Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthrough!

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Fionordequester
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Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthrough!

Post by Fionordequester »

Yes, you heard that right: A walkthrough for newbs telling you how to not die once!

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Ninja Gaiden is not a series that needs any introduction. You've heard it all: "Fast-paced action, cinematic cutscenes that pushed the envelope, fun as H.F.I.L., and also one of the hardest games you'll ever play".

Me, I love it just for how interesting it is. If you play it like I do (slow and methodical), then each Act becomes an interesting puzzle. You'll never beat them on your first try, but you will always feel like you learned something each time. If you want to speedrun it and feel like a god of war, you can ALSO do that. You'll die over and over, but the hero moves so fast, and kills enemies so quickly, that you feel like a veritable god when you DO clear a stage successfully!

And that's really what it all boils down to: You just feel strong. You move fast, you jump VERY high in the air, you've got an arsenal of sub-weapons, and you kill almost everything in one hit (save for bosses). Plus, you've got a game with a rockin' soundtrack, and unparalleled presentation. It's a hoot!

But enough about that; Let's talk about...

THE WALKTHROUGH:

Now, this here's the first time I've ever LPed a platformer. All my other LPs were focused on "how do I beat this game as fast as possible?", but that changes when you're not playing an RPG. There's a skill gap: One between me (who's used to the controls, knows where all the items are, how the bosses act, what everything does), and my audience (who still haven't mastered the controls).

My philosophy, then, is that a walkthrough should bridge the skill gap as much as possible. I am almost never going to tell you “this will take timing and reflexes, so git good”, unless there really isn’t any other way. That’s the sign of a lazy walkthrough, to me.

So, whatever I show, it should require as little skill as possible. I WILL include "speedrun sections" for each Act, but only for demonstration purposes. The bulk of this is going to be slow, methodical gameplay that people will (hopefully) be able to imitate without too much practice. Some of the strats will seem a little cheap...
Spoiler
For example, the Jaquio strat I use
... But, it's all for the newbies!

Now! Let's begin!

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Ninja Gaiden NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Acts 1 & 2)

STRATS INTRODUCED THIS EPISODE:

JUMPING SLASH: This is what you should try practicing, when you can. It’s not mandatory, and I try to avoid relying on it for the walkthrough, but it’s the only way you can attacking without Ryu stopping.

PAUSE BUFFERING: This is where you hit Pause to… well, pause the game. The enemies may not hit hard, but they’re fast, and there’s a lot of them. Worst of all, the game will spam them near bottomless chasms, so beginners will need this trick (experts will have already memorized things).

WALL CLIMB BUFFERING: I forgot to mention it in the video itself, but you don’t need to press A every time you want to jump off a wall. You can just hold it, then press Left or Right (whichever goes away from the wall). That will let you climb much faster!

SWORD CANCELING: This is where you hold Down while slashing. This has two uses, but the main one is conserving “Ninpo” (your ammunition). This way, you can preserve your…

SPIN SLASH: I keep calling it “the spinning buzz-saw”, but this is the proper name. It does damage every frame (1/60th of a second), grants temporary invincibility, and attacks from all directions. This is the greatest sub-weapon, by far. It’s what makes a “Deathless” play-through doable, even without memorization!

INTENTIONAL DEATHS: This won’t be used in this Deathless playthrough, but it’s a handy trick nonetheless. The game checkpoints you every screen, so you can just die and refill your health! You lose half your Ninpo though, and you get kicked back to the beginning of Acts ?-1, ?-2, or ?-3? (depending on where you’re at).

SCREEN-SCROLLING: If you can’t see the enemy, they don’t exist! They disappear the moment they leave the screen… Some don’t even respawn! So, you run away from them till the disappear. Primarily useful for flying bird enemies (they take 3 HP away!), but it also has applications for “Hammer Bros.” enemies (the ones who stand over gaps and throw objects in arcs).

