Ninja Gaiden 4 Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast — Ninja Gaiden 4 Review

Episode Date: October 21, 2025
Hosts: Andy Cortez, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Roger Benson

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Overview

This episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast is dedicated to reviewing and dissecting the long-anticipated Ninja Gaiden 4, the latest in the iconic ninja action franchise. The panel—Andy, Blessing, and Roger—bring their varying tastes and experience with both Ninja Gaiden and character-action games to a critical discussion, breaking down gameplay, visuals, combat systems, and how the game measures up to both franchise legacy and modern action titles.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Review Scores and First Impressions

[07:47] – [16:05]

• Each panelist completed the game (~14-15 hours playtime) on PS5 or PC.

• Roger Benson: 5.5/10
  Found the action monotonous, enemy design uninspired, pace slow, and visuals dated. Enjoyed brief segments as Ryu but overall called it “pretty mediocre.”

  "I really should have loved this game… but I was baffled that the fun was so far few and far between." – Roger [08:22]

• Andy Cortez: 6.5/10
  Noted improvements over preview version but got bored by enemy sponginess and lackluster art direction. Praised combat options but said the game drags on and grows repetitive.

  "By the end of it, you will feel kind of tired of the experience like I did." – Andy [12:38]

• Blessing Adeoye Jr.: 8/10
  Enjoyed initial hours and, despite dips in engagement and dated presentation, found the combat “some of the most fun I’ve had this year.” Compared it to comfort food: not perfect, but hits the spot for fans of the genre.

  "...a trashy restaurant that makes your favorite dish the way you like it, even though you know you can’t bring your friends here..." – Blessing [14:05]

2. Combat & Gameplay Mechanics

[16:05] – [22:27]

• Controls:
  Unique for a modern action game—light and heavy attacks (w/ triangle as finisher), stances, combos with intricate directional inputs, and a parry/block/dodge on the same button ([19:30]).

• Combo/Style Expression:
  Deep, expressive combat system with layers, but poorly explained—many players missed features until late.

  "This game does a terrible job of explaining its toolset to you... I was like, Oh, I can do that?" — Blessing [15:09]

• Spongy Enemies:
  All panelists noted how basic enemies have excessive health, making fights drag.

  “No matter what the fuck I’m doing… it does not feel like I am dispatching these enemies in a way that kind of feels in tandem with... the ninja that I am.” — Roger [19:48]

• Boss Fights:
  Largely viewed as uninspired and lacking personality, with some exceptions; generally not the highlight.

  "There were so many moments... I’m playing, I’m fighting bosses. I’m like, why is this a boss?" — Roger [49:05]

• Parry System:
  Frustrating; felt unresponsive and oddly mapped—most successful parries felt accidental.

  "Every button in this game is the parry button." — Blessing [32:26]
  "I wanted to learn the parry... and it just never worked out." — Roger [36:19]

3. Visuals & Art Direction

[06:25] / [51:04] – [53:15]

• Graphical Fidelity:
  Widely seen as dated—even described as resembling a remaster of a last-gen game.

  "This game looks awful. It looks bad. Not 100% of the time; when the lighting’s right, things can look good..." — Andy [10:25]

• Missed Potential:
  Hosts wished for a bold, stylized look (a la Sifu) instead of going for realism they can’t quite achieve.

• Performance:
  Runs smoothly at 60fps on PS5/PC, but polish doesn’t make up for visual blandness.

4. Atmosphere, Music, and ‘Aura’

[23:22] – [42:09]

• The panel felt the game has moments of ‘aura’—like cool blood effects or platforming “Sonic vibes”—but is overall less energetic & stylish than the trailers promised or what fans expect from Platinum/Team Ninja.

  ”If you squint and you’re really far away from the TV, you’d be like, this is the sickest game. But you play it and you’re like, where the fuck is the music?” — Roger [42:09]

• Music/Mixing:
  Music is often forgettable or poorly mixed, and doesn’t add dramatic flair.

5. Story and Voice Acting

[11:56] / [44:49] – [46:06]

• Story:
  Regarded as weak, sometimes incoherent or missing (possibly due to cut content or upcoming DLC).

  "...something happens. I’m like, did I fall asleep in the last two hours? Like, I don’t know who, what’s happening right now." — Andy [48:03]

• Voice Acting:
  Criticized for being grating, poorly mixed, and character dialogue intrusive during boss fights.

6. Weapons & Upgrades

[43:57] – [47:29]

• Excellent variety and distinct feel, especially late-game unlocks that dramatically change gameplay approaches.
• Playing as Ryu Hayabusa is a highlight; panelists wished he was playable more often.
• Deep (but poorly tutorialized) upgrade trees; learning curve is alleviated by constant experimentation and discovering tricks via friends.

7. Level Design & Progression

[22:27] / [57:51] – [59:59]

• Linear, old-school approach with score attack arcade DNA—some enjoyed it as “comfort food;” others found it repetitive.
• Platforming is highly automated and mostly uninspiring, though some rail grinding sections provide “Sonic” style fun.

8. Difficulty & Accessibility

[55:10] – [57:51]

• Normal mode is challenging but fair; heavy on enemy volume rather than inventive difficulty.
• Some panelists dropped to easy for final hours due to monotony, not spikes. Healing items feel weak, but game is forgiving with post-death buffs.

9. Comparisons to Other Games

[28:55] / [41:44] – [42:58]; [65:37] – [67:43]

• Frequently compared to recent character action titles and Team Ninja’s own output (Stranger of Paradise, Stellar Blade, Sifu, Ghost of Tsushima, and devil May Cry).
• Noted that the genre has evolved; Ninja Gaiden 4 feels like a game from a decade ago in design and visuals, for better and worse.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the comfort food appeal:
  "...it’s that trashy restaurant that makes your favorite dish. You like it—they made the dish the way that I like it... there is a comfort food in this game for me.” — Blessing [53:38]

• On spectacle and missed promise:
  "If you squint and you're really far away from the TV, you'd be like, this is the sickest game. But you play it and you're like, where the fuck is the music?" — Roger [42:09]

• On the game's difficulty:
  “I didn’t think it was like an easy game by any means... but I mainly dropped to easy towards the end because I was just kind of getting tired of the... I’m just doing the, you know, same shit.” — Andy [55:29]

• On weapon variety and highlights:
  "There are weapons that you unlock later in the game where I was like, oh, that really changes how I'm playing this game..." — Blessing [46:32]

• On the combat learning curve:
  “This game does a terrible job of explaining its toolset to you.” — Blessing [15:09]

• On story coherence:
  “Did I fall asleep in the last two hours? Like, I don’t know what’s happening right now.” — Andy [48:03]

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Important Timestamps

• Review Scores & Impressions: [07:47] – [16:05]
• Combat/Controls Discussion: [16:05] – [22:27]
• Visuals and Art Direction: [51:04] – [53:15]
• Boss Fight Analysis: [48:53] – [51:04]
• Weapon System Praise: [46:32] – [47:29]
• Comparisons to Similar Games: [41:44] – [42:58]; [65:37] – [67:43]
• Audience Questions (Difficulty/Series Experience): [54:06] – [57:51]
• Memorable Parry Button Rant: [32:26] – [36:19]

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Panel’s Final Thoughts

• Roger: Ultimately disappointed but sees some redeeming qualities in Ryu gameplay and rare flashes of classic Ninja Gaiden charm. Calls it “pretty mediocre.”
• Blessing: Has a big soft spot for the game despite its shortcomings. "Great" due to personal taste, even if objectively closer to a 7.
• Andy: Wished for more style, a better engine, and bolder design. Enjoyed parts, but not enough to outweigh fatigue and monotony.

If you crave old-school challenge, classic “arcade” design, and deep but sometimes opaque combat—and are okay with a bland story and dated visuals—Ninja Gaiden 4 may be your trashy comfort food. But for those expecting modern, stylistic reinvention or profound narrative, it’s a nostalgia trip with cracked foundations.

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End of Review

Transcript

[Andy Cortez]

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[Roger Benson]

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a real shot at getting it.

[Andy Cortez]

Get [e-mail] own the dream. Welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for October 20, 2025 presented by 5 Our Energy Blast through the Outer Worlds 2 in style with an exclusive skin for your wrapped it on in game pet Brought to you by five Hour Energy. When you purchase a purple berry punch or mock melon Brew five Hour Energy products, you you'll receive a unique code to unlock exclusive the Outer Worlds 2 in game content. I'm Andy Cortez and I'm joined by blessing. Adio Ye Jr. Good day, Andy and Roger Pokorny.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm excited, so excited to talk about this.

[Andy Cortez]

This is a fascinating one. It's 4pm it is 4pm we are live right now.

[Roger Benson]

We got a. We got a fun energy.

[Andy Cortez]

This is not a pre recorded games cast. This is kind of once, you know, in a lifetime type of deal. Oh, you're watching history right now, everybody.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, we'll never have a schedule for this.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, big old shuffling of the schedule. Y' all were just watching some Pokemon Za gameplay by Nick Scarpino. I was there before I went to go grab lunch and I just sat at that Taco Bell and I was just heaven, you know.

[Roger Benson]

What'd you get?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, yeah, I just get crunchy tacos.

[Roger Benson]

Oh, how many?

[Andy Cortez]

They're easier to manage. 3. I get the three pack.

[Roger Benson]

Oh, that's nice.

[Andy Cortez]

They're easier to manage in the car and it's still not super easy, but it's the easiest.

[Roger Benson]

Never the software. I feel like the crunchy every time I do it is just.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty good. I'm practiced. Yeah. I've got a strategy.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I went to Taco Bell for breakfast.

