Hayashi from Team NINJA here. The last few weeks since our last post have been extremely busy for our team, putting the final touches on the game. This is our first attempt in releasing our game simultaneously in all three regions, but we’re confident we can make it happen.

We’re excited to see the response and feedback to the all-new Team Missions mode (and everything else we’ve shared so far), and today I’d like to introduce two additional, new features of the game.

The first reveal is Chapter Challenge Mode. The mode will become available once you clear Story Mode – you can go back to your favorite chapter and replay to compete with fellow ninjas around the world for the highest Karma score. After clearing the chapter, you will be ranked based on your total Karma score. The highest rank – of course – is “MASTER NINJA” and the lowest is “NINJA DOG”. You also have the option to review your gameplay in Ninja Cinema (which is also available in Team Missions) and share your videos online and download videos of other players. Online rankings are sorted by chapter and difficulty level. It’s entirely up to you whether you want to rank in all difficulty levels or master a certain chapter…just be ready for the challenge!

The second reveal is Ninja Records. In order to keep up with how well (or bad…) you’re performing, we figured it would be nice to have a place where you can view your complete stats from fastest mission time, number of enemies defeated, numbers of Izuna drops, maximum combos, rescues, character usage rate in Team Missions mode, number of playthroughs…and more. Ninja Records will keep track of your moves performed in both Story Mode and Team Missions. You’ll be able to pull it up anytime from the title menu screen, so use it to learn more about your own play style. The best part of this is that you can also share your stats online!

Another piece of good news – that’s not directly related to the game but still exciting – is we’ll be adding an official soundtrack, packed with over 30 tracks, to our Collector’s Edition! That’s in addition to the 80-page exclusive book that features a prologue comic, mini-strategy guide and art gallery. Check this out:

BTW, have you seen our Japanese viral ads? I’d like to take a vote and see which one gets more attention…

Last but not least…the GameStop exclusive pre-order costume looks like this:

More to come in the next post!

Ayane

1. The dagger with the iris is stuck on the bridge
2. Team NINJA logo on the side of the flying vehicle (the left one)
3. One less bump on the Buddha’s head

Rachel

1. A scar on the Buddha’s cheek (hammer attack by Rachel)
2. Bullet cases on the bridge (instead of flower petals)
3. Bullet holes on the handrail of the bridge

Momiji

1. A good luck charm on the handrail of the bridge
2. Maple leaves (instead of flower petals)
3. Ryu’s image (looks like a billboard advertisement) on the lower level of the red tower

In the previous post (and ever since we announced Sigma 2 back in March), there were many comments about the violence/gore level in this game compared to NGII, which we released over a year ago on the 360. As in our response, our goal is to create one of most challenging action games and we believe that can be achieved without all of attention going to the amount of blood that is used throughout the game. (Not to mention the fact that ESRB advertising guidelines do NOT allow decapitation in trailers even if the game is rated “M” for Mature, so we haven’t been able to include any footage of that in our trailers…dismemberment is allowed, but no decapitation.)

Going back to the playable characters in Sigma 2, we’re going to give them some flavor by throwing in some costumes! Ryu and Rachel will each have four unlockable costumes, while Ayane and Momiji will have two.

A sample of the costumes are:

Ryu: “Falcon” (from Ninja Gaiden II), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Ayane: “Ninja Gaiden Sigma” (from Ninja Gaiden Sigma), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Momiji: “Training” (from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Rachel: “Long Flowing” (from Ninja Gaiden Sigma), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Speaking of unlockables, there will be over 50 trophies to earn in Sigma 2: 38 bronze, 10 silver, 2 gold and 1 platinum. And for those who played NGII, yes, there are new trophies in Sigma 2 which involve the new playable characters as well as the co-op mode.

Now, onto the all-new “Team Missions” co-op mode. We introduced “Mission Mode” in the original Sigma where the goal was to simply destroy all enemies in sight…but that was you playing alone. In TEAM Missions (no “I” in TEAM!), it’s all about teamwork (2 players; Online 1P+1P or Offline 1P+CPU) and how well you perform with another partner. There are more than 30 missions, categorized by difficulty level. Once you select your mission, you then select your character’s weapon, ninpo and costume. In Team Missions, you are prohibited from using items and may not change weapons. You will encounter situations that do not occur in Story Mode, such as facing multiple bosses at once!

The rule is simple: if one of the two players dies, it’s game over. Team up with your partner to execute an Ultimate Ninpo attack, where players, if timed right, can combine their Ninpo attacks for superior destructible power against the enemies. A warning will go off when your partner is low on health, so get closer and rescue them using the Critical Save command.

If you decide not to team up with another fellow Sigma 2 player, you can play alone, using an AI-controlled character. Partner up with a friend or other super ninjas around the world and take on the toughest challenges. Here’s a look at Team Missions in action:

In Team Missions, you and your partner can select the same character, so it will be possible to play missions with two Ryus, two Ayanes and so on. Since there are different difficulty levels, I encourage everybody to beat them all for ultimate ninja bragging rights! To prove those bragging rights, you can view your playthrough in Ninja Cinema (available for Team Missions) and share it online. To view, you will be prompted to save the record at the end of each mission. Your Karma points and rankings will also be available to view online.

So, when will all of this be available, you ask? September 29. Not only that, but we also have a GameStop-exclusive pre-order costume that will be available to download via PSN at the time of launch, as well as a special Collector’s Edition package! The Collector’s Edition package will include an 80-page book featuring a “Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Prologue” comic, a mini-strategy guide and an art gallery. The comic, written and designed by Team NINJA’s artist, is actually a printed form of the digital comic that has been integrated into the game. Here’s a peek:

We’ll be sharing details on a few more new features next time, so stay tuned!

Since this is the PlayStation Blog, I’m going to refrain from comparing Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360). All you really need to know is that this isn’t just a port and this will be the most complete Ninja Gaiden game released to date. Team NINJA has put out five Ninja Gaiden games in five years and we are confident that this is THE one you want to play and own!

Today, I’d like provide a quick overview on our three sexy, female PLAYABLE characters: Rachel, Ayane, and Momiji.

Rachel: Strong and powerful. Signature weapon – War Hammer. New weapon – Machine Gun!

Ayane: Young, purple-haired female ninja from the Dead or Alive series. Quick. Weapons – Dual short swords and a dagger with a pinwheel carrying her signature iris.

Momiji: Heroine from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, who trained under Ryu. How much sexier can a female ninja get? Weapons – Naginata long sword and bow. Check out this video of Momiji:

Each character has its own unique set of weapons, moves and ninpos. If you thought you mastered Ryu, that won’t be enough in Sigma 2! There are plenty of melee and projectile weapons to unlock along the way.

Here’s some fun until next time: On the cover of PlayStation: The Official Magazine’s May 2009 issue, there’s an image of Ryu with his sword standing in the urban landscape. Our artists decided to do a version featuring each of female characters, all for you to download, available exclusively on the PlayStation Blog. We wanted to have some fun with the images, so each picture has three “things” that are different from Ryu’s image. Since Ninja Gaiden is known to have a high difficulty level, this challenge is no different. Some of the differences in the pictures may be unnoticeable to the naked eye, so download the images, look closely, and have fun!