Reminder: Ninjala's Open Beta Starts Today, Join In On Switch For Free

Dear, Gung Ho...
Please consider Ninjala to be able being played Offline and have physical release in the future.

@Anti-Matter why? It's designed to be a f2p online game so why would it have a physical release or offline playability?

@Anti-Matter It's a free to play game though

Well, I think I can squeeze this into my monthly spending budget, so why not

@Anti-Matter That would kinda defeat the purpose of it being a free battle royale for 8 people.

@Anti-Matter Lol. It's a free to play game designed for online multiplayer, what you are asking for makes absolutely no sense.

@Dakka-Dakka As an option, it does. I can think of a few games I'd buy if offline play was an option.

@Kolma @Peterjr1
I don't want Free 2 Play game.
I want a Paid game, just like Normal physical games.
Also, i'm thinking about the long term about that game.
Free 2 Play games are good for short term only, Not good at all after 20 or 30 years from now.
And... I am physical games collector, No physical = No play.
I'm still thinking old school style gaming.

@TheNewButler
At least, just make it like ARMS.
Offline and Online compatible.
I can spare with CPU when i play Offline.

I just downloaded the demo. Looking forward to giving this a try. Unlike others I have no problems with this game using the Fortnite model.

Already downloading, looking forward to the beta period. This looks like my kind of game, so I'm looking forward to trying it.

@DrDaisy I understand what you're saying but this particular game is entirely based on the concept of online multiplayer team battles. It seems to be quite similar to Splatoon in that respect, which does feature a solo campaign but that is definitely not the main selling point. The online multiplayer battles are what both of these games are really all about.

I have a weird feeling about this one, hope it proves me wrong.

After the Direct spotlight and the short-film, it got me very interested in the game, looks like a very quality title. Can't wait to partake in the beta test

@Anti-Matter Who exactly are you planning to play this with 20-30 years from now?

@Kalmaro
Well, i played alone or with CPU.

@Anti-Matter CPU matches would be nice, at least to practice, I'll concede that.

@Savino Right?! A 1 hour test seems ridiculous- is that normal? I guess there’s 3 sessions at least...

@Anti-Matter And of course Switch has what used to be called wireless LAN play. Plus I bet there are still people who are okay with split-screen.

As with other aspects of the game, the short testing periods are reminiscent of Splatoon.

@Anti-Matter It's designed as a F2P online game. They're not going to change that. It's likely cooked into the fundamental design of the game itself.

You need to either accept that or move on to something else.

@RPGamer And Tetris 99.

@RPGamer fortnite doesn’t have a physical copy but does have a box with a download code for the dlc. Is that what your looking for a empty box with a download code

You're a kid now. You're a ninja now. you're a kid you're a ninja you're a kid you're a ninja now.

I'd love to partake, but it will all come down to what my work schedule looks like next week.

Why can’t they let people who want to play this game for free free and for people who would like to buy a empty box for 50 pounds. Options is great. I’d take the free offer but some people would like a free empty box for monies

This game actually looks pretty good, considering it takes a ton of inspiration from Splatoon. I'll probably give it a try.

I'll be playing this next month for sure, but not sure if ill have time for the beta

Gotta find time in my busy schedule of being stuck inside

@Mamabear @Savino It's a stress test for servers. You want as many people at one time to test with.

@LN3000 ...nope, doesn't work. 😕

Today's the day boys

@Anti-Matter free is free, how can that be a bad thing? You want to spend money, find something that costs money, but let us have/enjoy what we want.

Not that interested in the game yet but here's hoping people enjoy it

I want to try it, but only an hour long test sucks. It's free though so when it launches I'll get it

Can't really be bothered with betas, let alone weirdly time limited ones.

I'll wait till it's actually released and give it a go.

I have found some great Free to play games out there like Warframe so I will give it a try. It does suck that the trials only last an hour though.

Tetris has a physical release.
So if this game ends up releasing some dlc and I can instead get it in a cartridge, I’d do that.

Not currently working, time is shown as 20:00 - 21:00 but not sure if this is U.K. or PT ... anyone?

Nope currently not working.

@Riff-the-Don @JokerCK Pacific time, it starts in 7 minutes looking at my PC's clock. It begins at 12:00 PM PDT, which translates to 3 PM as I live in Eastern US.

I'm just getting an error code at the moment

What a disappointment... Couldn't get past the title screen because of a connection error (definitely not because of my network, all other games work fine)

Just getting into this game has been a disaster. Error code. Error code. Error code. Error code. Finally! Error code. Error code. Error code.

