Shinobi

Its out this week. Who else is getting it? Is anyone playing through the old Shinobi games? Shinobi 3 is one of my favorite action games, I play it often (though I quit by the time I get to the puzzle level with the red walls) and the last few days have been no exception. I have some questions about the new game. How do the cinema attacks work? Will they get in the way of the action (like those Contra SS cutscenes)? Also, don't you get stronger by killing more enemies? All in all, the new Shinobi won't be as cool simply because he doesn't have a surfing level:)

I'll be renting it for sure... sadly, I can't afford to buy games at the moment.

I'll try and resist it's call, but more likely than not I'll have it by the weekend. I'm trying to keep my plate clean for the Metroid games, but the call...it is mesmerizing.

I'll be getting it soon... as soon as I get a PS2, so I will get it before Xmas. At first I was only luke-warm on this game... but now I really want it. The more I read the more excited I am. I like the "sword gimmick" and I think the game looks really nice.



ps. Shinobi 3 is my favourite game in the series.

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Originally posted by Green
I have some questions about the new game. How do the cinema attacks work? Will they get in the way of the action (like those Contra SS cutscenes)?

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They interrupt the game, but no more than 10 seconds at a time. They're kind of interesting to watch, so I wasn't too bothered by it. Still, I guess there technically *should* be an option to turn them off or make them skippable.

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Also, don't you get stronger by killing more enemies?

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Sorta. Enemies come in groups. If you kill enemies from the current group in fast enough succession, your sword will be stronger against the enemies still left. Once the entire group is dead (or you let the "combo" end prematurely by not killing the remainder fast enough), your sword is back to normal strength. Did that make sense? Not the best explanation, I know.

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Originally posted by sggg
At first I was only luke-warm on this game... but now I really want it. The more I read the more excited I am.

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More power to ya. Hope you like it. It's not a $50 game for me, though. Maybe a $25 one.

Thanks, BenT.
Have you played the entire game?

95%. I got stuck in the final level. The game isn't TOO hard until the very end.

Whats your verdict?

His verdict should be to mail me his copy. Now.

http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/november02/shinobips2/
74/100, or "Good."

Nice review. From what i've read it doesn't sound like my type of game. I'll pick it up for cheap someday.

Nice review, Ben.

I still want the game, even with what seems like average scores from just about every publication. I can't wait to see what Joe looks and plays like in 3D as well...

I have it preordered, I think it looks stunning, way more so than Ninja Gaiden.

Thanks for the review, BenT.

My interest in Shinobi has dropped considerably after all these reviews but it's still on my must-play list.

I was hoping one of the upcoming ninja games would be spectacular but if it isn't Shinobi then what else?

I don't trust Tecmo making an excellent game in this day and age. Studio3's Last Ninja 4 probably won't ever come out and if it does I doubt it will match the old games. The GBA Shinobi looks disgusting. I'm crossing my fingers for Tenchu 3.

Well, I'm still excited :) I'm an Action game junkie, so if Shinobi poses enough challenge, it will be fun to tackle it :)

As I said before, I usually dont trust reviews, so I will be getting the game this Wednesday. Will post my impressions here, when I get to play it :)

I just got the game today, tis mad fun. It really captures the feel of clasic Action Platformers from the 16 Bit era. I on the 4th section, and am really enjoying it. Its not exactly like the other SHinobi games, its much faster and more combo based. But again like I said, extremely fun. And has a cool setting if you ask me.

For whoever gets this game:

Aside from the title and theme, does this game have anything to do with Shinobi? Any story points or characters get carried over in some way?

I don't think so, but I did not really care about the story in any other Shinobi.

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Originally posted by Clash_Master
I don't think so, but I did not really care about the story in any other Shinobi.

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It's not so much that, I just wanna know if this is just a supposidly good ninja game with the Shinobi title tacked on to give it better appeal.

If this were any other time, I'd probably be all over this game. But I've got so many waiting ahead of it. Hopefully by the time I'm ready for it, it'll be down to around $20.

