Saturday, April 13, 2013

Dismemberment is back with Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge

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. 
Razor’s Edge was a much more refreshing experience from that when I originally played through Ninja Gaiden 3. It actually felt more like the previous entries and the Sigma-esque features made me actually look forward to continuing playing. The only downside to my experience was my original playthrough of Ninja Gaiden 3, as it made me rather apprehensive to getting my hand on Razor’s Edge.  Being able to enter Chapter Challenge Mode with the varying gameplay of Kasumi, Ayane, and Momiji along with all of the previous paid DLC, online Clan Battles, and triple the coop Ninja Trials; it is easy to forgive and enjoy Razor’s Edge for the great time and massive content added to keep me coming back for more.