Ninjala

Last updated
Ninjala
Ninjala cover art.jpg
Developer(s) GungHo Online Entertainment
Publisher(s) GungHo Online Entertainment
Director(s) Motoki Kaneda
Designer(s) Yoshiumi Hataya
Programmer(s) Kazuya Honda
Writer(s)
  • Asuka Konno
  • Kyoko Kitahara
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s) Nintendo Switch
ReleaseJune 24, 2020
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Ninjala is a free-to-play multiplayer action video game developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment with some involvement from Soleil. Unveiled at E3 2018, it was released on June 24, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.

Contents

The game received mixed reviews, with many praising the multiplayer, gameplay and art style, but criticizing the story mode. The game was widely compared to Splatoon due to its style and gameplay.

Gameplay

Ninjala centers upon an eponymous tournament being held by the fictional World Ninja Association (WNA), which developed bubblegum that could be used to allow people with the DNA of a ninja to perform ninjutsu. [1] The game focuses primarily on melee combat using various types of weapons. [2] The player can double-jump and run along walls to navigate the map. [3] A match can be played between up to eight players in either teams or a solo "Battle Royale". [1] [2] [3]

Bubbles can be blown to trigger abilities, such as launching them at opponents as a ranged attack, or activating an air dash move. Their power can be increased by destroying drones that periodically spawn on the map, allowing the player to craft a larger melee weapon when fully-charged. [3] The player can also disguise themselves as a prop on the field. [3] Points are scored primarily by knocking out opponents, and an "Ippon" bonus can be scored as part of a KO if the player does so in combination with their abilities. [3] Each match lasts four minutes and the player or team that scores the most points when the timer runs out wins.

Characters

Main characters

There are eight main characters in Ninjala. In the game, they all have common stats and abilities. Each of them has a unique backstory that was explored in the game's supplementary media, such as TV anime.

Side characters

Minor characters

Development

GungHo CEO Kazuki Morishita explained that Ninjala was inspired by his childhood memories of ninja and sports chanbara, having envisioned Ninjala as being a mixture of both. He stated that the main goal was to develop create a multiplayer action game that both children and adults could enjoy. Takeshi Arakawa, who co-produced Dissidia Final Fantasy while at Square Enix, is part of the development staff of Ninjala. For its unveiling, GungHo elected to primarily target Europe and North America to gauge their reactions before giving it more prominent promotion in Japan. [1] [2] Ninjala was built using the Unreal Engine game engine. [4]

Originally announced for release in 2019, GungHo announced on May 31, 2019 that Ninjala had been delayed to early 2020. [5] In December 2019, GungHo president Kazuki Morishita stated that Ninjala was still on track for a Spring 2020 release, and that it would contain content that would be "satisfying" for "seasoned players". [6] Ninjala was originally set to be released on May 27, 2020, [7] but it was delayed four weeks later to June 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promotion

A teaser trailer for Ninjala was released on June 13, 2018, which is set to music by the kawaii metal band Babymetal. [8] Footage from the game was also briefly featured during Nintendo's E3 2018 video presentation the same day. [9] A new trailer was released on December 6, 2018, showcasing the backstory of Ninjala's universe. [10] [11]

During the Nintendo Direct Mini on March 26, a new trailer was showcased, along with an announcement that Ninjala would be released on May 27, 2020 as a free-to-play title. [12] [13] A CGI animated "episode 0" by Marza, introducing the characters and the lore of the game, was released on March 31, 2020. [14] A series of time-limited multiplayer beta sessions were held on April 28 and 29, [15] which were affected by various server issues. [3]

On August 24, 2020, a collaboration with video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog was announced for season 2. [16]

On April 9, 2020, a collaboration with smartphone game Puzzle & Dragons was announced. [17]

On June 19, 2021, there has been an announcement on the official PlayNinjala YouTube Channel that there will be a collaboration with the popular manga and anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba .

On March 10, 2022, a collaboration with the popular manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen began.

