Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Guide

It has been a while since I blogged about games but recently I just picked up Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge and I would like to talk about it. If you have played other Ninja Gaiden games, you should know by now that the people at Tecmo is crazy and they designed games that are not to be enjoyed but to drive you mad. :p NG3:RE is a remake (or some kinda service pack) for the previous NG3 which received heavy criticism for its toned down gameplay and lack of weapons and ninpo (out-of-the-box). NG3:RE fixes that up with better pacing, higher difficulty, more blood and dismemberment. *LOL* I personally find the previous NG3 an OK game but NG3:RE is really a beast! I'm not gonna review the game. It gets 5/5 stars for testing your patience, skills and reflexes - and a sure cause for making you throw your controller at your TV (please don't do that). I'm just gonna share some of the tips and tricks I discovered while trying to play this game without going insane.

This game is still enjoyable on Hero difficulty (n00b), where I noticed it automatically blocks certain attacks for you. Playing it on Normal or Hard should get your adrenalin pumping. Playing it on Master Ninja or Ultimate Ninja will make you lose a lot of hair.

Block, Dash, Jump, Run
The most basic key to surviving in this game is to block attacks and dash away. You can't keep blocking as enemies will break your blocks after a while causing you to stun. So you need to pair blocking with dashing away. In some situations, run away! You can wall run or jump away from a crowd of enemies to avoid getting bashed. Later in the game when you purchase the skill, you can attempt to parry attacks.

You cannot button mash in this game. The enemies do not stand there and do nothing while you slash up their friends. They will interrupt you, catch you, throw you and blow you up to pieces.

Steel on Bone
This is an instant-kill move on enemies. To execute this, you need to spot enemies when they glow in red (for a split second) and you hit them with the heavy attack (Y) button. When enemies glow in red, they are most likely trying to execute their heavy damage attack. So you need to master the timing or you will lose a lot of health if you get hit by them. When you have master your block and dash, try to dash away from enemies who are glowing red and dash back for the kill. You can also perform this on some bosses but it won't kill them.

Landing a Steel on Bone allows you to chain up to a maximum of 4 instant-kills (sometimes depending on your weapon level).

Obliterate and Ultimate Technique
Do not let amputated enemies roam around or they will caught you off guard and perform a kamikaze move on you. When you see any enemies without an arm or leg, move in to obliterate (Y) them. Also try to jump away or backtrack a little for distance to charge your Ultimate Technique (hold Y). Both of these moves give you temporary invulnerability.

Spider Tank
Everyone gets pwned by the Spider Tank at first. You get to face one not long after the first checkpoint in Day 1. The tip to a successful Spider Tank kill without frustration is to first knock-off the shielding on all four of it's legs without severing them off first. It is easier said than done but if you accidentally get into a quick-time event, simply don't press the button to severe off the leg (remember to jump away after that).

The reason for this is that the Spider Tank doesn't go into berserk mode and start its barrage of attacks when all four of its legs are intact. Once you knock off the shielding on all four legs, you can start severing them off one-by-one (using the quick-time event for invulnerability).

You also need to constantly listen for the cue on where it is going to fire a rocket at you to jump away.

The dual Spider Tank on Day 7 don't follow this rule. They go berserk no matter how.

Eclipse Scythe and Lunar Staff
These two are the most important weapons in the game. Make sure you save enough karma to upgrade them. Most boss fights require the Eclipse Scythe spam XXYYY (fast, fast, heavy, heavy, heavy) to win. To defeat the Regent of the Mask or Theodore, you can spam Full-circle left analog stick + Y. The Lunar Staff makes clearing fast-moving-enemy crowds easier i.e. the last stage when fighting Canna and quickly fills up your Ki gauge for your ninpo.

Izuna Drop
All weapons (and character) allow you to perform the Izuna Drop (or some variant). Most of the time it is XYXXXY but sometimes it is less one X in between. Experiment with it a little. You can use the Izuna drop for a breather as you take enemies up to the air to pummel them (without their buddies poking your back).

Meditation
You can use the Meditation skill (Hold left analog stick) to recharge your health bar to the maximum length with your Ki. If you have the True Inferno ninpo which has a long Ki gauge, you can treat that like a secondary health bar. So make sure you purchase this skill.

Golden Scarabs
Make sure you find all the 50 Golden Scarabs to unlock stuffs i.e. the True Inferno ninpo.

Shuriken
Use Shurikens to interrupt your enemies especially those rocket launchers or archers. They don't do much damage so you can forget about using them to kill anything. Just use them to temporary stun enemies while you move in closer for the kill.

Archers and Enemies with Rocket Launchers
Always kill them first - nuff said!

Just run through
This game's completion achievement does not stack and it requires you to play it over and over again with different characters as well. If you just wanna cruise through the game, you don't have to fight every enemy. Just run through the sections until there is no where else to run and then fight those wave of enemies. The earlier wave of enemies do not move over to other sections.

If you are playing on story mode, skipping enemies will net you lesser karma and you will be out of points to purchase any skills/weapons.

Health Extensions
When you have the ability to purchase Health extensions, stop the temptation to purchase it immediately. Hold on until you really need it. Purchasing health extensions also replenishes the Health bar on the spot so you may want to save them until sections or boss fights where you really really can't pass.

I recommend reserving at least 2 health extensions before attempting Day 7 and Day 8 on higher difficulties (and make sure you have enough karma to buy them when you need them!)

Don't Fight a Boss with a Short Health Bar
Unless you are a pro or have high reflexes, don't try to fight a boss when you have a short health bar. You may be spending hours and hours getting frustrated. Just load back the previous checkpoint and try to do better on defeating the little enemies before reaching the boss and take on the boss with a longer health bar. Also remember, you can replenish your Health bar with the Meditation skill - since most ninpo don't harm bosses that much, you can put your Ki to better use.

Bow and Arrow
You can actually use arrows to kill off enemies at long distance i.e. rocket launchers. You can actually charge up your bow or see cloaked enemies by holding LB. You can also go into the "Between the Eye" mode for a zoomed-in-slow-mo by pressing the right analog stick. Use quick targeting (tap LB) to quickly dispose off or interrupt any flying enemies.

So there you have it. I hope it helps you in trying to become a virtual ninja *LOL* Off I go to attempt to complete the Master Ninja difficulty and hopefully, can survive through Ultimate Ninja.