The game has a lot of Story in it, via CG Cinema between levels and such, I just don't know if it fits with the other Shinobi games.

Just got it, and am having an absolute blast! The camera has been relatively trouble-free so far, thank the Gods they included a back-snap function. The only times I've had a problem with it are a few wall collision details which cause it to get too close and it has a hard time displaying Tate kills well.

The whole lack of checkpoints thing has been fine so far (I'm on the fifth area), and the first time I died on a boss I felt a bit conflicted. On one hand, I wanted to be able to continue right then, on the other, it felt more old-school if I had to redo the stage to get a chance at the boss again. They went with the former, which sorta left me a little disappointed. Ah well, no biggie.

A little help needed: Has anyone gotten a Tate on the helicopter boss, and how do you get one on multiple giants (those big guys with the spears)?

Despair: So far the challenge has been nothing to speak of (unless you're a score-junkie going for all Tate), but since there's a Normal selection at the beginning, I think harder modes can get unlocked.

Since I got it yesterday, we only spend little time with it, since RE0 taking my full attention.

We got to area 2B, and the game been very fun. It controls very well, no gripes there, camera system is easy to use, and can be switched around so you will see all the action around you.

Levels themselves are not bad, and there are tons of enemies to kill. And thats what you will be doing since your sword will start consuming your life energy, unless you feed it souls of your enemies.

Lack of checkpoints, is little annoying, since once you die you have to repeat all the tasks, collect all the secrets all over again, and it can be aggravating. It still a good challenge though, and I hope it wont be very frustraiting on the later levels.

I signed the game out from work today


My thoughts are about the same as Despairs i got to the same point as him

its pretty cool and im having fun with it

if i had the cash id deffintely get the game i really like the art style and i love the flowing scarf

I just got it yesterday and am having a blast with it. The story's actually pretty cool. I like the fact that you can go with an English dub in the cut scenes or play them in Japanese with English subtitles. :D

The gameplay is tight. I'm just having a little trouble finding the right control configuration. The custom configuration is a blessing but I need to figure out how to get that dash in the right spot without compromising the lock on!

I love this game, but I'm glad I knew about the blocky levels otherwise I'd have been let down. The first boss owns me right now, and that damn skill up sign is taunting me. I'm not getting into this right away, the boss is confusing to me, and alot of the times I try to avoid his attacks I get hit. If I get near the wall it seems alot of those hits aren't my falt, its just shinobi gets stuck.

First, teleport away from him to give yourself some space. When he starts slowly walking, jump and teleport dash for a near-guaranteed hit, and jump away. If you get him near the edge, keep slashing to knock him off for some major damage.

Or if you feel lucky, you could go for the Tate kill. I just got my second one on the fireball-tossing boss. :D

Thanks Mech, but I allready got him. Just lured him to the edge alot. The boss fights seem really helter skelter, or I just don't know what I'm doing. Also, while the tate mode cinema is a awesome idea, if you don't do it super fast it just feels lame.

Green, Easy way to kill that boss - Stand next the edge, and wait for him to do charge attack. Once he is charging at you, do a double jump, so he will miss you, and fall down for big damage. Once he gets back in the middle of the are, repeat. After 3-4 falls, he summons group of ninjas, take care of them fast, otherwise he will charge at you while you fighting them. Then get ot the edge and dodge him again.
Once he on the last bit of life, falls stop hurting him, so just slash him up to finish him off.

Extremely easy battle, and can be won without even taking any damage.

As for as we are on area 3A, and its starting getting on DJ nerves, since its very long, and those dogs with swords, are very hard. They hurt like hell, and block your attacks. Combine that, with long level and no check points, I can see where those complaints in the reviews came from.

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Extremely easy battle, and can be won without even taking any damage.

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If you notice, you get points for that sort of thing at the end of a level, so it looks like Overworks designed it so that it can be beaten without getting hit. Probably why they did the checkpoint thing.

