NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black - Path of the Master Ninja - Chapter 4: A Captive Goddess
232NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black Playlist: • NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black
All of the checkpoints in this chapter were pretty tough to get a decent run through... The opening area with archers potentially sniping you (I didn't want to take a hit), and you always have to be a little careful around the Van Gelfs in case they go into a hyper armor grab. The area afterward with the the Black Spider ninjas and mages and can be a real pain too, but it gets much more manageable when you take the mages out (there are only two of them). Then you have to deal with a bunch of fiend dogs. They're typically not too bad with certain weapons (Dragon Sword, Lunar, Scythe, etc. are good), but I wanted to use the claws for this segment, and that one struggles a bit. It does dish out a nice amount of damage, so if you can get a few air combos going, do some on-landing 360Y attacks, and throw in a UT or two, it should be fine.
The rest of the stage isn't too bad. I do want to use every weapon in each chapter though, so I kinda locked myself into using Enma's Fang on Alexei. It's certainly not the best weapon to deal with him. Thankfully Alexei isn't very difficult. With the Fang, I couldn't can't land more than two hits at a time unless I shuriken canceled the recovery of the second light attack - then I can usually sneak a third one in. If you can start attacking him after he misses his lunge or tornado, you can hit him with a couple of heavy attacks while he recovers as well. Other than that, Alexei is always vulnerable after missing a grab, or the third hit of one of his melee combos, so this is one boss you always want to fight at close range. When he goes into his berserk phase at about 30% health, you can charge up a UT and hope it hits. It's best to time it for when he's JUST about to do something, so your invincibility will last through his attack and you can hit him with the explosion at the end.
They toned Alexei down a bit in Sigma (especially his berserk phase), but he's still a fun boss. One of the better ones in this game, I think.
Next up, Momiji's chapter...
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:32 Gameplay
9:00 Talisman of Rebirth #1
9:14 Jewel of the Demon Seal #2
10:10 Life of the Gods #6
13:04 Mid Boss: Godomus
20:10 Lives of the Thousand Gods #4
21:00 Life of the Gods #7
23:20 Alexei, Ruler of Lightning
Chapters 3 & 4 seem especially heavy on the graphics card, so I did turn some settings down. The good news is that I was able to order a 5080, so I should be able to crank this up before I'm done. (The bad news is it cost me over a thousand dollars 💀)
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Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight): • Beat 'em Ups
2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug): • 2D Action
STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi): • STG Replays