It *is* about learning. Danc has an interesting essay on the subject, available on GamaSutra, which I happened to read a while ago. As it goes, your brain rewards you with pleasure every time you test a hypothesis and you were right. So when you figure, “hmm, if I press this button, the plumber jumps. My head hits that platform. I wonder what happens if I jump at it from the side…”, that’s your brain trying to find a way to reward you with preciousssss chemicalssss. Yeah, baby, yeah.
I guess that’s what I find off-putting about Ninja Gaiden Sigma’s bosses.
I’ve faced just a couple of them, so far, and I haven’t played any of the XBox versions… But I don’t feel like I’m learning anything. I mean, the boss fights in Metroid Prime (GC) and Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) were relatively easy, but that’s ok — ’cause it took learning to defeat them. “Oh, look, a stalk. Let’s throw the boomerang. Right! It worked. Wait, what’s that? Hmmm, how do I… The sword doesn’t work… Arrows don’t hit it, hmmm… Maybe… Wait, the grapple has a target there, but he shakes it off… Maybe if I *first* put off the flames, and *then* grab his ankle… Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Again — not hard — but interesting. I even faced some Game Overs in Metroid Prime — one for each boss — and then I’d be able to defeat them at my second try.
In Ninja Gaiden, so far, I’ve faced the nunchuk boss at the prologue; the riding boss at the bridge at the end of the first stage; and the fat lightning boss at the end of the zeppellin. And frankly, I don’t get it. I don’t understand how they work. It’s been a mindless drivel to kill them. I didn’t even save the game after getting past fatso. Let’s see if I can break it down.
You get to the top of the zeppellin and there’s this huge fat guy in the middle of the stage. He laughs as you run towards him, and zaps you with his monster thunderbolt gun. Ouch. You lose a chunk of energy and try again. Zap it goes. “Ok, let’s try a different approach”. You try circling him. He laughs a bit and… zap. If you try jumping, zap. Rolling? Zap. His shots are precise and seemingly unavoidable. “Wow, this guy is *tough*!”, you think, taking another healing potion (2 or 3 shots will get you down to a shred of your health, so you drink up). Time to try something else. Shoot some arrows at him. Clink, clink, no effect. Shurikens? Nothing happens — but you already knew that would happen. You have one magic use ready. Let’s try putting up a flame barrier ninpo and run towards him… Zap. There goes my ninpo. Ok. Ok. Think, Pedro, think.
At some point, he gathers energy as you’re trying to rush him again. Blows a huge bubble/barrier/shield/sphere of energy. Almost kills you, but opens his defense a second after. “This is it!” Rush towards him, dual swords equipped, and slash away. Zap. As you get up, all the way across the stage, you look at his health bar and realize he did take damage. Try again. Slash-slash. Zap. But it *is* working. Drink another potion and let’s go. Slash-slash, zap-zap, glub-glub. Slash-slash, zap-zap, glub-glub. Slash-slash… and he’s down.
What just happened? I mean, I’m past the stage. Success. Hooray. BUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Was that it? Slashing away with no way to avoid the boss’ attacks? Give me a break.
Frankly, I didn’t even save the game. I figure I’ll try again. There MUST be some intelligent way to defeat this guy. I must be missing something. But I do feel like I’ve tried using all the tools at my disposal. Defending didn’t work, just as dodging, shooting, feinting, waiting, or casting. Maybe I should have bought the wooden sword, that would have given me an “edge” (no pun intended) against electricity, as opposed to the metal ones? Maybe I needed another spell? What am I missing? I’ll look at a FAQ as an ultimate resource, but frankly, should I need to?
I live to learn, and now I even know why. Give me something to figure out and I’m happy.
