Im completely new to the series, but Ive never been owned so bad in a fighting game's story mode. I lose like 10 times on my way through on normal. I start to feel like I have the hold/counter thing down, then I lose it. I cant figure out how to prevent throws at all either. Gah, Im enjoying it though I hope I get the hang of it soon.

No you (probably) aren't that bad at the game, it's just it's really hard (check all of the other people's posts on the matter ). If you keep trying, you will get better, it's just Team Ninja's hardcore instincts kicking in (again..."cough* NinjaGaiden *cough*)

yea there are long topics about how hard and info with tips and stuff check them out.

I can't wait for Street Fighter II to make it to the 360. Now there's a game that everyone agrees has good mechanics and a fair difficulty; yet the truly gifted fighter is always victorious.

i didnt have any trouble with doa4 i only used a few continues when i was unlocking the costumes, i had a few problems against the boss as the spartan but it only took me a few tries

OK yeah cause I just got the game yesterday, and I know its a short time to judge, but I feel like I will never get to the point where I wont get whooped. Yet, at the same time, as your playing through you learn what works and what doesnt. I absolutely HATE Alpha 152 or whatever her name is.

I loathed playing against alpha when I first started... though she's become so predictable that it's actually one of the easier battles now... I have a much harder time with battles 6 and 7 then I do with 8 against Alpha... just pay attention to when she does what, she's pretty predictable, I'm able to counter her before she even starts most of her moves.

and as for Team Ninja games being hard

Aparently Ninja Gaiden is so hard it kills your friends:

itigaki made it clear when making NG that he wants to go back to the old school roots and make the game very rewarding and yet challenging in its difficulty. it would seem that he still has this goal in mind with DoA4 (and hopefully his future titles) and i couldnt be happier. yes i find most of my replay in the online mode however it got really old that evey previous DoA i had to crank the difficulty up to very hard and still find it too easy. i find it a breathe of fresh air that i had trouble on the normal difficulty. also for anyone who finds the game too hard that is aggrivating, it was said that if you lose enough in a row in single player that an easy mode will be unlocked.

I didn't think Ninja Gaiden was THAT hard... but it was incredibly, incredibly well made and just fun as hell. One of my favorite games for Xbox.