I've been trying to motivate myself to play Ninja Gaiden lately, and just that hasn't been easy.

It seems like the bosses are set up as wars of attrition. Some of them *might* have attacks that could kill you in a couple of hits, but you of course can heal. And they can take 30+ hits to kill, I think.

Oh, there may be some techniques that kill them faster, but how worthwhile is it to experiment? And I don't think this game even has a stage select. (Unless it unlocks upon beating) A 20+ hour long action game with no stage select? I think that's ridiculous. How are games supposed to be improving with technology, again? 15 years ago, you could replay any stage in Castlevania 3.


I think the original Castlevania (one of the first games, period, to have a good boss) got the balance for boss fights right: Anything more than 16 or so hits to kill a boss will make the fight seem drawn out and tedious.



How many mediocre games have I played this year? Even if it's not that many, games can be so long that playing one can be like watching 10 bad movies in a row.

"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."
-Orwell