Ninjala Version 2.0 Update Adds Worldwide Matchmaking, Improves UI And Much More

If you've had difficulties matching with other players in the free-to-play bubblegum shooter Ninjala since it launched, the good news is GungHo has now rolled out a new update for the game that should make the online experience more enjoyable (and playable) at all hours of the day. It allows you to match with anyone from anywhere.

In addition to this, the user interface has been improved and the game has been further polished (in other words, a number of issues have now been resolved). This update is mandatory for all players. Below are the full patch notes, courtesy of the official Ninjala webpage:

Ver. 2.0 Update Release Notes

If the version displayed atop the Ninjala title screen reads “Ver.2.0”, the update has been successfully installed.

About this Update

Thank you for playing Ninjala. This update contains even more wide-ranging improvements, adjustments, and bug fixes to further enhance your Ninjala gameplay experience.

There are three main goals we hope to achieve with this update:
- Offering an ideal matching environment
- Improving player experience through UI/UX
- Further polish game balance

The Ninjala team has recognized that the current matching environment is far from ideal, and has taken player feedback deeply to heart. In hopes of offering our players an improved matching experience, we have implemented a major update to the matching system. Furthermore, we have updated elements of the UI that were hampering users to provide smoother, more intuitive gameplay. Needless to say, we have also further refined weapon parameters to allow players of all experience and skill levels, from beginners to experts, to enjoy Ninjala.

Please read on if you would like to review the changes implemented with this update in detail.

Matching on a Worldwide Scale

Up to this point, matching has been broken down into four regions: North and Central America, Europe, Asia/Ocenania, and Japan. The initial intent of this was to prevent matchups between players located physically far away, which were more likely to suffer from lag and transmission speed issues.

Since then, however, we have taken into account player feedback, in particular that it was frustrating not to be able to play with family or friends who live abroad in another region, or to find opponents in one’s own region late at night or at other times when the player base was reduced. To address the situation, we have now made it possible to match with players of any region, provided that transmission speeds fall within defined acceptable parameters.

Now that matching has been unified across all regions, we believe it will now be possible to find worthy teammates and opponents at all hours of the day, and that Battle Royale ranked matches will be more rewarding.

In accordance with this change, player rankings—previously broken down by region—will also be unified across the entire world. From this day forward, Ninjala will become a truly global competition.

*Please note that as a side effect, you may be more likely to experience lag depending on the location of your opponent.

Please confirm your connection speeds via the newly added lag value display and antenna icons.
As a general reference, a relatively smooth gameplay experience can be enjoyed with values of up to 150 msec, but 200 msec and beyond will result in considerable lag. Furthermore, in Ranked and Free Matches, opponents and servers with lower lag values will be prioritized.

To improve transaction speeds, we recommend that you connect with a wired connection or a stable, high-speed Wi-Fi connection.

Matching Improvements

In Ninjala, matching is configured so that you are most likely to be matched with players of the same rank as you. However, when such players cannot be found, the system allows for matching with players of different ranks to avoid situations in which no match can be made.

This was particularly an issue with Battle Royale ranked matches. With matching now conducted globally provided lag is within defined acceptable parameters, you will now be more likely to be matched with players of the same rank, reducing the likelihood of unbalanced matches. Furthermore, the matching settings themselves have also been refined so that it is less likely you will be matched with players of widely varying ranks. That said, there is a certain degree of conflict between our two goals of ensuring balanced matches and allowing for ease of matching. To ensure an optimal matching experience going forward, we intend to closely monitor the situation and make further adjustments as deemed necessary. Furthermore, there was an issue where the time until a room was disbanded was too long, resulting in long wait times after battles could be started with 6 or 7 players. To address this, we have shortened the time until rooms are disbanded, which we hope will lead to quicker-starting battles.

Gum Weapon Parameter Adjustments

The Ninjala development team is dedicated to ensuring that players can enjoy a wide variety of battling styles. After careful observation of winning percentages by gum weapon and weapon popularity, we have implemented a host of balance adjustments.

In particular, we have enhanced currently unpopular weapons such as “Iron Noise”, “Drum Beat”, “Mellow à la Mode” and “Trick Ball”, and balanced “SK8 Hammer” and “Sushi Axe”.

With this adjustment, various weapons are used more than ever before.

We hope that the result will be even more rewarding Ninjala battles for all players.

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Ippon Katana + Scroll blade

- “Charging Slash” will now have an increased chance of landing a blow.
- Charging Slash is a quick and powerful dash attack, but due to its rushing movement, attacks very often missed and came up empty.