On March 15, 2023, a collaboration with the popular manga and anime series Attack on Titan began.

On July 5, 2023, a collaboration with the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion began.

Media

Anime

An anime television series adaptation by OLM aired on TV Tokyo. The series is directed by Mamoru Kanbe, with Shinzō Fujita handling series composition, Atsushi Suzuki designing the characters and Takahiro Obata composing the music. Up until episode 40, the opening theme song “Maybe Baby” was performed by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. From episode 41 to episode 112, the opening theme song “Isshin Doutai” was also performed by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Since episode 113 the new opening theme song is "OEDOEDO" by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. While up until episode 19, Wolpis Carter performed the ending theme song "Ninjalaic Ninja". Since episode 20 and up until episode 40, the new ending theme song "SHINOBI TOP SECRET" was performed by Wienners. Since episode 41 and up until episode 57, the anime presented a new ending theme song, named “Friendship March” which is performed by Fantastic Paisen. Since episode 58 to episode 65, the new ending theme, titled “Ninja Remotion” is performed by Ange☆Reve. From episode 66 to episode 79, the anime revealed a 5th ending theme song, titled “Radice” which is performed by Wolpis Carter and Neru. From episode 80 to episode 100, another ending theme song was unveiled, titled, “Appare! Extreme Ninja” by SHARE LOCK HOMES. From episode 101, the new ending theme is titled "You and Doron in Broad Daylight" by Pop Shinanaide. [18] The anime began streaming with English subtitles on the game's official YouTube channel on January 13, 2022. Episodes are released every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and only available for one week. [19]

Reception

Pre-release

The overall visual style of Ninjala has been widely compared to Nintendo's Splatoon franchise. [20] [9] [21] Jordan Devore of Destructoid felt that Ninjala was hard to judge based on its early multiplayer demo at E3, noting the lack of playable weapons beyond baseball bats (though noticing that yo-yos had appeared as a disabled option in the menus), a need to improve the "flow and feel" of its gameplay, and the lack of "good" lock-on targeting functionality. However, he felt that "there's something to this gum-loving ninja concept for sure", and that Ninjala was "worth following". He argued that alongside Splatoon, there was "plenty of room for more colorful, poppy, kid-friendly multiplayer games". [21] IGN similarly noted that its concept felt like "Splatoon meets Arms ", and that "if GungHo makes good on delivering creative weaponry and polishes up the combat, Ninjala might just have what it takes to beat Nintendo at its own game." [20]

Following the 2020 open beta, Connor Sheridan of GamesRadar+ noted that the game's fundamentals had an initial learning curve (especially in comparison to Splatoon), but that "figuring out how to string attacks together for maximum points and minimum chance of reprisal" had a strategic depth similar to fighting games, and that he was "pleasantly surprised" by the number of character customization options. [3] Siliconera described the game as "trying to appeal to the fans of its larger cousin [Splatoon] without replacing it", noting that the drone mechanic added a "MOBA-like" progression that could potentially influence strategy among coordinated teams, but that the tutorial video provided by the beta was "not particularly effective at explaining the uses and advantages of each kind of attack" as opposed to an in-game tutorial, and the server capacity issues from the beta showed that there was "still significant work to do to build a stable environment for launch next month". [22]

Post-release

Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic 68/100 [23]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid 6.5/10 [24]
GameSpot 6/10 [25]
Nintendo Life Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [26]
USgamer 3/5 [27]

Nintendo Life gave the game 7 of 10. They praised the art style, the overall gameplay, weapons, customisation options and gyro controls, but were critical of the story mode, tutorial mode, some notable gameplay aspects (such as the parrying system) and single-use items. [28]

Michael Therkelsen from Gayming Magazine stated "While battle game-play is relatively easy, the customization of your avatar and in-game stores are quite difficult to figure out", also criticizing the game for being "ultimately too repetitive". [29]

Ninjala reached 10 million downloads as of February 2023. [30]

Notes

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