The game is as equally fun as it is punishing!
If you are a hack n' slash fan (think Devil May Cry, God Of War, Bayonetta, etc) then this game is definately for you. The action is very fast paced an gorey...I'm talking full on blood gushing dismemberment and decapitation here. The array of weapons gained throughout the game only adds to possible set of combos that will amaze you when executed (swords, bladed sticks, bladed nunchukus, etc). The bosses are mostly larger than life (or your screen) and the fights are pretty epic. The only complaint that I have about the gameplay is the punishing difficulty. As fun as it is to slice your enemies up into little pieces, many times a player can find themselves suddenly swarmed by outrageous number of enemies who stubbornly won't go down (especially demons) while continuing their own assault. Most of the bosses are push overs either and this becomes even more apparent the further you advance in the game.
The plot was pretty good. I liked how Rachel (the female lead) purpose wasn't just to assist Ryu (male lead) in his own quest but she had objectives of her own and they end up helping each fullfil them. This was achieved by some excellent storytelling. So even though the game does focus more around Ryu, you walk away feeling that it was about more than just "Getting the dragon sword back" and actually adds to Ryu's heroism in the long run. The ending also has a bit of a twist to it that did kind of catch me off guard...which many times is hard to do :P.
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Awesome visuals
- Insane amounts of brutality and gore (if that's your thing)
- Great plot and storytelling
- Nice array of upgradable weapons
- Ryu and Rachel's appearence can be customized
- Cool challenge mode
What's Not-So-Good:
- Punishing difficulty and boss fights
What's Bad:
- Low replay value. Unless you're a challenge junkie (which I'm not) there really isn't much of a reason to go back and play the game once completing it. Besides a few new costumes, there isn't any trophy support or any content that can be gained by beating the game on a higher difficulty level.
In all, Ninja Gaiden is a fun game to play and is certainly a challenge for anyone looking for one.