CHARACTERS SO FAR (Warning: The manual wasn’t proof-read very carefully :P ):

https://lpix.org/3839711/Ninja%20Gaiden%20Gallery.png
Last edited by Fionordequester on Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Blinge »

wh.....what even.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Blinge wrote:wh.....what even.
What's up, my man? Oh, btw!  Forgot to add this to the OP.  It was how to take care of that stubborn Hammer Bro without Spin Slash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uwggLH ... yd&index=2
Last edited by Fionordequester on Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by WelshMegalodon »

The singular form of 'Hammer Bros' is 'Hammer Bro'.
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Finite Continues? Ain't that some shit.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

WelshMegalodon wrote:The singular form of 'Hammer Bros' is 'Hammer Bro'.
Fixed! Thx so much :D !
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

Please get an avatar so I can add you to the OFFICIAL Ryukenden Task Force roster - it's for your own good, as otherwise I will make one for you, probably involving Cho Aniki. :cool:

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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Sumez »

We need to ban terms like "pause buffering" and "intentional death" though. This isn't a Yagawa game :P
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

I actually counselled Edmans to Yagawa himself at the final floor of 6-3 for a fresh lifebar (HE SUCC LMAO Image), rather than go into the Jaquio rematch with 5HP for another swift assrape & kick down the stairs to 6-1. :oops: He did not listen! Image

(You might think "5HP is five good hits, plenty of time to kill GIACOMO with a subweapon!" but tragically Edmans would bump into him for -3HP Image)

I aint never suggest he pause buffer though, that some PUSSY ASS SHIT IMHO Image However, even that is better than SUCKIN ON A DICK JUST TO MAKE A BUCK OR TWO like Edmans ended up doing. Image
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Blinge »

OP are you pause buffering a lot in your video? I notice a lot of pausing on stage 2, what's that about?

r u edmanz?
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Sumez »

Be nice, Blinge :o
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Blinge »

haha no i'm just imagining edmanz rebranding as this guy that spreads NG knowledge accross the internet and helps people clear it!

also my question is genuine, i don't know what pausing there does.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Blinge wrote:also my question is genuine, i don't know what pausing there does.
Part of it is exaggeration; Just to show the different extremes in how you could play the game. If you just want to beat it, then you'd be doing that so you don't get knocked into the bottomless chasms (where most of your deaths will come from). If, however, you want to feel like a master, then the speedrun sections are how you'd play the game.

If I were to just play it on my own, my game-play would look somewhere between those two extremes.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Now then... The CIA's in on it! The plot thickens!

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Ninja Gaiden NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Acts 3 & 4)

STRATS INTRODUCED THIS EPISODE:

DAMAGE BOOSTING:
Actually, this was in the last episode as well, but only for one brief moment. Now, though, the "speedrun" sections milk them for all they're worth. Ryu gets knocked back a good ways, depending on which side of the enemy he's facing. Additionally, he gets invincibility frames (the technical term for "he got hit, he's blinking, and he can't get hurt until he stops blinking"). You can take advantage of this in one of two ways...

1) You can "damage boost" Ryu onto a ledge he couldn't have gotten to with a regular jump. You'd jump in the air, land on the RIGHT side of the enemy, then get knocked right far enough to get to the other side. This allows for one very nice, very beginner-friendly trick in Act 6-2... But is otherwise too dangerous to use for newbies. So, apart from that one moment in Act 6-2, you'll only see it in the "speedrun" sections.

2) You can get Ryu onto a high ledge with an enemy on it. There are points where Ryu can't jump high enough to get onto a platform, but CAN jump high enough to hit an enemy ON said platform! The damage boost launches him *up* , as well as to the side, so there are some tricky spots you can get out of. You'll see this in Act 5!

FIRE WHEEL DAMAGE:
As mentioned, this is the wall of fire that goes to the upper-left or right. It's made of *three* parts, so the damage is different depending on how *many* of those parts hit. That's why we needed to be under that boss in Act 3. That was how we'd get ALL of the three parts to connect!