I got into the matchmaking part and then I’m just getting errors again 😱

Errors all over the place... shocker. Good job GungHo....

Side note: my 10 year old son says “more like DungHo...” 😂

Got one solid match in before the error codes started.

It really is like Splatoon.

I like that we have the option for gyro camera controls. The gameplay itself seemed pretty shallow, though, and the combat doesn't feel like it has enough ooomph behind it. Running feels kind of floaty as well.

error error, no error but restarts, error error - waits on static screen, connecting error, restarts but no error - connecting, error error error - connecting, error error error ....

I've pretty much given up on Japanese developers to create anything competent that runs online. Why even do it if you're going to be that stubborn and refuse to look into other devs modern netcode?

Only played one round fully, and then connection error. Thankfully this is a beta, so the developers could see there's an interest in this game and hopefully prepare servers before its official launch.

The little bit I've played, I had a lot of fun. Really liked how I made my character look too.

@Ralizah Nice to see I'm not the only one who managed to get into a match.

So much for that hour of testing...a half hour has been spent just trying to get past character creation...

edit: and now the servers are apparently down.

@Nalverus can't even get that far

@Sunsy Might be a beta but this is supposed to come out in June.

I've only been able to play practice, and I think it's closed now.

Got to play the training part and then got error constantly. Now apparently they took the whole thing down, now it shows that the game is not currently in session. What a mess

Edit: Did anyone found a way to restart the camera while playing with gyro controls?

lol now I'm being told "it's not in session" is giving me a timeframe and it is my current time - what a joke

Everything went down. Well, that's what betas are for and the little I managed to see and play, I really liked.

@Sunsy Thanks, turns out 20:00 was the U.K. time.
My son has had one game, I’ve not been able to get into a match at all.

Now just getting the unable to enter game message so I think we broke the severs .. Good Job 👏🏾I think I may bypass this in June .... at least we’ll have Splatfest next month

@Dang69 they took the game down at 12:30, it was impossible to get in before that.

Managed to get one game inbetween the errors but after 20:30 it now says no sessions available anymore then continues to tell me session is at 20:00 - 20:59.
What gives, only 30 mins instead of an hour and most of that tone was connection error.

@Dang69 Yeah, but also it is an online game. The point of betas like this is to stress test the servers. Given many are trying to connect is a good sign as it tells the developers to put more servers into place.

If they don't stress test it and see if they need more servers, then it could mean more headaches for the final game.

Managed to get 1 game and it was quite fun hoping to try again tomorrow

Tried for about 40 minutes to get on but no luck. Kept getting disconnected or it would freeze.

They took it down.....Jesus christ! Like how do you screw up this badly? You knew it was going to be rammed. I'm sorry but in my view there is no defending this massive cock up.

All this salt for an open beta stress test

This is exactly what these are for lmao

@DaCh33f oh absolutely. its better the problems appear now than in final release.

But the annoyance comes from the fact a lot of us don't have a whole lot of free time to spare.

@Sunsy Yeah, I'm guessing the only people who managed to squeeze a match in are people who were waiting as soon as the stress test went live.

In fairness, the one match I played was extremely smooth.

this game shows promise, too bad I couldn't get into a lobby. I love the art style

I didn't dare attempt to get into the que, but watching Twitch...seems to be a reskin of Splatoon without the ink factor as an alt route to win.

Played one game at the start and went through all the customization and menus.
It’s ok. The design and look is good. Customization is plentiful. The problem is the actual gameplay.
Pretty boring and repetitive.
Definitely doesn’t suck you in or leave you wanting more.
Kinda like playing splatoon with only melee weapons (which is not a good thing).
I’m gonna pass.

@Anti-Matter While I get your point, I think developper first and foremost should have the right to do any kind of game that they want and release it however they want... Then you have the right to vote on wether this is good practice or not by giving them money (or not). If a company want to make a free to play game it's their choice and shouldn't have to necessarily think long term, sometimes you just have to play the bills now and or make money fast in order to get a bigger passion project.

@TimboSlice no one ask your opinion.If you dont like the game you dont have to write anything.

Error-fest at start, then they took down the server. I tried after the hour had passed and, surprisingly, it was up and running! I had a couple of matches; it does look fun but I have some gripes:
1. The control config feels wrong. Strikes are mapped to R and ZR while specials are on X and Y - I definitely feel it should be the other way round and I hope there is an option to remap in the final game (failing that, I can always remap via the System menu, but that is far from ideal).
2. The field of view (I think) makes the enemies look smallish, which doesn’t help much.
3. After creating a character really quick (as I was in a hurry to get 1h of play), I found that I didn’t like her that much, but I did not see an option to change the model, only gear and colours (I think) - hopefully this is getting sorted for the full release.

