The Ninja Gaiden series is well known for its difficulty, frequently being mentioned in conversations with Dark Souls, Battletoads, and, worst of all, Crash Bandicoot. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is no exception, delivering the challenge the 2008 original is known for to a whole new generation of fans.
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If you want to make it through Ryu’s adventure, you’ll need to steel yourself for the journey ahead and become comfortable dying (a lot). However, if you’re able to persevere, you’ll be rewarded with one of the best action games of the seventh generation. Here are some tips to get you started.
Fully Upgrade One Weapon
When you start using a weapon in Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, you don’t have access to the entire moveset. In order to unlock your full suite of combos, you need to upgrade the weapon twice, after which you’ll be unable to unleash it’s full destructive potential.
After sampling a few items in Ryu’s arsenal, it’s important to focus on upgrading your favorite, at least for the time being. The blacksmith charges 10,000 Essence for the first improvement, and a whopping 20,000 for the second! We recommend starting with the Dragon Sword, since it offers a nice balance of speed and range.
Upgrading your weapons can also change their appearance!
Abuse Flying Swallow
If you find the opening fights of NG2 Black to be a bit too challenging, you can fall back on the strategy many beginners have used before you: abusing Flying Swallow. The Flying Swallow technique can be performed with the Dragon Sword, and is executed by jumping towards an enemy and pressing Triangle/Y.
If done correctly, Ryu will fly at them and slash his sword, potentially decapitating them or cutting a limb off. Not only can you use this move to quickly dispatch enemies, it’s easily spammable, and can be used to reposition yourself if you’re faced with a particularly large encounter.
Pay Attention To Dismemberment
As you’re carving through foes, you may notice your attacks lop some of their body parts off. Arms, legs, and even heads can be removed with relative ease!
When this happens, try to finish them off with an Obliteration technique as fast as possible (approach them and press Triangle/Y). Doing so will play an execution animation and immediately kill them, reducing the total number of enemies and letting you move on to other threats.
Dodge While Enemies Attack
Dodging a flurry of blows in NG2 Black can be quite difficult, and sometimes it’s smarter to just hold your ground and block. However, you can actually still move Ryu around, even if you’re on the backfoot.
Performing a dash requires you to hold the block button and flick the Left Stick in the direction you’d like to move, and you can actually abuse this mechanic if you’re being attacked. When an enemy is trying to hit you multiple times, you can block the first few strikes, then dodge (pressing the Left Stick) out of their combo, letting you go back on the offensive.
You’ll know you executed this properly if your dodge is accompanied by particle effects.
Charge Ultimate Techniques When Essence Is Present
Ultimate Techniques are one of the best ways to completely decimate a group of enemies, but they take a few seconds to charge. Thankfully, there’s actually a way to use them in a much safer fashion.
After killing an enemy, their corpse will usually spawn Essence. If you begin holding Triangle/Y, that Essence will be sucked into Ryu, and the UT will charge at a much faster rate. This allows you to use your most destructive combat tool without exposing yourself to as much harm as a traditional UT activation.
Use Ninpo For Invincibility
If you’re being hit continuously and can’t seem to find your footing in a particular encounter, it’s always wise to use Ninpo. Ryu’s magic spells can be activated by pressing Triangle and Circle/Y and B simultaneously, letting him deal damage to a wide area. This also grants invincibility for the spells’ duration, so it’s a great get-out-of-jail-free card.
If you don’t have any Ki available to perform Ninpo, press Down on the D-pad and use Devil’s Way Mushrooms to recover some.
Practice Countering
Another way to move from defense back to offense is to counter incoming blows. As you’re blocking a strike, you can press an attack button at the exact moment it hits you to parry and swipe back with your weapon, interrupting the enemy and leaving them vulnerable. Depending on which weapon you’re using, you may be able to start a combo of your own!
Explore The Environment For Useful Items
NG2 Black is largely a linear game, but there are a few sections where you’re given the opportunity to explore other paths. During these moments, you can hold the Right Bumper to highlight where you need to go to advance the story. It’s often beneficial to ignore this momentarily and venture into the additional paths available to you. They often hide Ki pickups and Life of the Gods spheres, which can be used to increase your maximum health.
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