Problems with Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge

  For the past few weeks now I have been attempting to play this game. I feel like, as a fan of the other two games, I should find this one fun. Maybe on some level I do, or why else would I keep playing, but every time I do play, I find myself hating the game. In almost every faucet of the game I have a complaint. In fact, I don't think, with the exception of one, that there are any enemies or bosses that are particularly fun to fight. I feel like the game tries so hard to be good that it fails by forgetting what made it great in the first place. The reason I love the Ninja Gaiden Series so much is as follows:

  In the first game, even in chapter one, even on normal, there were enemies that would overwhelm you, even destroy you if you weren't careful. Hell, even the first boss was hard. But, through all its difficulties, it only made you want to get better. Once you learned how to block, things became much easier. Then, on higher difficulties, you try to do the same thing and you learn that you can't play the same way you did on normal. Blocking an enemy too much will prompt him to vault over you and skewer you with a sword. So, now you have to learn a whole new way to fight. The same can be said with very hard and master ninja difficulties. In each one, there is something new you must deal with. Sometimes it something simple like, not getting a certain weapon until later in the game. Other times, it's something like, fighting enemies that you are not yet equipped to fight, sometimes even more than one of said enemies. The game was challenging, and difficult, and I'll admit, frustrating at times, but it was always something that you could work past.
  In the first game there were two chapters in which you had to deal with grenade launching enemies. They would shoot out grenades at you, which would come in a burst of smoke, and explode. Sure, you could get caught in the blast, but there was only one at a time, and it gave you a chance to avoid it. Then, once you got close to the enemy, he would throw the weapon down and start fighting you in close quarter combat. Later in the chapter you had to use your bow to stop someone from rocketing you, but it was only one guy. Later still, in the next chapter, you have to stop another group of guys with your bow. At this point, however, you have access to exploding, and armor piercing arrows, which makes it feel more fair. After these two chapters, however, which by the way, make you fight in a completely different manner than you might have been accustomed to up to this point, the game goes back to "normal". It makes the game challenging, changing things up on you like that. Yes, there are moments where there's a lot of enemy fire going on, and your bow isn't great at aiming at times, but still, the game always felt fun.
  Then came Ninja Gaiden 2. First off, let me say that I enjoy the game thoroughly. It is fun up to a point. After that point, however, it becomes tedious and irksome. That point, is chapter 11. It's Ayane's chapter in the sigma version. Maybe it was my lack of skill but I found it to be infuriating. After you get past it, which will likely take much longer than it needs to, then you get to play as Ryu for the rest of the game. The fun comes back, that is, unless you decide to play the game on master ninja.
  Playing on anything higher than Mentor difficulty, isn't fun. In the first game there were, maybe, a hand full of enemies that could grab you. It was a quick thing. They'd pull you in and knee you to the face, pick you up and throw you over head, take you under arm and fling you to the ground, try to eat you alive, or vault over you and skewer you. That sounds like a lot, but it isn't. What's more, at least one of those attacks, you can break out of. In the second game, while you can break out of some of the grabs, you can't break out of all of them. This becomes increasingly difficult when, on mentor mode, these grabs take half of your health away. On master ninja mode it gets even better, because said unbreakable grabs will out right kill you. It doesn't matter if you health is full or not, once you are grabbed in master ninja mode you are as good as dead. Even those few grabs that you can break from take away half you health in the process.
  It's even more frustrating in boss fights. They can grab you any second, even within the first second of the fight, and it's over before it even begins. It's frustrating because, I'm supposed to be a highly trained, highly skilled super ninja, taking down demigods and demons, and chopping of limbs, and you're telling me I can't escape from a fucking grab? That just seems ridiculous. If every enemy in the game is going to have a grab attack, then I need to be able to break free of said attacks. The fact that I can't is just so unfair. I get that having enemies with removed limbs more dangerous, and they are, but when he grabs me from off screen less than half a second after I land from completing an Ultimate Technique, that's not cool. I'm all for having enemies more dangerous, even giving them grabs, but I have to be able to see the enemy, so that I can at least try to avoid it. That way, if I fail, it's on me. This thing were enemies can grab you from off screen just makes the game feel cheap and unfair.
