Part 33: Ninja Gaiden Black: Chapter 14

When I first saw the ghost fish that were in the game, they just kind of floated around near Ryu and they didn't do anything. I looked at the guy who worked on this and I said, "What is this; what's the point?" And he said it was "for atmosphere." I said, "This is an action game. You can't just put something in there for atmosphere that is taking up memory and disc space. You either take it out or make it an enemy and do what I say because this is an action game." That's how that enemy came into being. I felt it was ridiculous to have an object in an area where there are no other enemies.
- Tomonobu Itagaki

Ghost Fish are present in this video. You have been warned.


Fiends

Ghost Fish
Every Ninja Gaiden player's most despised enemies, Ghost Fish move fast, fly at Ryu from every angle, and will latch onto and bite him for health. And what's worse is that every Fish acts indepentently and can cause huge losses in health just because they don't stop coming in all directions. Even when you mash out of their grip, they'll still home in at the first sign of their being any vulnerability. But there's one important trick to beating them, and that is the Flails.

Ayane mentions them in her scroll as the game intends for it to be the most efficient at disposing of them, but even when you finish a full combo the nearest ghost fish will just start the cycle of pain all over. But the trick to beating them is to start a combo but do not finish it. Rather, you cancel out of it with a jump, press X to swipe at all the ghost fish coming at you (they cannot grab you midair, thank god), and upon landing, mash that attack button again and repeat till dead. Soon, the most annoying and potentially hyper lethal enemies go down with ease and produce a ton of essence due to the high hit combos generated in each encounter. That's all it takes. Simple really.

Bosses

Spirit Doku
Doku's got one last fight in him, but without his physical body. He retains almost all of his original attacks, and moves quickly across the arena due to being a spirit. He is pretty much fought the exact same way, but you'll likely get more consistent hits in as his defense is slightly weaker. Lastly, he loses the ground shockwave and flame breath moves in exchange for a new grab attack. Sometimes instead of throwing his sword like a boomerang, he'll throw out his other arm to grab you from any distance, and then pull you to him for a devastating combo. It can be saved though, if you get grabbed hammer on the buttons to break free from his grip. And that's pretty much all the major differences.


Maps


Kunai Scroll


Archives