[Roger Benson]

Why'd you say it like that?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Well, because you suggested this is the thing that you told me to do. Yeah, because like I was on the. I was on me. Yeah, because I was like, I need a breakfast option. And then I remembered Robin's voice in my head being like, you would really fuck with the Taco Bell breakfast. And so I went there and I was like, where's the breakfast part of the menu. Because it's like, not usually, you know, McDonald's. It takes over the whole thing. Or whatever. Taco Bell.

[Roger Benson]

It's a secret menu item.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's all like. I finally see a thing that's like, oh, you can get the. It's just a breakfast burrito, but they have a long name for it. You know what I mean? Perfectly toasted sausage, breakfast burrito, whatever. So I was like, let me get that. And they're like, is that all you want? And I was like, yeah. And then they're all like, that'll be $2. And I was like. I was like, oh, that's not. That's not a combo. Like, that's not a full. That's a side. And I was too, like, Indy, you know.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, you're embarrassed.

[Roger Benson]

You're in the drive through.

[Andy Cortez]

You just took it.

[Roger Benson]

So you see the number on the thing. You're like, I can't do anything about it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I was like, I already hit confirm. You know what I mean? I already said yes, this is what I want. So I can't go back and be like, whoa, what are the other menu items? Maybe I want to add something. And so that's all I got.

[Andy Cortez]

I was hoping for an upsell here.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, it was fine. It was fine.

[Andy Cortez]

This is the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics of video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do. I always do that in Games Daily. I never do the. The pound the table.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, no, that's not a games cast thing. That's a game. It's the same rig. You know, Games Daily is different.

[Andy Cortez]

If you love what we do, support us with a kind of funny membership on Patre, YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcast to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live, and get a daily exclusive show. If you're a Patreon member, you could get all of Roger's thoughts on Splinter Cell.

[Roger Benson]

Death Watch. Death Watch, the new animated show on Netflix. Man, spoilers. It's awesome.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's so good.

[Andy Cortez]

You wouldn't stop blowing up the chat over the weekend. I was all right. I put one message.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It was in slack all.

[Roger Benson]

I did message three people individually. It's like, you gotta watch this. Only two responded.

[Andy Cortez]

For a chance to be a part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Wait, who else responded?

[Roger Benson]

Mike and my brother.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Am I like, they didn't Respond.

[Roger Benson]

They didn't. No, they did respond.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, Tim didn't respond.

[Andy Cortez]

I would expect the opposite.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I would have thought Tim was the only one who would.

[Roger Benson]

Mike downloaded it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

He's gonna watch him.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow. We're an 11 person business. All about live talk shows. He's not going to kind of funny. Games Daily was all about the Xbox Ally X pricing and a possible Resident Evil 0 remake.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Feels so ago.

[Andy Cortez]

It did. Yeah, it did feel a long time ago. And obviously you just watched today's stream if you were watching it. And if you haven't watched it yet, it's up on YouTube right now. So go watch that VOD. It's us starting Pokemon legend Za with Nick Scarpino finally getting him to play a Pokemon game without all the crazy Permadeath Nuzlocke rules. Even though we don't follow the Nuzlocke rules. Just a perma death. You know me though. Yeah. If you're kind of funny a member again that's the we mentioned the Greg Way a little while ago by Roger and then thank you to our Patreon producers Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm twining everybody, it's time for our topic of the show

[Roger Benson]

Slow Todts

[Andy Cortez]

So Ninja Gaiden 4 review the definitive ninja action adventure franchise returns with Ninja Gaiden 4. Embark on a cutting edge adventure where legacy meets innovation in a high octane blend of style and and no hold barred combat. Developed by Team Ninja and Platinum Games. Running on Platinum Games proprietary engine and published by Xbox Game Studios. The reviews dropping hot everybody. This is like a wild kind of embargo to be usually like a 6am thing. You wake up, you read stuff on the Internet.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And you scroll past like a couple of like the racist stuff or whatever but like this is like a weird one for it. Do we know why?

[Roger Benson]

I think the launch is happening in an hour so I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

Do we know why that is?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

What a 5pm launch on a Monday?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Imagine Tuesday like in other territories or whatever. So they're just. Yeah.

[Roger Benson]

Japan maybe we're revolving around Japan time.

[Andy Cortez]

Maybe.

[Roger Benson]

What time is it in Japan?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Roger Benson]

Anyone know?

[Andy Cortez]

Is it like noon over there or. I don't know.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

What is that? Js?

[Roger Benson]

There's no way for us to know.

[Andy Cortez]

We don't know.

[Roger Benson]

There's no way.

[Andy Cortez]

No way. Right now.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Right now is 8:09am so their PlayStation store is probably update in an hour. 9:00am yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And that's why XBO

[Andy Cortez]

their PlayStation stores like they're still kind of like, you know, the squeegeeing the windows, they're cleaning out everything. They're getting ready for the store to open again. This is a Platinum Games and Teen Ninja collaborative effort and I just kind of want quickly want to go through some of the little past history from Planet Games and Teen Ninja Platinum Games. Their last three titles were Bayonetta Origins and it had a weird sort of subtitle to it, Adventures of the Obra Dinn or something like that. But that was an 80 on Metacritic. Bayonetta 3 got an 86 and Babylon's fall was a 46 on PC and a 41 on PS5. And again, these are Metacritic scores and Team Ninja's last three titles, Venus Vacation, Prison, Dead or Alive Extreme, which is a dating sim.

[Roger Benson]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Oh yeah, dating. Yeah, yeah, dating sim. All of those volleyball players that got a 71 okay on Metacritic, go check that. Which is a, you know, an average of a lot of the review scores out there. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black remake, which came out earlier in the year, that was an 80 metacritic. And then Rise of the Ronin, Greg Miller's favorite game. Yeah, of course, a 76 on Metacritic. Blessing, Roger. All of us on this desk have played and if I'm not mistaken, beaten Ninja Gaiden 4.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Correct.

[Andy Cortez]

Who wants to start off with their thoughts? Give me a quick little concise, just top level. Where are you at with Ninja Gaiden 4? What platform did you play on? How long does it take you to beat it?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, I played it on PS5 and it took me about 14 hours to beat Ninja Gaiden 4. And during my 14 hours, I scoured the game for the world, the gameplay and my soul to find the fun. And I really should have loved this game. From the future ninjas to the demons, to the over the top action, to the insane amount of blood that's happening throughout this game. But I was baffled that the fun was so far few and far between throughout my entire experience. The monotonous action, the spongy enemies, the grating voice acting, the uninspired boss design, and it just looks visually dated on an engine that feels like it's a generation too old. Playing as Ryu was my main enjoyment, and even that was such a small, fleeting moment throughout the game that is insanely small. When you look at the box art, you look at the COVID and you think that this might be a dual protagonist video game. It's a way smaller amount of time that you're playing as Ryu than you would expect. Overall, this is not A bad game, but to me it's a pretty mediocre one. I'm going to give it a 5.5 out of 10.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow. 5.5 out of 10 from Roger Blessing. Do you want me to go next?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

You go next?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. You want me to go next?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay. Ninja Gaiden 4. I played it on PC. Took me about 15ish hours to beat. Played on PC. I will say a big step up visually from when we did the preview several months ago in which I played on Xbox. Immediately it's like, oh yeah, I get the full resolution and it's not like kind of blurry and stuff like that. I really enjoyed the action in this game until it just got, you know, very samey. And I think a lot of that can go against my style of play because this game is very much, you know, fight at your own, at your own tempo. This is kind of a game about expression and a bloody expression. Going through a bunch of different move sets and all sorts of fun ways to take down your enemies. But this was a game. By the end of the last two to three hours, I told everybody in the slack, I'm dropping to easy difficulty. Is it because the game's too hard? No, it's because these normal ass enemies just take way too long to kill. And it's just like I'm just kind of bored by it at this point. I would agree with Roger that I don't think the bosses are super well thought out. Like they just. I take that back. Maybe two or three were fun, but a lot of the other ones, bit uninspiring. Could have done a bit more with on the creativity side there. And just for the love of God, this engine just needs to get tossed out. Yeah, this every. This game looks awful. It looks bad. Not 100 of the time. When the lighting's right, things can look good. But this very much still looks like an old game that just got a remastered bump with like the, hey, let's unlock the frame rate and resolution and put it out 10 years later. Because it came out on 360 or whatever. And it's always a bummer because, you know, I'm not asking for. And it's not even a fidelity thing for me. It's more of a. An art style thing. It's an art direction thing for me where I don't. I think this game does some cool stuff that this game could have really benefited from a Sifu style art style. Like if you've any of y' all seen the. The trailers, you do A cool little finishing slash. Red and black and white, like awesome. It's sick as hell. And then it goes back to the same old drab art style that has seemingly played Team Ninja and Platinum games, or mainly Team Ninja games, I would say, for the last many iterations. That being said, you know, I don't play these types of games for the story, which is great because there's not a very good one here. And the acting is, you know, there's a bit left to be that there's more you want out of the performances. There's. And you're hearing enough yapping from them. However, on the plus side, action is again, phenomenal. A lot of. But it doesn't get monotonous unless you kind of allow it to. And unfortunately, I kind of allowed it to get monotonous at some points, just trying to get through everything. I think this game is a lot of fun, but I think by the end of it, you will feel kind of tired of the experience like I did. I will give this game a 6.5 out of 10, which is an okay to good experience. I think if the game was only seven hours, it'd be awesome as hell, but I think it just goes on a little too long and by the end of it, you're just like, all right, I'm kind of just doing the same stuff over and over again. Blessing. Adio, Junior.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Where are you with Ninja Gaiden 4? Where did you play? How long take you to beat?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I played on PlayStation 5. It took me 14 hours to beat as well. Right in line with Roger. And for me, this one was a journey of emotions where the first few hours of playing this game, I really enjoyed what I was playing. For me, it was doing everything that I love out of a Platinum game, which is a really interesting one, right? Because we're talking about Ninja Gaiden 4. Like you mentioned, this is a collaboration with Team Ninja and Platinum Games, and so there's a balance there. Where I played a bit of Ninja Gaiden, of course, Ninja Gaiden 2, the remaster came out earlier in the year, and even back in the day, I played a little bit of Ninja gaiden back on PS3, and I was never that big of a Ninja Gaiden person. I'm probably a bigger Platinum game person when I think about how much I love games like Nier Automata or how much I love a game like Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. And as I played Ninja Gaiden 4, toward the beginning, I felt that Platinum feel that I Love. And then I think my feelings started to dip as I got a bit further into it and I was taking notes while playing this game. One of my notes, probably about mid to late in the game, reads like this. It's Stranger of Paradise. It's a fine game that I fucking adore. It's a trashy restaurant that makes your favorite dish the way you like it, even though you know you can't bring your friends here because it might not hit the scene. And I think that's the big turn that I made about 60 something percent of the way through the game where I had that first dip. But then I came back up once the combat flow really started to work for me, where I was having a thing where I'm like, okay, well, the game doesn't look as great as I want it to. Andy, during the review period, you had mentioned that it looks like a remastered game. And that really solidified how I felt about how the game looked. Yeah, I was like, yeah, there's something about this game that looks dated, but there's also something about this game that feels dated, both in a. I think to a detriment to it, but also in a way that I really like because it brings me back to playing some of my games from PS3 and early PS4 period. And I think it does all that and then finds a flow in the combat where we're talking about enemies being spongy. I think that comes back to the expression part of it where I started looking at my toolset more, which this game does a terrible job of explaining its toolset to you.

