GungHo discusses Ninjala's divisive parry system, comments on whether a Nintendo collab could happen

The free-to-play online battler Ninjala found millions of players within its first week, and those who downloaded the game were quick to share opinions on one particular element of combat. Ninjala has you lock up with opponents in a Parry system quite often. These battles play out as rock-paper-scissors interactions, which some find to not only ruin the pace of the game, but also take away any element of strategy. GameReactor talked to GungHo CEO Kazuki Morishita to get his take on the gameplay mechanic. The following blurb has been Google translated.

"There are people who react negatively and others the opposite, there is everything. An important factor is that this helps a lot for the most beginner players. We add it because in fighting games, for example 2D action games, or in any combat video game, new players cannot try to face the higher level, and eventually only experts play. For this reason we add the 'rock, paper or scissors'.

However, and this is the biggest difference, really good players know how to avoid the 'rock, paper or scissors', or how not to end up in it. In fact, the 'top rankers' are not usually seen in the Parry's system. They manage to dodge it and another way, as you say, is that players try to surprise others from behind or read how they are going to move so as not to end up in these Parries. That said, in the future we are looking at how to polish it, how to improve this mechanic. So we hope to find a good opportunity for users to test it. "

While the debate of the parry system is sure to continue, one element of Ninjala that's been a bit more well-received is the collaborations. The game recently featured a tie-up with SEGA to bring over some Sonic the Hedgehog content. Could we see the same thing with Nintendo? Mr. Morishita said a collab like that would certainly be possible, but obviously, it would depend on how Nintendo feels about the idea.