Ninja Gaiden II Gameplay, New Character: Sonia

by Terrence Stasse { Apr 3rd 2008 at 8:00AM }

Even though Ninja Gaiden II has gone back to school, our little college late-comer is set to deliver the goods. Coming to us hot and fresh from PressStartGames are these two videos depicting the Ninja Gaiden II build making the rounds from college to college. The videos reveal a great deal, showing us the first views of the shopkeeper, as well as a new girl, Sonya, who appears to fight with a pair of pistols and who shares Rachel's taste in fashion. The first video is mostly cutscene, ending with Sonya getting kidnapped by the Black Spiders. The second video is mostly gameplay and gives us our first view of the new Lunar in action along with the new Fireball ninpo. To quote the PressStart page: "The game looks fantastic folks."

Hit the break for the second gameplay video.

Gameplay Trailer 2

Tags: ninja-gaiden-2, ninja-gaiden-ii, team-ninja

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

xFenixKnightx @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:12AM

Man I cant wait!!!

Dean @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:17AM

Not bad although Rachel was much hotter I can't wait for this to come out.

BananaBoat @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:59PM

She had to be kinda ugly to work as a Dante parody I guess. I do hope that any playable girls are cuter though, more in line with the other girls from the Dead or Alive series.

Oh well, as long as 99.9999% of the game is played as Ryu, I'll survive =P

HamalSharatan @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:55AM

I thought Sonya has the same voice as Lady from devil may cry 3, and she also uses guns.

Terrence Stasse @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:38AM

Some careful observation will reveal that the whole character is a parody of Dante from Devil May Cry.

PerfectStrategy @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:28AM

Holy ****, makes DMC4 look like child's play.

(no offense to DMC4 fans, hehe)

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:39AM

Its funny how NG fans have to hate on DMC fans but without DMC there would be no NG.

PerfectStrategy @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:46AM

That's interesting... Devil May Cry was released in 2001, Ninja Gaiden was originally released in 1988.

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:52AM

Exactly the original 2D Ninja Gaiden was released then. DMC paved the way for how 3D action games were played. Without it there would be no NinjaGaiden 3D.

At least not as we know it.

Terrence Stasse @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:59AM

While I doubt Itagaki would agree, I do.

How the project got originally proposed, or where it was inspired, is something we'll likely never know, but you are correct in saying that any NG without the original DMC would not be the NG we know and love.

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:11PM

I'm not against NG in any way I just think its funny that fans of one can't be fans of both.

I love DMC and NG.

(Though I hate Itagaki with a passion (Basically, because he thinks everything he makes is great and everything not made by him sucks i.e Tekken/DMC))

Long Live NG & DMC (DMC needs a breath of fresh air though getting kinda tired of the same ol same ol.)

Yuccadude @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:08PM

Now to put this trussed-up female in front of a speeding locomotive in order that my dastardly plans be fulfilled! Muahahaha!

Seriously though, in NG you get introduced to Rachel, and then all sorts of bad things happen to her, you meet Kureha, and then Doku kills her. I mean Ryu is like a curse upon the Japanese womenfolk. Only person immune to it it seems is the ninja woman from DOA, forget her name...

PerfectStrategy @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:09PM

That is incorrect though. Ninja Gaiden for Xbox I'm sure was in planning before anyone knew about DMC. Also, according to Wikipedia, the game was in development for 5 years before it's release in 2004. Meaning that they were making the game before DMC released, so NG would be here with or without DMC.

Also, NG is fundamentally different from DMC in some ways and I never saw any evidence that they took inspiration from DMC.

"The game has received much critical acclaim, with several publications proclaiming it one of the best and most difficult video games ever made, and inducting it into their Halls of Fame." -Wikipedia

A quote directly pertaining to DMC:
"In other action games, the enemies existed for you to kill. In Ninja Gaiden, the enemies existed to kill you." -Tomonobu Itagaki

"The Legend of Zelda video game series had inspired Team Ninja to implement this aspect of the adventure genre in which the player collects items to open doors; restore health; and upgrade Ryu's life bar, magic ability, and weapons."

"Compared to God of War which allows players to cancel and change attacks anytime; and Devil May Cry which grants this freedom to certain attacks; Ninja Gaiden is a more difficult combat system to master but sets up a fair playing field for the player."

"Reviewers have praised Ninja Gaiden having one of the deeper combat engines for an Xbox game, and the smooth interaction and responsiveness of its controls."