[Roger Benson]

It over explains everything else.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Over explains so much. But the amount, like, I think it explains the wrong things and doesn't explain the right things in the right way to where I'm late in the game, I'm like, oh, I can do that. Oh, wait, I have this option. Oh, wait, this is how this works. And so you have a lot of stuff that's available to you as far as your moveset, as far as a tool set of how you can play. And once I started to get a grasp, a grasp of how that stuff worked, that's when the game really came together. And that's where I started to really have fun in the combat to the point where I hit the Stranger paradise thing, where I'm looking at all these different things where I'm like, I don't love how the game looks. I think the. I think the music's fine, but the music could be way better for a game like this. The story Isn't really as engaging but I don't want to stop playing this game. I'm having such a blast in the combat to the point where I would even say the moment to moment gameplay of this game is some of the most fun I've had this year in a video game. And so all that said, I would give this game an 8 out of 10.

[Andy Cortez]

A great score.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'd say it was.

[Andy Cortez]

It's a great time from Blessing Adioye Jr. Yeah, let's talk about some of the key points of the video game. I mean obviously we're not going to spoil a story or anything like that but you know, I'd like to kind of go through. Let's start with combat. Let's start with controls. I think this game does a pretty awesome job progressing and giving you new tools to add on and then new tools to evolve. And I think that system is kind of. I haven't quite seen a system like it in a while where new things are being unlocked and those new things have cool new abilities that are kind of unlockable throughout. And then you hit moments where you go man, did. Is there an extra seven hours of this game that's missing somewhere? Like story wise? Like that's kind of where I just kind of kept on. When a character gets introduced and you're like wait, who are, who are you? Oh, you're just gone. Oh, all right. Like that, that stuff like that kind of happens throughout this game. But as far as combat goes, really enjoyed the way that they kind of. I don't want to say iterate because that's definitely like a pejorative I would say but the way they kept evolving the combat of it. Blessing, you agree with that?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think the, the thing that I liked early on and the thing that I liked about what they were iterating on is that the game just felt the game I think from a combat controls perspective just has a unique thing going on where you have your of course your light attack, you have your heavy attack on triangle which also doubles as like your execution move, right. Like your finisher. And so as you're fighting enemies, which is another thing I didn't realize until halfway through the game because I asked Roger, right. Like I was like when do you do your execution? Because the game again the game has a lot going on that doesn't explain well and Roger mentioned it's like I think it's when they're covered in blood and I immediately started to notice it after Roger told me that where you hit the enemies enough and then, yeah, they get like, either splattered with blood or sometimes their limbs will fall off or whatever, which is really cool. You press triangle and then you do like your finishing move on them. And so you have that. If you hold triangle, your main character will I kind of do a stance and then charge, and then he'll charge blue. And if you let go, you will like go and do essentially like a special move on one of the enemies. And if you hold that further and go red, you'll do an even stronger special one, which oftentimes finish the enemies. You have your L2, which, if you hold L2 and hit the attack buttons, you go into like a special mode, depending on the weapon that you're using, which will like, essentially hit enemies out of their strong stances. That'll give you a stronger attack that's slightly slower. And all in your weapons kind of have different forms of what that looks like. You have circle, which is your projectile sort of thing. Obviously X is jump, right? And there's a lot kind of going on with it. And when you go into your. Your moveset and like, try and upgrade, upgrade your abilities, right, you have essentially like these almost fighting game style inputs that you can add to your control scheme. That just gives you more options to work with. And a lot of the time the controls are weird. It is. All right, now do like a full circle on your analog stick and then press a button to do like a fucking, you know, full sweep. A full sweep.

[Roger Benson]

They're weird, but they're consistent, right? Like, it's like they're consistent throughout all of the different weapons types that you're going through. So if you learn kind of one weapon type, you're good throughout the entire game. It's like the up, down, square, the up, down triangle, and then like those circle ones and there's a few other weird ones going on there. They're not too out there.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I don't think they're not too out there, but I think the. I guess they're unique for this type of action game, at least in my mind, right? Of like pressing down, up and then triangle and then tapping triangle to go back and forth, back and forth. 1. I love that fucking upgrade. But also, yeah, that was one that I kind of had to adjust to. But I had a really good time because once I got it, I got it and I was like, oh, fuck. Yeah, this is actually really fun.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah. For me, the combat, the major sin that it has is that even with fully upgrading one of my Weapons or multiple of my weapons, I never felt and using all of the things that you're talking about. Right after I finished the game, I kind of went back and was like, am I missing something? What am I missing? And I went through a bunch of the boss encounters. I was like, really trying to dig deep into the depth of the combat. And I was like, man, these enemies just feel so spongy. Like they, no matter what the fuck I'm doing, even if I'm holding down triangle, like it does not feel like I am dispatching these enemies in a way that kind of feels in tandem with like the cyber insane ninja that I am. Like, I'm supposed to be as big, as good as Ryu, right? And then you play as Ryu and it's like, oh fuck, that guy's way stronger than this guy. Like throughout the entire game, this main character feels, I wouldn't say under leveled, but like right there. Like he doesn't feel as strong as I want him to feel. And I think that was kind of missing that. Like, I want to upgrade my character. I want to feel a little more, more powerful and I want these upgrades that I'm doing to make me feel more, feel more powerful. And I'm just, I'm not feeling that throughout the entire game.

[Andy Cortez]

How'd you feel about the enemy variety?

[Roger Benson]

It kind of gets a little, you know, you know what you're getting into, right? I mean, I, I, I, I think that is kind of like the, that is the difficulty in this game, quote unquote for me, is just like, hey, here's how many of the same enemy can we just put in front of you, right? And that's not the excitement or the fun that I'm looking for in these games. I think there's some fun moments with it. There's one section that I, I would love to call because this is actually like a huge positive for me where the game punishes you in a very like old school video game way, which made me laugh a lot where I was. There's this area that's not, there's not really much platforming, if any, in this game. There's one very small platforming section that I was on and I, before that I was running away from like fucking hordes of enemies, right? Like they've designed these worlds in a way or especially later on in the game that you can just kind of like breeze past enemies. You don't even need to fight them. You can just run around them if you really don't want to. So I was like, fuck, I'm really low on health. I'm just going to run past them. I've run past a bunch of enemies. I'm doing the small little platforming section and then I fall right down into a ravine. And then as I fall into this ravine, there's like 30 of the same enemy that I just passed. Like, they designed this in a way of like, oh, we know you ran past these motherfuckers and if you fail this, I have to go past all of them again.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Roger Benson]

So that, that type of stuff is fun. But again, when you're in this game of like, hey, this, you know, if this was a seven hour experience, I'd be like, fine. But like 12 hours, 14 hours, it's like, fuck, man, how many times are going to beat the same guy now? There's five of them. That's the level of like difficulty that you're bringing into this. Like, I don't know, man, it's, it's, it's, it's just tough for me to like stay engaged with a game like this 14 hours in and be like, okay, you're gonna put five of these same characters in front of me that I fought a million times.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, definitely a bit monster closety for me. A bit too much on that side. But the, I mean, I, I kind of had a, A, I had a fun time with a lot of the platforming sections. A lot of it is very automated. Granted you are just kind of hitting button whenever you see it's a grind on the rail. I will say that this game is not what I expected it to be. When we first saw the couple reveals and we saw Ryu Hayabusa in a Japanese forest and then we see this new protagonist in a cyber world, I'm like, oh, are we going to be like time traveling? And is it going to be like parallel worlds where we're maybe Ryu in the past? And it's just like, it's not what I expected necessarily. I expected any of those forest sequences to be in the past and they're not. They're just like, that's just another. It's like, like this whole area looks like the most futuristic cyber punk world you've ever seen. And then there's also just like normal ass forests which is, you know, I guess that would exist in the world.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think that's where I agree with you guys totally about. I, I think this game, I thought we're going to get more flash and flare. I think the trailers for this game look better than what we get out of the actual game. And I, yeah, if there's one, if. If there's honestly like one or two things that I could really be like, man, I wish I could just turn up the knob and like turn. Turned this feature of the game way up. I wish they went more interesting places visually and more like, I guess inspired places visually. It's funny because I think where they sometimes let me down on that front, it was sort of just the moment to moment, like action that kind of still carried it for me where you're doing some of the platforming sections. And I had a realization halfway through this game where I was like, man, I think a lot of the reasons why I fuck with Ninja Garden 4 might be similar reasons to why I fuck with the Sonic games where I'm like on. I'm fucking doing the real stuff. Like you can grind on rails in this game. Like you can sonic, right? And like

[Andy Cortez]

you're getting a lot of sonic vibes.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But like it's that mixed with like kind of the fast paced, hey, just hit this platforming section. Perfect. Or whatever.