Although the IPPON Katana and Scroll Blade are popular among advanced players as well, they are particularly widely used among beginners.

In order to give beginners an effective weapon that would not be overpowered in the hands of advanced players, we have raised the homing capability of Charging Slash to make it easier to use.

However, the team is aware of its strength when combined with Wall Shooter, and we therefore intend to monitor winning percentages closely to ensure balance among gum weapons.

Drill Beast + Corn Bow

- The amount players’ ninjutsu gauge increases when landing back attacks has been reduced.
Previously, it was set to offer increased ninjutsu gauge gains when successfully landing back attacks, but after observing disproportionately high use and winning percentages, we have reduced this amount.

Back attacks are still an effective way to build up your ninjutsu gauge, but due to the lower turnover rate, you will now need to attack more aggressively than before.

SK8 Hammer + Sushi Axe

- The ability “Hyper Boost” will now increase movement speed even more.
- The strength of normal attacks has been reduced.
- The timing at which successful back attacks can be canceled has been sped up.
- The range of wide attacks has been reduced slightly.
- The following adjustments have been made to “Power Buster”.
　Cooldown time has been increased.
　The timing with which Super Armor is engaged has been delayed slightly.
　Attack power has been increased.
　Attack range has been reduced slightly.

With the adjustments this time, we have balanced “Power Buster” and increased the time needed to destroy drones, and made other enhancements to balance this out.

“Power Buster” is an extremely effective attack, and we observed many situations in which it was able to completely dominate a wild battle.

With this latest adjustment, it will take slightly longer for Super Armor to activate, meaning you will have to be more careful with timing when you use it.
In addition, to compensate for attacks being more difficult to land, they will now be more effective when they hit.
It will now be more effective to land finishing blows in complicated situations, as well as to take drones away from your opponents.
We believe you will observe that its “explosive power” has increased.

The combo of “Power Buster” and two normal attacks will still be effective, so we believe that this adjustment will not result in significantly altered firepower in battle.

Iron Noise + Drum Beat

- Normal attacks have received the following adjustments:
　Sound wave bullets will now appear more quickly.
　Sound wave bullets will now begin homing more quickly.
　The timing at which one can cancel by jumping and evading has been accelerated.

- The following adjustments have been made to “Echoing Scream”:
　You will now move further when attacking.
　You will now move earlier when attacking.
　The position of sound waves generated has been altered so that it is easier for the attack to land.

The weapons “Iron Noise” and “Drum Beat”, while effective when used for support in Team Battles, often struggled in Battle Royale matches.
These adjustments will make it easier to effectively use these weapons’ sound waves, and it will now be easier to hit opponents with “Echoing Scream”.
Use sound waves effectively and bring the beat down on your opponents!

Ninja Yo-yo + Shinobi Spinner

- The second hit of normal attacks will now do more damage.
- The homing ability of back attacks has been reduced.
- The duration of gum binds inflicted with break attacks has been extended slightly.
- The warp timing for “Yo-yo Leap” has been sped up.

With the adjustments made last update, the “Ninja Yo-yo” and “Shinobi Spinner” weapons are not as powerful as they once were, but they remain highly popular.
This time, we have enhanced these weapons in some ways, with the goal of making the yo-yo even more uniquely suited for a tricky fighting style.

The reduced homing ability of back attacks will mean it will now be more difficult to hit opponents who dodge to the side.
Furthermore, we have increased the damage dealt by the second hit of normal attacks to ensure that combo damage is not reduced too much.

Mellow à la Mode + Trick Ball

- The cancel timing for the second hit of normal attacks has been sped up.
- Wide attacks have received the following adjustments:
　The hit detection range for the first hit has been reduced slightly.
　The vertical hit detection range for the second hit has been expanded.

With both “Mellow à la Mode” and “Trick Ball”, the time required to transform your foe and then do damage with a combo was quite long, making it easy to be interrupted by other players.
With this adjustment, the tempo of normal attacks has been sped up, making it easier to land combos and defeat your opponents quickly.

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All Gum Weapons

- The homing ability of break attacks has been adjusted so that homing cannot keep up with back attacks.
- The hitstop duration when landing a Gum Break on an opponent blowing a bubble or using an S-Burst has been shortened.
- The amount of S-Energy consumed by avoiding parries has been reduced from 4 to 3 units.

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Ninja Tornado

- The time it takes to launch an attack has been shortened.
It will now be possible to attack more quickly than before, allowing weapons to be more useful in various situations.