  On the subject of cheap and unfair, many of the grabs were completely avoidable, if only I had been able to see the enemies there, but instead get a face full of rocket explosions as five guys on all sides simultaneously shoot me. That is what is most infuriating about this game. Enemies with rocket are all over the place. Often filling the screen with so many explosions that you can't tell what's happening. When you try to shoot these guys, you find yourself pelted by other rocket men, or otherwise, in the midst of a grab attack from an enemy hiding behind the explosion. What's more, should you decide to go up to these rocket enemies and fight them, they still will shoot you point blank, and while you're stumbling backwards, they'll shoot you again. In the first game the enemies, at the very least, had a reload animation, but not the case in this game. Like the grabs, rocket fire comes at you so quick, that you don't have time to react.
  There were moments in the third game where you had to fend off rocket launcher guys, whether on snow/ desert mobiles or on rooftops. When all you are fighting are rocket guys, that's fine. I can enjoy that as frustrating as it may be. But, when yo throw normal enemies into the mix that gets tedious. Enemies I can't see shouldn't be able to grab me. That should be a rule. Now that we are on to Ninja Gaiden 3, I'll say that many of the enemy grabs have a "warning". This is a great concept, giving me a chance, at least, to avoid them. However, sometimes, there is now warning, you just get grabbed. This is reminiscent of the first game with one major exception. The attacks take a crap ton of damage. Even sometimes, when you think you've avoided the grab after getting a "warning" the enemies will still, somehow reach you, no matter how far away you seem to be. Again, very unfair. There's even one enemy in the game that is invisible until it tries to grab you. Now how am I supposed to avoid a grab from an enemy I didn't even know was there?
  As if to add insult to injury, this game foregoes items and leaves you with a a health bar that retains lasting damage. This idea derived from the second game, of which I wasn't a fan of then, but I had items to use if I needed them. I also had essence to collect, some of which would even heal me. This game forgoes all of that in favor of the steal-on-bone, attacks which it wants you to do. The idea, I realize, is to use the steal-on-bone attacks to avoid loosing much health. Here's the problem though. Often times, while fighting an enemy, I see someone doing the "warning" and, I try to make it over there, but by the time Ryu reaches him, it's over. You have, literally, half a second to a second to initiate the attack. But when you are surrounded by hoards of enemies all trying hard to kill you, it makes getting there difficult, or as the case may be, impossible. This, of course means, that you can't do the steal-on-bone attacks.
  That's not so bad in and of itself but when you don't have items to heal you, and your health bar retains any damage you may have taken, you end up entering many of the boss fights with a health bar the size of fingernail. Sure, you have ninpo to heal you in the game, but often times I find that using it, if the enemies aren't lined up right, the health you get back from it is next to nothing. Even sometimes, when enemies are lined up, you still don't get much health back. Then, of course there is the ability to meditate, but Ryu has to stop, put his hand on the ground, and use his Ki power to do this. But try doing it when you are being relentlessly attacked on all sides while rocket fire shoots at you from all directions and your more likely to die.
  Lastly, though this isn't so much a gripe about game play, but about the solo ninja trials in the game, if I'm playing a solo mission, and I get logged out of the internet, which happens a lot, because my ps3 is so far away from my router, why do I get logged out? It's a solo mission. That means I am playing the mission by my self. I don't get logged out of the main game when I'm playing by my self, unless I'm playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, but that's another can of worms. Anyway, I could understand why it would happen in a multiplayer mode, but in a solo mission, really? What the hell?
  So with all this said, I really want to like this game. I want to play it, have fun, and be challenged, like I was in the first game. The problem is, I'm not. With all the rocket fire, grab attacks, and lasting damage crap, I find myself becoming more and more frustrated with the game. As a fan of the series, I would like to see a return to Ninja Gaiden Black/ Sigma. Those games are what made fans of us all. That doesn't mean you'd have to give up on all the obliteration's and steal-on-bone attacks, in fact, I'd like to see them return in future titles, but, at the very least, take a look at Black and Sigma and see what made them great. Bring that back into play.