The dogs are annoying, but the behind the back teleport does wonders against them.

My current problem: What's the point of a change target button that doesn't change targets? It's making defeating this boss I'm on twice as hard as it should be.

[edit] Nevermind, just Tated (Japanese word with an English suffix...) the bastard.

Yeah its really hard to time a TATE on big enemys and boss's, I don't really know how to do it either. From what I have read in reviews it works just like enemys, you just need to time it right or something, not sure.

You can tell Overworks made this game for people who like to get skilled in a game, because I think with enough practice one could go back and beat these levels in a few minutes. I like those kind of games, and the fact that you get a score for Not getting hit is fantastic, really gives a person a new goal, with out having to make it up themselves.

In the Extra area there are only 3 things, so I don't think there is that much to unlock. But I am not sure. I am on 4A, stinking Moths and Tanks.

The game is a blast, all should buy.

The coins I spent at the arcade on this game compels me to buy it this weekend.

Bosses all Tate slighty different then regualr enemies: get everyone else ready and then slash them twice. If you only slash them once when all the other enemies are ready, you'll usually take off about half their lifebar.

And I am now yet again trying to perform it on another boss. If this guy wasn't so damned fast I'd have killed him by now, but these rapid-fire shots are a pain.

Oh, and the camera is awful in enclosed spaces. Three bosses and the last level I played taught me that the hard way. No way to look down and yet you have to travel down a bunch of passageways and find switches. Cute.

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Originally posted by MechDeus
Just got it, and am having an absolute blast!

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A Gungrave-blast, or a game-that-other-people-would-like-blast? ;)

More accurate info about performing a Tate on a boss (what I said above appears to be wrong): You need to deliver enough damage to kill them with the slash to perform the Tate. If you have a full set of icons (I believe eight, you'll know because they start glowing red) it's an instant kill with a full lifebar. How many enemies are readied will adjust the damage, so if the boss doesn't have much life and you only have three enemies ready, you can still pull it off. This also mean that having five or so enemies ready will hurt the boss massivly.

At least, this is what I gathered from the 6B boss fight. Now onto to 7A...

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A Gungrave-blast, or a game-that-other-people-would-like-blast? ;)

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I was actually tempted to compare it to Gungrave in a number of ways earlier, but I'm still having fun, so nyah.

the difficulty ramped up quick im on 3A dizzzaaammmm those dogs with swords you really have to master that move where he leaves an image of himself i didnt really use that in the last levels and im using it now making it alot easier to kill the enemies

how long is the game anyone know?

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Originally posted by Shin Johnpv
the difficulty ramped up quick im on 3A dizzzaaammmm those dogs with swords

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:lol: Do they have bees in their mouths, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

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Originally posted by MechDeus
I was actually tempted to compare it to Gungrave in a number of ways earlier, but I'm still having fun, so nyah.

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Uh, was that you saying it's more fun than Gungrave, or sticking your tongue out at me?

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how long is the game anyone know?

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I can tell you it's at least seven stages, and it seems I'm coming up to the last boss or two (or three). But I could be wrong on that part.

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Do they have bees in their mouths, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

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A roommate quoted that a little bit ago while I was playing. Funny how that's going around...

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Uh, was that you saying it's more fun than Gungrave, or sticking your tongue out at me?

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Er, the latter. I think I might agree with the former as well, we'll have to see how things go by the end.

Good to hear there are at least 7 areas. I'm on 3A right now. I've gotten more used to the game, diggin it alot more now. I just wish the tate cinemas didn't end up most of the time with all but one guy getting killed fast, and that last guy taking a while0 to kill for whatever reason while the others just freeze there. Very lame, but its totally understandable.

I remember reading in PSM that there are either 12 or 16 levels, I am pretty sure its 12. And with 2 Levels per area thats pretty damn cool if you ask me.

That would make 24 Bosses to fight :) Sounds cool :)

Sounds cool? It is cool.

Well, Boss fights are highlights of the game. Unfortunately, you have to alot of replaying to get to them :)

How hard is it?