Punishing Blade

- The reaction when a player is hit by an initial attack has been altered to make it easier to land consecutive attacks.
- The distance traveled with follow-up attacks has been increased, also making it easier to pursue opponents.
- The effect time of “Punishing Blade” has been shortened.

The weapon “Drill Beast”, which allows players to use “Punishing Blade”, is tremendously popular, particularly among players from the Apprentice to Vanguard Ninja ranks.
However, at ranks of Elite Ninja and above, both its winning percentage and usage rate drop dramatically.
This is because Punishing Blade leaves the user unprotected when being activated. As players become more experienced and aware of this, Punishing Blade is often quickly targeted, resulting in the user getting punished instead.
Even when attacks successfully hit, it could be interrupted by other players before a combo could be landed, letting opponents escape.
With this adjustment, successfully landing an attack once will make it more difficult for opponents to get away, making it easier to punish them until the end.
To offset this and ensure that it does not become overly popular among the Apprentice to Vanguard Ninja ranks, the duration has been shortened.

Gum Searcher

- Cooldown time has been reduced.
- Effect duration has been shortened.
Currently, Gum Searcher appears difficult to use, and has not been producing good results, so we have reduced the cooldown time.
With the reduced cooldown, it will now be possible to set it near drones as a diversionary tactic, allowing it to be used more widely in various situations.

All Gum Shoots

- All gum shoots can now be canceled by Specials

UI Improvements

We have implemented a number of improvements to the Ninjala UI.

- Parry Guide HUD

- An icon has been added to indicate a big weapon wins out over a smaller weapon with the same attack. This adjustment will make it easier to tell when a parry was won or lost normally, or due to weapon size.

- When choosing your parry attack, attacks with a Super Armor effect in the event of a tie will be indicated as such with an icon.

- After choosing your parry attack, when a tie results in Super Armor being activated, this will be indicated with an icon.

Certain Yo-yo and Hammer Type weapons offer a Super Armor effect in the event that you and your opponent choose the same attack type. This UI modification will make it easier to recognize which weapons offer this effect, as well as when the effect is activated.

UX Improvements

- It will now be easier to understand the current matching situation in the Standby Dojo. The remaining number of users still preparing in the lobby will now be displayed. When everyone is ready, it will change to a message indicating that the battle will begin soon.

- The initial list displayed after selecting Room Battle has been changed to include Team Battles.

- In the event that players have formed a party, it will now be possible to see which players are currently partied with each other in the Matching Lobby and elsewhere.

- The initial cursor position for the matching confirmation screen has been switched to “Yes”.

- Yes/No confirmation windows can now be closed with the B Button.

Other Additions and Adjustments

- The remaining effect duration of "Punishing Blade" is now displayed on-screen.
- The attack range of “Echoing Scream” has been adjusted to that it matches the range of the visual effect.
- The Reverse Mode camera setting has been altered so that it no longer affects gyroscope controls.
- When crafting weapons by pressing the ZL and A Buttons simultaneously, the gum will automatically expand to the maximum possible size and create a weapon.
- At beginner levels, the message “Find a drone and defeat it!” will now appear at the start of battle.
- At times when you are unable to blow a bubble, an icon will now be displayed to indicate this situation.
- A number indicating transmission speed will now be displayed at the start of battle and on the Results screen.
- The positions of the “Standings” and “Detailed Results” buttons on the Results screen have been altered.
- The Player Info screen has been adjusted to show level/EXP and rating gauges.
- The Chapter Rewards screen in Story Mode has been changed to show obtainable rewards and the conditions for obtaining them.
- The disbanding time limit for Ninjala Battles has been reduced from 150 seconds to 70 seconds.

Resolution of Known Issues

- An issue where camera speed would unnaturally increase when performing certain actions while “Piercing Mixer” was engaged has been resolved.
- An issue with the “Mellow à la Mode” and “Trick Ball” weapons where defeating an enemy with a normal attack or back attack blast would not result in an IPPON even if the requisite conditions were met has been resolved.
- An issue where player face icons did not display properly has been resolved.
- An issue where banners did not display properly when at your base has been resolved.
- An issue where Story Mode chapter rewards were not properly displayed has been resolved.
In addition to the above, additional refinements and bug fixed have been implemented to ensure a smoother, more enjoyable game experience.
* Updating to Ver 2.0 is mandatory for all players.
* To download the update, sufficient free space is required in your console’s internal storage or an installed microSD card.
* All information is accurate as of the time of posting.

Have you updated to version 2.0 yet? Noticed anything else? Leave a comment down below.