Ninja Gaiden was a blast.
An absolute blast!
In the first week after its release, sales were modest—mostly because people couldn't even find the cartridges in stores. But in contrast, pre-orders were skyrocketing to terrifying heights.
By the second week, many players finally got their hands on the game, and the frustration of the first week's scarcity faded away.
Almost everyone who played it gave the same review:
"I don't know why it's so good, but it's just incredibly fun."
The graphics were impressive, the sound effects were spot on, and you could slash through enemies in a modern city setting to your heart's content.
More importantly—there was a secret character!
One week after the game's launch, Black Flame Dragon 56, an editor at Kadokawa Game Magazine, published a guide on how to unlock him.
"In the game, we need to travel to America to find the Statues of the Evil God to trigger the seal. However, after finding two of the statues, an incident occurs: one is stolen, leaving Ryu Hayabusa carrying the other."
At this point, the story reveals that the Statue of the Evil God is the key to its resurrection and must be kept safe. If we continue with the main plot, the events will unfold as planned. However, if we choose to return to Hayabusa Village to see Momiji, she will offer an alternative: to keep the statue in her care.
Regardless of whether you entrust the statue to Momiji, it will eventually be stolen. The only difference is how it happens: if Ryu Hayabusa keeps it, it's taken during a battle; if Momiji has it, Hayabusa Village is attacked and the statue is seized.
Some players may discover a bonus scene where they can control Momiji in a brief battle against the invaders of Hayabusa Village. The outcome of the story depends on whether this scene is triggered.
If you successfully defeat the invading Boss as Momiji, the statue will still be stolen, but Momiji will survive and send word to Ryu Hayabusa.
If you fail to defeat the Boss, not only will the statue be stolen, but Momiji will also be killed.
"If we leave the Statue of the Evil God in Hayabusa Village but fail to trigger Momiji's playable sequence, the outcome is the same as the second path: the statue is stolen, Momiji is killed, and we continue our pursuit of the Archfiend in the United States."
"To trigger the sequence here, we must ensure we've activated the game's hidden affinity options. After completing a portion of the game, we can select our next target on the world map. However, we can actually return to Hayabusa Village at this point. Depending on how the battle sequences ended, the layout of Hayabusa Village will also change slightly."
"For example, if we triggered an execution at the start and killed a mech with a cool Izuna Drop, Hayabusa Village will display the mech's head."
"Each time we return to Hayabusa Village, Momiji will appear in a different location, sometimes in a very hidden spot. Returning to Hayabusa Village after completing a stage counts as one affinity point; finding Momiji and speaking with her counts as two."
"If our total affinity is ten or more when returning the statue, we can trigger the extra playable sequence with Momiji in a subsequent battle, allowing her to survive. This will also result in a different ending cinematic."
"If Momiji survives, she will appear in the background after we seal the Archfiend. Otherwise, only Ryu Hayabusa will be shown."
"The game has given us so many surprises, but on this point, I strongly demand that Atlus Studio let Momiji survive! A hero who saves the world shouldn't be unable to even protect his own loved ones!"
Many people shared this sentiment.
As more and more players beat the game and witnessed its ending, the number of people desperate to trigger a hidden ending steadily grew.
Momiji has to survive!
After completing the game and unfortunately triggering the "Death Ending," many players were left beating their chests in frustration.
Damn you, Atlus! Give us back our Momiji!
Although there were almost no scenes of her fighting monsters in the game, after running around the levels and being hacked to pieces by all sorts of demons, ghosts, and mechanical creatures, returning to Hayabusa Village to chat with Momiji was such a wonderful pleasure!
Whether in the movie or the game, it was only stated that Momiji was the shrine maiden of Hayabusa Village and Ryu Hayabusa's disciple. There was no explicit confirmation of any romantic relationship between them. But who wouldn't want there to be?
With this, the sales of Ninja Gaiden quietly climbed to 700,000.
800,000.
900,000.
Finally, it broke one million.
At this point, players raised another issue.
"Biyang's Atlas! Biyang's Hideo Yoshizawa! The movie has both Momiji and Ayane, so why does the game only have Momiji? Where's my Ayane?!"
Hideo Yoshizawa, the producer listed on the cartridge, gave a public response on television:
"Where's Ayane? I have no idea!"
In the Atlas office, Hideo Yoshizawa, dressed like Alan Walker with his hoodie pulled low, crept into the office.
"Thank goodness, no one's here!" he sighed in relief.
He never expected the game to be such a massive hit after its release! The game's iconic designs had clearly resonated deeply with the players.
But this success came at a price.
Some players believed Momiji should have survived in the official ending, while others felt the absence of Koto—who appeared in the movie—was a major flaw.
Either way, the players were waiting downstairs to ambush Hideo Yoshizawa.
Fortunately, Hideo Yoshizawa wasn't a producer whose face was widely known, so he managed to sneak into the building by wearing a hoodie.
Unlike Hideo Kojima, who would be recognized even with a hat on.
"Oh, Yoshizawa-kun, you're here early."
Tetsuya Kobayashi had just arrived and greeted Hideo Yoshizawa casually.
"Cut to the chase. This game is a job well done. Though the development process was delayed for a while, the result is still excellent.
As usual, Team Ninja will get two weeks of paid leave and a $10,000 bonus. Go enjoy yourselves. Remember the experience gained from this development cycle; it will be invaluable for the next one."
Hideo Yoshizawa nodded repeatedly.
But as Kobayashi Tetsu was about to walk into the office, Yoshizawa mustered his courage and called out to him.
"President, I—could I share my thoughts?"
Kobayashi Tetsu stopped in his tracks and turned to Yoshizawa.
"Go ahead."
"Yes, sir. I believe the success of this game is inseparable from the improvements you suggested. And I'm not just flatterying you."
He glanced at Naka Yuji, who responded by rolling his eyes.
Yoshizawa continued, "After some thought, I've concluded that the main factors were these points."
He began writing on the whiteboard.
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