENGE. Holy crap. IIRC it's basically 61 red ninjas in a row (easy with spamming quick charges and the right weapon)... and then 39 of those berserkers.. 3 at a time? I tried it about 50 times. I pretty much never failed to wipe out the weak little red ninja trios but when the berserkers would hit I would feel proud to wipe out even five of them. Finally I QUIT THAT GAME RIGHT THERE!!
I could have finished the last chapter and skipped that challenge. It would have been fun and I could have attempted Master Ninja Mode (All Red Ninjas in the first chapter? Holy crap!)
But that challenge just made me lose faith in myself at a game i for a time thought i was getting really good at. Anyone who's completed that particular fiend challenge has my utmost respect. It requires absolutely perfect execution and timing.
It's really a good game. I genuinely feel that way. As much as I love some action games like God of War and even Devil May Cry, they don't have anywhere near the type of action system depth that Ninja gaiden sigma actually has. NGS is a fighting game at heart disguised as an action game. Once you bother to learn the nuances, like a BlazBlue or a Street Fighter, only then do you really appreciate the design process that went into it. The heart and soul of NGS is its balanced combat system. It's a game that initially feels mediocre but grew on me a LOT. I can't begin to stress just how much fun the game gets once you get a feel for how the combo system works. the STSSST/STSSSS move is beyond useful... it's vital!
With that said I also freaking hate platforming with Ryu. The phrase "**** YOU RYU" has much meaning to me.
Now regarding the easy last boss... I think it was intentional because the "true final boss" right before that last chapter usually drains most usable items.
One of these days I'm going to swallow my pride and finish very hard mode. I'll never be able to beat that fiend challenge... it's for the hardcore.
Anyways I also love the Eternal Sonata recommendation. Not only a consistently difficult game but one that gets funner as you progress through the game. The writing was about on God of War level so I would definitely say it had its flaws in that department but also engaged me. I played the whole thing on Japanese with english subtitles, but I vaguely recall the english dub being difficult to listen to.
I actually like pretty much all of Philip's recommendations. Never played Demon's Souls but I own both Eternal Sonata and Valkyria Chronicles and love me. I also love the Uncharted games. and Super Street Fighter IV/Blazblue are just excellent. I never really got into SSFIV for whatever reason but blazblue is exceptionally quick, fluid, complex, and fun. I definitely plan to pick up continuum shift some time. I just wish i didn't suck at fighting games... understanding the various concepts in that game is like quantum physics.. it takes dedication.. and then you go online after a month of training just to learn the ins and outs and get your *** handed to you by some noob!
