Ninja Gaiden 4 Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

Ninja Gaiden 4 from developers Team Ninja and PlatinumGames revives an iconic series in modern times and puts each studio's unique fingerprints all over the fast-hitting, grisly combat. 

Technically the seventh mainline game, this is a sequel to Ninja Gaiden 3, launched all the way back in 2012.

By far the prevailing point of intrigue before this anticipated release, though, was how Team Ninja's standard Ninja Gaiden experience would mesh with PlatinumGames' own extensive action game history that includes the likes of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, to name a few. 

How Ninja Gaiden 4 manages the balancing act in modern times in a sea of games it inspired in the genre, while also trying to be more accessible than ever, will dictate whether the return is a success. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Ninja Gaiden 4 looks great, carrying many of the bells and whistles players expect from modern horsepower. The lighting and shadows work is fantastic, proper physics impact every bit of quick motion and the overall graphical fidelity is top-notch. 

There's a borderline cyberpunk aesthetic to the whole thing, explained by the narrative backdrop. And it just works. The combat, be it robots, flesh and blood, or something in between, is super flashy and bloody in the best possible arcade-like way. 

Sound design matches the epic scale of the combat, too, with hammering blows on armor and some gut-wrenching noises when quick steel meets flesh.

If there's a negative to the presentation package, it's that the awesome-sounding setting feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity. A lack of environmental storytelling and romping through the same-looking rooftops, cliff sides and streets adds an unexpected repetitive feel to places at times. 

Series veterans know the deal when it comes to combat. Action games veterans, in general, will feel at home, given the influence Ninja Gaiden has had on every similar game for decades. We're talking light and heavy attacks, ranged shurikens, dodges, block gauges, ultimate meters and a leaning into Invincibility frames (i-frames) to survive.

While dashing, players auto-deflect bullets, putting an emphasis on proper timing. Blocking uses up a guard meter, which wears down over time or is immediately broken by a strong attack. With proper timing, moving an analog stick while blocking can perform a successful dodge.

Combat largely centers around the mechanic Bloodraven Form, which the protagonist uses to manipulate his blood and the blood of enemies into weapons, moves and as a meter-charger, too. Players have one strong attack to smash through defenses and some of the series-long iconic moves as part of their arsenal, too. 

Orbs dropped play into the great-feeling resource management of meters that includes health and cinematic ultimate moves. Juggling these in real-time is, in a word, intense.

Enemy AI is really impressive, too, in the way it mixes up actions and adapts on the fly in an effort to put the player down. It's not just smart, but never really lets off the aggression, either, matching the player blow for blow. There's no "let's take turns" about the combat like in many other games. 

Outside of combat, the game does some really fun, quick-hitting traversal segments and almost on-rail-like stuff to mix up the pace and keep players interested. These aren't just enjoyable, but work well to create memorable moments and give a little break from the intense combat. 

All of this is fun throughout and works together well, but really comes to a head in some epic boss battle moments that are almost skill checks. There are also challenge rooms of the old-school variety peppered throughout the levels, where customizing difficulty impacts rewards. 

In the name of accessibility, players can click the right stick while exploring to trigger a prompt that guides players on the right path. But it didn't feel necessary in most cases. 

Story and more 

Yakumo assumes the spotlight in Ninja Gaiden 4, though series headliner and fan favorite Ryu Hayabusa has a role to play, too.

The Dark Dragon has caused all sorts of horrors in Tokyo and that needs to stop. Blunt and simple as a description and in practice, really. This series has never been known for its impressive storytelling and this effort almost feels like a regression compared to the major progress games have made as a medium. 

That doesn't mean there aren't memorable setpieces and players won't care about the tale. But there is little in the way of gripping character development or even banter between characters sharing a common cause.

For Ryu Hayabusa fans, fret not. Both characters can use iconic series moves like the Izuna Drop, while Ryu, by and large, plays like his normal self from past games.

That said, Ryu is very much a sidebar here. He only gets one weapon and retreads the ground Yakumo already slashed and dashed through. While it's nice to have him at all, it's also hard to avoid it feeling like a missed opportunity. 

Progression veers a little more modern this time, steering away from weapon-based upgrades to picking and choosing universal upgrades tied to coins. That currency drops from story progression, sure, but also nicely encourages exploration and side missions by dropping from those avenues, too. 

Weapons, on the other hand, progress through weapon-specific experience now. If nothing else, it encourages players to experiment a little before really (potentially) committing to one and making it their own. 

Ninja Gaiden 4 prides itself on accessibility that embraces all possible audiences, highlighted most by a Hero difficulty mode that is especially tailored for beginners. A training mode available right from the menu lets players hop in and practice combos, with helpful information on the screen and some nice options. 

Speaking of options, Ninja Gaiden 4 has a solid suite of them overall and it's clear what a painstaking effort was made to guarantee this high-octane combat runs well at all times. 

Conclusion 

Suffocating, fun combat is the backbone highlight of Ninja Gaiden 4, which means it's a raving success for a game in the series and outright. 

Despite the appreciable efforts to be more accessible to a broader audience, though, this is not a game players will want ot pick up for the story or characters. And Ryu remaining in the fray for a bit might feel like a missed opportunity more than anything else for longtime fans. 

Even so, this feels more Team Ninja than PlatinumGames, albeit with some critical inputs from the latter. The marriage is a fantastic one, as expected, making Ninja Gaiden 4 one of the best-feeling action games of the last couple of decades.