Nightshade
GameRatio Review
PS2

Dangerous curves and all of the killing a player can ask for.

SEGA released Shinobi on PS2 in November of 2002.  Now, (2 years later) they release a follow up to the story of Hotsuma. In Nightshade, you play has Hibana (a corporate assassin). Hibana’s mission is to recover the shards of Akujiki (the cursed sword). To do this, Hibana must traverse demon-infested cities with only her sword, a handful of shirikens, and her Ninjitsu skills.

I can’t complain much about this game’s visuals. Characters models are absolutely stunning. SEGA’s history of ensuring the highest quality possible in their games rings true in Nightshade. Characters models not only look life like, but worthy of appearing in Virtua Fighter. Enemies mostly look like insects, but the animation and imagination used in creating them shows why SEGA is a leader in the industry.  SEGA uses some nice visual effects when Hibana practices her Ninjitsu arts. From the rolling flame that destroys nearby enemies to the shadow dash, you feel less like you’re playing a game, and more like you’re playing an anime.  My only complaint with Nightshade, is that SEGA used so many brilliant visual effects, that playing levels that are darker (like the second level where you fight in sewers) can put a strain on your eyes due to the contrast of light and dark during Ninjitsu skills and shadow dashes.

If I hear another Ninja yell “Ha, who, hya!” I’ll scream. That’s about the majority of the voices you hear from Hibana during the game. It fits the style of play well, but one would hope she’d be more vocal. Luckily for players, if you kill large numbers of enemies in a short period of time, you get taunts like “So easy”. These taunts can sometimes come off as cheesy, but when mixed with the visual mini-cinema, it’s actually quite cool. The voice acting is actually pretty good. A few cheesy lines, but again, SEGA shows why they belong in the top 10. As for the background music, this really doesn’t add much to the game.

The mechanics of any game can make or break it, and SEGA has a few bad habits. First off, this is a sweet game once you learn to play it, but learning takes a while. The game awards quick multi-kills. The more enemies you can kill in a short period of time without using Ninjitsu Magic or Shirikens, the stronger you become, similar to Shinobi (PS2).  What’s nice is that the more you kill in less time, the better the mini-cinema you get. These mini-cinemas as I call them are reminiscent of animes where the ninja slashes through a thousand enemies and as soon as his sword is fully in its sheath, the enemies all collapse at the same time.  They’re quite amusing at first, and then in later levels, it becomes a slight break in the frantic action. Hibana also gives a comment or two, which is sometimes cheesy, but other times it’s actually quite amusing.

The real nitty-gritty of the game is being able to effectively use your attacks. Players must learn to use combinations of the kick and slash attacks to strategically maneuver from enemy to enemy. Masters of combat will be able to attack over 30 enemies without ever touching the ground. In addition to learning the multi-kills, you also have to learn when is best to use the Ninjitsu magic as well as the shirikens attacks. Both of these don’t increase your sword’s strength, but are necessary in key moments.

To buy or not to buy is the question. I say buy if you liked Shinobi. Even if you didn’t, it’s still a worthwhile game. There are a few extras, but not many worth the replay.  But the core game is fun by itself, once you get past learning the controls. At least rent the game if you’re not sure you can get into this style.