What a difference a game makes.
Somewhere in my house there’s an excellent book called Difficult Questions About Video Games.
It’s a collection of testimony from players and designers and it covers all kinds of fascinating things.
Here’s something that occurred to me almost immediately.
Remember how heavy Gears of War felt when it came out?
There was no doubting the developers' intentions.
Ninja Gaiden’s very different, of course.
It’s trying to create a sensation of speed and whispery lightness, an air of nimble mastery.
Firstly, I think there’s a clever bit of sensory confusion going on.
Ryu’s big, but his audio absolutely doesn’t match his size.
And these animations count.
His frame contains a lot of potential power at all times.
I suspect his slowish walking speed is another trick, too.
It’s there to make the combat feel faster.
Two other things I’ve noticed about combat here.
And something else: attacking is forward-movement in Ninja Gaiden.
Every strike shunts Ryu forwards just a little.
is three little steps and then a bigger one.
But for now, the sheer embodiment the game conjures feels like a magic trick.
It reminds me, weirdly, of when I first had my hearing aid fitted.
(Stay with me here.)
I went outside and Brighton was suddenly transformed into bird song.
Birds everywhere, but I just hadn’t heard them in years.
That’s what it’s like coming back to Ninja Gaiden all this time.
It’s the bird song that had disappeared but is suddenly everywhere again.
