It has ninjas and big swords, so it must be cool. Right?

At least, that’s what From Software is hoping. Trying to come up with a list of “must have” games for the 360 in 2009, I came across the platform exclusive Ninja Blade. In concept, it sounded great: standard hack ‘n slash action starring a ninja, and it’s by the same team that brought us the Otogi series for the original Xbox. When the demo was posted on Live a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty excited to give it a try.

Until Ninja Blade revealed its first Quick Time Event (QTE) mere seconds into the game. After hearing some kind of pep talk from the leader of a group of sky-diving ninja, you jump out of plane and are immediately asked to “Press X to attack!”

What are you attacking? It’s not really obvious until after you see the animation of the winged demon-creature crumbling to molten ash under the stinging blade of your sword. At this point my hopes for the game suffered the exact same fate.

I imagine it was what I felt after being presented with the “dodge a boulder!” scene from the beginning of Resident Evil 4. Though Capcom had the audacity to mix up the buttons on each attempt, at least. And I think that’s what bothered me about Ninja Blade’s approach to QTEs. There’s always a second chance. In fact, there are unlimited chances: Ninja Blade will reset the scene and you can try it as many times as necessary to get it right. No dropping back to the previous checkpoint and having to repeat entire sections of game to get better at it. It just lets you try again.

Quick time events should be abolished. They do not belong in video games, especially as a core mechanic for an action game. Instead of skill to complete a sequence of moves, it requires you to obey what is shown on the screen and possess a meager collection of electrical signals shooting from your brain to that thumb on the X button. All of a sudden some complicated animation is shown and the gamer is happy. Look what I did!

None of this feels natural, because the player is no longer in control of the action. There are inherently limits in video games; there have to be rules to limit the scope of any game. But with QTEs, you are directly at the mercy of the game’s pacing, and are effectively being told how to play the game.

This is particularly prounounced in the fight against the giant spider Boss. Some video games still adhere to the conventions of boss fights. There is often an attack that must be dodged by recognizing the boss’s “tell” that he going to launch it. Or learning an attack pattern to find the weak spot and exploit it. It will take many tries to get this right, and then ultimately defeat them. But not in Ninja Blade. Not only did it focus on the target areas in a brief cutscene before the fight, they were the only areas that were accessible to hit. It may as well be another scripted event; it leaves no decision making on the part of the player. Just keep whacking that hot spot, you’ll defeat him eventually.

Ninja Blade isn’t completely uninspired, however. There are sequences where you can go wild with a katana or that big stone sword. It provides a sequence where you fly down the side of a skyscraper to get from one combat area to the next. The sense of scale and speed were perfect through this part of the demo.

But the enemies are far too generic, and while they’re some kind of infected horde they might as well be the burlap sack creatures from Devil May Cry 4. They feel too random, like a pack of wandering skinbags for you to slice up. Not an unstoppable force bent on your destruction. The enemies in Ninja Gaiden II (2008) are varied, and always on the attack whenever you appeared. The game was relentless. It presents bottleneck after bottleneck where you are the only obstacle in their way. Why do I feel like I have a choice to fight the creatures in Ninja Blade?

Nevertheless, the action in Ninja Blade is well scripted and fun to watch. The fight with the giant spider contained some action events involving a wrecking ball on top of a skyscraper. I’ll readily admit it elicited a “holy shit” from me. However, reading the limited number of reviews on the Japanese import, this is pretty representative of what the rest of the game has to offer. But I don’t want to watch a video game. I want to play it¹.

I really had this game built up in my mind (reawakened ninja obsession?), but after experiencing it I couldn’t figure out what this game was selling me. There was nothing there. Like Afro Samurai, it takes a winning concept (extremely violent swordplay) and panders to an audience that doesn’t want this type of game. If anything, Ninja Blade taught me to appreciate the stubbornness of Tomonobu Itagaki and Team Ninja to stick to classic video game design. It provides challenge in its purest form, and certainly a more entertaining experience than waiting for my turn to press the button.

Ninja Blade represents a corruption at the heart of video games. It is not part of a new genre, but an actual path forward for those that think games are too difficult, too long, or do not provide an easily digestible story (and for those that are keeping track, Ninja Blade has no story worth pursuing). It’s slowly happening, so those that think this is a legitimate entry into the action genre will accept it and move on to the next one, not even realizing they have been pressing the “Next” button in a slideshow.

Why shy away from a design that demands mastery of the controls and the core mechanics? This is what we grew up with, what we lived for. This reduction of player investment is not a noble pursuit. It is regression to a new mean.

1. Once again, I refer you to my review of Resident Evil 4. To this day I still cannot get over the praise heaped upon the game that effectively broke the franchise.