Ninja Gaiden 2: Black is meticulously crafted by Team Ninja and remade based on the Unreal Engine 5. Its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden 2, is regarded as a classic action game of the Xbox 360 era. This remake aims to present players with a brand - new gaming experience. However, it has sparked widespread controversy among players in many crucial aspects.

The game's plot is set one year after the original Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden. The Black Spider Ninja Clan has secretly colluded with powerful demons, attempting to resurrect the Great Demon and disrupt the balance of the world. Ryu Hayabusa, as an outstanding representative of the Dragon Ninja lineage, unhesitatingly shoulders the heavy responsibility of preventing this evil conspiracy. Although the overall structure of the game's story is not extremely grand and complex, there are many highly interesting plot elements. For example, the Great Demon quotes classic lines from Shakespeare at critical moments, adding a unique cultural touch to the game. On the towering body of the Statue of Liberty, Ryu Hayabusa engages in a thrilling duel with the Lightning Man, creating a spectacular scene. In the Venetian Colosseum, Ryu Hayabusa faces the four - armed werewolf, and the combat atmosphere is intense and exciting. These plots are full of absurdity and fantasy charm.

The combat system is undoubtedly the core highlight of Ninja Gaiden 2: Black. Players control Ryu Hayabusa as he maneuvers through the battlefield. There is a wide variety of weapons available, covering nearly nine melee weapons, three ranged weapons, and four ninjutsu techniques. Each melee weapon has its own unique set of moves and combo systems. With exquisite control, players can flexibly switch between weapons during battles, unleashing gorgeous and deadly attacks. During combat, players can even dismember enemies, and for injured enemies, they can perform finishing moves to deal a fatal blow. The enemies in the game are agile, aggressive, and unrelenting, keeping the combat rhythm at a high - tension level at all times. Players need to be constantly vigilant, keep moving, accurately grasp the offensive opportunities, and prioritize eliminating the enemies that pose the greatest threat to themselves, striving to survive in the midst of the intense sword - fighting. However, the game's combat experience is not without flaws. In intense combat scenes, the camera may occasionally stutter, and the viewing angles in some corners of the scenes are not ideal. This may cause players to be suddenly attacked by off - screen enemies without warning. Although the frequency of such situations is not high, it still has a certain impact on the gaming experience. In addition, the design of some boss battles has obvious flaws. Battles such as fighting the Water Dragon, the Subway Worm, and the Nuclear Armadillo are not only dull and lackluster but also go against the game's otherwise excellent combat system, greatly undermining the players' combat enjoyment. At the same time, some repetitive combat scenes and patterns are likely to make players feel bored during the game process.

In terms of level exploration, the game levels are linearly arranged. While advancing through the main story, players can explore side - content and obtain rich rewards such as health boosts, ninjutsu upgrade items, essence, and crystal skulls. Among them, crystal skulls can be used to enjoy discounts in the store, providing convenience for players to acquire resources later. It is worth mentioning that the game levels have achieved significant visual upgrades. The newly - created character models are extremely exquisite, with meticulous attention to detail. The optimization of lighting and texture effects makes every environment in the game more vivid and lifelike, as if bringing players into a real ninja world. The platform - jumping sections are also very well - designed. For example, in the bell - tower scene, players control Ryu Hayabusa to perform a series of high - difficulty moves such as wall - running and flipping. The smooth operation experience and the tense and exciting atmosphere greatly enrich the overall gaming experience.

However, Ninja Gaiden 2: Black has exposed many problems during the remaking process. This game is more based on the 2009 PS3 version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for remaking, rather than the original Xbox 360 version. Compared with the original version, Sigma 2 has significantly reduced the number of enemies. Even though the enemies have increased health and are more difficult to dismember, their overall aggression has decreased significantly. This directly leads to too few enemies appearing on the screen simultaneously in combat scenes, making the scenes seem empty and deserted. The enemies are like "bullet sponges," requiring players to spend a large amount of time and energy to defeat them, which slows down the combat rhythm and seriously affects the combat pleasure. Even on higher difficulty levels, the enemies die more slowly compared to the original version, and players can hardly experience the kind of hearty combat pleasure in the original version. In addition, during combat, problems such as the interruption of enemy combo moves and abnormal blocking after being hit occur frequently. These problems seriously disrupt the smoothness of combat, making players feel extremely awkward during the operation.

Nevertheless, the game also has some bright spots during the remaking process. It has successfully restored the high bloodiness of the original version and re - introduced the weapon upgrade system. The essence obtained by players during the game can be used to purchase weapon upgrades. This design requires players to make a difficult choice between strengthening weapons to enhance combat power and buying recovery items to ensure survival, adding strategy and fun to the game. In addition, the game has removed the much - criticized boss battles against the Giant Buddha and the Statue of Liberty in Sigma 2 and retained popular new content such as the Dark Dragon. Moreover, the new character levels in Sigma 2 have been completely preserved. Although these new characters are slightly inferior to Ryu Hayabusa in terms of gameplay depth, each has its own unique skills and combat styles, bringing a different experience to the game. After clearing the game, players will also unlock additional costumes for the characters and open chapter challenges and two - player cooperation missions (currently only supports cooperation with NPCs). The Heroic Difficulty in Sigma 2 has also returned in this remake, which undoubtedly provides more challenges and room for growth for novice players.

It should not be overlooked that the game still has some minor bugs at this stage. For example, the game may occasionally crash, forcing players to interrupt their gaming progress. Texture display errors can greatly reduce the visual effects of some scenes and characters. Problems such as doors that cannot be opened normally will also, to a certain extent, hinder the players' progress. Although these problems have not had a devastating impact on the overall game process, they undoubtedly bring a lot of unnecessary troubles to the players' gaming experience.

Ninja Gaiden 2: Black is a game with extremely distinct advantages and disadvantages. It skillfully integrates content from different versions, with exquisite visual performance. In some aspects, it has successfully improved the shortcomings of the previous version. However, due to problems such as a slow combat rhythm and unreasonable enemy design, it is difficult to meet the high expectations of players for the "ultimate version." Despite many flaws, it is still an action game with high playability, providing a new option worthy of trying for fans of the series and action - game enthusiasts.