"The "Next-Generation Ninja Gaiden Project" began in 1999"

I conclude by saying that yes NG would be here just as it is without DMC and NG took absolutely no inspiration from DMC.

PerfectStrategy @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:11PM

Oops, that was meant to be a reply to myself. But Terrence glitched it as usual. :p

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:16PM

Perfect, dude, I'm not against NG by any means. But I do think fans of NG need to stop turning up their noses every time DMC is talked about. NG does owe its gameplay to DMC as it pioneered the whole 3D action thing in the first place.

Also DMC didn't start as DMC it was originally planned to be RE4. RE4 went through major changes before it became the game we all know and love today.

"An earlier attempt at developing Resident Evil 4 was made from 1998 to 2000 for the PlayStation 2, with Resident Evil 2 director Hideki Kamiya leading the project. The first year was primarily spent on research of what the project would be, and included a trip to Spain for the development staff to study Spanish architecture. The first character designs were made. The direction that the project took was considered too much of a departure from the traditional Resident Evil style and the resulting game was revamped and released as Devil May Cry in 2001."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_4

My comments are not a slight against NG by any means. Just I respect people more if they can just say "Yo, we drew a lot of inspiration from this"

Terrence Stasse @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:40PM

"But Terrence glitched it as usual. :p"

I'm fine admitting screw-ups when I make them, but I had nothing to do with anything here.

PerfectStrategy @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:50PM

Zen, Ng DOES NOT owe its gameplay to DMC. As I quoted, development on a next-gen 3D NG began in 1999. NG was at one time going to be a Dreamcast game, and at another time a launch game for the PS2. Now unless the Team Ninja devs were over at the early DMC offices and just watching their work and trying to mimic it, then there is no way they could have taken anything from DMC. You are completely wrong. I hate people that refuse to admit when they are wrong.

Easo @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:51PM

ZenGaijin

Zelda was pretty much the first 3d action adventure game and thus it pioneered the whole 3d action thing, not devil may cry. Also as PerfectStrategy pointed out, a clear parallel can be drawn between it and Ninja Gaiden. So I would have to agree that Ninja Gaiden would have been the exact same game, with or without devil may cry.

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:03PM

Well if you read my argument Perfect you would see that development on what would become DMC begain in 1998/1999 when they were looking for what RE4 would eventually become.

And I hate people that can't have a discussion without resorting to childish antics but I guess we both aren't going to get what we want outta this.

Its pretty much impossible to prove if the NG team took anything away from DMC or not but I agree with Terrance I think without DMC NG wouldn't be what it is today.

@ Easo

Zelda and DMC aren't anywhere near the same game. We are talking about 3D action games which I wouldn't technically classify OoT as.

More of a 3D action/rpg I'd say that Kingdom Hearts wouldn't be what it is without OoT.

Easo @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:28PM

devil may cry is most definitely an action game, while ninja gaiden, like zelda, is an action adventure game.

I want you to google devil may cry review, and pick any review at random. I'd be willing to bet all them call devil may cry a pure action game. Now do the same for ninja gaiden and see if they call it an action game, or an action adventure game. What you'll find is that the gamplay for the two series are different, one being focused on pure action and the other a split between action and adventure game elements. I could go on about the various gameplay differences between a straight action game and an action adventure game, but let's just agree to disagree on this one.

HamalSharatan @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:14PM

"ZenGaijin said...

Exactly the original 2D Ninja Gaiden was released then. DMC paved the way for how 3D action games were played. Without it there would be no NinjaGaiden 3D."

I do not agree. I think games like Soul Reaver and others already paved the way for 3D action games. DMC only added its touch of originality.

ZenGaijin @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:18PM

Touche'

SoulReaver is a game I keep forgetting but its in my greatest games list at least for myself.

I keep saying its nothing against NG but I don't understand why people have to hate one or the other. I think people get to swept up in Itagaki's persona and take it on for themselves.

dylan @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:39PM

Is it just me or does Sonya look exactly like Ivy from Soul Caliber?

THE RPG NERD @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:50PM

No one is saying that NG is a direct ripoff of DMC, but it's hard to believe that they weren't influenced by it. Five years is a lot of time for a game to change, who knows maybe NG started out as something completely different and changed once DMC first came out. You can't possibly believe that DMC didn't influence NG when their basic gameplay structure is the same. Sure the combat might be different but overall the games have a similar feel.