Difficulty curve is busted.

[johnnybleu]

Ok, so I'm new to the series, and kind of trash at 3D action games, so for my first attempt I chose Way of the Acolyte. Honestly, it was kind of easy-- I didn't die a lot, and rarely used healing items.

I had a blast, so I do another run on Way of the Warrior. A rocky start, but I gain my footing and manage to beat the game without too much trouble (a few rough spots, but still flush with healing items the whole way).

So then I decided it's time for Way of the Mentor, and HOLY HELL, it's completely insane. The difficulty just shoots off the charts, and NOTHING I played through could have prepared me for this. I know I'm supposed to "git gud", but apparently I've been splashing around in a kiddy pool with the "hard" difficulty. It doesn't even feel like the same game-- I died WAY more on that one encounter right before the Lunar Staff than in both my two previous runs combined. Honestly, I don't even know if I can beat the first chapter at this point.

The challenge doesn't ramp up evenly with every level; it goes from 2 to 3 to 28 suddenly. Way of the Mentor is orders of magnitude more difficult than Way of the Warrior.

[Kenshiro3]

Lol welcome to mentor. It'll make you mental. There's a reason I don't go above Warrior.

[Skwall]

Mentor is where the game really starts lol
Don't worry the first chapters may be tough, but starting from chap 4 it gets much easier. You'll get more resources and will be able to buy a lot more heal items.

My advices:
- Always move and hold block
- Use i-frames (X + A, Flying Swallow, etc), ninpos when in trouble
- Use Izuna Drop
- XXY -> Shuriken Cancel -> OT
- Spam charged UT and cancel animation when jumping
- When you get the tonfas, stick with it, the UT is awesome against human enemies, and its one of the best weapon overall.
- If you get stuck on a pack of enemies, keep on going and don't give up, at some point you'll get over it !

[johnnybleu]

Yeah, I noticed on my first two runs that the first chapter is actually one of the tougher parts of the game. I'll keep at it for a while (thanks for the tips, by the way), but this is a true test of my skills.

Suddenly, all the "quirks" of the game (wonky targeting, psychotic camera, etc.) become a HUGE liability and are way more frustrating.

[Wehzy]

Thats how its supposed to be. Normal playthrough is just there so you can learn the basics of the game and then you should up the difficult with every new playthrough.

Master Ninja tho... is a total different world. I remember back in the day i took me like 150 hours for my MN playthrough.. I wonder how im gonna perform nowadays.

[puppet74]

Everything before Mentor is tutorial mode. I know it sounds like ur typical " haha ur bad at the game , you just beat easy mode" but it really is like that on this game.

Prior mentor the game just teaches you how to do basic combos, how to beat bosses , there move sets and where hidden items are. Mentor is where you start to learn how to abuse iFrames, figuring out combos that give you iframes, combos that finish mobs asap, and ways to beat bosses that are pretty much cheese. But all these things need to be learnt so once you get to master ninja you need all those things just to not die in 2 seconds, and i mean 2 seconds lol.

Thats why this game is great, it makes you get good, it makes you learn the game in a way many games just dont know how.

[johnnybleu]

Yeah, I guess I was just not ready for the crazy jump in difficulty. Honestly, I think hard mode should be harder, because it does a poor job of preparing you for Mentor. You can get a way with a lot of mistakes that will get you killed REAL quick-- as I'm finding out.

That said, I'm still grinding away. It's a lot of fun trying to figure out how to deal with each encounter, even if I have to try like a dozen times. ;)

I just started Chapter 3-- let's see how far I can get.

[Rikuto01]

Originally posted by johnnybleu:

Yeah, I guess I was just not ready for the crazy jump in difficulty. Honestly, I think hard mode should be harder, because it does a poor job of preparing you for Mentor. You can get a way with a lot of mistakes that will get you killed REAL quick-- as I'm finding out.

That said, I'm still grinding away. It's a lot of fun trying to figure out how to deal with each encounter, even if I have to try like a dozen times. ;)

I just started Chapter 3-- let's see how far I can get.

