2025 has been a killer year for ninjas. Not only have we seen the resurgence of Shinobi developed by the folks at Lizardcube but another Ninja Gaiden title also dropped over the summer from The Game Kitchen. Now, mere days after the untimely passing of the man behind the series reboot on the original Xbox, it’s time for the first new numbered title in the Ninja Gaiden franchise in fourteen years and the first of the modern series to not feature super ninja Ryu Hayabusa front and center. Can PlatinumGames prove they’ve got a mastery of ninjutsu, or is this one adventure a magic trick gone wrong?
While Ryu Hayabusa remains a core part of Ninja Gaiden 4’s narrative, the main focus this time around is on newcomer Yakumo, a rising ninja from the rival Raven Clan. Before Ninja Gaiden 4 opens, it’s a fact that the Dark Dragon is dead (for the third time), felled at the hands of Ryu Hayabusa (again) and its hulking skeletal remains lingering above Tokyo. As supernatural gods are wont to do, the risk of revival is imminent. It’s established early on in the story that this Raven clan has been operating in the shadows nearly as long as the Hayabusa clan, cleaning up after them and clearing a path for the main clan to take all of the glory for success. To quell the possible revival of the Dark Dragon, Yakumo’s initial goal is to slay a blue-eyed priestess to fulfill a prophecy of his clan. However, the pair instead pair up to subvert the prophecy and instead aim to revive the Dark Dragon in hopes of giving one final death and end the cycle of rebirth and destruction. Naturally, this leads to making an enemy of nearly every other ninja clan out there and even Ryu Hayabusa himself.
Without Ryu’s signature Dragon Sword in his arsenal, Yakumo instead relies on a number of other tricks up his short sleeves, starting with a pair of ninja swords and rapidly growing to include a spiral rapier and double-ended staff, among others. Each of these weapons feels dramatically different from one another in combat, some best suited for taking bosses on one-on-one while the likes of the staff are better for crowd control and slaying the dozens of ghost fish that are a staple of annoying Ninja Gaiden players the world over. I would have loved to take the Falcon’s Talons for another walk but every weapon Yakumo acquires fits a certain role in combat without being an all-in-one survival tool.
Yakumo himself isn’t much of an interesting protagonist compared to those who have championed earlier Ninja Gaiden games. He doesn’t speak much, instead blindly following suggestions and goals without question, only for the occasional staredown or sarcastic quip to utter from his lips. Both his fashion sense and mannerisms invoke the edgy Hot Topic teenager going through their goth phase in life, only far more brutal. Yakumo can manifest that angst and anger and channel them into the power of his unique combat style, the Bloodbind Ninjutsu and Bloodraven Form.
As Yakumo attacks, a secondary gauge fills to power his Bloodraven attacks. By holding down L2, he can convert his current weapon into an alternative form or power up his counterattacks. This turns that double-sided staff into a massive hammer with a rocket on the opposite end, while his dual swords can turn into a two-handed sword instead. With how much health a lot of these damage sponge enemies have, not utilizing his Bloodraven form can turn fights into lengthy slogs while even a single attack from an enemy can take off a sizable chunk of life. Further fueling this lust for blood is a mechanic to recover a fraction of health lost by drenching oneself in blood; the downside to this is that even taking a second hit from an enemy before you’ve had a chance to recover often leaves a massive deficit in health that can only be salvaged by using one of the limited healing potions Yakumo carries on him at a time. In far too many fights, I thought I had the edge and could counterattack to win the battle, only to get stopped in my tracks with an annoying pop-up asking if I would like to use the Incense of Rebirth in my inventory and revive on the spot, a sure sign that I screwed something up and died to an unexpected attack.
What PlatinumGames brings to the table in Ninja Gaiden 4 reinvents the fast-paced combat of the modern series with a number of tropes that have been in their earlier games. Players can deflect oncoming attacks with a quick attack of their own, leading to a third defensive option besides just blocking or dodging away. This is best used for fights where it’s just one-on-one and the player can be able to read and anticipate the attack from a single direction. When surrounded by enemies and attacks coming from all sides, taking a less risky approach is often the best choice (albeit with fights taking much longer without that aggression at play).
