Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

You may have noticed that Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z sports a very different art style than the previous Ninja Gaiden games with Ryu. The latest and final developer diary for Yaiba explains why they went with the cel shaded, comic book-style visuals. 

Keiji Inafune, conceptor of Yaiba, explains in the video that a realistic approach to the art style would result in grotesque moments. The comic-style visuals will instead let those moments be exciting and work better with humor, according to Inafune and other developers. 

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Providing insight and commentary for this episode is executive producer Yosuke Hayashi, Inafune, art director Shinsuke Komaki, producer Shinsaku Ohara, game director Masahiro Yasuma, lead game designer Cory Davis, lead animator Jason Shum, art director Richard Smith, and technical art director Bennie Terry. 

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 18. The PC version, distributed through Steam, will arrive later on March 21, but can be pre-ordered at a discount.

We’ve also covered the previous developer diaries, which spoke about blending eastern and western interpretations of ninjas, the origins of Yaiba Kamikaze, and the goofy zombies.