I thought there were seven levels, each split into two parts, making 14 boss battles......

Well, I shall soon find out the lenth myself, but I can think of a number of areas I saw during the promo videos that I haven't encountered yet in-game (the parking garage, for instance).

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I just wish the tate cinemas didn't end up most of the time with all but one guy getting killed fast, and that last guy taking a while0 to kill for whatever reason while the others just freeze there.

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You are using Shurikens to stop them, right? It can help a lot with getting that last guy, my only problems are when I led them wrong and accidently left one guy on the other side of the area, and can't get to him in time.

Time for me to go practice the different Ninjitsu Magic and Shuriken Blast, which I had no clue about thanks to not reading the manual.

After thinking about it for a while (it took up all my thoughts at work today, it was painful waiting to go home), I can't help but think at how incredible the setup of the game is. After seeing the No Hit Bonus and ability to perform Tate on bosses, it all begins to fall into place. The reason there are no checkpoints is because you are simply supposed to become good enough so as to never get hit (notice the pause menu has only two options: Retry and Quit) and blow through the game while killing everything in style. The more I think about it, the more I like how there aren't any checkpoints and how they give you the ability to retry whenever (if only more shooters had that).

Well, I'm all for challenge in games, but combined with very long levels, no check points can actually make you hate the game, instead of trying to improve your skills. Because you can only replay the same level certain number of times, and diying right before the end, before starting cursing, and calling the game cheap.

The good solution would be to keep levels moderately short, and instead have more of them.

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Originally posted by Despair
The good solution would be to keep levels moderately short, and instead have more of them.

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Amen to that. Long lost is the art of level design for action games.

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Because you can only replay the same level certain number of times, and diying right before the end, before starting cursing, and calling the game cheap.

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*shrugs* I understand that, but I've only died in two levels right before the end in this game, and that was only once each (though I've exited a number of them with only half a life point left).

I do find it funny that is game is very much Gungrave without the continuous checkpoints, and now many reviews complain about the very thing they said was lacking in Gungrave. :D

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Originally posted by MechDeus
After thinking about it for a while (it took up all my thoughts at work today, it was painful waiting to go home), I can't help but think at how incredible the setup of the game is. After seeing the No Hit Bonus and ability to perform Tate on bosses, it all begins to fall into place. The reason there are no checkpoints is because you are simply supposed to become good enough so as to never get hit (notice the pause menu has only two options: Retry and Quit) and blow through the game while killing everything in style. The more I think about it, the more I like how there aren't any checkpoints and how they give you the ability to retry whenever (if only more shooters had that).

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I wasn't more than slightly interested in Shinobi until I read this paragraph. Good lookin out, Mech. The more I read about Shinobi, the more intrigued I've become. I may have just become sold.

As far as no checkpoints are concerned.....well, any game that causes you to become expert at its mechanics gets an extra gold star in my book. The developers expect the player to evolve, and evolve to a state of reflex and strategic euphoria....yes please. I not only want to finish games, I want to become a great player, and games that draw that kind of performance (albeit slowly) out of me are my favorite kind. Contra SS is like that with the Hit Rate %, and it seems Shinobi is like that as well.

Snif, I'm stuck in 3B. I'm at the part where there are tons of webs on the floor, the area is two levels tall, and the black closed gate is close to the gate that needs to be opened. I took out a bunch of spiders on the ground, then went up to the second level and took out a statue. However, the gate didn't open, and I just ran around for a minute trying to find the other statue...it was no where to be found.

Also, about the tate thing and the dashing, I can't get a feeling between the difference in a dash done right and one done wrong. What I mean is this: in the first boss battle I'd hit the guy after he swung at me for the first time. I'd dash around him, dash to him, and hit him. After that, everytime I'd do it I'd hit the guy only so often. Same thing for the first level 3 boss, the guy with the dogs. The first few times I'd hit him or the dogs for a tate and he'd teleport and so on. When I went back to the game, I tated the dogs like usual, but for some reason this time I hit the boss with the tate (killed him with one slice too, got an S). Maybe its just something I can't get a feel for, I hope it is.

