A modest step forward, even though it comes with some questionable decisions compared to its predecessor.

Many of the issues from the first game are still here, but they’re more manageable.

The camera is still terrible, with a persistent tendency to frame the action so poorly that it’s not uncommon to completely lose your orientation and be unable to see yourself or the enemies (sometimes both simultaneously). However, the preference for larger arenas and corridors, allowing for clearer action angles and more dynamic movement in framing, has made this problem less infuriating and present than before.

And they made good use of this extra space, with a substantial increase in enemy count and frequency of combat intervals. In the original NG2, this aspect is one of the defining features, reaching such absurd levels that the old X360 sometimes couldn’t maintain a stable framerate due to the number of enemies on screen.

This is actually one of the most divisive features among fans of both versions. NG2 is completely unrestrained to the point of sometimes being unbearably exhausting. Sigma 2 is a considerably more tamed, easier, and consistent version, even though it can make the original feel like child’s play on the highest difficulty.

Enemies still attack you from off-screen without any audio cues (especially ranged attackers), most of their moves aren’t telegraphed, they overlap while attacking, and they seem to follow random and inconsistent rules according to the weather forecast.

But the chaos, while more intense, is considerably more manageable, with your character’s control feeling more responsive, your attacks’ results being more consistent, and with the delightful addition of a new healing system that’s more forgiving and compatible with the increased volume of combat.

The new obliteration technique and weapons are a special treat.

The near-complete absence of those horrible instant and unavoidable grabs and counters and enemies who insisted on blocking everything you do without any logic (they still block and dodge your attacks, but not as much) is the best thing about this game. Despite being a basic principle since the first Devil May Cry, it’s a considerable improvement that you can anticipate the strongest attacks from the overwhelming majority of enemies. Generally, if an enemy is going to perform a special or a grab, you’ll have time to react.

Boss fights, unfortunately not as varied, are at least less about trial and error.

Although they still retain that annoying random tendency to regain their super armor in the middle of your combo, when you see an opening in a boss’s moveset, the opening is usually real and it’s your moment to capitalize without much fear of punishment or having your sequence blocked because the enemy recovered out of nowhere.

You no longer have to deal with bosses who negate more than half of your move set without any apparent reason. You don’t have to guess how to damage them or avoid attacks that seem impossible to dodge unless you do very specific and impractical things. You’re no longer encouraged or forced to abuse specific solutions to eliminate enemies who appear to respect no rules.

Things simply work in a logical and more consistent way.

Even though it’s not flawless, it’s a world of difference and a positive step towards appreciating Ninja Gaiden 2 for its mechanical challenge and not for its bizarre “combat puzzles.” The margin for error is small but fair.

Still, it seems especially cruel to give the player so much mobility only to rip control from their hands whenever they try to use certain abilities. And as well as things work, for someone who grew up used to the responsiveness and clarity that Devil May Cry (especially 3) provided me, some design principles in Ninja Gaiden seem like a war crime. Especially nowadays, with the franchise dead and having been surpassed in style and substance a long time ago.

On the other hand, exploration and progression have been considerably simplified.

Instead of having a large, interconnected area full of shortcuts to explore and revisit throughout the main chapters (finding secrets, collecting items, and solving simple puzzles), you have linear, continuous stages with exploration reduced to a minimum to keep the player constantly moving and funneling them into much more frequent combat sequences.

The stages in Sigma 2 are more varied in concept, but I must say that something more stimulating was lost by trading a deeper, more intricate experience with the game’s setting (even though it wasn’t much) for an increased focus on action. Not having to search for your way and doing functional and intelligent backtracking through previously visited areas makes the game feel strangely disjointed. And not being able to find anything hidden makes any detour feel dissonant from the rest of the design and not an integral part of the progression.

But I’m glad the horrible platforming challenges and endless combat challenges (which you always thought were a respawn bug at first sight) are nonexistent in this game.

And that's it. All in all, Sigma 2 is a great flawed game. Like the first, it’s a messy masterpiece, as good as it is bad. But I believe the absence of a particular kind of bad in this case makes it one of the best games in the franchise, if not the best by elimination.

Ninja Gaiden never seemed like an elegant game to me, even in the hands of an exceptional player who masters the game from top to bottom. Yet I still hope for its return. I don’t place it on a throne, but I always hold it in high regard.

This franchise has always been its own thing, which is why it still presents itself uniquely, many years later. A bit poorly aged, a bit mistreated, but still viscerally spectacular.

And Ninja Gaiden never lacked in giving you the tools to overcome the trash it threw at you, which always softened its rougher edges. So what do I know?

I still have to revisit Black. Maybe I’ll change my mind.

Anyway, I recommend the game to anyone who likes action games. I'd even say it's a great place to start with the franchise if you've never played any NG.

P.S: The violence censorship is even more severe in Sigma 2, removing even more of the satisfaction of tearing enemies apart. But thankfully, this is easily fixable with mods.

This is a crippled baby version of Ninja Gaiden 2, and possibly the worst port ever made. They removed almost all gore and rebalanced the fights to have only a handful enemies on screen at a time, removed TWO THIRDS of the enemy encounters from the game, and drastically changed how ranged weapons work.
Get Xenia and emulate the original Xbox 360 version, or download the Sigma 2 Black mod.

erm what the ninja gaiden sigma 2???