Ninja Gaiden 4 review: New ninja, slower pace, same adrenaline rush

Looks like there hasn't been much room for Ryu Hayabusa in the gaming world lately. Classic action games have taken a backseat to the trend set by FromSoftware with all those soulslike games, which I'm honestly pretty tired of seeing. I hope I'm not alone in this thought and that the fatigue from this monotonous trend will eventually lead to a resurgence of creativity among developers. This could allow for a return to more intense games that approach combat in a more complex and spectacular way. Ninja Gaiden has been given such an opportunity with the release of a full-fledged fourth installment in the series. This came about thanks to a big team-up between the long-successful Koei Temco, the seasoned action game pros at PlatinumGames, and Microsoft's publishing resources. Did it succeed? In some ways, yes... but unfortunately not to the extent I would have hoped, as I ultimately have a rather ambivalent attitude towards this game.

Is it a crow? Is it a plane? No! It's Yakumo!

Let's get to the specifics. Ninja Gaiden 4 expands the familiar world by introducing the Raven Clan – a group that's been operating in the shadows for years, taking on the most dangerous missions while quietly supporting the famous ninja, Hayabusa. That’s why we play as a new protagonist named Yakumo. He's a young, super-talented, and incredibly cocky crow ninja who doesn't show a hint of fear or hesitation when he's on a mission. He differs from Ryu in two ways – he somewhat clumsily masks more human emotions, posing as a cold killing machine. Compared to the super calm Hayabusa, Yakumo has a bit more rage and wildness, probably because he's younger and uses bloody ninjutsu techniques. This lets him pull off some insanely brutal moves with blood flying everywhere, which definitely shows in the gameplay.

Yakumo begins a mission to eliminate the priestess of the dark dragon deity, but eventually forms a temporary alliance with her. Together, they work to break the magical seals that imprison the ancient entity. The plot is, of course, a subtle pretext for a wild chase after the aforementioned seals and the demons guarding them. Like Ryu, Yakumo doesn't hold back and slaughters hundreds of opponents during the journey, often dealing with them in a grotesquely brutal way—although the game features decapitation and limb severing, it doesn't make as much of an impression as in Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, also released this year.

PlatinumGames strives to do what it does best

Let's dive into the main course: the combat system. It's more like what you'd expect from PlatinumGames' recent work rather than the older games by Team Ninja. No surprise there, since PlatinumGames took the lead on this one, which we knew from the get-go.

As a result, mechanics like parrying and perfect dodges, enabling stronger counterattacks, were incorporated into some of the familiar animations and attacks from Ninja Gaiden. They also introduced Bayonetta's Dodge Offset, which lets players continue combos after dodging during their execution. The ability to lock the camera on a specific enemy was also introduced. All these changes made the game lose a bit of its finesse, leaning more towards somewhat automated spectacle and a series of longer animations. Even though visually the game tries to tell me otherwise, I felt like the pace of the fight really slowed down because of all that. Some of these changes will definitely appeal to many players as they result from modernizing the gameplay, but fans of the series, like me, might have some complaints about them.

One of my biggest gripes with Ninja Gaiden 4 is that it seems to be having a bit of an identity crisis. It feels like a mash-up of previous Platinum action games with just a hint of what made Ninja Gaiden so good. Fortunately, I really enjoy their games, so this isn't a serious complaint, just an observation. However, I'm not entirely a fan of the new bloody ninjutsu mechanic. With it, we can tap into an extra resource to pull off stronger and unique attacks, which totally opens up new combo possibilities. The problem is that these attacks are becoming predictable. They are mainly used to "break through" an enemy's attack marked with a big red exclamation mark—if successful, the enemy is briefly stunned. This is one of the main mechanics during boss fights. I believe it unnecessarily slows the game down again, as during a fight, we simply wait for the right moment to launch a "counter." The devs also introduced the option to switch weapons on the fly to juggle enemies in the air more spectacularly, using the entire available arsenal. On one hand, this is cool, but on the other, these enemies often have too much HP, and the fun starts to resemble endless juggling from Marvel vs. Capcom. It's kind of fun and allows for flashy techniques, but in the long run, it becomes tiring and also enhances the feeling of slowing down the gameplay to the point where certain stages just drag on.

Slower, different, but still... good

Nevertheless, if we accept a different pace of gameplay and some automated elements, the combat itself can still provide a lot of fun. I'm super grateful that this is an old-school slasher—straightforward and not overcomplicated. It's all about non-stop enemy slaying, with some cool pipe grinding, quick skill challenges, or detours to find hidden Torii gates with extra challenges. It's a brutal, dynamic action game that allows for strong expression of your style through the aforementioned array of weapons and combos.

The new arsenal is awesome and totally wild in how it's done. Besides the standard katana, Yakumo uses a huge drill, a staff that can transform into a powerful hammer, and mechanical arms with claws attached to the back, along with a ninja accessory box. Each of these weapons has its own gimmick, making them enjoyable to use, and you will surely find your favorite tool of destruction. The whole thing can still be pretty challenging, which I absolutely love because tackling the toughest challenges is still super satisfying. Fundamentally, it's an enjoyable combat system, although it has its clear drawbacks. At first, I wasn't really into it, but as I went through the stages, I started to appreciate the different approach to combat. I found it had enough depth to make playing around with the game mechanics fun. The combat in Ninja Gaiden 4 is still great, although it plays on noticeably different principles and nods to modern players by clearly simplifying some aspects through automation. Nevertheless, I was really enjoying the game, especially when I dove into the optional challenges, taking on waves of increasingly tough and insanely aggressive enemies.

The cool vibe has somewhat vanished

I have an issue with the artistic direction, which features way too many techno neons. A dark, rundown Tokyo with a cyberpunk vibe sounds like something that should totally captivate me. In reality, the game's environment could get visually boring, eventually blending into one big blur. There are a few beautifully designed views, like the boss arena guarding the first seal—I was also charmed by the fight in the Disco In Tokyo club, but these are exceptions. The whole campaign basically boils down to just four design themes, and the location design sometimes feels like it could've been whipped up by an editor. To make matters worse, everything was kept in cool shades of blue and turquoise, so after a while, the campaign started to blend into one shapeless mass for me. I have similar reservations about the layout of the locations, which lacked anything memorable. In this aspect, it's boring.

Ninja master exam passed at 80%

So, in the end, Ninja Gaiden 4 feels like a solid rehash of the slightly disappointing Bayonetta 3, and I have similar feelings about it, along with some personal reservations. The artistic design annoys me, I frown at the opponents and certain solutions, but... despite all that, once I picked up the controller, I was hooked until the end credits, eager to try higher difficulty levels to get a bit more out of the game. The core gameplay is top-notch, and honestly, I'm having a blast pulling off combos and slicing up enemies with my katana. It's a full-blooded action game that delivers plenty of adrenaline from overcoming tough challenges. Even in light of a few missteps, it cannot be denied that PlatinumGames has created a strong representative of a heavily neglected genre, simultaneously reviving a legendary franchise whose return we have been awaiting for far too long.