Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Good game but it's driving me mad

[Kev]

I got Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 the other week. At only £15 (from play), it was a bargain.

The game has been compared a lot to Devil May Cry 4. A hack and slash game I bought earlier in the year. I'm actually surprised that they weren't made by the same developer as the games are almost identical in many aspects ie. a lara croft meets sword slashing type game. Seriously, these games have so much in common.

Whereas DMC4 had 20 levels (if I remember right), Ninja Gaiden Sigma has 19. I'm currently at the end of level boss of chapter 18 and for the last few hours it has driven me insane. Overall I have really enjoyed the game and it isn't that hard. I've died a few times at level bosses etc but after a few attempts you work out how to beat them quite easily.

However, there are a lot of bugs in the game which the testers obviously missed.

This morning I was playing it and I had got to the 1st of 2 bosses at the end of chapter 16. However, I got to this part of the game with no energy (ie. one hit from an enemy or one touch of lava and I'm dead) and I also had no money to buy from the store. I had saved it at the save point just before the bad guy.

First thing I did was go back through the whole level looking for enemies to kill to get credits to purchase energy. No luck, all the enemies were already dead. Thankfully, in Ninja Gaiden, every 2nd or 3rd time you die you get an item. You sometimes get energy and you sometimes get the rebirth item which brings you back from the dead. So I realised I had to kill myself. So I did this a few times and it said that I had a great elixer which is the item which gives you full health. It flashes up that you have the item but when it loads up I didnt have it. I did this several times and the items which I were given were not actually given to me.

Eventually one of the items did show and I used it and luckily the end guy wasnt that hard. I'm not sure why this was happening but I wasted ages with it and if I didn't get the item when I did I probably would have never played the game again.

So I played it for a few more hours. I'm at the end of Chapter 18 where you have to fight 2 bosses. I got to the 2nd boss but got killed almost instantly because I had no more items to refill my energy bar. The save point is just before the boss level. This time I have over 35,000 credits but get this...there's no bloody shop!!!! I check on the web to see where it is and the nearest one is the town which I had came from before.

So to summarise. I'm saved right at the end of level 18, I've got no energy but I've got money to buy items which refill my energy bar...but theres no shop. The nearest shop is about 10-15 minutes away and to get there you need to hack and slash your way through hundreds if not thousands of these annoyinh floating ghost pirahnas which are one of the most annoying things I've had to do. They just attack you and stick to you so basically for 15 minutes down I have to press the attack button repeatedly.

Because I'm a stubborn asshole and because I only have to beat about 3 more guys to complete the whole game I do this. So I spend 15 minutes slashing my way to the bottom. I go through one of the doors in the town and somehow I fall through the ground and arrive away round the corner. I come back round and enter back through the door and I drop again. After 3 attempts of this and 30 minutes of my time I realise it's going to keep doing that and that I've found some bug in the game.


Video of those damn piranhas!

So I end up getting killed and I start back at the top of the moutain!!! I then have to go all the way down and all the way back up. I've now spent more than an hour doing all this and I'm 2 seconds away from throwing the game in the street, which is a shame because before today I loved the game. Why of why didnt they just put a shop next to the save point!!

The part I saved at I had no energy because I had just fought 3 mini bosses. Surely they knew players would have no energy and would have to go all the way back to get items. Unless you've played the game, you might not appreciate how annoying this has all been. I have no problems backtracking but because of those annoying piranhas it makes the thing painfully annoying and makes me question why I'm wasting my time with this game.

I'll probably end up completing the game tonight. All in all it's been a good game but little things like this really annoy the hell out of me and reminds us all why games have to be extensively tested!

[Kev]

UPDATE

Completed the game less than an hour later. The 2 bosses in chapter 18 were pretty easy if you had lots of ninpo (magic) and energy. The end guy was directly after that and I was surprised at how easy he was. I didnt even have to boost my energy. All I did was a few flying swallow attacks and used up all my ninpo and he died. Strangely, he was the easiest boss in the whole game.

Overall, it's a game I'd recommend picking up if you see it for a good price. The bug which I came across earlier tonight frustrated my head in but thankfully I got past it.

[Bex]

Yup, there really need better bug testers :O.
I played it but never got that far, never got to a boss either I don't think.

I can imagine how annoying it is though, and I think you have more patience that me, the game would have gone ages ago.

Makes me want to test Ninja Gaiden 2 though on the 360, for umm, any bugs *angel face*.......or to just play it.