Ryu Hayabusa is back, baby. After a decade off, licking his wounds from the series’ middling third game, Ninja Gaiden 4 does gaming’s most legendary ninja justice with a tremendous fourth outing that achieves an excellent balance of style and substance.
PlatinumGames and Team Ninja’s co-developed sequel is no reinvention. There’s nothing in this 20-hour romp through a cyberbunk-themed Tokyo that fans won’t have seen before, but that’s not the pull.
Ninja Gaiden 4’s biggest achievement isn’t executing a new gimmick or idea. It’s the result of two studios famed for their action-adventure chops delivering best-in-class gameplay with incredible polish that hits the sweet spot between accessibility and complexity.
Ryu and newcomer Yakumo’s intertwined story feels like opening a time capsule, with all the hallmarks of a tropey mid-2000s action film. But you know what? It hits far more than it misses. Period nostalgia married with modern gameplay design is a winning formula.
Ninja Gaiden 4 screenshots
What is Ninja Gaiden 4 about?
A near-future version of Tokyo isn’t doing so hot. Cursed to suffer through a toxic eternal rain caused by the corpse of the Dark Dragon, Raven clan ninja and resident edgelord Yakumo tasks himself with resurrecting said evil dragon to purify it and end the curse.
For utterly contrived reasons, only a member of his clan can pull off the feat. Legendary superninja (a term used in-game with complete seriousness) Ryu, member of the rival Hayabusa clan, isn’t best pleased about this mission. After all, it could have severe ramifications for the entire planet if the plan goes sideways.
Fortunately, like Ryu, Yakumo’s something of a superninja himself, able to waste legions of demons with slick combos and a variety of inventive weaponry without breaking a sweat.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is challenging, but it’s not as hair-pullingly hard as the first two games, at least not on the default Normal difficulty. The beauty of action-adventure games with hack-and-slash leanings, though, is the euphoric satisfaction achieved from flawless execution of the game’s cinematic combat.
Balancing difficulty with accessibility isn’t easy. To a degree, it’s possible to brute force your way through Ninja Gaiden 4 thanks to plentiful health items, but button-mashing will net you little success.
Being more forgiving brings down the barrier to entry for a series notorious for its difficulty, granting a safety net, of sorts, while still providing a sky-high skill ceiling for hardcore fans shooting for perfect scores and hitless runs.
Within an hour of exploring a dystopian Tokyo as Yakumo, I was linking perfect parries, dodges, and blocks into combo strings and pulling off ridiculous attacks. Happening upon an underground complex of nightclubs blasting rave music in Tokyo’s underbelly while chasing a shark-shaped demon, Platinum and Team Ninja’s achievement became clear as day.
Nothing in Ninja Gaiden 4 feels superfluous. Every weapon and ability excels in some combat scenarios while falling short in others, encouraging you to experiment to find the perfect tool for the job. And just when I thought I’d mastered everything, the script flipped.
A tale of two ninjas
In a manner identical to Capcom’s switcheroo of Nero and Dante in Devil May Cry 4, Yakumo takes a backseat in favor of Ryu towards the end of Ninja Gaiden 4.
While the two shinobi share the same skillset, Ryu discards weapon variety in favor of elemental magic. The two feel unique and punchy, but Mr. Hayabusa’s role in the story never quite manages to be much more than an afterthought.
His portion of the campaign is largely a retread of Yakumo’s stages, with one, in particular, being a singular boss fight with zero exploration. The final stretch, then, suffers from wonky pacing and creeping repetition, but doesn’t derail what’s otherwise a welcome inclusion of the series’ OG ninja.
Once the credits roll, you’re free to replay the entire campaign as either character, as well as test your mettle against a ton of optional challenges and trials, some of which unlock bonus content.
Verdict
Ninja Gaiden 4 is a phenomenal return to form for a series that looked spent after the disappointing number 3. While it suffers from pacing issues in spots, the story never detracts from the masterful combat and enemy design expected from two masters of the action-adventure genre.
Ninja Gaiden 4 has perfected the series’ hack and slash gameplay, and I immediately sank several hours into post-game content after polishing off the story for no other reason than I wasn’t ready to come down from the power fantasy of being a one-man army.
If this is the start of a recurring working relationship between Platinum and Team Ninja, there could be more of this excellence to come. Bring it on.
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