Team Ninja: Ninja Gaiden II is ‘already outdated’

Team Ninja: Ninja Gaiden II is ‘already outdated’
Martin Gaston Updated on by

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A rapidly evolving games industry has made 2008’s Ninja Gaiden II “outdated”, according to Ninja Gaiden 3 producer Yosuke Hayashi.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com via a translator at a London press event earlier today, Hayashi discussed how the team took criticisms of Ninja Gaiden II on board for the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 3.

“The good things we want to improve more and bad things we want to change,” he said. “Most of all, basically, for the previous series – Ninja Gaiden II is already outdated, I feel. That’s why, as you see, the industry evolution for game creation and game development already has been changed and paradigm shifted.

“That’s why it’s important for Ninja Gaiden III – we want to have it brand new, and we’re going to create a Ninja Gaiden 3 from full scratch and change the paradigm.”

While Hayashi wasn’t prepared to talk much about Ninja Gaiden 3 ahead of more detailed announcements at GDC and E3, he did let us know a little about Team Ninja’s approach to the multi-platform title.

“Overviewing Ninja Gaiden starting from Ninja Gaiden 1”, he said. “1 is more focussed on cutting people with the sword and katana, and [referring to Ninja Gaiden II’s copious buckets of gore] in the second we challenged the expression after cutting”

For the third game, however, Team Ninja is “focusing more on how to cut people, and the sense of cutting.”

Hayashi also revealed that Team Ninja intends to show series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa as “a Japanese dark hero” this time around.