Other than that it looks great and I really like the art style. A special thanks to the developers for going with 60fps; much appreciated, even if it seemed to have some hiccups here and there!

seems alright, definitely some issues but it's a beta!

I'll wait for Splatoon 3 and pay upfront for content not locked behind dark design, FOMO psychology, with better polish and gameplay.

The thing about F2P games is that in the short-term it may seem innocuous, but in the long-term you end up paying at best a very measurable cost in time and emotional wellbeing, and at worst you are one of the few who are psychologically tricked into paying even more than a traditional game.

@Ulysses - I get what you're saying, but I will disagree with the "at best" part. As technically, you're paying in time regardless of game, it's basically the very nature.

And those who are "psychologically tricked" may need to just stay away from video games in general. I have no personal qualms spending $15 every now and again, and consciously do so knowing this. And I shouldn't protest against it in virtue of others who lack the self control. Hell, I have paid more for worse experiences in pizza joints.

But yes, I do believe some companies take full advantage of the FOMO mentality because of this. However, I feel like that's also partly to blame on those, again, who lack that control.

Camera motion controls are wonky with no way to re-center them when they are off (directional pad is the quick fix in Splatoon 2). Still it's a beta but not great that this is missing.

EDIT: The motion control camera can be reset by pressing down the left joystick.

@Paraka I agree with games being an investment of your time. Whether paid or free to play they can both be good. I'm fine with F2P so long as you can progress without mindlessly grinding. The only F2P game I can think of on Switch that requires this is Asphalt Legends. Basically after maybe six or eight hours in you get to a point where you literally don't have the cars required to progress in the game. I dont think any amount of grinding can get you past this short of spending at least $100 in real money for spins at cars or spend literally months on end of daily spins at a chance to unlock the cars needed. It's basically gambling at which point I had only spent $2 and walked away.

@Nico07 - Oh there is definitely companies who can timegate you into a bait of purchase. And those games simply stop being played by me, no money or time spent outside that. I did this with Raid: Shadow Legends too (curiosity got the best of me), hit a wall and stopped. There is a difference from pacing to literal timegates.

But with that as it may, those who buy into it are still at fault for making that a decision of their choice.

I played this game yesterday for 1 round. First 2 minutes I was very confused. But when I learned what the Combat was I immediatly uninstalled the game. IT IS BORING. When a game is boring it isn't a good game imo. #NiceTry

@Schizor88 #yeah you got or attention bro #NiceTry

@Anti-Matter if you dont want a f2p game than why are you here?

@SniperGaming
Because i wish Gung Ho could consider Ninjala have a possibility to have a physical release and Offline play someday.
Take a look Tetris 99.
From Free 2 play and Online only, now it has a physical release and Offline play mode.

@Sunsy not a beta, is a 99.9 percent finished game. I know they are calling it a beta, but it comes out in a month. The word beta is something devs just toss around nowadays. This is a stress test, one that was completely broken.

@ryancraddock can you please update us on this Beta? How was it?

@nickeddowes i got in at 12:45 am EST (my session was only supposed to be from 11PM est to 12am est and got 2 matches in at 12:45, then another one at 1:15) because they stealth extended the beta and just waited for most people to leave to open up the servers.

@Paraka
You are right. "At best" was too harsh. It is not my place to judge others who find enjoyment in all sorts of game models.

Unfortunately, for every person like yourself who is intentional and proactive, there are 5 more people who are either unaware or naive about dark design and are negatively affected by it, either through emotional wellbeing or through financial regret. Depression, anxiety, and stress (aka the buildup of cortisol and inflammation, which pays a physical toll on your health in the long-term) caused by these psychological mechanisms do not occur overnight; they are a slow burn, built up over time by a symphony of sophisticated software.

Not only does toxic psychology affect everyone negatively without exception (including even the most self-aware of us), but it is also exceptionally unethical to utilize dark design in software specifically targeting minors like Fortnite and social media apps.

Addressing Ninjala specifically, I hope that its micro transactions, season passes and progression systems avoid being especially scummy. Unfortunately, that's all you can hope for in this day and age, because the reality is, companies from every industry are paying attention to the effectiveness of these tactics. And dark design is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.

