Ninjala is Nintendo’s latest foray into the F2P market and I won’t lie, at first I wrote it off. I’ve never been one for Splatoon’s aesthetic or shooter adjacent gameplay and upon first glance Ninjala seemed to be offering more of that in spades. The cartoon avatars have always looked like what would happen if Nickelodeon decided to make a video game that wasn’t absolute shit. I’m sorry to Rocket Power on the gamecube, I love you but if we’re being real…
But if anybody knows me, they know how I am about any game that gives me the opportunity to throw hands. So when my girl downloaded the game to our switch and insisted I try it out, I figured it couldn’t hurt. It did. It hurt my pride a lot.
I wasn’t about to go out like that. Nah! Especially not to any weeby ass wannabe Kakashi reject. Nobody that look like Boruto in the face is gonna wash me bro. Not for long. I hit the lab and discovered that even though this game is simple, its more complex than some would have you believe. If you don’t know how to play and you step to me, you will get thrown across the battlefield. That’s why I’m here to help. I only wish to meet competent warriors on the battlefield.
The easiest way to explain ninjala is fast paced Rock, Paper, Scissors and that’s gonna push some people away. Fighting games have notoriously high skill ceilings so the idea that fights can come down to random chance can be off putting. After putting some time into Ninjala tho, that’s not exactly the case. There are a good amount of mechanics to augment combat that are very easy for a newcomer to overlook and get molliwhopped because of it.
But you have to know the Rock Paper Scissors aspect to be able to play. There are three basic attack types. Front, side, and back. You switch between these by moving the L stick on the joycon in the corresponding direction. Front attacks beat side attacks but lose to back attacks. Back attacks beat front, but lose to side. Side attacks are effective against back attacks, but lose to normal. If you can remember these you’re off to a good start but you are not equipped to fight and win as some scrubs would have you believe.
There are 4 weapons to choose from nowadays since the latest update , each with four variations. There's the swords, the hammers, the yo-yo like trick ball, and the skateboard. Your playstyle will vary a bit depending on what you choose but not by much. I’m a hammer main and I've been having fun watching all these trick ballers use their weapons wrong and run right into me. I’d argue that trick ballers have to utilize their distance, but so many players attack me head on not realizing hammers are close range counter attack weapons. It makes for some satisfying ippons when someone gets too bold.
When two people attack with the same direction it starts a clash. At first it may be a bit difficult to tell whats going on here but again it is more of the same rock, paper, scissors. You’re looking to choose the winning direction against your opponent. If you both choose the same attack again, you simply clash another time. This continues until there’s a winner and in these situations, you end up with an IPPON.
There are other things in battle that you are going to need to do in order to swat the competition away like flies. The first thing is obvious but youd be surprised how many people dont do it and get destroyed. Lock On. Press the R stick on the joycon down and it will lock on. Do the same to the L Stick and you’ll switch targets. This is super useful when you’re surrounded or when you want to make sure that you’ll hit your Gum Ninjutsu, which is the most powerful attack in your arsenal. It varies by weapon so experiment and let me know if you eventually want to see guides on these things.
To defend you need to blow bubbles with your L trigger. The bubble can stop most incoming attacks, barring guard breaks, specials, and gum ninjutsu. So remember these are your options if you find a player that likes to turtle. It can also be used offensively using Gum Shoot. Gum Shoot is another varying class based technique that turns your defensive bubble into a projectile with varying properties.
S Burst is an advanced defensive technique that requires at least 5 bars of S energy. If you find yourself on the receiving end of a carnival style juggle, you can hit this and get a chance to breathe. Be careful though, because if your guard is broken here, your weapon breaks as well.
There is a base dash button assigned to the left bumper that can be good for quick movement. Note that this consumes a bar of S-energy.In order to create distance you can use a modified version of this by blowing a defensive bubble and then dashing. For more offensive players, this can be use to close distance to gain the upper hand. This technique uses 3 bars of your S energy however, so you definitely think before using this one.
When things get hairy or maybe even after you’ve fought off a strong opponent, you can use gum morphing to hide and regain your health. It allows you to turn into a random object and bamboozle your opponents. Maybe even get the drop on them.
Now here’s where I want to talk about customization, and I wanted to do so without talking about Ninjala’s monetization methods but the two are so closely tied that that would be impossible. Everything available to you is so basic . Once you choose whether you’re a boy or girl, you can change your hair and maybe even add a few accessories. There are some cool outfits that you’ll see floating around but you’ll get none of the good stuff without dropping some cash. Being that this is a free to play title, and a quality one at that, this isn’t some kind of deal breaker for me. I realize the company has to make money somehow. I do however wish that players were given a bit more to work with initially. I mean come on, we start with one outfit with two variations, baggy or devastatingly tight. The lobbies most times look like a boy band with one lead singer who obviously has the bank to buy himself a gucci ninja bucket hat.
In addition, the gum system is just plain bullshit. Items can have different gums which are essentially skins. That’s cool and even to be expected, except for the fact that these skins are one time use. Destiny 2 got chewed out for this when they applied this to their shaders, and after significant fan backlash, reversed that business decision. No matter how much people love Nintendo, I don’t think anyone can justify one time use cosmetics in a multiplayer game in 2020. You can acquire these gums through a gumball machine which is just another way to say lootbox.
And of course there’s the obligatory battle pass sold for 10 dollars. Pretty standard fare for 2020. Even though these things are a dime a dozen, and should probably cost just as much, I’d say the pass is worth it if you’re going to be spending an extended period of time on Ninjala and there are certainly people who will be, myself included.
Ninjala isn’t the deepest fighting game by any means but it is tons of fun. Fighting game fans can look past the surface here and find something worthwhile and I think thats what the FGC is really looking for. Unfortunately, the simplistic combat and fortnite style monetization are going to turn some people away. I’d give Ninjala a solid 7 out of 10 for what they have brought to the table here. I’m very excited about this game’s future as it has just recently surpassed 2 million downloads.
What about you? Have you been enjoying Ninjala? What weapons have you been using? Are you trying to get these hands? Let me know in the comments and if you want to see more content like this subscribe to EyeMakePlaysTV. Maybe even check me out on Twitch where I’ve recently hit affiliate! That is Twitch.tv/mreyemakeplays. The links to all my social media will be in the description guys. Thank you for showing love Team EMP, because I got love for yall. EMP out.