CHARACTERS SO FAR:
https://lpix.org/3841435/Ninja.png
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

The other night I woke up screaming and drenched in sweat, I'd dreamed it was impossible to skip the Foster cutscene :O THAT SCREENCAPS GIVIN ME PTSD

Spoiler
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

BIL wrote:The other night I woke up screaming and drenched in sweat, I'd dreamed it was impossible to skip the Foster cutscene :O THAT SCREENCAPS GIVIN ME PTSD

Spoiler
Image
Lol, I'm so sorry! I'll try to avoid Foster caps next time :P !

Now, for this episode, I had some issues working with the audio. It came out in lower quality for whatever reason, but I cleaned it up a bit. Here's the episode! Note that the final bosses and the ending will be in their own episode. There's a lot to unpack there, after all!

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Ninja Gaiden NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Act 5 & 6)

THUMBNAIL ART BY:「O_FishBowl」

O_FishBowl's CONTENT: https://www.semiro.info/category/diary/game_pic_diary/

Special thanks for giving me permission to use it!

LAST NEW CHARACTER:

https://lpix.org/3845613/Ninja.png
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Here's the end!

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Ninja Gaiden NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Masked Devil, Jaquio, & The Demon)

STRAT INTRODUCED THIS EPISODE:

SWORD CANCELING (OFFENSE):
This is the other use for sword-canceling I mentioned all the way at the start. You jump, hold Down as you slash, then let go to cancel the animation. This lets you slash as many times as you can pull this off, rather than being stuck at two slashes per jump. The Jaquio can be beaten without it through the Beginner strat I made. But, you'll want it for the Demon (a.k.a, 破壊の悪魔, "Destroyer Fiend", "Demon of Destruction", etc.).

Get good at this, if you can manage. If not, just use plenty of pause buffering to avoid the projectiles. Use the Spin Slash, if you die and have to come back. The bosses you kill STAY dead, after all!

NINJA GAIDEN III ENDING SCREEN (Japanese; The English version of this was unused):

JAPANESE:
Image

ENGLISH (Unused):
Image
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

Pause buffering... the weapon to surpass Metal Gear. Image FUCK! Once, when I was a scurred 9y/o, I had the ability (vs DORAKYURA, renting Castlevania from The Tape Place). The arrogance of youth saw it slip from my grasp, replaced in that grasp by my raging iron-hard hog and much purloined Skinemax. By the time I returned to the battlefield I was old and jaded, using the pause button only to retrieve snacks from the kitchen for the game's interminable cutscenes.

If only I'd retained the innocence of youth, I could've saved EDMANS from his descent into buttmad. Image Or not - his technique was so shite, and his temperament so scrubbardly, I don't think even 30hz pause autofire could've gotten him past THE BIG J. Perhaps it is a different sort of arrogance prompting me towards this vain hope. :oops:
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Oh well. At least you have lessons to pass on to the next generation. That's human progress in a nutshell, right?
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

Yeah imma tell em kids, God and Jesus put that mahfuckin pause button there for a reason, y'hear? Image

BTW, listing this thread in the R2RKMF NG Walkthrough Index, if that's ok. :smile:
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by dojo_b »

Change my mind, but IMO there is only one dignified way to beat Malth (and to my shame I've never done it).
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by andsuchisdeath »

BIL wrote:Please get an avatar so I can add you to the OFFICIAL Ryukenden Task Force roster - it's for your own good, as otherwise I will make one for you, probably involving Cho Aniki. :cool:

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Fionordequester wrote:
Blinge wrote:also my question is genuine, i don't know what pausing there does.
Part of it is exaggeration; Just to show the different extremes in how you could play the game.
I would like to learn more about this technique.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Alright, so a bit later than "tomorrow", but HERE IT IS! Ninja Gaiden 2! Also, if I do continue the sub requests (I'm undecided), they'll only be at the start of each new LP. I figure anything after that is redundant; The person will have already decided.

