It’s been over a decade for the reason that final numbered Ninja Gaiden sport. Whereas the precision-based hack-and-slash collection was sleeping, most motion video games went one in every of two methods. They both morphed into sprawling RPG adventures filled with bloat or tried to ape the obsession with Soulslikes, incorporating methodical hitbox dodging and disciplined stamina administration. However one of many kings of 3D arcade motion is awake once more and able to dispense with all the fashionable development chasing. Ninja Gaiden 4 is generally a sport about killing tons of fellows by executing essentially the most deadly combos and flashiest executions you possibly can grasp, and it appears to be fully content material with that. I’m too. I had an opportunity to play a current construct of the sport at Microsoft’s campus (Xbox is publishing the sport) throughout PAX West 2025 forward of Ninja Gaiden 4‘s launch on PS5, Xbox Collection X/S, and PC on October 21. The three way partnership between Koei Tecmo’s Crew Ninja and Bayonetta makers Platinum Video games seems to be going nice. Reasonably than a disjointed sequel divided between two sport design philosophies combating one another and the collection’ notorious legacy, what I performed of Ninja Gaiden 4 felt easy, centered, and enjoyable. Most significantly it exuded confidence about what it’s: a high-skill motion sport that rewards diligent followers with satisfyingly gory thrills. The story revolves round returning frontman Ryu Hayabusa and a brand new hero, the Raven Clan’s Yakumo, as they scale a cyberpunk-infused Sky Metropolis Tokyo infested with new daemon horrors and futuristic ninja troopers. Every character has entry to completely different weapons and ability units, and which you play relies on the chapter your in. The choice to replay any chapter as both one unlocks after you end, and for demo functions I opted to go along with Ryu for outdated occasions’ sake.
Inside seconds I used to be chopping off heads and staggering enemies with throwing stars. An ideal dodge provides you a small window to press the assault with a counter-strike that breaks by enemy defenses. There’s additionally an ideal parry that consists of attacking an enemy proper as they’re about to assault you, but it surely’s a clumsy window to take advantage of and doesn’t really feel practically as satisfying while you’re within the warmth of fight (and for many who need a much less crunchy expertise, there’s an possibility within the settings menu to show hitstop fully off). Ninja Gaiden 4 thrives while you’re continually transferring and attempting to combo gentle, heavy, and projectile assaults right into a conveyor belt of carnage. Doing so builds up meter to unleash particular assaults or enter a time-limited transformation that alters your moveset an additionally makes it extra deadly, culminating in trendy new insta-kill animations that swap the display screen to black, white, and crimson. The outdated obliterations are there too, letting you unleash geysers of blood as you shortly execute foes already affected by severed limbs. The pulled-out third-person digital camera additionally carried out properly through the demo, not often tripping me up with off-screen assaults amid the managed chaos.
I solely had time to expertise the primary layer or two of fight, and might see how two characters, a handful of weapons every, and all the different secondary strikes can add up right into a fight system with sufficient depth to maintain issues fascinating whereas by no means dropping sight of the moment-to-moment satisfaction that propels a sport like this ahead and retains you from rage-quitting when you hit an issue spike or two (there are three problem modes in Ninja Gaiden 4 that you may swap between at any time). What I’ll be most curious to see from the completed sport is whether or not its stage design will really feel equally refined or identical to a way to an finish. The early couple of sections I skilled included some wall operating, wall leaping, and grappling hook swinging, each for platforming and fight. Ninja Gaiden 4 has collectibles and I encountered the occasional fork within the highway to discover, whereas statues dotting the extent provide checkpoints at which to purchase objects from and improve expertise. However many of the motion was confined to flat arenas with out many fascinating options exterior of some cut up elevations and grappling hook factors. If Crew Ninja and Platinum Video games are in a position to imbue the later levels with as a lot drama in-between the massive battles as throughout them, Ninja Gaiden 4 could possibly be the return to demanding hack-and-slash motion followers have been ready for, perfecting the necessities and carving away the remainder.
