Part 11: Ninja Gaiden II - Chapter 5

Ryu has fled the states and is now in an unspecified part of Europe that is very likely somewhere in Italy. It's a very nice, scenic location in comparison to the urban environment of New York. Except we got new fiends to deal with. Lychans, all being controlled by one of the greatest villains ever conceived in all of video games. This ninja's worldwide tour of violence continues.



Kusari-Gama
A Ninja weapon made from a sickle with chain and weight attached.

A weapon that can be easily summarized as "unique" and not sell it short in anyway. The Kusari-Gama is a chain with a sickle on one end and a weight on the other, and its stand out characteristic is the large variance in range that its attacks are capable of. If you're pressing light attacks, you'll attack at a very short range, but when a combo moves to a heavy attack, the chain starts flying everywhere. It's tricky due to the unpredictability, but it's still hella fun to use like everything else.


Gatling Spear Gun
A Gatling-type spear gun designed for underwater combat. It is practically useless on dry land.
Prime example of an OOPArt (out-of-place artifact), the Gatling Spear Gun was made in 10th-century Europe. It is fired by turning the handle, which engages a high-pressure water pump to force projectile spears out of its barrel. At first glance, one would expect the spears to be subject to extreme amounts of drag, but in fact they are able to "fly" through the water due to the phenomenon of supercavitation. The spears are loaded with explosive material and burst after hitting their target, shredding it from the inside out.

Itagaki one upped the spear gun from Ninja Gaiden 1 and made it a gatling weapon. What else needs to be said?


Art of the Flame Phoenix
This Ninpo summons the spirits of sacred Phoenixes to fly abuot the caster and protect him with their holy flame.
Phoenixes are associated with the element of fire and are well known for their ability to rise reborn from their own ashes. In Chinese Mythology, the Phoenix is one of the four creatures of good fortune and represents the concept of peace. With this Ninpo equipped, the caster can find peace even in the midst of a fierce battle.

This is meant to take the spot of Art of the Flame Wheels from the previous games, but the phoenixes don't juggle enemies when run into, and so it feels like a pretty poor defensive option. The least useful Ninpo by far.


Fiends

Lychans
The second big enemy type of the game, Lychans are a step up from the Vangelfs in terms of resilience. They got two color variants, but again this only denotes an even more slight difference in power and effectiveness. Regardless of which type you face, these enemies feel closer to what it was like fighting the Gallas in Ninja Gaiden 1. You can wail on them and get them to flinch, so long as they aren't during the wind up of an attack because there's no knocking them out of it save for the possibility of a delimbing. With the size of their frame and all, bigger weapons like the Lunar are ideal. Also, they can pick up the gibs from their fallen comrades and chuck them at you for damage.


Gajas
A race of mermaids corrupted by evil, these are literally the only fiend enemy in the game that can be Izuna Dropped. But they're still tricky to track, as their pincers aren't the biggest threat. In fact, their tail sweeps have quite a significant range to them, and have a command grab attached to them. Other than that, many of the strategies for facing the Black Spider Clan still largely apply. You just gotta be mindful of their specific follow ups.

Bosses

Water Dragon
The boss that made players back in the day curse the water running. This fight is fought entirely on water. You cannot stay on the initial platform once you're knocked off. Because of this, to reiterate what I demonstrate in the video, get out those Falcon's Talons and use every move you got to strike its neck and head, the latter being more susceptible to damage. He's only got a few moves to worry about though, which makes this boss about as limited as the water combat itself.

• The dragon will summon spike crystals that fly out in a arcade shmup style pattern. Jumping is one way to dodge part of them, but holding L trigger will make it possible to weave between each projectile, though it's not doable without luck or immense skill.
  
• When the dragon roars behind its back, this is a sign that ghost fish are gonna enter the arena. You cannot manage this fight without immediately removing the ghost fish from the arena, so do so with the Wind Blades
  
• If you're under the water and in front of the Water Dragon's range of attack, it will use its tendrils to stab you underwater, then fling you around the place.
  
• The water dragon will occasionally submerge itself to move to a different part of the arena. If you are directly in front of it when this happens, the dive will turn into a grab where the dragon bites Ryu and proceeds to munch on him.
  
• This last attack is more like two that both lead to the same result. One is the dragon roaring in Ryu's direction, and the other is whipping one of its tendrils. Both of these moves produce shockwaves across the water and are always followed up with the dragon lowering its head to Ryu's level, which makes it very easy to get a ton of damage in.