[Roger Benson]

I see this, I guess this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's just like hit the thing the way you need to and we're going to make you feel slightly cool doing it and give you the sensory stuff that you need. You like, out of that type of shit.

[Roger Benson]

But like, like a lot of Sonic games, sorry, sauceless. Like you're on the. You're grinding on the rails, but like the music isn't flaring in the way that it needs to. It's the same exact animations all the time. You see through it. You see the game design in what you're going through and it doesn't feel like these cinematic moments, which they honestly should be right. Like even the intro of this game, I was so fucking disappointed in the intro of this game. But like, first of all, you boot up the game, you're like, okay, here's ready for the cutscene. Fucking bang. You're right into tutorial mode. It's like, okay, that's random and weird. And then you go past that tutorial and there's just more tutorials and then you finally get to a cutscene.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm like, oh man, we talk about right now. Barrett has pulled up the. One of the tutorial screens that the game will throw at you. Right when I tell you. I've seen so many of these screens,

[Roger Benson]

they show it every single time.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And I'm like, I don't stop telling me.

[Roger Benson]

And the left side of the screen, they show this the entire time.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, they show you the controls to the game.

[Andy Cortez]

What are you guys doing?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, it shows that literally that pretty much.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't check if you could turn that off. I wonder if that's. That is an option. You can turn it off.

[Roger Benson]

But it's just kind of a weird choice to be like, hey, we're gonna have, you know, Light Attack. Heavy Attack, which is jerkin the entire time.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But I do think it speaks to the kind of game that it is where it almost assumes you're playing this in an arcade sometimes.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, right.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Of like it is so much about. I mean it also has like the score Attack stuff that you get out of A Devil May Cry. And I forget if Ninja Guy or if earlier Ninja Gaidens had that chat. Correct me if I'm wrong. But yeah, like it has such an arcade thing to it that I didn't mind leaving the controls up there because I'm like, sure, remind me how to Heavy Attack and Light Attack and do all this other shit that you're. That you're throwing at me. Because it is very much about the. I'm playing this chapter right here, right now. Like, you know, guide me through this moment that I am in that I'm in in the game.

[Andy Cortez]

Right. I can't wait to talk more about this video game gamers after a word from our sponsors.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Andy Cortez]

And we are back gamers. We're gonna get to you all's super chats. I did want to also kind of bring up, you know, the. The way I feel about this video game and its combat is very on an opposite but similar side to Ghost of Tsushima where I love Ghost of Tsushima and I love that combat and a lot of people could say yeah, but it gets so samey. But it's the samey that I with and I think this is just in a completely like opinion based area. This combat like I can't take for this long. It's just. It gets to just kind of be hidden a lot of the same stuff. And that's where. And that's kind of where I'm at with it where I don't think I even tried fully taking advantage of a lot of the movesets because I've never been the character action guy necessarily. I do enjoy a lot of like action RPG's but I enjoy something about this one just didn't perfectly click with me. And yeah, yeah, it's all just my opinion.

[Roger Benson]

Ghost of Yote actually or Tsushima is kind of an interesting comparison because yeah, it's like it's the same like button presses, you know what I mean? Like it's the same like you're pressing the same buttons pretty much. But it's just the way that the. The game translates it and everything. And yeah, it is definitely a personal opinion, I feel. It feels exactly.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. I think a lot of people were bringing up like just go into taking out how sushi just becomes taking out the same sort of camps all the time. Like yeah, but I. That's kind of like more of my jam. And again that's just all. That's just all my opinion, dog.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think the thing for me that helped it was overcoming the sponginess of the enemies and it really was kind of like looking at the full tool set in conjunction with each other and going all right. I think I figured out how to fucking merc enemies in a way that's not going to be annoying because I had that same feel but it was like I unlocked There's a essentially if you press like X and squared like upgradable thing that you can do where you will jump toward the enemy, grab them and throw them. So I just started doing that to them off of ledges where I'm like, if I see a group of enemies and I see a ledge, I'm like, oh, I know where all y' all going, right? And I throw them. There are these orbs sometimes that'll, like, appear. Like red orbs that are just around in the map. Which at first I was trying to figure out, like, what do I do with these orbs? And then I realized that that lends itself to charging your triangle. Like, charge faster.

[Andy Cortez]

What I hated about those is that you never knew when you were close enough to suck them towards you.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think they just come towards you anyway.

[Andy Cortez]

But, like, at the end of a fight, but even if I was standing right next to one, it's like, how do I get this away from it?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah. Why am I not, like. I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

Why am I not sucking this?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Well, that is specifically. Like, you had to hold triangle to suck them in, right? Like, you had to. Like, they are specifically for charging that. And so once I realized that, I was like, oh, I'm taking out people, like, a lot again.

[Roger Benson]

Something that the game doesn't really do a good job of. No, it doesn't. Because I didn't really explain how to press the square button a million times. But. No, it will not explain that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That's why. That's why I totally feel like. Yeah, I was. We were talking about during the break, right? Where during the review period, those conversation I was having with you where you're, like, giving me all your complaints. And like, at the time, I was like, I was high on the game when you're telling me your complaints. But the more we were talking to her, I was like, damn, you're right. Yeah, you're right about. And like, you're going through a list of things. And I was like, damn, Roger's kind of on point. Maybe this game isn't. Maybe this game isn't it. Then I went back and played more of the game and I was like, nah, man, this game is my like. But you're right, though.

[Roger Benson]

You said we need to. We need to create a new number for the review scale.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You gotta go up. I love the. I think my favorite thing about the combat is the left trigger to go into the. The Blood Ninjutsu Raven form, whatever it is called, which is kind of the modifier for your character and not only does more damage, but whenever you see an enemy that's going to hit you with the red exclamation mark, you hit him with that and interrupt them. That rhythm, really, really fun. I had a. I Had a blast that.

[Roger Benson]

That was one of the things in this combat because the combat so chaotic, there's so much shit happening that I can really feel like I understood and, like, had a really great grasp of was when the enemies would go shielded, right. And it felt so satisfying to press that left trigger. Be like, I have just a sliver. Boom. Just destroy their entire shield. And it felt so good to do that. One thing I need to bring up, because I would love to hear your opinion on this. Andy as the Perry Poppy. I mean, you're both Perry Poppy, right? Who's the Perry Poppy here?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'll say. I think Andy was the original Perry Poppy.

[Roger Benson]

I don't know. Whatever. Perry Poppy.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I like that.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Andy's the grandpa.

[Roger Benson]

There's parrying in this game. Yeah. And there's blocking in this game, of course. And this perfect blocking. What did you feel? How did you feel about the parrying? Because it's based upon. It's not a button. It's not like, its own, like, discrete button. It is based on the actual.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I swear to God. Every button in this game is the parry button.

[Roger Benson]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Really?

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, we're in that point where deflect and parry are harder and harder to differentiate. And people give them. People give them different definitions anyway. But the way the parrying works is you can attack somebody as they're attacking you, and it'll sort of stop them or whatever. But you can. The. The Y button is your dodge or right trick. What is it? Right trigger is your dodge, and if you just tap it, then it blocks. You can hold it to continue blocking, which will. Eventually, you'll get worn down if you get hit by enough attacks while blocking. But if you time it just right, you'll sort of deflect them, but they come. You know, they might get stunned a little bit, and then you could follow that up with a cool little riposte move or whatever. But if you're moving while you do that, then that's a dodge, Right? Trigger is dodge and block.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Which I think sucks. I. But it didn't. I got used to it, and it wasn't something I was really feeling, you know, angry about near the. I wasn't like, oh, I was just. Stupid button, you know, Was still different, but. But I still think it sucks as a concept. Like, I don't. I don't like that. That's the default. I don't know if that's, you know, similar to past Ninja Gaiden games. I don't have a whole Lot of experience with Ninja gaiden in the 3D form. I played a shitload of them as a kid in 2D forms. But 3D Ninja Gaiden has always kind of been like this game that I wasn't playing a lot because I wasn't playing.

[Roger Benson]

I would feel it on X Play all the time. I'm like, that's a future video game that doesn't exist. There's so much blood in this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That's crazy.