Good Bye Tomb Raider and Thanks for All the Fish.

In 2013 the creators of the Tomb Raider series at Eidos (at this point bought up by our good friends at Square Enix who never mess up any game they touch) decided to tell the origins story of Lara Croft. I was very excited for this new version. I spent weeks just soaking up any information I could find on it. The more I found out, the more it frightened me. Tomb Raider was taking inspiration from Uncharted, which it self, was inspired by the Tomb Raider games. Never the less, I remained excited. Even when I saw all the shooting, and the gun fights, I kept my enthusiasm. But the I played the game. This is the single worst thing I could have possibly done. In spite of it turning into a shooter, I was willing to over look that because it was a Tomb Raider game. Normally this is the part where I say "I didn't hate the game but . . ." instead, I'm just going to say that I flat out fucking hated it.

This was not a Tomb Raider game. This was some expensive knock off trying so hard to be a Tomb Raider game. When I think of Tomb Raider, yes there is fighting, and gun fights, I expect that, but what I don't expect is to have the gun fights over power the puzzle solving. That was what appealed to me about the Tomb Raider games. Maybe it was just me, but I liked entering a room and trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. I liked spending hours turning a crank, filling a pool with water, turning another crank, draining said pool. It was a change of pace from the fast and furious gun wielding that was in between. Okay, fast and furious is not how I would describe the old Tomb Raider games. They were slow, with occasional dinosaur fights. Some times it did require you to enter a room and kill a mess of people, Tomb Raider 2, and sometimes it required you to drive a boat through the canals of Venice, also Tomb Raider 2. The point was that the game rarely felt like it was punishing you. If you died, it was frustrating, but, most likely, it was because you didn't see that person on the roof with the gun.

 
In the new Tomb Raider guys come at you from all angles. You can shot gun them in the face, chest, crotch, where ever, and they stumble backwards, get up, and come right back at you. I understand that this is a game, and that you can't make it too easy. But this game was supposed to feel more realistic. If you really wanted realism, then the people should have died when you shot them in the face. The fact that they stumbled backward and came back towards you just brought me out of the game. If there where only a few instances like this in the game, then I could have over looked them, but it was every ten fucking seconds. Then, of course what game is complete now a-days without a fucking rocket launcher? Look, I'm all for making a game difficult, but if you want to make it realistic, some sacrifices have to be made. Make the villains die in one hit, but add six more. That way, it can still be hard, but it would have felt real still.

Also gone from this game were most of the puzzles. Yeah, there were some, but not enough. This was the biggest complaint about the game from most of the fans. Puzzles are what made the Tomb Raider games stand out. Now we are left with a frenzy of bullets. Sure there were some tombs to explore. Sure there were some areas you could go back to after you'd acquired a new skill.

Sure, there was random shit spread around the map for you to find. But, the bulk of the game was getting into gun fights. Maybe that's exactly what the game needed, maybe not. All I know is that the lack of puzzles made me feel cheated.

Then, of course there are the quick time events. I am glad to see that they are fading out but some games refuse to let them die. Tomb Raider is one of those games. Fortunately, they are mostly during cut-scenes. The game does have a lot, but the game play in between is usually pretty generous. Often, it even takes place within the game play, something more games need to learn how to do.