@Dang69 It seems that they possibly had some server issues and extended it accordingly. I hoped on around 8:30PM Pacific (based on another sites interpretation of when it would begin). I was able to create my character and do a practice round, but then it kicked me out. I then tried from 9PM to 9:20PM with no luck, just constant messages that the service wasn't available because it was outside the scheduled window. I then deleted and reinstalled the game and it worked right away. I wasn't able to actually hop on until after 9:30PM and then played until it booted me out at 10:30PM Pacific. So it would seem that they were having issues and couldn't start until around 9:30 so they extended until 10:30.

As far as the game, it was pretty fun. It took a few matches to get a handle on the controls, and I'm not sure I fully understand the in battle controls. I'll have to look up the left stick controls (red, green, blue directionals). Still it was fun and I was able to take first in several matches. Looking forward to it's release next month.

@Ulysses - For every one of me, there shouldn't be a blame to be responsible of those 5 others. One of the problems is even those who are unaware are convinced they have no choice. Just as much one is convinced that someone like myself proactively support the designs by simply playing them.

The problem more implies the ignorance is excusable, it shouldn't be. It should not be on EA for the fact someone wants to gamble on their lootboxes and lost, it should be the one investing in it. EA is still at fault for gating content behind layers of ridiculous DLC and chance mechanics period. However, that action one makes isn't EA's fault, that's on the actor. It runs parallel to how many believe brand = quality, same targeted practice. Fortnite and CoD is no different than Hot Wheels and Nike by that same standard, they target the kid cause they're more desiring of the product and parents, by the seemingly powerful will of society, aren't allowed to say no without judgement. But, it is still on the parent if they decide to cave or not to it.

I understand the whole F2P world, it's too reliant as a business for "whale hunting," just to keep up with their own development costs. They would no doubt create items that are "lucrative" to sell more, who wouldn't if the only income is those features? I much prefer a retail game, that's permanently on a shelf, that I can buy and play long after the work is "done." Cause they may be on another project, F2P systems restrict it to almost exclusively that game, no growth as a company... Hell, look how long Riot took to make a new game.

But that all said and done, if everyone whose aware of a scheme like EA and in turn reject it, they would have to change course and try something else. But ignorance is what keeps them doing EA things.

@Paraka
You are absolutely right that people like yourself should not be blamed for playing them or labeled as supporting/endorsing said practices indirectly. I certainly do not think so; such claims are short-sighted and emotional in nature.

EA and numerous other companies within the tech industry are culpable as opportunists: taking advantage of a widespread lack of critical thinking skills. The very fact that some European countries are educated enough to outright ban such scummy practices like virtual gambling [lootboxes] speaks volumes to the dysfunctional weaknesses of the US at an institutional level.

However, addressing these underlying systemic issues are topics for a different forum, as we are already derailing the conversation as it is away from the Ninjala beta. If you've read this far, just rest assured that I am not blaming you or accusing you of supporting or endorsing these bad practices, or implying that you are responsible for other gamers.

This is a very complicated issue, and it spans far beyond just video games, perhaps most problematic with social media firstly.

@Ulysses - You're good, man. I had to make that statement clear simply to prevent from falling into a blame game.

And you're right there are opportunists in gaming that will clutch onto these systems cause how pervasive they can be. However, even though some of EU are banning the system, it's not solving the problem; Awareness. It goes back to my statement how "feeling forced" to buy something is excusable. To me it always felt like one is playing the victim cause they have had a history of poor impulse control. You don't see that if the person buys sports equipment when they shouldn't. There is a disconnect here as a society and a gaming community I just don't get.

You don't attack McDonald's for their burgers making you unhealthy.

EA is most definitely at fault for helping foster such a mechanic, and their compliance to support it should also be on trial. However, you can't blame them for the individual actions some actively choose. I am on record for being very anti-DLC here. But I am the only one at fault if I complain that I was "forced" to buy Octo Expansion. Cause at the end of the day, that was my choice.

And even if we strayed a little from Ninjala, they're still incorporated in this as the concerns are of the F2P model, a system Ninjala is greatly dependent on. So honestly our conversation, I believe, is constructive view on it and what should be concerns as a consumer going into this game.

@Paraka
So honestly our conversation, I believe, is [a] constructive view on it and what should be concern[ing] as a consumer going into this game.

And all the more important for a parent to be concerned with what kind of predatory psychology our children or minors are being exposed to. Unfortunately the burden is placed upon individuals to be vigilant and look out for ourselves and our loved ones.