Series staple moves that Ryu Hayabusa pioneered, from the Flying Swallow attack in the air to the Guillotine Throw against humanoid enemies, are all part of Yakumo’s stable of moves, provided you spend the coin at one of the local merchants to learn the ways of the super ninja. Unfortunately, Yakumo just doesn’t have the same skill with these moves that Ryu showcased in prior games, so a well-timed Guillotine Throw won’t murder an enemy outright but instead simply throw them outside of the range of Yakumo’s assortment of weapons with only a small amount of damage.
In some ways, the combat is simplified from the series’ last entry, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. Throws outside of the Guillotine Throw aren’t really part of Yakumo’s skillset and oh-so-many of his fights are dependent on flashy obliteration and instant kills. Most enemies have to be dispatched by pressing the triangle button after they’ve lost a limb, leading to a quick cut-in of Yakumo taking their head off each and every time. It pulls away from the action for a brief moment when the player should instead be focused on trying to dodge an incoming attack that I found these repeated obliteration moves to be somewhat of a distraction from what was otherwise some of PlatinumGames’ best combat to date, although it can also be some of their most challenging and frustrating if you don’t engage with all of the defensive options at Yakumo’s disposal.
While the level design in Ninja Gaiden 4 is fantastic and Yakumo winds up murdering demons across a wide variety of biomes, from the rainy streets of neo futuristic Tokyo at night to snowy temple grounds to laser-filled dance halls, the sense of exploration is limited at best. Far too often, Yakumo runs through a guided path from combat encounter to combat encounter before reaching the boss, but for the few instances where the player can go off the rails and explore down a side path often rewards the player with some sort of side mission or collectible to boost his health. That isn’t to say that the on-rails segments are a poor part of the Ninja Gaiden 4 experience; in fact, it’s far from it. Yakumo can wall run, glide, and even surf like a proper ninja in full PlatinumGames spectacle, but the areas that stop holding the players hand and let them check out an area at their own pace feel few and far between.
Another knock against Ninja Gaiden 4’s level progression is just how many times Yakumo finds himself falling off a ledge or just generally getting distracted from his goal. Early on, one of Yakumo’s chapters ends with him falling through a rotten bridge when he was only mere steps away from his goal of unsealing one of the Dark Dragon’s temples, thus leading into an entire chapter of side diversions just to get back up the mountain to where he once was. PlatinumGames then has the audacity to pull the trick a second time at the end of that chapter, leading into a padded opening act that could have simply been avoided if Yakumo remembered that he’s a ninja that can defy gravity and simply jump. In fact, this trope of getting diverted at the last minute from accomplishing his goal is a common trope in the first half of Ninja Gaiden 4 that one has to wonder if these chapters weren’t simply thrown in to pad the already-extensive runtime and make this sequel feel meatier than it actually was. At least the combat continued to shine through arena after arena of mindless demon spawn all intent on taking Yakumo’s head. When it's all said and done, my playthrough of Ninja Gaiden 4 took just shy of twenty hours to clear just as many chapters. On average, a number of the early chapters lasted around forty minutes each, although that time does include tackling some of the optional challenge arenas with a health handicap to earn a few extra ninja bucks and points to pick up some extra skills for the future. Throw in a mandatory second playthrough on Master Ninja if you're aiming for the platinum trophy and I wouldn't be surprised if most players need a good forty hours to earn every achievement and secure the title of True Ninja.
Ninja Gaiden 4 represents a bold take on the legacy of Ryu Hayabusa and the Dark Dragon with all of the charm and signatures of PlatinumGames throughout. At times, it can be frustrating and even an exercise in patience to become a master ninja and learn to survive an arena unscathed while still retaining the fundamentals of what made the original Xbox trilogy so well renowned. I don’t know what it is about character action games and long-awaited sequels but there’s always something so damn special to them that they’re an instant recommendation, difficulty aside.
[Editor’s Note: Ninja Gaiden 4 was reviewed on the PlayStation 5 Pro. Review code was provided by the publisher.]
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