Finishing on Mentor will put hair on your chest. Finishing on Master will get you hired as a Canadian lumberjack.

Seriously, modern games don't even dare to push you the way NG does. Team Ninja wasn't messing around back in the day.

[sillyskeleton]

You'll acclimate to the difficulty after a few chapters. My first run was on Mentor and some parts are a real slog to get through, but you learn quick what works and what doesn't.

Learning to avoid damage is the name of the game from here on, so block whenever you aren't moving, keep moving with dodges and jumps, use shurikens to stun enemies out of attack animations (especially handy for the mages and rocket ninja) or to open them up for engagement and try to pick off enemies when they aren't grouped up or surrounding you.

[Thanous]

Just takes time, mentor is easy for me now, master ninja is still to hard. I actually dont think I will ever beat this on master ninja because of the girl levels. I cant stand them, every time I get to chapter 5 I turn if off.

[puppet74]

Originally posted by Thanous:

Just takes time, mentor is easy for me now, master ninja is still to hard. I actually dont think I will ever beat this on master ninja because of the girl levels. I cant stand them, every time I get to chapter 5 I turn if off.

to be honest you should have the option to skip those levels and just dot he core game that was in the original. the female lvls are always harder as there move sets on master ninja are just awful

[Thanous]

Originally posted by puppet74:

Originally posted by Thanous:

Just takes time, mentor is easy for me now, master ninja is still to hard. I actually dont think I will ever beat this on master ninja because of the girl levels. I cant stand them, every time I get to chapter 5 I turn if off.

to be honest you should have the option to skip those levels and just dot he core game that was in the original. the female lvls are always harder as there move sets on master ninja are just awful

They dont do enough damage in the higher levels, the market level on mentor with the purple haired girl was torture

[Phishfood]

and then Mentor to Master Ninja is just a small jump.

[johnnybleu]

Originally posted by Phishfood:

and then Mentor to Master Ninja is just a small jump.

That's kind of what I assumed. I knew this game was brutal on Master Ninja, but I wasn't expecting to get schooled so hard on Mentor. Feels like Warrior should be a bit harder, Mentor should be a bit easier, and leave Master Ninja as the peak of difficulty-- that way it's a smoother climb to the top.

But that's just me. ;)

[' Æsir]

Actually it's not a small jump from Mentor do Master Ninja. It's a huge leap.

Mentor isn't punishing, Master Ninja is. A lot of hit-kills. More aggressive enemies. The most powerful versions of them since the beginning etc.

Your best friend is the Ultimate Technique. Without UTs you're not going anywhere. Spam it all the time. All the freaking time. Use the orbs enemies drop after death for that. Keep holding defense button so you don't absorb them accidentaly. During the fights, move around keeping defense button pressed, use the left analog stick to move, you have to keep pulling or pushing it. To absorb the orbs for UTs while keeping the defense button pressed, you have to jump and them on land you press and hold triangle.

Tonfa's UT is the best weapon in the game for normal encounters. For bosses it's not.

For bosses things are simple:

The two "Spider" bosses: Lunar (UT)
Genshin: Lunar with Izuna Drop
Giant ogre bosses: Dragon Sword
Alexis: Dragon Sword
Skeleton boss: Dragon Sword until he falls down, then Lunar between his legs
Volf: Dragon Sword or Lunar
Zedonius: Lunar (UT)
Elizebet: Scythe (UT when she's on the ground)
Marbus: Dragon Sword or any you desire
Fiend Genshin: Dragon Sword or Kusari Gama midair
Dagra Dai: Lunar (UT)
The Archfiend 1: arrows
The Archfiend 2: Dragon Sword or Blade of the Archfiend

I'd rather the Dragon Sword because it's easier to control how long the combos will last and provides good damage

[Jabooti]

I noticed that too brother. I beat the entire game 2 times and didn't die once until I played mentor. Then I died a hundred times or so. I feel like when the enemies start spamming projectiles is when the difficulty ramps up. Starting my master ninja run soon. I'll have to spam UT's and obliterations to stand a chance.