I'll play 3B in a bit if you don't get past it, but the stone statues aren't always together in the same room.

When you say, "hit him or the dogs for a tate," you aren't indicating that you're trying to finish a Tate on one of the dogs, are you? Also, be sure you've gotten all the dogs, there's also one in a side hallway that should be lured out as well as the three guardian ones.

I mean while I was playing against him for the first time I'd either just go after him, or I'd hit the dogs to build tate to use against him.
I'll go through the level again later, I only did it once but I swear I covered every inch in the time I had left.

Revivals of classic Sega series deserve avatar dedication. :D

Damn straight, I was debating doing something myself.

In any case, I'm now on 8A, which has turned into more of a platform-hopping area unlike the rest of the game so far. It starts making you think more about your combos and whether or not you used that last double-jump killing an enemy in case you finish a Tate over nothingness. Very interesting, though I could see how many might find it frustrating. I rather like it.

Oh, and I finally caught on to what BenT was saying earlier. I thought you said the sword grew stronger after a Tate, and you had to keep doing them for added strength. Now I see the whole grower stronger during a Tate thing. Makes me think about the order of kills even more...

You mean there are mid-air tates over bottemless pits?
:confused:

Yeah, there'll be a rectangular platform with six flying enemies zooming around, so the odds of ending up over a pit when you kill the last one are pretty good. Since you can always dash after a hit you've got that to help rescue you, but it's also nice to keep an extra jump in reserve just in case.

For those who haven't caught on yet: Mid-air battles can be held as long as the enemies are fairly close together. Jump, dash, hit, dash, hit, dash, hit, etc. As long as a hit connects, you can dash again, allowing yourself to remain suspended up in the air for however long.

Sweet.
Got that statue, btw, thanks anyways.

Man, these levels are getting harder and longer like [insert reference of choice], I'm no longer blowing through them like I was yesterday. Tate is more and more essential to survival in regular levels (although it's been the only reasonable way to kill bosses for some time now), and there's way more of these damned two-headed giants to contend with. If they have to be killed outside of a Tate... prepare to take some major damage.

Oh, something else I meant to bring up earlier: For anyone else who has gotten to the spider boss, does it remind you of the one from DMC, only way less impressive? I think if it just fought instead of trying to talk it wouldn't have done that, but the voice just wasn't as cool.

well i was bored at work looked through the guide theres only 8 stages i dont know where some one got 12 or 14 from

so 8 stages each with 2 levels would mean a total of 16 things to play and 16 bosses

also looks like theres some cool things that will add replay to the game

Been playing it all evening. Poor Sonic Mega Collection is feeling neglected. I'm really liking it though. I'm at level 4 now and I'm really starting to get a handle on the system. It's all about building up your sword power before attacking a boss... I took down the spider boss in two hits. :) Oh for those of you wondering the game has 8 stages, so a total of 16 sections. I think it's a good length considering the challenge. And so far, I think it's tough but not unreasonable. It's pretty much the same boat as Contra... made for the hardcore gamers. Personally I'm currently in heaven. Now if only we can get an old school style Castlevania (bottomless pits and all) I can die a happy man.

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Originally posted by MechDeus
Oh, something else I meant to bring up earlier: For anyone else who has gotten to the spider boss, does it remind you of the one from DMC, only way less impressive? I think if it just fought instead of trying to talk it wouldn't have done that, but the voice just wasn't as cool.

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Are you listening to it in English? I thought the voice was pretty cool in the Japanese dub.

What would guys rate this game on a scale of 1 to 10?

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Are you listening to it in English? I thought the voice was pretty cool in the Japanese dub.

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Yeah, I started before I realized there was that option, and so want to finish the English first to maintain consistincy among the characters (and it's easier for me to recongnize who's who in English by voice alone). Once I beat it I'll go through again in Japanese.

