Back a few years ago, Team Ninja and ComCept released the game Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. It was an okay game, it wasn't bad by any means but it's not the Ninja Gaiden that I, and many others, have come to know and love. Hell, even the protagonist of the game was a guy that was going against Ryu, and that protagonist was a clear downgrade.
That said, Team Ninja stated that Ninja Gaiden Z was simply an appetizer before you get to the real meat. That said, though, while Team Ninja have been milking DOA5 for all it's worth, they postponed any plans for a Ninja Gaiden continuation in favor of a game called Nioh, which is either Dark Souls in Japan, or a fast-paced Onimusha, depending on who you ask. As a result, I would like to take some time to outline what I think would make a good continuation to the Ninja Gaiden series.
"But why Ninja Gaiden and not Bayonetta or Devil May Cry?"
First of all, because we just got Bayonetta 2 so, for all we know, Bayonetta 3 may be on the horizon. As for Devil May Cry 5, well, to be honest, I attempted to do an After-Thoughts Concept for that but I ended up deleting it because I wasn't able to come up with any substantial ways to improve on Devil May Cry's formula. As a result, even if we're not getting Devil May Cry 5 any time soon, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to say anything on the matter until that particular game makes mistakes that I can comment on for DMC6 to fix.
So, first things first, should probably be the new mechanic Ninja Gaiden 4 is probably going to introduce. The reason I say that is because, Ninja Gaiden 2 had a mechanic that Ninja Gaiden 1 didn't have (Executions), and Ninja Gaiden 3 had a mechanic that was not present in Ninja Gaiden 2 (Steel-to-Bone). More than likely, neither of those mechanics are going to appear in Ninja Gaiden 4 and a new mechanic will probably take their place. In terms of what to replace them with, though, I would definitely lean more toward a clean-cut type of mechanic. You remember Blade Mode in Metal Gear Rising? Well, I would suggest that, where you hold square to perform a clean cut on an object in order to destroy it.
So, I'm betting each of you has one of two questions, depending on who you are.
"Why Square? Why not Triangle?"
Well, the reason for that is because Holding Triangle activates Ultimate Attacks, and those have been present in every 3D Ninja Gaiden game, or at least the main installments. As a result, putting it on Triangle would only hamper the game design. Or, if not hold square, then introduce pause combos where square will perform a clean cut to dismember, setting up for Executions, if you want those to return, and Steel-to-Bone, as well.
"Why does that mechanic need to exist?"
Well, the thing about Team Ninja is that they've had dismemberment in every Ninja Gaiden game after Sigma 1, which suggests they are already familiar enough with such a thing that they could pull it off effectively.
As for the returning Executions and Steel-to-Bone, these two mechanics do exist separately but because they're activated with very different contexts, I would say bringing both back would not be too much of a hassle, unless they create new, non-human enemy types. Yes, they can create new enemy types that are human but, because most humans generally have the same physical makeup, using an execution on a Spider-Clan Ninja will largely function the same way it would on an LOA soldier. Same goes for any reused enemy types, like in Razor's Edge, which were broken because of the lack of Executions.
I would also add a hard Lock-On. A large amount of the reason why, I already covered in my Comparison of Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden but, to summarize, if you give Ryu a hard Lock-On, with R1 as the Lock-On Button, it gives Ryu an additional directional input, that being the back input, which opens the way for a simpler combat system to substitute for the combo system that's already in place.
If they really want to reuse the same weapon techniques that they had in the previous Ninja Gaiden games for corresponding buttons, they certainly can but, with the back input, for a launcher for example, executing an Izuna Drop could be streamlined, giving Ryu a Back Square could allow him to perform a "Get Off Me" type spinning sword attack to hit all nearby enemies when crowded, which will happen a lot, I can pretty much guarantee it, and the combo list can be simplified because so many of the moves can be executed with a new directional input.
I would also adjust the aiming mechanic. If it has to stay, it can, but it should be modified to flow a bit better in regular combat. Firstly, have Circle be the aim. As to why, well, currently it's a second fire button while aiming, which basically makes it a wasted command. If you hold Circle to aim, and then press R2 to fire your bow, for example, that opens up a new button to be used for other things.
As for what L2 would do now, I would make it a dedicated Ninpo Button. And by that I mean two things, you can have one or the other, and both can exist together. First, hold L2 and then hit Square, Triangle, or X to perform a Ninpo. This way, performing Ninpo isn't quite as cumbersome and it allows more than one Ninpo to be equipped at once. The other way that you can do this is to go the Budokai route of hitting L2 right at the end of a combo to execute a Ninpo with no startup. And, when I say "at the end of a combo," I really just mean right after Square or Triangle have been hit and the attack animation has landed. These two can even work together: either have L2 held and press Square, Triangle or X to perform the Ninpo the regular way, where it has the long startup time that renders you invulnerable during, or hit L2 right as an attack animation is finishing to instantaneously fire it and deal point-blank damage to whatever you're aiming at. You could even hit L2 right after jumping into the air to perform a single, aerial Ninpo. Food for thought.
In terms of the way Ninpo is handled in terms of its meter, I would honestly go back to the way it was in the first 2 3D Ninja Gaiden games, where the meter is a set of slots and firing one Ninpo will use up a single slot. Having a meter that drains whenever you use Ninpo makes them a lot less useful, especially since that meter drains to heal you at the end of every fight, rendering Ninpo as a whole damn near unusable. Going to the slot idea just makes Ninpo more versatile.
As for the setting, Team Ninja proved that Ryu's acrobatic skills could work in a city environment, and should Team Ninja feel up to the task, I think giving Ryu an Open World Map, or at least a series of Open World Maps divided into levels, would be a good way to improve on the formula.
In terms of how many, well, there honestly doesn't need to be that many. If Ryu only has four total areas to go to, provided they're open enough for the acrobatics to be tested, and fill it with enemies, like with Yaiba, where the undead are everywhere, I think it would make for a nice change of pace.
Now, I really don't want to talk about re-releases before this game has even been announced but, considering that the only Team Ninja games that are old enough to have but have not had re-releases are Dead or Alive 3 and 4, I think it's safe to say that this one will probably get a re-release as well.
In terms of what that re-release will contain, probably three or so additional characters. Ninja Gaiden Sigma only had 1 (Rachel), and Razor's Edge only had one that was new (Kasumi), but Sigma 2 had Momiji, Rachel, and Ayane, and Razor's Edge, on top of Kasumi, also had Momiji and Ayane again, so I think it's safe to say that 3 additional characters is probably what the re-release is going to have.
Now, obviously Ayane is going to return, and Kasumi probably will as well. But, if we had to pick someone to replace Momiji, we have a few candidates. The two that are most likely to be selected are Hitomi and Hayate from Dead or Alive. On the one hand, it might be Hitomi, considering Team Ninja have a history of adding only female characters to the roster. But, at the same time, the only way I see Hitomi having any story that's relevant would have to involve Hayate, which would make Hayate a strong contender, since he's the only full grown, important Shinobi in the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series to not be playable in both yet. Jann Lee would also be a less strong but still fairly good choice, since he has experience with Nunchaku and Fist Fighting, he could make a decent character. And, since his obsessions are with Ryu and Rig, adding Jann Lee just to assist Ryu in China, or to fight him, would be an interesting way to go.
I would also make it so that these characters are only available as unlockable or optional content. Not necessarily DLC but stuff that can only be used after the campaign has been beaten, like Chapter Challenge, for example.
That's all for now. If you want more changes to the Ninja Gaiden formula that I haven't covered here, you can check some out right here.
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