I think my biggest gripe with the game is the story. Father Mathis, the villain, does a lot of really bad stuff on the island such as kidnapping Lara's friend to turn her into some demigod or something. But here in lay the problem.  Thee are ample opportunities for Lara to send an arrow, or a bullet through

Father Mathis's skull and she doesn't. I've never understood that in games. If you have a shot, fucking take it! Don't wait for the ass hole to finish talking. Don't see if he'll let your friend go, don't call out to him, hoping that he'll be afraid of the gun in your hand or the bow with the drawn back string. JUST TAKE THE FUCKING SHOT. If one of his men had seen it, protecting him, or his head moved out of the way just in time, fine, but don't give me this bull shit of "I don't have a clear shot" because yes you did, or would have, if you hadn't called out for him to let your friend go.

In the end, there was some stuff in this game to like, that is to be sure, but mixed with all the bull shit, I just can't bring myself to get excited for the next game. I want to, but I just can't. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the next game has "Xbox One" exclusive rights. This just means the Micro$oft bought first distribution rights. Not that $ony won't get it, but it will be a week or so before they can. By all rights I should be upset with this. I was when they made the DLC for Tomb Raider Underworld, that never came to the PS Store. But now, I just don't care. Xbox want's if first then they can have it. I just can't bring myself to care anymore. I want puzzles, and games that make me think. I shouldn't have to scream at my TV to a person made of pretty polygons. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find it harder to play these fast paced shooting games. They aren't fun for me any more. Even the Ninja Gaiden games have become more frustrating than fun.

When I play games, it's to have fun, not to yell and scream obscenities at the top of my lungs. Why is it so hard to make a hard, but fair game? I know how it should be done, but no one else seems to. Makers of these games just throw shit in there because they know it will get you killed. It doesn't matter if it's fair or not. Sometimes I feel as if the game over screen is just a nice way of saying "fuck you for playing and keeping us away from our families for so long". This game made me see that. As much as I hate to say it, I feel I might have to give up the hobby. This generation of consoles may be my last. I just can't keep up with it all. I can't keep getting angry over stupid shit like this. But something has to give. And since I don't think it will be the games I've loved so much, it might have to be me. Which is a shame, because there are plenty of games out there that look pretty fun. I'll give
this new generation of consoles a shot, but after that, we'll just have to wait and see.

Prince of Persia The Two Thrones

“Most people think time is like a river, flowing swift and sure in one direction, but I can tell you, they are wrong.”

“Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones” is the third, though not final, game in the Sands of Time trilogy. If not for the Sands of Time movie it would have been the last. There are new features in this game that have nothing to do with fighting that are very fun. There are other things in this game that have to do with fighting that suck balls. There are a lot of other things that this game just does completely and utterly wrong. But more on that stuff later. The thing I really like about this game is the story. It ties up the game very well. It’s a shame that there are so many things that are wrong with it. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

The most confusing thing about this game for most people is the beginning. As the Prince sails home he is with Kileena. If you didn’t get the secret ending in “Warrior Within” then this made no sense what so ever to you, since, in the normal ending, you kill Kileena. The good news is, youtube is there for you.

Characters

The Prince(voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) is back to his fun loving quirky self. After sharing a vision with Kileena on the boat to Babylon the two of them got some much needed rest. No longer does the prince scream at nothing. No longer does he yell out “next” to his opponents. He is kind and compassionate and completely insane But more on that later. I have to say, I like Lowenthal’s Prince much more than Robert Atkinson Down’s Prince. Don’t get me wrong, “Warrior Within” was the first I ever heard of Down’s and I really like when I can pick out his voice from a game or TV show, but, to me, it’s like changing Woody’s voice from “Toy Story” from Tom Hanks to Arnold Shwartzineger. It just didn’t feel right. But it’s back to normal, and so too, are his moments of talking to himself, though this time around it’s not really to himself.

Dark Prince voiced by Rick Miller. The Dark Prince is a gimmick of the game. Within the first ten or so minutes, the Prince is tainted by the Sands of Time when they are released which nearly turns him into a sand monster himself, and would have, had he not picked up the dagger of time. As a dark Prince, you are faster, stronger, and constantly on the hunt for more health, as your health bar depletes. There are times in the game that this can be a problem, like near the end when you have to dodge several traps in a dark room. Dark Prince argues constantly with the Prince about what the right course of action is. This creates some humorous banter between the two. While I think it would have been cooler if the Dark Prince was voiced by Robert Atkinson Down, it works this way too.