NeoZeed: At least right now, I'd give it a nine. That final missing point is due to the camera sucking in quite a few areas (8B is a pain in my rear at times). Frankly, the graphics aren't very stellar either, but I feel the rest of the game is worthy.

Gah, must collect more coins and find out unlockables...

I'd probably give it about a 7 at the moment. Which is a pretty damned good grade for me, since I'm a pretty harsh grader. It's definately not for everyone... but I think most of the people who frequent these forums will enjoy it.

I wish I had the game and was able to talk about it.

7, but I'm only on level 4. If there is a way to master the fights and not look like an idiot just swinging away with a sword, then I'd rate it higher. One nitpick I have is that I thought you could run up walls like it seems Dante can do. All you can do in Shinobi is stick to a wall once, and from there run left or right in a straight line.

Ok, what is it with ninja's and not being able to freaking swim? I mean really? The man can run on fucking walls but he can't swim. Just plain annoying. Well, I guess I'll leave off at level 5 for this evening.

Wanna see something funny? Find a platform that gets submerged and stand on it while it's dry. When the water raises to about waist level, Hotsuma will suddenly flail wildly and drown. Ah... good stuff there.

And it looks like I'm not beating it tonight. 8B owns me.

Just got it today from a friend for my birthday... I'm only on level 2b but I'm digging it so far :)

Coolest-sounding unlockables that I've read about:

coin-based
30: Play as Moritsune, Hotsuma's brother. He's stronger and faster, but the sword drains him more.
40: Play as JOE -THE MAN- MUSASHI. Joe's sword damage does less than Hotsuma's, his shurikens are unlimited in number, do more damage, but don't stun. He doesn't use the cursed sword, so his life doesn't drain.
50: "VR" stage

There's a few difficulty levels to unlock as well. Just keep beating the game on the hardest available level until you earn the "Insane" difficulty.

MUST get Joe.

Those are some sweet unlockables, but after seeing some of those coin positions I'm frightened. I'm pretty sure I could get them, but not so sure I could get them and not have the sword drain me of all my life. Others just require insanity (at least one involves travelling across a giant bottomless pit by only teleporting from enemy to enemy).

Well, We got to 4A last night. Spider Boss was pretty cool, but not as good, or challenging as the one in DMC. It just stood in one place, and was either choting magic fireballs at you, or trying to slash you with its legs. DJ is finally getting better on TATE, he listened to my advice, charged up the sword on 5 smaller spiders, and rest was the history. We havent found that many coins yet, only about 7, but we will try to look for more.

I will give the game 7-8, I like it, and I'm usually more generous on games that I enjoy :)

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Originally posted by Despair
I'm usually more generous on games that I enjoy :)

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Isn't that the way it is supposed to work?

There is genius here.

A simple test - load up stage 1-B. Ready? Tate every enemy in the first room, including the one up at the Makimoto platform. Should be six enemies in total.

Performing Tate on every room that allows the possibility without getting hit, grabbing all coins, and finishing the level quickly? AND higher difficulty levels? Ho boy...

This appeals to my shooter sensibilities, I think I'm in love ;)

Since your sword becomes stronger the farther into a Tate chain you go, the ideal way to clear rooms in later levels (say, with the giants) is starting on the weakest enemies and working your way up so you can keep the tate going. That combined with the ability to endlessly dash by slaying enemies with tate is just... cool. There's quite a bit more depth here than is first apparent.

I am without an instruction booklet as well.

Is there a possible triple jump? I can't seem to get past that high cliff next to the series of black spraying schtuff.

Overall the fight moves are simple and mashing the buttons all over makes your freak out with cool moves.

The wall scurring is a nice touch.

Level 5 is damn cool.

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Originally posted by Booshido
Is there a possible triple jump? I can't seem to get past that high cliff next to the series of black spraying schtuff.

