The player completes these battles through a series of determinations of what he has to do to not get killed to run in and start flailing about is an exercise in futility while a careful, measured, aware approach will win every time. The more difficult levels of Ninja Gaiden are extended mathematical equations at least as much as they are epic battles.
Rather than being sucked in by the narrative or thrilled by the awesome feats of ninja skill that can be pulled off through a few well-timed button presses or even awed by the tremendous and powerful enemies that would like nothing more than to crush Ryu, the player spends much of his time waiting the player waits for his enemy to do something, and when that “something” happens, the player executes the perfect counter-move. The current generation of Ninja Gaiden games has such a reputation for being games that take so much skill, practice, and good old-fashioned tenacity to master that they are slowly becoming exercises in action-reaction. Yet, in the case of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, it’s that very experience that works against the game. One of the goals for a developer when producing a game like Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is the ever-elusive sense of immersion if the player can identify with his avatar, if the line between the player’s thoughts and the avatar’s thoughts begins to blur, it’s typically considered a win for the game design. He doesn’t grumble, he doesn’t whine about his lot in life, he just does it. He must constantly throw himself into situations rife with immense danger only because nobody else will or because nobody else is going to save civilization as we know it. As such, Ryu’s task is a necessary but joyless one. It is the dragon ninja’s duty to protect the general populace from these fiends, and Ryu’s father, Joe Hayabusa, slowed by age and injury, is no longer up to the challenge. The world - nay, the universe - is threatened by the return of the four Greater Fiends and the impending rebirth of the Archfiend. This moment, a brief aside as the endgame approaches, points out via contrast just how much of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Ryu spends acting only out of a sense of duty. Ryu spends so much time doing what he does only because he must that an emotional overture from his incapable (and largely unwanted) companion feels completely foreign until he realizes that at that moment, it is his duty to reciprocate if only so as to not send Sonia into emotional meltdown. Ryu is taken aback by this sudden infringement into the personal space that he spends an awful lot of time protecting with all manner of sharp objects, and he spends a startled moment before he slowly, half-heartedly returns the gesture - only because it would be rude not to, from the look of it.
There’s a moment toward the end of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 in which Sonia, the in-over-her-head stereotypical female who constantly insists on tagging along and being captured by baddies (a completely unnecessary subplot to an appropriately epic primary narrative) can’t help herself anymore and leaps into a hug with her (and our) hero, Ryu Hayabusa. This review contains mild story-related spoilers.
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