[Roger Benson]

I didn't know they made it like that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think regardless though, like, even for me as somebody who's I'm calling this game great, I do think that it feels archaic in some things. And I assume some of those might be Ninja Gaiden isms. I assume some of it might just be team Ninja isms and platinum isms all come together in one. And I feel that with the R2 to block and to dodge thing, right? Like, that kind of took me a second to get used to. And even once I got used to it, I was still like, okay, well, this is still weird because now I just committed to dodging. That was kind of my thing where I'm like, fuck the block. Like, I'm just going to fully commit to dodging. And that worked out better for me because you can hit that like, perfect dodge to then, you know, kind of get around an opponent and then hit them from the back. So, you know, for me, that worked out. But yeah, I think there's a lot of things in this game that feel slightly weird. That said, I also think this game, it's weird at the same time, this game feels perfect to me. Like, as far as just how combat feels to play. Like there is a. Once you get into the flow of it, like it all just kind of culminces into what you get out of character action, which is, you know, fast, rapid. I'm constantly trying to think of the next move I'm going to pull out to keep my combo going and take out the enemies as fast as I can and keep them juggling or whatever. Like, did you miss?

[Andy Cortez]

Did you mix up culminate and coalesce?

[Roger Benson]

Spring is here and there's a whole

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

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[Roger Benson]

made perfect for you.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Choose your sweetness, dial it up or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry or vanilla, or make it

[Andy Cortez]

a spring classic with lavender.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Because this season there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks.

[Andy Cortez]

That's a new word. That's a new.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Which one did I What did I say?

[Andy Cortez]

You said coles.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Did I really say Colmanes?

[Andy Cortez]

That's a new word.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I. I think I meant culminate.

[Andy Cortez]

Both words. It's a new words.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Add a friend in high school. Add a new score to the.

[Roger Benson]

You had a friend in high school named what?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Coleman S. That's a good joke.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, I don't know. The pairing just didn't work for me, man. Like, I wanted. I was trying my hardest. Like, I would literally stop in the middle of a boss fight and be like, I'm going to figure out your fucking moveset right now. I'm going to do the thing. I'm going to learn the parry. And it just. It literally never worked out. You mentioned this earlier on the podcast of like. Yeah, every single.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, yeah, the parry is weird.

[Roger Benson]

The parry is weird. And like, it felt like every time I did it, it was on accident.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, yeah.

[Roger Benson]

When I did it, it was the sickest moment in my life. But, like, I couldn't replicate it. Yeah, there is no. Because it's so frantic and yeah, because it's not on a discrete button. Like, it just never feels like I have like onus over the blocking or the parrying necessarily.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Can I introduce a new mini segment into the show?

[Roger Benson]

Oh, I love this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Gamescast game tips. All right.

[Roger Benson]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Gamescast games tips. We're going to give you some tips on games. Gamescast game tips. So all your friends can fucking think.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I don't have the link. All your friends can do the thing. One of the first things I did when I started playing this game, when they give you the option to upgrade your abilities, you talk to a guy. Well, you talk to a bird that then summons a guy that drops down out of nowhere.

[Roger Benson]

Pretty sick, though.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Really cool.

[Roger Benson]

That was a Sonic. That was Sonic, where I was like,

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

dude, here's the thing. Your game can look bad, but you can still have aura.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like, this game has a weird. This game looks like it's previous gen remastered, but it still has an aura that works for me. And yeah, when you talk to the little crow and then the man drops down and it's fucking super suit of armor look cool every single time. But I talked to him. That's the tip.

[Andy Cortez]

That's it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

The tip is talking to the guy. No, I put all my points early on into just all of the reflect, deflect, parry. Like every. Everything I had was just put into like parry style things. And that was for me, I think that is a smart decision to do early on because then it really is kind of like cruise control of. I accidentally parried so many things because your attack is your light attacks a parry, heavy attacks a parry, block is a parry, dodge is a parry.

[Roger Benson]

Right.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like I am just like giving out parries left and right. And so that's my gamescast game tip for you.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm gonna give you some tips on game games, guys games tips. So. So your friends. So here's one thing that I will buck up against you right here. Bless.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh sure, sure.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't think this game is anywhere as sauceful as Stranger Paradise Final Fantasy Origin.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, I disagree.

[Andy Cortez]

I think this game's combat probably half a point higher. Everything else could not be any more catastrophically low. Like I. I don't care about the argument that I don't play Ninja Garden games for the story. When you focus so much on these things, you have to make them a little bit cool. And like Stranger paradise was at least funny bad. And like let's. Let's replay a moment from Stranger paradise. You know, like at least we have you to thank for sending us down there in the first place. Good call on that one. Just as you have endured within this dimension. So to my will, so long as shut the up. Yes. You know, I think Shade of Paradise has a lot of funny bad moments that make you laugh and go, this is absurd and ridiculous that this. It's not even exists in the Final Fantasy universe. But it also did some really cool story wise.

[Roger Benson]

And also that intro cutscene, I just booted it up because I was like. I played Ninja Garden 4. I was like, I want to feel something. And I downloaded this game Final Fantasy for the first time and I watched that intro. Holy. So cool.

[Andy Cortez]

I did it my way. What's this? Gotta kill Chaos, I think, right? No. What's the name of the singer? No. Well, there is a Limp Bizkit New Metal style song, but Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, when he's in the cornfield. Yeah. But yeah, I think this game is like sorely lacking in doing anything else and making these characters interesting. And I know this is a losing argument to any Ninja Gaiden fan. No, you're telling me all the games have been bad like this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But like, But I think you're right.

[Andy Cortez]

You got to be cool for someone like me though.

[Roger Benson]

But you know, sorry, there is one moment or I guess one section of the game which I think is pretty great. Like in terms of the story and the way they. Again, I don't want to get spoilers, but they Recontextualize some stuff. They do some interesting stuff there. It's not the greatest, but I. I see something there. That's the only sliver of hope. Everything else around itself.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

My, my rebuttal is, I think you're right. Stranger paradise in the cutscenes and in the characters and dialogue, I think has way more entertaining. Is way more entertaining and I might even say interesting.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow. Going on limit.

[Roger Benson]

Way cool.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Ss, way cool, man. Shout out to my guy Colman. S. I think it's more engaging and more entertaining than Ninja Gaiden 4. But I think where Ninja Gaiden 4 lacks an aura in cutscenes, it makes up for aura in the actual moment to moment gameplay. I think there is, I don't use the word swag. There is like an energy slash, I guess an entertainment factor to what's happening moment to moment. When you bust out your sword and you have the fucking blood splatter thing. When you're like doing like the fast paced, okay, I'm gliding on this thing. Now I'm going to wall run. Now I'm going to fucking, you know, take out a million enemies type of thing. I think all that stuff is way more entertaining than Stranger Paradise. Like, you know, I think when we're talking about combat, I would say, sure, like maybe I'd give the combat half a point or a full point higher than Stranger Paradise. But I think the vibe and the aura and the energy of the game, like gameplay wise, like way outpaces Stranger Paradise.

[Roger Benson]

The way that I would describe, like kind of like the aura of this game and like the way that it shows and presents a lot of its cooler moments is like if you squint and you're really far away from the tv, you'd be like, this is the sickest game. But you're playing, but you play it and you're like, where the fuck is the music? Why does it. I don't even. I remember one track of this entire game. The music is just, is. Is completely and utterly forgettable. The mixing of the music also sucks because I was playing an entire level and I was like, I don't think there's music in this game. And then I'm like, no, it's there. It's just very low. And then on top of that, yeah, like the, the shirt has like the cool like red and white and black, like moment where it's like freeze frame, but it's so few and far between. That's all it got. And then, and then when you're Running. The coolest part of this game is the coolest part of any Ninja Gaiden game. And I will say it. It's when you guys know what I'm talking about. When there's the two fucking pillars and you're jumping between it and you just smash it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah. I love that.

[Roger Benson]

That shit is fire.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I want to. I want to compliment the weapons of this game because I really like them as well.

[Roger Benson]

I agree.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Real quick.

[Andy Cortez]

I just. I just want to piggyback off of that point because the funniest thing that this game does in the most, you know, in the most, like, not purposeful way, it's a total accident. But you know Ninja Gaiden games, like what Roger was mentioning, you go up, you jump between two little walls and you just. It's a silly looking little ping pong thing, right? Yeah. Against the walls. But the amount of times that just one of those things that only you, the ninja can do. Only you. I either Ryu or. Yeah, let me scroll to the top

[Roger Benson]

of my nose because I didn't remember. Yakumo.

[Andy Cortez]

Yakumo.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

So sometimes those things that you jump between are locked behind a door. I'm like, what are you hiding here? The ability for somebody to jump up the wall. Like, I do. Like, that makes no sense. Like, is this a closet that just goes up into infinity? Like, there's nothing. There's no other purpose for this room. I just think it's like the most video game thing ever. Like, oh, we gotta like, stop progress here, so gotta lock that door. What's. Oh, is that a closet or something? Nah, man. This ninja always, like, uses it to get up there. Like, it's just so bizarre. It's hilarious. Yakimo. So sauceless. Holes.

[Roger Benson]

And like, when you talk about, like the. He's like the most boring anime trope you could possibly imagine of. Just like everybody's around him and I'm like, oh, my God, what's up, Yagama? He's like, oh, I don't want to talk to you. It's like a hot woman talking to him. Like, hey, what's up? How you doing? Just walks away. I'm like, that's really.

[Andy Cortez]

Whatever.

[Roger Benson]

Talk to her. Hang out with her a little bit.

[Andy Cortez]

What?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I don't see what's up with her.

[Andy Cortez]

I guess what I don't love about it about the voice acting is like, it feels like just a much higher voice trying to do a gruff voice.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

So it's just like, you'll never get away. And it doesn't feel it just sounds like. I don't know. It just sounds.