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Level number? If what you mean is where there's a hallway in between buildings and tons of sprayers with a giant unleapable step at the end, go back to the beginning of that hallway and leap onto the wall. Jump back and forth to the end.

Damn you level 5. Can you just walk off the side of a building while holding on to its side? I think I just did that. I tried jumping and dashing, but I fell like a rock. Also, found out you can destoy statues with shurikens.

Yes, you can walk off the side. To turn corners you have to jump off and either jump around and dash onto or dash around and jump onto. If you feel like wasting a full shuriken pack, a Blast also gets the stone statues (for when you don't feel like aiming ;) ).

I was right at the end too. Um, are there any more rip-off levels like 5b? The whole level is just a boss fight, and its not like its a super deluxe boss either.

my only huge gripe with Shinobi is that i dont know why but when things are in the air it seems really hard to tell where they are in relation to you and other things so it can make some things a major bitch to hit or get

i think the reason is the lack of shadows on the ground from things in the air

Alright, I now how to destroy the two-headed giants outside of Tate, but am now stuck on the last boss. Unfortunately, it feels unfinished since the smaller creatures that need to get hit first don't have any collision detection with your character. This means Hotsuma basically teleports right through them and will slash through them without hitting them.

I do wish you could pull the camera back farther, that would make these boss battles much less hectic and easier to pull off. I sometimes feel like I'm playing DMC again where the boss remains off-screen almost the entire match. Time to go try again.

Green: Yeah, there's one other boss-only level.

Beat it a while ago and am now in the process of trying to beat Hard, which is whooping my ass. Enemies can now block right from the first stage, and the bosses are much tougher then I was expecting.

Need more coins...

Sometimes I come across a boss or a hard level and say, "this is it, this is where it gets serious"...but then I'd win soon afterwards. It ain't happening with the first level 6 boss. Any tips for the frustrated?

6A boss: As soon as you begin, double-jump straight up and stick to the wall. Sit there until the drones materialize, and immediately clear them all out and then homing dash down to him and strike him. If you do it right you'll Tate him (which I haven't yet), otherwise you'll just deal massive damage, then get back on the wall and repeat. If you don't kill him immediately, don't forget to grab all the life refills along the wall.

I just got my first S rank earlier, on 3A!

Ah shiznag, MechDeus on the scene!

I'm on 4B. Hell yea. Major skillz....and stuff.

Hmmm, I don't wait on the walls, you can take off a fifth of his energy before his helpers show up. Just slash him and double jump, then slash him again. My problem is that after I get some tate going and go after him, he'll be slashing when I get anywhere near him. Air attack, or dash to his back, nothing works. Later on he'll start to run, but by then my big tate chance is gone. Even using a sheild and slashing away doesn't work.

Well, Right now we are on 6B Boss, and he is kicking our ass. It fairly easy to charge up TATE on him, but it doesnt kill him right away, and only takes up half of his life bar. And then you need to do it again, which makes it hard. Plus his paralize blasts, and risk of being knocked out to the water is very high.

Worst thing is when some of the heads he releases decide they want to fly in the middle of the water space, far from platforms, and that makes them almost unreachable.

We had a hard time with 6A guy. He is friggin fast, and his slash attacks are very damaging. You do need to do 7 TATE to kill him in one shot, but dont forget to paralyze him with suriken first, otherwise he will block your attack.

As for boss fight and camera comment, I prefer DMC one. Its less chaotic, and there I didnt feel disoriented as often as in Shinobi.

I toss shurikens at him, but he bats them away too! *head explodes*

I'm still trying to figure out how to do a TATE! :lol:

anyhow, I just started last night so I'm getting the hang of it, I don't like the lock-on too much becuase I get used to holding down on someone, then I need to switch and I'm always pulling off the trigger I need to keep it active. Then I switched it to stay on, and next thing I know, I'm forgetting that I wanted to take it off when I'm trying to fix my positioning just a little outside of fighting so I end up getting kinda stuck when I should be running. (bleh) and yet, one last problem would be the way it just "points" out the direction of who you're locking onto when the camera doesn't shift to show who you're fighting. I know it may work different with some other people, but I'm kinda having a confusing time with it just showing me where everybody's at, then getting hit while I'm trying to fix my camera position which is starting to cost me a little too many this early in the round...

