Does Ninja Gaiden nonetheless work in 2025, in a world the place soulslikes dominate the high-skill motion recreation subgenre? I performed Ninja Gaiden 4 for the primary time final weekend, and my reply is unequivocally, sure, completely, 1000%, Ninja Gaiden not solely nonetheless works in 2025, however it’s a high-speed, trendy breath of recent air. It was my favourite factor I performed amongst all the video games I lined at this previous weekend’s varied showcases, and as somebody who considers Ninja Gaiden Black the best motion recreation ever made, I left extremely blissful.
A mere 25 minutes of hands-on time with Ninja Gaiden 4 isn’t remotely sufficient to make a judgment name on the place PlatinumGames and Group Ninja’s sequel will match into the hierarchy of the franchise, however it was sufficient to make me really feel like a badass killing machine and nonetheless problem me within the course of. Which suggests Ninja Gaiden 4 is off to a superb begin when it comes to dialing in that ever-so-special Ninja Gaiden feeling as PlatinumGames takes the lead, with Group Ninja guiding them. “The sport is quick,” stated PlatinumGames producer and director Yuji Nakao. “We needed to verify it seems like a modernized excessive pace recreation…whereas staying true to what Ninja Gaiden is.” He added, “We’re going in opposition to the pattern” – that means, soulslikes.
I performed as younger Raven Clan member Yakumo in Chapter 1, which isn’t the very starting of the marketing campaign – that honor goes to a tutorial part – however for all intents and functions it’s. It’s set properly after Ninja Gaiden 3 (shh, we don’t speak about that one!) in a near-future Tokyo amidst the return of the Darkish Dragon. Sadly, I didn’t get to play as Ryu Huyabusa, however I can’t wait to take action. I didn’t thoughts an excessive amount of in my demo although, as a result of I used to be having a lot enjoyable as Yakumo.
See, Yakumo has a few of Ryu’s traditional methods – Izuna Drop, anybody? – whereas additionally unleashing his personal within the type of Bloodraven assaults, that are deployed by holding the left set off and then urgent X or Y. These are massive space of impact offensive maneuvers, however they take longer to wind up and execute. It was my previous habits and not being fast sufficient to undertake these new strikes that doomed me within the massive encounter close to the tip of my 25-minute hands-on session. I gained’t make the identical mistake subsequent time. And sadly it means I didn’t get to face off in opposition to the Chapter 1 boss, who you may see in motion within the video on the high of the web page.
Should you’ve performed Ninja Gaiden video games earlier than, it’s best to really feel fairly comfy immediately, although there may be actually loads of new stuff to study and get used to: Tapping proper set off on the proper second to dam an incoming assault and arrange a counter. Wall-running and tapping Y to take the pinnacle off of a low-level enemy. Holding Y with Blood Essence – seemingly instead of Ninpo, no less than for Yakumo – nonetheless uncollected on the battlefield after your earlier kill so you should utilize them to energy an Final approach on the foe nonetheless alive in entrance of you; it’s all nonetheless right here. Oh, and don’t neglect to assassinate enemies quietly while you get an opportunity.
If something, Ninja Gaiden 4 feels sooner than ever. Even Yakumo’s operating pace feels sooner than Ryu’s did within the older video games. It’s additionally someway even bloodier than ever. Issues began to get gory in Ninja Gaiden 2, however right here the crimson fountains spray each which method, continually coating Yakumo in a Carrie-like coating of plasma. Arterial spray will get all over the place when slicing and dicing a handful of foes. It’s like a vampire’s dream come true on the market. Let’s all sit again and watch this superior sequence for the subsequent minute and a half or so – which I remind you once more is just from the primary correct degree of the sport!
Oh, and right here’s extra excellent news: the digital camera is definitely fairly good now! It’s actually advanced over time, however fortunately in 2025, it now not appears to be a detriment or distraction to the participant. Definitely much more time can be wanted to confirm this preliminary impression, however the digital camera didn’t annoy me as soon as in my whole hands-on session.
Problem modes, in the meantime, could be adjusted on the fly if, say, you’re enjoying on Exhausting and wish to drop it to Regular for a very powerful boss. A simple mode is right here, too; it’s known as Hero mode, however I didn’t get to try it out to see simply how forgiving (or not) it could be – I spent my time on Regular issue. Additionally, baked into Regular, no less than (and presumably Hero as properly, however I’m unsure about Exhausting but), is a function that provides you a useful merchandise when you’ve failed a specific encounter a number of occasions. On that final large rumble I used to be too sluggish to carry Yakumo’s new assaults into, I used to be given a big therapeutic elixir to assist me on my subsequent try.
Ninja Gaiden 4’s checkpoint system now takes some stress out of looking for a save level with ample well being and provides. A red-eyed raven will also be approached, which triggers a go to from a pal who can unlock fight abilities in alternate for the in-game forex you’ve gathered. You can too go right into a follow mode from right here too that permits you to get acquainted with your strikes (which I didn’t waste time doing throughout my quick demo).
And sure, there are collectibles to search for as properly. They’re known as Gourdys, and they’re little cute creatures that you need to full a quick-time occasion sequence to be able to safe. I discovered one Gourdy and it was solely two rapid-succession button faucets to bag it; we’ll see if the QTEs get extra difficult and troublesome the deeper into the marketing campaign you get. I’m unsure but if accumulating them will yield any form of better reward.
I’ll be sincere: I got here into my first hands-on session with Ninja Gaiden 4 with extraordinarily excessive expectations. If PlatinumGames and Group Ninja screwed this up, I’d’ve been very vocal about it as a 20-year fan of the sequence. However fortunately, they appear to be heading in the right direction in the direction of getting this proper. In the event that they don’t, the sequence might be useless ceaselessly. However I used to be smiling your entire time I used to be enjoying Ninja Gaiden 4 – even once I obtained killed. Its want for fight pace is matched by its sense of favor, and all I wish to do now’s play Ninja Gaiden 4. The 12 months of the Ninja would possibly really be magical, between the superb Ninja Gaiden 2 Black earlier this 12 months, the extraordinarily promising Ninja Gaiden Ragebound that we additionally simply performed and adored, Sega’s seemingly targeted 2D revival of Shinobi, and the most important one of all of them, PlatinumGames’s Ninja Gaiden 4. I’m as optimistic as ever that they’re going to nail this when it (Izuna) drops on October 21.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s government editor of previews and host of each IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, in addition to our month-to-month(-ish) interview present, IGN Unfiltered. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.