[Roger Benson]

I got. I got used to it by the ending of it, but it didn't feel mixed, right? Like, I don't. Like, the voices just sounded so loud.

[Andy Cortez]

Recorded in different.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, yeah. Different spots. It just felt, like, loud comparatively to the rest of the game. There was. And we talk about again, like, I saw some people in the comments, right, that were like, oh, well, like, you know, that's how all Ninja Gaiden games are. The issue with this is, like, it is not just, well, get better. It was not just. But it's also not just skippable in the sense that, like, oh, I can just ignore it after that. I'm playing, like, intense boss fights, and these motherfuckers are yapping the entire time. I was in this one boss fight, and I'm dying, died. I'm like, what the fuck am I doing wrong? And then I mute their voices. I immediately beat that fucking.

[Andy Cortez]

That was the issue.

[Roger Benson]

You guys are yapping in my ear the entire game, bro.

[Andy Cortez]

I do think that maybe you had a. An audio issue.

[Roger Benson]

You think so?

[Andy Cortez]

Because I'm playing on. P.S. the music was perfectly fine for me. Like, I. I thought the music kicked ass. I'm probably the highest on it because it just kind of. Chad, if you've ever heard the band Politia, or if you've ever heard of the guitarist Ichika Nito, who is like, some amazing Japanese artist who just like, he's always, like, playing, like, very, you know, the music. When you go to your bonfire, which is just. You talk to the lady on the computer, that's very. This style of game. And then when the music kicks in, then it's kind of your hard kind of polyphia metal with, you know, a lot of sweeping guitars. And I thought the music rocked, and I thought it was definitely present enough for me, but maybe I was just playing with headphones or something for the most part. Blessing, you wanted to talk about the variety in the weapons.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I really like the weapons. I don't know how much I want to talk about it. Yeah, I don't know spoilers, but there are weapons that you unlock later in the game where I was like, oh, that really changes how I'm playing this game in a way where they give you enough variety there to where early on in the game, if you feel like you're struggling with certain things. I found myself, like, the third weapon, and I was like, oh, shit, this okay. This is fucking fantastic. Fourth weapon. I'm like, oh, damn. All Right. This changes everything. Now. This is my fit, my, my favorite. I think they just, I think they do awesome things with the, with the weapons.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah. I enjoy the way that the weapons are broken down. Almost like Ghosts of Yotei or Ghost of Tsushima. Right. Where each of these weapons are based on different ways to tackle enemies and groups of enemies and certain types of enemies. I thought that was the best part about it. But then also again, when I play as Ryu, who has none of those things, I'm like, man, I just want play sim. Like, I just want to play sim. Even though he literally just has one weapon, but like, the way that he feels, I was like, I would trade all of this away for just the way that Ryu feels the.

[Andy Cortez]

I see what you're saying.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

If anything, I really applaud the level, the clear level of work and dedication to making all of those weapons look and feel different. I think that's one big thing that, like, things just kept on unlocking and there were constantly new moves to do with those new things and new weapons. And I thought that was really awesome. And to me, I feel like that's where a big load of the amount of work went into. Because like, when I look at the, the rest of the game again, there are some moments in this game with the story where it's like something happens. I'm like, did I fall asleep in the last two hours? Like, I don't know who, what's happening right now. I don't know why this is happening. But I, I feel like there was probably a big chunk of this game that's missing because it was just thrown on the cutting room.

[Roger Benson]

Well, there is a massive DLC expansion that's coming out.

[Andy Cortez]

Maybe that's gonna try to fill some gaps or something. But I, I, I mean, it's not that egregious because I think for the most part it's not like the story is the most crisply, sharply well told story ever. And then when something happens, you're like, what? You know, this is kind of out of nowhere. But I, I, it does feel like there are some things that are either nods to old Ninja Gaiden games that you, as the old old head Ninja Gaiden fan, will go, oh shit, that's so and so. But like, I don't know. I just don't even know if it's that it may just be a random thing that doesn't have a whole lot of explanation to it. Let's see.

[Roger Benson]

Boss fights, maybe boss fights, Boss fights. Really mixed bag I. I think a lot. I'm not somebody that you can really trick me when it comes to a boss fight. You should. You put a. Put a big guy. And I'm like, ah, man, that's a cool big guy. That's easy for me.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Roger Benson]

There were so many moments where I'm playing, I'm fighting bosses. I'm like, why is this a boss? Like, there'. There's this one boss that's like, kind of like this robot thing that has, like these two, like, spiky hands or whatever that's like, rolling around. It's like, looks like a little fucking a dollar tree toy.

[Andy Cortez]

No. You know what? You know, reminded me of. Reminded me of a. Of a BattleBots.

[Roger Benson]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

On a Battle Box TV.

[Roger Benson]

No, no, no, no.

[Andy Cortez]

I know he's on about.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, yeah. But there's. There's. There's just a few bosses that I'm like, this. This doesn't feel like, worthy of being a boss fight right now. And I was, again, not having fun with these boss fights. They weren't interesting to me. They didn't feel like they were kind of changing up or making me really think of, like, oh, man, I got to lock in and kind of choose all of my different weapons. It was just a lot of the times, actually, with the boss fights, the best strategy for me to beat them felt like just using one of my weapons, which was the. The swords. Like, that was the best way to. Because you're not using crowd control. It's just one guy. So a lot of times actually would kind of funnel the gameplay into something even more boring than I was experiencing before with a variety of enemies.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Interesting. Yeah. I thought the bosses were fine. I think we're in a place now where boss fights have been, like, the level has gone up so much as far as where boss fights are at nowadays, especially if you're playing Souls Paddles. Right. So, like, coming off of Lies of P or, you know, Elden Ring, stellar

[Andy Cortez]

Blade, I think Celebrate did a phenomenal job with the boss fights. Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And, like, I wish raised.

[Andy Cortez]

I think if celebrated, if this game had the level of bosses that Seller Blade had, I'd be way more high on it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah. I think that's definitely one of my points of critique here is that I agree that I think if they, for me, if they nailed the boss fights in this game, then I would be singing his praises even. Even way more. I think they're. I think they're serviceable. I think they get the job done. I think they bookmark the End of the levels pretty nicely. Right. This game has so much of it that feels like traditional, like classic video game in a way. So I think there was something nice about getting to the end of level and being like, oh shit, all right, cool. This is how we're going to end every level with another boss fight. But they definitely didn't feel like the highlight of the experience. The way that I. I think a lot of games, they do.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, I'm just really, really bummed out. The game looks the way it does though. Like I'm. I'm gonna keep on harping on it and it's gonna get annoying. So I'm sorry. But man, I just. To me, it. If your engine can't do what you're really seeking and really going for, if it's not hitting the levels and marks that you're hoping for it to hit, then I like just give me something completely different looking. I. I like, I keep on bringing up Sifu as a game that like, if this game tried to go for a cell shaded look or something else

[Roger Benson]

sort of semi a little bit does sometimes.

[Andy Cortez]

But I.

[Roger Benson]

But I don't know if that's on purpose.

[Andy Cortez]

No, it's not. It's definitely like a shader thing where shadows and shading this game are just so harsh.

[Roger Benson]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

That it sometimes comes off as like there's like there's a one pixel fall off between the shadow. You know, I think it's just the way that this game in many moments looks like. And this. And now we turn the lighting layer on and then the like the lighting would have turned on, but that's just how the game looks a lot of the time. And I think it's just so disappointing at this point.

[Roger Benson]

And I think I can look. First of all, I will say to shoot a bail the game, the game runs really well, especially on a PS5 60fps smooth as I think I'd noticed one frame throughout the entire game. Right. So I'll give it that. Right. But then also like if the game had more, I would, I would understand like, I don't know, direction when it came to these big moments or it felt more cinematic. Like there's a few moments here and there, but like the game itself just kind of feels cookie cutter. So if it had a little bit more of the, I don't know, sauce or a fucking swag, whatever we want to call it around it, the visual effects and treatment around it that made it kind of stand out, then I'd be like, okay, fine, whatever. The way it looks is the way it looks. We always say we want games that are, you know, shorter, that have worse graphics, whatever, fine. But the fact that it just kind of feels stale throughout the entire time because of its engine. I think that's the reason why we're harping on it so much.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I feel the same way about Stranger paradise too. I feel the same way about a lot of teen ninja games at this point where it's like, man, platinum games. I feel like, do something else, you know, it's like you don't have to go for like the semi realism look anymore. We please try, you know. Well, rematch is just slow clap. So that's another secret thing. But like, you know, give me.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Let's go stylized.

[Andy Cortez]

Give me a stylized sort of thing. And you know, I'll. I would honestly feel a lot better about it, but yeah, that's. Those are kind of a lot of my thoughts about Ninja Gaiden 4. I want to get into some.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's crazy how like I feel like more we talk about this, the more I'm like. I feel like that my real score would be like a 7 or 7.5. But like I just had so much fun.

[Andy Cortez]

It just hits sometimes. Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like it was such a. I mean the way that I described at the beginning. Right. Like it's that trashy restaurant that makes your favorite dish. Yeah, you like it. Like they made the dish the way that I like it. And so I'm just like, there is a comfort food in this game for me. Even though when I lay it out and talk to you guys about it and lay down on paper, I'm kind of like, you know, like I feel like you're experiencing bringing your friends to the restaurant.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Like it's clear that I'm in the. Like me and Roger in the minority. This game is like really well.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But I'm also surprised. But I thought it was going to be way higher than a lot of the reviews.