The boss battles seem like they needed a little work as their intro and defeat is a little "bleh". Still I'm thinking this is pretty on-par with DMC and it's a complete action title for a change! (just like the old days :) )

Pretty much, the same feeling I have about camera. And even when you tring to adjust the camera, it doesnt always shows everything right.

Sure, Some of the people felt disoriented in DMC as well, but it was never this bad. And when you have a lock on enemy, it screws up your perception even more.

Still stuck on the DAMN 6B Boss. We starting to hate the friggin Statue !!! Even full TATE doesnt kill it, but insted takes little less than half of its life.

Any advice?

Oops, sorry, didn't see this.

6B boss: I managed to Tate the bastard, but not from a full lifebar. Start off running up to the top of the bridge, he'll fire the yellow beams, run forward to dodge, and then hang back along the rear guardrails. As long as you run back and forth awaiting creatures to spawn, only his sweeping hands can hit you and he won't fire his paralyzing shots as long as you're that close. Once a full set of creatures are spawned, air-dash like mad to clear them all and smack his forehead. If you don't want to worry about suicide bombers and fire-tossers, use a Shuriken Blast first to freeze them all, but careful the statue doesn't destroy your "ammo."

That's what I did. Took a long ass time, probably only surpassed by the amount of time it took me to beat the last boss (in which I also needed a couple bathroom breaks and a few breathers).

Quote:

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Sure, Some of the people felt disoriented in DMC as well, but it was never this bad.

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You have no idea.

Well, The problem with staying close to him, that he tries to swap you with his hands, and destroys the head creatures that you need for TATE. Also if you do Shuriken Burst, you might hit Head that hower above water, which again will screw up your TATE possibility.

Don't be scared to air-dash over water, so long as you're close enough to air-dash to something else to hit. The only times I fell in the water were because he knocked me in there (from not hanging around the back guardrails) or screwing up hitting his forehead. Also, the Shuriken Blast actually doesn't have a huge range outward, so unreachable heads won't (or shouldn't) get hit.

Besides, trying to get all the heads "ready" and then get to him in time for Tate from farther back would be insanely hard, the heads would basically have to be lined up along the bridge. Which could happen...

Well getting flying heads with Air Dash makes sense, unfortunately, I'm not very good with that, since Lock On and Air Dash disorients me, so I guess I need more practice on that.

DJ is better on that than me, but he alos tends to get lost when there are multiple air targets.

One thing that might help (at least it did for me), swap the lock-on to toggle, instead of hold. Then you can just press it to stay locked, and worry about the other buttons without holding L1 constantly.

Depends on the person though I suppose...

The auto-target works pretty well, so you can just hold down lock-on and simply press dash and target over and over. As long as you don't hit the ground you won't have to worry about anything else (and if you do, simply hit jump again).

I have no problem with the camera changing like that, and since I see most of the enemy locations to begin with I can tell where I'll end up (thinking really fast on the fly helps a lot here). It's best to learn air-dashing while you can, it's required for the last couple levels.

You know, I really didn't have much trouble with the 6B boss at all. I spent a few lives trying out magic and dashing up and hitting him before I noticed that it didn't do any good. Then I decided to go for the TATE. I quickly learned that even a 4 and 5 TATE doesn't do much good, so I decided to hang back untill he let loose a full set (8?) With that I was able to lock on dash up, hit his head once taking away over half his life, dash again still locked on, do my second jump and kill him with a second hit in TATE. The timings not simple, but it's not too hard... total times tried... about 7. Now I'm on 7A. Holy shit, they just ramped up the difficulty. I'm getting beat down in 7A... and that section with the waterfall... screw that. I decided I'd had enough for the night, and it's going to be off to bed with me shortly.