Game Review #1

A game I’ve played recently is Ninja Arashi. It is a silhouette-based platformer game for mobile devices. You play the title character as you travel far and wide to search for your son, who has been kidnapped by your sworn enemy, Orochi.

A meaningful moment in the game is the final battle with Orochi. When I finally reached this level, I knew all of my time spent playing this game was finally going to pay off. To my excitement, I had guessed correctly. The gameplay of this level is what stood out to me the most. All of the abilities I had acquired and honed throughout the game were necessary in this battle. The final battle was not easy, as you may have guessed. Though there was a pattern in the attacks that I could see, it took me a while to learn it, and react accordingly.

This game is known for ramping up the difficulty throughout its levels, so this final battle was a challenge. What made the level dramatic was the variety of attacks that Orochi possessed. He had a ground attack, a slash attack, a shield, and a wide range attack. As with every level of Ninja Arashi, I used trial and error to navigate the levels. This level was no different, and I knew I had to use trial and error once again. I studied the attack patterns, remembering what worked, and discarding what didn’t work. This strategy had never failed me before, so I decided it would work in this situation. Through trial and error, I had figured out the pattern; double-jump to avoid Orochi’s ground attack, throw shurikens to destroy his shield, use the katana slash when he was idle, and double-jump to avoid his wide range attack. Through studying the pattern and using trial and error, I eventually defeated Orochi.

This strategy of trial and error worked because there was a definite pattern to the gameplay. I knew this, as it was present in every other level, and I had successfully deciphered this level’s pattern and completed the game. I was proud of myself for persevering, for not giving up. I was also pleased with the gameplay of the final battle. Based on my experience, this game successfully incorporated all of the skills the player used. I had finally completed the game using the skills I was equipped with, along with the same strategy I had employed throughout the experience: trial and error.