To play: download ng2recomp-v1.0.14-win-amd64.zip below, unzip it
anywhere, run ng2.exe and point it at your own copy of Ninja Gaiden II (a
disc image or an extracted disc folder) and, if you have them, your DLC
packages. The zip holds the executable, the runtime, the Visual C++ runtime it
needs, the controller database and the texture tools - now including the AI
upscaler engine - and no game assets or data of any kind. The executable
contains the game's code in translated form; without your copy of the game it
does nothing. Updating an existing install: unzip over it; game\, dlc\,
user\ and your settings are never touched.
Added - the AI upscaler ships in the zip, and is the default
The Textures page has offered Real-ESRGAN since the pack tool existed, but a
fresh install had to fetch the engine with the Download button first, and
until then every upscale fell back to Lanczos. The release now carries the
engine at tools/upscaler/ (Real-ESRGAN ncnn-vulkan with the x4plus model and
its siblings - a local model that runs on your GPU, no account, no network;
BSD-3, third party), and AI at detail strength 0.75 is the default for new
settings. Existing settings files keep whatever they say. The choice came out
of the ACME Texture Upscaler comparisons and a trial on real game textures the
same day: the AI wins clearly on hard surfaces (wood grain, rivets, edges) and
the strength blend keeps it from turning soft organic textures to speckle. The
Download button stays for installs that lack the folder. The runtime and GPU
plugin are the stock pair, unchanged from v1.0.13.