  Kileena (voiced by Sarah Carlson) is all right. Gone is her Persian inspired accent in place of a softer tone. One of the things that, apparently, fans didn’t like about the second game was the lack a story. That’s not to say that the story wasn’t there, but in the “Sands of Time” and in this game, the story is being “told” to the player as it unfolds. The second game’s story just unfolded. That is, perhaps, why there was so much less talking in the second game. At any rate, the story telling is back, and it’s told by Kileena. I have to say it’s a bit odd to me that she takes over telling the story, but, hey, they paid her to voice the character, and without the story she has one line, so yeah. I don’t hate her voice actress in any way, in fact I like her voice, but the problem I have with it is that nothing about it resembles a Middle Eastern accent. Also, good God is her character model ugly.

The Vizier voiced by Harry Standjofski. Wow. Just wow. And not in a good way. In the first game the Vizier was so quiet you could barely hear him. His voice was, maybe British, but had small tones of a Middle Eastern accent. They might as well have gotten Arnold Shawartzineger to voice this guy with the change to his voice. I have to wonder what was going through their heads when they hired voice actors for this game. I imagine something like this.

Producer: “Hey, I know the game is set in the Middle East, but let’s just use a black guy from New York, no one will ever know the difference.” Anyway, you only have to hear him speaking for a short time just before he stabs himself with the dagger of time and becomes a flying Venus flytrap. After that, his voice seems a little better, but maybe it’s because it sounds more like he’s whispering. Mind you, I don’t think you hear him speak again till the end.

Farah voiced by Helen King. Okay, were they even trying? She’s not even British. They just hired some North American woman to do the voice for her. She has no accent and she doesn’t even try to pretend to have one. It’s obvious that, in this game, all Ubisoft wanted to do was finish it so that they could move on to Assasin’s Creed. It’s a shame really, because I feel like this whole game was rushed. That maybe why I don’t like it. At any rate, you first see Farah in one of the worst most horrible moments of this game. She will join you for a bit, like old times but the banter between them is minimal at best. Since the Prince didn’t create the sands by killing Kileena, Farah doesn’t remember anything, while the Prince does. It would be sad if you weren’t so put off by the fact that the voice actress ISN’T MIDDLE EASTERN AT ALL. Let me be clear. I don’t hate the voice actress. She did a fine job. What I hate is that Ubisoft just seems to have given up with this game and it shows.

 

Game play

Case and point, we move to game play. Let me start with the things I like. There is a new gimmick in the game where you can shove the dagger into a hole in the wall. Often you are forced to climb up a surface this way. It’s a nice touch. There are platforms that help you to extend your wall runs as well as lamp posts that allow you to extend them in Dark Prince mode. As the Dark Prince you can hang from some things and use stealth to take down enemies. Stealth can also be used as the Prince. And, now we get into the problem areas with the game. Stealth take downs suck. You have to use the dagger which is supposed to glow to indicate the attack is ready. Often you will find that the dagger is in just the wrong light so that you miss the glow prompt and have to fight a whole hoard of enemies. This is especially problematic when you are in an area where, if you fail, a guard will shove his sword into a sand pillar and send out fifty enemies. The fighting in this game is somewhere between the first and second game. I’ve never really found it fun. Although, apparently it’s the “best in the series” fuck that. “Prince of Persia” has never had good fighting mechanics. I played this game on easy and I still wanted to bang my head against a wall. That’s not easy, that’s frustrating, and believe me I play “Ninja Gaiden” I know what hard fair and hard I want to rip my controller in half with my bare hands feels like, this game is the later. I’m sure there is someone out there who likes it, and had no problems with it, but I am not that person. Had the stealth portions of the game played more like the “Batman Arkham” games then I might have enjoyed them more. I guess it was all just prep for “Assasin’s Creed”. What’s more, the stealth portion of the game wasn’t even the worst part. The boss fights are horrible. Each boss is rage quite inducing. There are only three before the final boss fight, but they all require you to use the glowing dagger thing. The one with the Gemini