[Andy Cortez]

$10. Super chat from Anthony Adam. Thank you for your generosity. And he says, hey, Andy, Blessing Garage. What is your guys history with previous Ninja Garden titles? How would you gauge how someone would feel coming in new to the series? Compared to fans of the series, my

[Roger Benson]

history is pretty similar to yours. I actually love the original Ninja Gaiden on any. So that was like one of the few games I emulated all the time and played the fuck out of. I played Ragebound. Love that game. Had a great time with that. And then I played a little bit of Ninja Gaiden Black 2 this year and I enjoyed what I. I think about halfway through. I enjoyed that time, so. But that's pretty, fairly new to it. So I'm new to the 3D Ninja Gaiden world as well.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I mentioned it before, but yeah, I played the Ninja Gaiden Black 2. You said though, that came out earlier this year. Didn't finish it. But I probably. I played a good chunk of it on stream.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And then back in the day, I don't remember which one it was. I think it had Sigma in the title. If there's only one Sigma, then it was that one.

[Roger Benson]

I remember Sigma in the stable.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Roger's only Sigma dude. But yeah, I played some of that as well. I remember getting that from GameStop on a sale or whatever and started it. It was beating my ass and I was like, okay, I'm good on this. And so my history is more with Platinum games, I would say, than even Ninja gaiden.

[Andy Cortez]

Flip the USB twice with a $5 super chat says, how was the difficulty? Was the game actually hard or were the enemies just spongy? New game. Oh, no. Ninja Gaiden.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Ninja guidance.

[Andy Cortez]

I thought they were talking about like new game plus. Think about new game plus. Ninja Gaiden is a hard series, but I fear Platinum would make it easy.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I thought.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't think it was like an easy game by any means. I played on like normal difficulty for the most of it. I wouldn't say that I was like breezing through it. Some bosses took me like, I don't know, four, five tries or whatever. But I mainly dropped to easy towards the end just because I was just like kind of getting tired of the. I'm just doing the, you know, same and you. And oh my God, the flying lanterns. Get out of my face. I hate dude. Oh my God.

[Roger Benson]

Because it would just explode.

[Andy Cortez]

I would hit by that every time. Like, and that's an absolutely get good Andy type of thing. And I totally am. I, I, you know, I'm big enough to recognize that and admit to it. Like, I didn't get good against these little stupid. You know, Chad, every game has like the stupid little that you hate.

[Roger Benson]

Like the flying like ghost or something

[Andy Cortez]

that explodes or the little spitting guys in Silk song.

[Roger Benson]

Oh, they have a few of those.

[Andy Cortez]

There's always the little in all these games. These, these are the ones from this one. And they just, they're annoying as hell. But I don't think the game was overly hard. It was just. It got kind of tiresome for me.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, they're Definitely harder action games. But there's also like a lot of easier action games in this one if we're. If I'm going from like a five star and I also played on normal, for the record, you can go up

[Andy Cortez]

to hard as well at the start.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, if I'm going off of like a five star like difficulty rating system, I'll say this is like a three and a half to four stars. And playing on normal, I. I died quite a bit. But also it was never hit my head against the wall kind of thing. And also the game has a healing system where if you press L1 you get like a item wheel. And so you have like items that are light healing, moderate healing, heal over time and then stuff that upgrades your damage.

[Roger Benson]

Healing always sucked, by the way.

[Andy Cortez]

That sucked.

[Roger Benson]

Never felt like it was doing enough.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And again to this point, to like the point of like, man, I always forget about slash. I'm not aware of the things that this game gives me to use. When I tell you I use the thing that upgrade my attack power maybe once or twice and I was like, man, I wish I, I wish I used this way more.

[Andy Cortez]

If you also, if you die, I think three or more times.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, I'll just give you.

[Andy Cortez]

After a death, it'll give you like an extra health and you'll keep kind of getting extra health.

[Roger Benson]

Talking about the difficulty, the game kind of designs itself. I alluded to this earlier where you can just. Especially in a lot of later levels,

[Andy Cortez]

oh, dude, I ran by.

[Roger Benson]

You can just ran past by anybody and everybody. So the game knows, you know, hey, this is a fucking. You're in a stretch of, you know, 15 enemy enemy encounters. You can just run around them if you really want. You can make it as hard or as easy as you want.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It has these side missions. If you talk to the little like screen, I guess.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah. You see at the beginning of the level challenges.

[Andy Cortez]

You never see voices that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's such a weird thing.

[Andy Cortez]

It's just another person on the phone somewhere.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, it's another thing. But you talk to that thing. I have no idea what it is. You talk to it and yeah, you have like challenges slash like missions that you can accept that are, oh, take out these 10 enemies over here. So I think that's their way of like incentivizing you to take out every enemy in a level. But yeah, there are certain points where you can just run past things.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah. And then there's also challenges throughout every level. There's like a little like secret area that you can go and find, oh, yeah, the only territory or whatever. Yeah. And I would run. It was very, like, obvious of like, here's the main path. You can just press R3, which I love, by the way. I love the game.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

We didn't talk about that R3 best features.

[Roger Benson]

And it just. It just directs you exactly where to go. And it's like, here you go. And I was just mashing that bit.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Blessing mentioned this recently about, like, I love that R3 button, R3.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But I was great.

[Roger Benson]

I'm smashing that.

[Andy Cortez]

How lost are y' all that you need to do this?

[Roger Benson]

I love it.

[Andy Cortez]

You never get lost in this game.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's not being me lost. It's me being like, all right, where was I going? After a combat thing. Hold our three.

[Andy Cortez]

Boom.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

All right, let me tell you.

[Roger Benson]

Let me tell you the guy that I am, okay? When I grew up in my. When I grew up in my very small and easy to navigate town in Franklin Square, I would just use the maps every day to go into work. I'm going to the Wendy's down the street. I use a map.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, there's maybe two extra pads in a level. And I thought, thought, all right, blessings. Way further than I am in this game. I did the preview, but that's good to know. The R3 thing. I'll remember that. In my time, I'm like, man, I am so adhd. I get it. Chat watches me play. I often get lost. I get sidetracked. I. I never once needed that thing.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like, if I. If the game tracked how many times you use that when I tell you, my number would be in the thousand.

[Roger Benson]

Imagine it.

[Andy Cortez]

I was impossible.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It was like, any. Honestly, any chance I got more.

[Roger Benson]

I was. I was also using.

[Andy Cortez]

I see your thumb right now.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, I was also using it because I'm like, it can't work that well. So I'd walk around and be like, press.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I used it so much that I started playing other games for review and accidentally pressing R3 because I was like, oh, I thought this would tell me where to go.

[Andy Cortez]

I'll tell you what. I'm playing Pokemon Z. I keep on clicking in left stick to run, man. I just crouch every time.

[Roger Benson]

Sorry. The point that I was going to make was that if you. There's. It's very clear where you're. That. Where a purgatory section is, right? So I would just avoid it. Like. Like Purgatory. Because I'm just like, I don't want to do this. This game is annoying. I just want to finish the game. But then as Ryu. I was doing every single one. I'm telling you, if this game was all Ryu, I would be like with you. Exactly. I'm like, this is an 8 out of 10. This is my game. But something about this guy. Something about this guy and his whole moveset just doesn't work.

[Andy Cortez]

And you wouldn't get a. Like, you're finished.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, exactly.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Now here's the beef. And this is going to. This is going to piss off Andy based on the conversation we just had. But like, I've had a few games do this recently where you put your sprint on L3 and then you put something else that I'm using often on R3. But then you also have an L3 R3 activate, like your ultimate mode button. I activated my ultimate on accident so many times.

[Roger Benson]

So many times.

[Andy Cortez]

So many times.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

We gotta do something about this.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I'm not mad about. Oh, I'd be mad about that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, just because I'm using R3 so much.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh my God.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But maybe that battle.

[Andy Cortez]

You're accidentally hitting it.

[Roger Benson]

You can't turn it off.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

You can't turn it off. And it would be right at it. Because I'm always.

[Andy Cortez]

It didn't get play tested because none of the play testers were hating R3 that much.

[Roger Benson]

One. Yeah. One developer put the R3 in there like late at night. They're like, we don't. This is just for idiots.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like, somebody might use it a couple of times after every battle. Where was I going?

[Roger Benson]

Is that I would do that and I would not realize why I was doing.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I was like, why the did I. How did that happen?

[Roger Benson]

I was like, now I just realized

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I was pressing because you're sprinting and then you're like, where do I go? And then you activate your ultimate.

[Andy Cortez]

That is so funny.

[Roger Benson]

Funny.

[Andy Cortez]

I did. I did find it weird how the ultimate worked amongst different weapons. Like, I wish it operated the same way.

[Roger Benson]

I feel that where they work pretty similar.

[Andy Cortez]

But like they're.

[Roger Benson]

It's pretty much the same thing.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It. But like some of them, it's like you press L2 and you hold square to do like the. But then others don't have that.

[Andy Cortez]

Others you have to like just hold and it does something. And it. It's. It's weird. And it threw me off. Which is like. It's not a huge issue. But it's just.

[Roger Benson]

I thought you meant like the actual like full thing.

[Andy Cortez]

No, it's like. Like I would try it on other weapons or Another weapon. I'm like, why is it not doing the same thing? And I was just kind of confused by that.

[Roger Benson]

But that's also reuse ultimate. Way better.

[Andy Cortez]

So cool.

[Roger Benson]

Way better. Because he can actually. No, but he can also like, if you press L left trigger and square, he would just automatically kill any enemy without even using the like the super ultimate thing where you have to press in both.

[Andy Cortez]

No, that's. Yeah, that's how it is. No, no, but like Yakumo could do that.

