How to Die Slightly Less in Ninja Gaiden Sigma

Written by Rawrb on February 17th 2010, 1:09 PM (0)

A stupid strategy guide to one of my favorite games ever made. Only because I'm awesome. Yes?

Rawrb's Final Verdict!

Overall: /5

Agree? Disagree? Impartial? Stupid? Comment on it!

Welcome to my somewhat FAQ/Walkthrough/Strategery Guide to the all encompassingly awesome Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I've never written anything like this before;

Let's face it; this game is not easy. It's one of the few action adventure games out there that TRULY challenges your reflexes and patience. It has that old NES style "feel really good when you finally conquer that seemingly impossible boss and/or obstable" thingie that most games seem to miss nowadays. You will be challenged, you will die a lot, and you'll discover that you have to actually use real strategy to win those tough battles. There are patterns, yes, but they're more random and unpredictable than traditional patterns.

I've been playing this game since it came out on the original Xbox several years ago and it's still one of my favorites. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is really well done too, but doesn't quite compare as far as ridiculous challenge. You can... kind of get away with button mashing in Sigma 2, but you absolutely cannot in Sigma. This game will chew you up, spit you out, crap on your face, and laugh while doing it. So where do you start?

The first step is acceptance. You're going to suck at first. When you're holding block and one of the Black Spider Clan Ninjas grab you and shave off 1/3 of your health, you'll realize that you just can't hold block to survive. It's not God of War. While the GoW games are fun in their own right, they don't TRULY challenge your reflexes like this one will. There are no button-pressing cutscenes. It's ALL you.

Why am I writing this? Well, it seems that most FAQs regarding Sigma don't take the time to help those who aren't used to this unforgiving of a game. I dunno if it's an ego thing, but hearing someone say, "All you have to do is jump in, do a Gleaming Blade, then a Flying Swallow, then a Blade of Nirrti! EASY!" would frustrate me more than anything. I didn't know how to do those combos, and they didn't take the time to actually show how it works. So here I am, and hopefully it'll help you.

Put on your shiny-ninja leather; it's time to die.

Combos, combos, combos.

I'll admit; I got through Normal Difficulty with a combination of button mashing and dodging stuff. I thought I was good; so I upped the ante and went on to HARD mode. Imagine fighting the hardest bosses with more enemies in the room attacking you relentlessly. Then there were the Missions; these you unlock once you finish the game. There's one particular mission where you fight Alma, Doku, and Marbus... at the same time. Button mashing ends there, because they all come at you at once just like they do when fighting them alone. After realizing there is a strategy for every fight, I did end up defeating that mission while dancing a little awesome jig.

No video of that jig, sorry.

Fighting Strategies and You.

Once you get to Murai on Chapter 1, you'll notice that just blocking doesn't quite work. He'll grab you, slam you to the ground, hit you with nunchucks, and kick you. Ohh, 40% of my life is gone! Yay. So here are some moves and strategies to help you die less. Note the keyword: LESS.

Block
Hold L
Pros: You can block stuff!
Cons: You can't block everything. Enemies can grab you. Heavy attacks will break your block.

Blocking is essential to dying less. You can block shuriken, incendiary shuriken, bullets, light and medium attacks. Heavy attacks will break your block, leaving you very exposed for about a half-second (an eternity in this game); Ryu will stagger back and some douchebag will swoop in and launch a rocket in your face. Hypothetically. Just use with caution is all. Sheesh.

Counter Attack
Hold L + press [] or ^ when attacked
Pros: Handy when you get overwhemed by light attacks
Cons: You're blocking. Enemies with unblockable moves, like grabs, can still grab you. During the counter attack, you can get hit.

The Counter Attack is awesome. You get this scroll from Muramasa or you find it. I think. Anyway, great to use when an enemy is doing regular attacks and is in range for you to hit them. Do NOT rely on counter attacks by themselves; enemies who can grab you WILL grab you. It's incredibly handy, though, when fighting Knightmares later in the game. More on that later.

Reverse Wind
Hold L + Move in any direction
Pros: Easy to dodge stuff, moves you out of harm's way
Cons: You're blocking. Enemies with unblockable moves, like grabs, can still grab you.

Oh man. This is probably the handiest move in the game. Even after block breaks you can sometimes Reverse Wind away and swoop in for attacks. You can practice this without enemies around. Hold L and move in any direction; Ryu will somersalt. The concept is the same when enemies are attacking you. When being attacked, Ryu will sort of dash away; very, VERY handy. Master this move, you will need it.

Roll Jump
While running, press block, then jump
Pros: You move much faster
Cons: None really. Uh, I guess you could get hit by an attack, but that's always a con... right?

In some boss fights, and when you're trying to get away from danger, this move will cover a significant amount of distance very quickly. Basically you start running (hold the analog stick in the direction you want to go), press block, then jump. When you land from the jump, press block again and jump again. Repeat. It's a fluid motion that'll take time to understand but will feel very natrual once you get it.

Ultimate Techniques (UT)
Hold ^
Pros: POWERFUL. DEVESTATING.
Cons: You are 100% vunerable while charging.

Try it. When no enemies are around, hold the ^ button. Your weapon will charge once, then twice. The first level is the weaker UT; it's very strong and can decapitate most regular enemies. The second charge is the actual UT; once it connects with an enemy and isn't blocked, Ryu will launch into an awesome frenzy attack depending on the weapon he's equipped with. Once you release ^, he won't be able to execute the actual UT unless the attack connects to an enemy.

