X8 Demake Floppa Mod "Awakened Zero" Ninja Gaiden Difficulty Playthrough

So...some have asked why I don't play on Insanity/Ninja mode, and I don't think any other vid would give a good enough answer besides a raw, unedited playthrough on "boss" character. I COULD have done this on Touch Mod, but:

1) Touch Mod is practically balanced around the SHID design of Ninja mode at this point in time with it's insane power creep, and would ultimately defeat the purpose of why I did this.

2) Floppa's mod hasn't gotten much of the spotlight lately, and this is partly to show appreciation for what they've done as well as be a bit of a "heads-up" that Floppa is still working on their mod and will include some fantastic additions for both X and Axl, as well as plans to REBALANCE THIS ABYSMAL DOGSHID DIFFICULTY, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT HASN'T EVEN BEEN DONE SINCE THE TG TWEAKS MOD. So, stay tuned for future showcases of Floppa's mod when they feel that it's a satisfactory time to drop an update.

Now, any regular viewer knows that I'm at least a little okay at the game. Not perfect, but I know my stuff. Watching somebody that has broken this game time and again take about 2-3x the amount of time he usually does for a showcase vid while using a "boss" character (although this version of Awakened Zero is a bit more balanced) should tell you exactly why this mode is horrific. It is simply an unfair and, most importantly, NOT fun experience to have to waste so much time because bosses are invulnerable for half the fight and you're at risk of getting 2 shot at any point in a stage all while 1 ups are gone when they'd finally have a use. Needing that degree of "perfection" in gameplay is simply not good vid content, nor is it an enjoyable experience in the first place.

Anyways, now that I've rambled about how the sky is blue and water is wet, how about the actual "run." Why'd I do what I did? Well, during initial testing before the mod released, I wanted to see if Awakened Zero here could even do Ninja mode (Rooster stage saw some slight changes cuz Awk. Zero genuinely could not do the stage for example), and I did a simulation run where I tried to see what a strategic route could like. Sunflower 1st is a decent choice cuz the built-in shadow dash means you don't need to beeline for Gigabolt to get Raikousen like you normally would. In NG+ you can also just use the SSS shortcut to get more tries on Sunflower faster. Tenshouha is also incredibly strong on Awk. Zero as it erases many projectiles and does good damage. It can be a decent tool in the Vile encounters and can shutdown most of Panda's threatening attacks when used smartly. Panda early is a good call too since his skill is like an alternative Raikousen with it's i-frames. Mantis for Rasetsusen mobility + good damage and not needing Raikousen makes him also a strong early candidate. After getting any number of their skills, I recommend doing Antonion as the Buster ground pound attack can be insanely strong on bosses that zigzag/cross the whole room quickly, which most remaining bosses will fall under. Rooster's skill has consistently high damage when used smartly, but he can tricky to fight early (but not impossible). Really it's the need for Antonion skill in an environment like this where you have Awk. Zero early (typically via secret code) and not BZ that also stops Rooster from being another early choice. Gigabolt and Trilobyte aren't too useful early on and the addition of extra skills makes them much more manageable.

Jakob Vile and Copy Sigma can lick butt. Their fights suck and are the poster children for why this difficulty sucks so bad. Genuinely miserable fights to do if you don't have the shadow dash or at least consistent access to i-frames (unironically impossible in Jakob Vile's case), as the lack of attack cooldowns/chance for multiple DMs make them prime examples of why you can't just tweak numbers and expect things to be fine. Meanwhile, the final stage is basically just a skill issue as long as you're not just sleepwalking like I may as well have been. Nothing about that stage outside of Vile again is really that bad if you don't have effectively zero damage at least. Just play good forehead.

Anyways, I'm never doing a Ninja playthrough again outside of showcasing mods that directly address this trash mode. Insanity isn't much better but there's already a channel out there that typically plays Insanity (on Touch Mod tho cuz of course) so if you need it that bad, here they are:    / @vergilzero  

See you all next time. Link for demake community mod collection: https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...