[Roger Benson]

If I press. If I press it in and then I press left trigger and then square.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, you don't have to.

[Roger Benson]

Let me test that.

[Andy Cortez]

You don't have to click both. I. That's why, like, I would often. Here's a gamescast game tip. I forgot the song. But I would often switch to the first weapon because executing those moves, you click in L3 and R3 going to Berserk mode or whatever the hell. Right. And if you hold L1 and then. Or L2 and then square. Like if you hold that, then it's like a. Oh, color splash. Yeah. And you still have bar lip. Do it again.

[Roger Benson]

Boom.

[Andy Cortez]

Do it to another guy. Do it again to that guy. You know, so like. But not every weapon kind of had that.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, okay, maybe that's where my confusion.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. And so, but before your bar runs out, you can click L3 and R3 in again right. Before it runs out to like do one more kind of finishing move with all of it.

[Roger Benson]

So I'm exactly where you're at. I just didn't realize that was an issue. Yeah, I thought it was just the difference between those.

[Andy Cortez]

But yeah, again, I think that the game is. It's coolest when you feel like you are just going off on dudes and so gonna go off in a couple guys. Like the game is at its coolest when you are doing sick ass action moves. Doing those, you know, finishing moves going into, you get that color splash, the red, black and white. Like that's where it's like, oh man, I see what this could have been. And that's why I'm a little bit disappointed by it. Andrew Brown with a two dollar super chat says, Is there an enemy like the DMC4 Blitz?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh yeah, look this up.

[Roger Benson]

I never played DMC4.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's gonna be a football player.

[Andy Cortez]

What does it look like? Does it look like a football?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's an elite demon. Hold on, hold on.

[Roger Benson]

Wait, why did you do that?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, hold on, hold on to the page. Because I wanted to read. The blitz is an elite Demon which appears in devil may cry 4. It's first encountered in mission 15. Such a specific question. It must be like, it must do something fucked.

[Andy Cortez]

It must be like something only Tim could answer. Yeah, maybe it's one of those dude. 10 Super Chat from Noir who says, does anyone on the panel think that arcade style game design is fundamentally outdated similar to how fighting games are made for gameplay? Ninja Gaiden and DMC are in that same vein. Are in that same vein. Great review. I don't, I don't think so. I, I think that there. I wish this game had a couple of moments that threw me for a loop and I went, whoa, I can't believe they're doing this right now in this video game. And then you kind of continue on with the same gameplay, but it still never really did anything like that to make me go, hey, kind of an okay experience again. An okay to good experience. But wow, those couple of moments were super sick.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I wish there was something like that to kind of hold on to and, and remember and I just don't feel like it did.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, there's only one. And it's a cool moment again. I think what I'm alluding to, but

[Andy Cortez]

like, it's just, I don't even know, man. I'll need you to tell me.

[Roger Benson]

It's towards the end of the game.

[Andy Cortez]

I need you to tell me. Okay.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I, I, I think like great character action games exist is the thing, like still exist. Like Devil May Cry 5 is a game that came out and came good and that was good. Right. And I think that solves so many of the things that we're talking about here. I'm trying to think of other character action games like Bayonetta. I didn't play much Bayonetta 3, but I know that Bayonetta fans love Bayonetta and so I'd probably put that in that conversation as well. Platinum Games did near, which I know leans a lot toward like the action RPG side of things. But I think there's ways that you can do character action slash arcade style games that still keep up with the times and still work. I just think though that like games have evolved so much now. There are so many other different kind of things and character action isn't as on the forefront as they once were. Right. Like they've splintered. God of War is not character action anymore. God of War is now. I don't know what you'd call it at this point, like action, RPG action. Yeah, yeah. Cinematic.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, I think you're completely right. I think this game would have been a. For me, at least it would have been a. A 10 out of 1015 years ago. Yeah, like I would have said, like, this is. And I still think the gameplay is very, very good. I just. If I could like go into the back end and just kind of like twist some knobs here and there and maybe lower enemy sponginess and enemy armor.

[Roger Benson]

Dude.

[Andy Cortez]

I'll tell you what. By the. There were so many rooms that I got through by just charging my main attack and going to this blue charge and then the red charge and there would be like six enemies that I would just. All right, now, hands off the sick ass. Going to the next guy. Going to the next dude. Sick ass animation.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I love it when he like does that on one enemy. Finishes them and it's like, all right, somebody else. Yeah, who else wants the hand?

[Andy Cortez]

And I. Yeah, I did. There were several rooms that I did just kind of use that strategy and it was. It was pretty.

[Roger Benson]

I don't think it's fundamentally dated, but I do think. I don't think it's bad for these games to evolve a little bit. I'm not saying that in Ninja Gaiden again, I've not played the other Ninja Gaiden games, but I don't think it's bad for. For this to maybe take some other lessons from other.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Somebody in chat mentions hi Fi Rush as well, which I think is a great example of a character action.

[Roger Benson]

We don't think about that one as much.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I wish we did.

[Roger Benson]

You know, I don't have enough rhythm. I can't play it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, dude, we'll get you there. We'll get you there.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow. We won't.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Have you seen this man skip?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, you're right. We did play that clip. Remember we played that clip Blessing when Roger was gone.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

He was not here, though.

[Roger Benson]

Oh, no.

[Andy Cortez]

From the. The kind of funny when my studio. When Mike twerked up against the wall during my song stream and then you went in front of the camera, Roger, and you did a little move and because I was like trying to argue, I think Roger may have Greg beat like rhythm wise. And then we saw that. I was like, oh, the. The evidence is stunning.

[Roger Benson]

You know, it's just. It's nice to think like when I'm gone, I'm like, no one cares about me. I could just live my life peacefully.

[Andy Cortez]

No, we talk about you.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Tim brought up your kind of funny studio opening.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that is true.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, but that was obvious.

[Andy Cortez]

That is true.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah, that was like the people.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But I. I also think that clock

[Andy Cortez]

is right twice a day for what

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

we're talking about with Ninja Gaiden. For, like, I think there's so many things on paper that you, like, can't refute about the things that this game can. Can do better. You know what I mean? Like, the game can look better.

[Roger Benson]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think that's just a fact. Like, I. I don't think these are things that are like, oh, man, is the genre dated? Is it a problem? No, it's like, I think when you look at Ninja Gaiden 4 and you look at some other character action games, there are things I can do better. There are things I think it does phenomenal.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't need it to look like blackmouth Wukong. I don't need a Unreal Engine 5 stunning ray tracing thing. It's just.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

The game, it's just fun, fundamentally. And there's better ways to look at.

[Roger Benson]

To your point, there's better ways to break this up other than just go on a rail jump a few times and then now you're back in the same action. That's what I love.

[Andy Cortez]

Put your dukes up.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

The story could be better. Oh, God damn.

[Roger Benson]

Let's throw that back, though.

[Andy Cortez]

It is.

[Roger Benson]

Whoa.

[Andy Cortez]

Whoa.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's funny. I don't even hear the beat and I can tell

[Roger Benson]

it was a 1930 show tune. Okay, I was doing great.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

There's no BPM. That is that everybody.

[Andy Cortez]

This has been the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews, and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. Why don't you all join me? I did it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's a KD thing. Wait, before we go, I have one question for you.

[Andy Cortez]

Go ahead.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

From Marquis Adonis in chat Indy. Is the gameplay better than Wukong?

[Roger Benson]

Song sing it.

[Andy Cortez]

Is black myth Wukong combat bad? No, it's just not great. Is it better than Wukong?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Just the gameplay.

[Andy Cortez]

Just the. Just the combat gameplay.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Just the combat.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, man, that's. I want to say. Yeah, I want to say. Yes, but if you were to give that. If you were to give the. The monkey dude anything other than just a wooden stick to. Yeah, if you gave him like an axe or a sword, I might switch.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Here's the thing. Now there's a thing in this game that is kind of like a stick. And let me tell you that it kicks ass. It's awesome.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, it's cool because they do cool as with it. Yeah.

[Roger Benson]

Now let's redo that question, look directly into the camera and say that Ninja Gaiden 4 is better than Black Myth Wukong because it came to Xbox. And we'll clip that out.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay? Okay. No, I can't do that. Sorry. I have enough death threats. If you love what we do, please support us with a Kind of Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show, everybody. We will be back tomorrow with a brand new episode of Kind of Funny Games Daily and Gamescast and all the other shows that you're kind of used to seeing here at Kind of Funny. Appreciate y' all watching. Take care of yourself, take care of each other, and we'll see you next time. Monster Energy.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra, that's

[Andy Cortez]

the OG it kicked off this whole

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

zero sugar energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the white can, branch out.

[Andy Cortez]

Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.

[Andy Cortez]

Are you dreaming of the perfect prom?

[Roger Benson]

But there's just one thing holding you back. Speak English, Mom.

[Andy Cortez]

Welcome to Ethnosync Ethnic Modification.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

What is this place?

[Andy Cortez]

We help you reach your true potential. How are you feeling? It's good to be Hawaii. Hey, new girl.

[Roger Benson]

Hey.

[Andy Cortez]

Look at what you've done to yourself. For a new plant to grow, the seed has to die. Slanted. Rated R. Only in theaters March 13th. Side effects may occur. Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts

[Andy Cortez]

in time for this class.

[Roger Benson]

I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, my gosh. They're so fast.

[Andy Cortez]

And breathe.

[Roger Benson]

Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw

[Andy Cortez]

the discount they gave me on my first order.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, sorry. Namaste.

[Andy Cortez]

Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts.