Back when Itagaki was at the helm, Team Ninja was riding high. Say what you will aboutDead or Alivebut it made an impact on the 3D fighter market in the ’90s, andNinja Gaiden‘s pristine reboot? Say no more. But after he left, they started to really suffer.Ninja Gaiden 3was a disaster,Other Mwas poorly recieved, theDead or Aliveseries lost its luster for many, and to top it all off, they co-developedYaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z.
It was a fall from grace, but they’ve been slowly currying favor these past few years with co-development onHyrule Warriors, theDissidia Final Fantasyarcade project, and of course, the entirely Team Ninja developedNioh. The latter is really important, as they’ve created the western samurai simulator all on their own, and after going through two well received betas, it’s clear that it will deliver the goods.
I really want Team Ninja to stick around, as we don’t have enough technical action directors around anymore. From Software is moving away fromSouls, Platinum Games has been splitting time between original projects and licensed moneymakers, and Capcom is too busy remaking games to give us another properDevil May Cry. No to mention — Itagaki’s new studio fumbled out of the gate and may never recover. The more the merrier.