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Ninja Gaiden II NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Act 1-3)

CHANGES FROM NINJA GAIDEN 1:

1) No Spin Slash (!!)

2) No Sword Canceling

3) You can climb walls by just pressing Up or Down, now

4) Ryu flies more horizontally when he gets damaged, rather than in an arc, like in the last game. He still gets SOME vertical distance though, so clipping through ledges is still possible... Just a bit trickier.

5) A new Sub-Weapon was introduced; The "Fire Dragon Balls". They act just like the "Art of the Fire Wheel" from the last game, except they shoot downward, instead of upward.

6) The "Invincible Fire Wheel" (not to be confused with "Art of the Fire Wheel") doesn't go away with just one use, and can be activated at any time. It costs 15 Ninpo, however.

7) Ninpo now has a cap. The cap starts at 40, but can be increased by 10 via Ninja Scrolls found in most stages.

TRICKS THAT STILL WORK:

Pause Buffering: This is where you hit Pause to… well, pause the game. The enemies may not hit hard, but they’re fast, and there’s a lot of them. Worst of all, the game will spam them near bottomless chasms, so beginners will need this trick (experts will have already memorized things).

Intentional Deaths: This won’t be used in this Deathless playthrough, but it’s a handy trick nonetheless. The game checkpoints you every screen, so you can just die and refill your health! You lose half your Ninpo though, and you get kicked back to the beginning of Acts ?-1, ?-2, or ?-3? (depending on where you’re at).

Screen-scrolling: If you can’t see the enemy, they don’t exist! They disappear the moment they leave the screen… Some don’t even respawn! So, you run away from them till the disappear. Can be helpful for certain enemy types!



THE CHARACTERS (All but one are in the 1st episode now, and it's a minor boss):

https://lpix.org/3851440/Ninja.png
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Alright, the fateful battle! Ryu vs Ashtar! Note that I was slightly off in regards to the "Art of the Fire Wheel" location. It's on one of those tricky platforms right outside Ashtar's room, not immediately next to it. It's risky enough to get that it's probably worth ignoring.

Also, I got this thumbnail from someone who wasn't the original artist. I tried to find out who did make it, to no avail. If I find him, I will ask for permission, then credit him in the description.

Image

Ninja Gaiden 2 NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Act 4-5)
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Alright guys, lots of new things to get used to! I got a new mic, so you'll want to tell me how it sounds while I can still return it! Also, I'm doing something different with Skaizo's audio. Let me know what you think!

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Ninja Gaiden 2 NES: No Death Walkthrough for Beginners (Act 6-7)
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

Fionordequester wrote:Also, I got this thumbnail from someone who wasn't the original artist. I tried to find out who did make it, to no avail. If I find him, I will ask for permission, then credit him in the description.

Image
Pretty sure that's Ryu vs The Masked Devil from NG1. Notice the pair of swords, the orbiting fireballs drawn exactly like Runmaru's official artwork, and the Wall Thingy clutched by monstrous claws. Ashtar wields the titular ANKOKU NO JASHIN KEN both times he and Ryu fight. :wink:

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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Yeah, I took some liberties with that one. I already had another good pic for the finale of Ninja Gaiden #1, so the one you posted would've gone to waste, otherwise.

So, I used it for Ryu vs Ashtar. The swordsman looked enough like Ashtar that it still worked, you know?
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BIL
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by BIL »

Oh neat, just realised you can see the crescent moon insignia of Devil's helmet in that piece. Appropriately inverted, even (treating his default position as facing left). Thought it was some weird-ass cowlick spike, haha. Killer work, detailed and furied. I'd love to track down the artist.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Blinge »

What AVGN can't beat... ie most things :lol:
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Re: Ninja Gaiden (what AVGN can't beat): No Death Walkthroug

Post by Fionordequester »

Lol, fair point :P . Speaking of beating things, it's time to wrap up #2!

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Final Battle & Ending
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