By themselves, UTs take forever to charge up. That's bad. However, if there are nearby essence orbs, the UT will charge much faster. The formula is:

Level 1 UT = 1 yellow essence
Level 2 UT = 2 yellow essence or 1 red/blue essence

Enemies killed by a UT will leave a ton more yellow essence. That's good. It's like money. Money is good. You can buy things from Muramasa with money. That's good.

Master using UT attacks. You can dish out an unholy amount of damage with good UT use and you'll make tons of cash. Well, Ninja Gaiden cash. Not real cash. Awhhh.

On-land Charge
When landing from a jump, press and hold ^
Pros: You charge UT's slightly faster. You can use this technique when jumping away from a group of enemies to level the playing field.
Cons: The only con is being vunerable to attacks when you're actually charging UTs.

One of my favorite techniques. It's a bit hard to explain, but goes something like this: When running forward, jump, and the exact millisecond when you land, press and hold ^. If you did it right, you'll notice Ryu enters the UT charging stance slighly faster than just standing there. It's kind of a glitch in the game. I think. Either way, learn this technique and master it. Jumping out of a hairy situation and doing an on-land charge can help sort out a plethora of enemies.

There's a plethora of plethoras of enemies in Ninja Gaiden.

Izuna Drop
[]^[][][]^
Pros: Can instantly kill the enemy; any enemy nearby the area where you land the final blow will get injured, including bosses. For the split second you're spinning in the air slamming the enemy into the ground, you're invunerable. Looks awesome.
Cons: Only works on regular enemies (ninjas, smaller demons, cat chicks, etc)

At a certain point in Sigma, you'll come across a technique scroll called the Izuna Drop. When I first started playing Ninja Gaiden, I had no clue what it was and pretty much ignored it. Several years later, I accidentally pulled off the combo and my jaw hit the ground. Not only did I instantly kill that enemy, the impact on the ground took out two other enemies beneath me. Ironically this happened in Sigma 2. I ended up using the combo so much that I got the "Izuna Drop Mastery" trophy. Heh. So I went back to Sigma 1 and found that it was just as effective and useful.

The first two button presses, []^, launch the enemy into the air. The following three [] presses will keep you and the enemy in mid air, and the final ^ press will grab the enemy and slam him into the ground head first. It not only looks amazing, it will most likely kill the enemy instantly. Oh so gratifying.

This is a fairly advanced move. You have to be very fast using this as you do with all combos. As far as I know you can't do this move with the larger weapons (War Hammer, Diablahro, etc).

Weapons: Mr. Stabby and Mrs. Slicey.

The combo system in the Ninja Gaiden games are absolutely brilliant. Once you get a good feel for the system and how to utilize it, the game becomes more fun than frustrating. You will experience pure frustration at first. After you get past that and pull off your first Izuna Drop, things'll start to fall into place and the real fun can begin.

Dragon Sword/True Dragon Sword/Plasma Saber

The weapon of choice for me would be the True Dragon Sword; it's powerful, fast, and cuts through enemies like butter on a pancake at Bob Evans. Mmm.

Like I said, I'm going to only list the combos that I find effective and helpful. The others I haven't really used much, and I'm sure they're useful in their own way. If you don't like my way, try learning other combos to find what works for you. Rawr.

Blade of the Undefeatable
^
Pros: Easy to use, kind of strong
Cons: Leaves a split second of vunerability.

How easy is this one? Press ^. That's it. It's great to knock most medium sized enemies to the ground. When fighting bosses, like Murai, you can sneak in with this move to shave off a decent amount of health. For example, when Murai does his charge attack, or after he does his ground-flip-thing, he's vunerable for a split second. If you're close enough to him when this happens, hit ^ and Ryu will do one powerful slice. Handy.

Haze Straight Slash
Press and hold ^
Pros: Easy to use, stronger than Blade of the Undefeatable. Usable with the land charge technique.
Cons: Leaves you more vunerable.

You'll probably notice that you'll prefer this one over the Blade of the Undefeatable. It's between an charged essence attack and just pressing ^.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

The sequel has made a few changes, but the basic mechanics are the same. You'll notice your attacks, reverse winds, and other uber precise movements aren't quite as responsive as Sigma 1. Some key differences that I've noticed:

Most light attacks won't stop your UT charging. Charging your UT won't be interrupted if you're having shuriken thrown at you. If someone comes over and hits you it'll stop.

UTs charge WAY faster than in Sigma 1.

Enemies can be dismembered.

Obliteration Techniques - Once you've severed a limb from any opponent, holding ^ near the wounded enemy will do an instakill type attack.

New Combos - Each returning weapon has new combos. Most of the old ones are there too.

New Weapons - There are a few new weapons, but none of 'em seem to be quite as effective as the old True Dragon Sword. Maybe that's me... heh.

Muramasa Statues - Now there are two types of statues. One is a standard shop, the other is a "blacksmith" statue. When you find that blacksmith statue, you can upgrade ONE weapon ONCE at THAT statue. Yeah. I didn't like this change...

Sigma 2 is easier. Yeah. If you're a button masher Sigma 2 will be easier for you.