twins is the absolute worst. I hate that fight with a passion. That may only be because you come to that fight after one of the single most horrible moments in the game. I said single, but you actually do it twice. Yes, I am referring to the chariot racing. Chariot sequences in this game are horrible. Not only do you have to watch for enemies, but you have to avoid hitting anything. What’s worse is that the controls are a totally wonky, making moving away from walls very difficult. The races are about as fun as falling from a ten story building. What could be worse than a chariot race in “Prince of Persia”. I know! How about riding on the back of a giant sand troll? While it’s not a chariot, it still sucks just as hard.

Game Design

It’s obvious that the developers were rushing with this game. The in game models look fine, but the cut scene models are awful. Fortunately, you only have to look at them on occasion. I know it’s part of a trilogy that is near and dear to many people’s hearts, but I have to be honest. I really didn’t like the game. I really wanted to like the game play but I just couldn’t. There’s hardly any aspect of it that I find fun. It’s a shame really because this game has great potential, and a great story. In all honesty, the only thing I can say I like about it is the plat-forming moments, of which there are many, fortunately, and the music. Of course the story is good as well, but that’s all this game has going for it. Back on the music for a moment, it returns to its Middle Eastern vibes. This is a good thing, considering all other aspects of the game, including voice actors, don’t seem to have any relation to their Middle Eastern counterparts. At least they brought back the voice actor from the first game, but even he can’t help save the game. There is one thing in this game that I love and that is the scenery. It takes place in Babylon and you can see the beauty there. Even though many of the buildings are on fire it still radiates with magnificence. It’s a kind of reminder of how great the game could be, if only it was given a little more polish.

Story

I probably should have done this sooner, but, whatever. I’ll be quick. The story of the game takes place in Babylon. You arrive with the city under siege. When your boat is destroyed you wake up to find Kileena being taken away. Naturally, the Prince gives chase. He fails, she dies, he turns into a Dark Prince, goes through a bunch of shit (see above) and finally defeats the Vizier and the darkness inside him. The Prince wakes up in Farah’s arms. She asks him how he knows her. And so the Prince begins relating a story to her. Starting the first game over, so-to-speak. This is the single best ending to a trilogy ever. It is hindered only by the fact that Ubisoft made a fourth game. It has nothing to do with the sands of time trilogy really, and only means to cash in on the movie, but still. Quite honestly, though, had that been the second or third game in the series I think I would have loved it a whole lot more. Of course, then there is the 2008 Prince of Persia remake. I liked that game despite what people say about it. The fighting is still meh and the light seed collection is tedious, but I liked it none the less. But that’s for another time.

 

Conclusion

          It’s obvious that the Ubisoft team was burnt out from the series. That may be the reason for the change in the 2008 game. What’s even more depressing is that, despite getting, mostly, rave reviews, Ubisoft has yet to return to the “Prince of Persia” series. If you try to look it up on Google, you’ll find that, though they say they are “thinking about it” they obviously aren’t thinking hard. The only news we have is a supposed “leak” where a former Ubisoft employee posted some very obscure hint as to the next game. To be honest, I don’t think there will be a next game. I think Ubisoft is so focused now on “Assasin’s Creed” and now the new “Watchdogs” that a new “Prince of Persia” game is a shadow in a thought. Honestly, I hope I’m right. I hope that it surprises me with the best comeback in the history of ever, something like “Beyond Good and Evil 2” did. Alas, I don’t see it happening. Not in my gaming lifetime anyway. I hope my grand children have as much fun with the next game as I did with the first.