Esprite finally recently released a C:SI-compatible version of his ninjatou! The official announcement can be found on the official Combat: Samurai Island website, and it is also listed on the SL Exchange marketplace.
I haven’t had much chance to use it in "real world" situations, as I’m horribly rusty at fighting now, but I’m pretty interested in trying it out.
One of the things I find most interesting is that with this sword Esprite is continuing the trend of trying new things and expanding the combat system. This new sword is somewhat faster than previous swords, but does less damage per hit. At least in theory this will balance out overall so as not to be out of balance with other C:SI weapons, though Esprite did mention some nervousness about that, since he knows (as all developers know) that once it’s in a lot of user’s hands then (and only then) will any balance issues or any other kinds of subtle issues come to the surface.
I have heard some people mention that they are not big fans of the special attack style that stays in one place (the Musashi Sizuka naru Shi does this as well), because people can avoid it easier. I think there is definitely some validity to that, though there is an aspect to it that I really like. I also believe that it’s good to try new things, and perhaps more than anything else that’s what I’m most jazzed about in C:SI lately. Obviously, if C:SI just keeps putting out the "same old thing", it will stagnate and our long-time members will lose interest. You "old timers" know who I’m talking about, too, don’t you?
This means that we need to keep trying out new ideas, and it’s highly likely that not all of those new ideas will be popular with everyone (heck, many people don’t seem to like special attacks at all, let alone new styles of special attacks). This is at least one of the reasons why you are now seeing dual-wield katana from Musashi, and the new Ashes announced above. Even the new Dynasty Flame from Musashi has a slightly different style of special, and Archanox has been working on some very interesting twists on the combat mechanics in his dual-wield daggers.
On a semi-related side note, I am actively working on a new weapon. I had toyed with the idea of making a ninjatou, as I kind of like that style of weapon, but at this point I’m thinking either a wakizashi if I do a short blade or a regular-sized katana with a dramatically different set of animations. I have been playing with some concepts that fit the larger sword better, I think, and if I can manage to pull this stuff together I think the result will be very cool indeed. I guess we’ll have to see which of these ideas work and which don’t, but I’m very excited to be trying some new stuff.
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I’ve been using the ninjaken quite a lot and I think it’s fairly balanced. I’ve been posting my observations on the C:SI forums and my overall conclusion is that the Ninjaken will likely drive up people’s tanking and counterattacking skills. I just had my first spar against a Ninjaken using a katana, even though I’d had probably 50+ spars with me using the Ninjaken. I have to say, the first time going against it with a kat is daunting. Your reaction time is reduced and you have to decide faster whether the movement you just saw was a fake or an attack. Since the attacks are faster, I think the time-away-from-block is also shorter, thus increasing the likelihood a stun will be delivered, driving home the point that an opponent using a kat better be on his/her tanking game. I haven’t had a chance to explore aerial use of the Ninjaken as much since most kat users want to tank against me. I have had the chance to spar with Evan Heron and Rune Schlag and their ninjakens, and we did explore aerial fighting. That was super fun.
I’ve had a few chances to use it myself now, and I actually rather like it.
I haven’t had the time (or skill, haha) to really see what effect the timing and special attack will have on overall strategy, so I rely on you guys to figure that all out, but I can say that I like the feel and timing of it and it hasn’t made an obvious detrimental impact on my win/loss average.