A
year after the release of Ninja Gaiden 3, Tecmo Koei has released Ninja
Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, for the PS3 and Xbox 360. While Ninja Gaiden 3
isn’t exactly big news and was just a skosh of a let down, Razor’s Edge
on the other is Ninja Gaiden 3 on bath salts. Much like the Sigma
version of Ninja Gaiden past, Razor’s Edge has a lot more bells and
whistles to have you coming back (maybe) after beating originally or those
reluctant to purchase as there is always a Ninja Gaiden supreme that
comes out around a year later. No, this is not a Sigma version,
it is actually the Wii U exclusive with additional
playable characters, game mode, and battle system. It is time for a
little dismemberment.
I
have always had a love/hate relationship with the Ninja Gaiden titles,
fun as hell slicing ninja action and then bam, you hit the brick wall of
the difficulty curve. When Ninja Gaiden 3 did not have that frustration
and the always satisfying sense of accomplishment, I still enjoyed it,
but it just wasn’t the same. Team Ninja took notes
because the AI has been improved, Quick Time Events have been reduced,
and dismemberment has been brought back. While these changes are nice, I
mostly enjoyed the immediate use of Karma to upgrade my attacks, Ninpo,
and costumes to greatly increase the replay value as there wasn’t much
in the way of that when Ninja Gaiden 3 originally released.
