Ninja Gaiden 4 feels plucked out of time in the best way possible. An action game in the same vein as the first three entries in the series, Ninja Gaiden 4 smartly makes the fast-paced combat the star of the show. Linear levels drive home this focus, never asking you to take a break from the action for some unfortunate mini-game or collectible hunting, instead placing you directly on the roller coaster track with no signs of slowing down. Combine that with a simple but well-executed story and multiple ways to replay, Ninja Gaiden 4 is the perfect action game for a time when souls-likes have taken over the genre.
Ninja Gaiden 4
Developer: Platinum Games and Team Ninja
Price: $70
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S (reviewed), PlayStation 5, and PC
Yakumo, the new protagonist from the Raven Clan, is tasked with killing the Dark Dragon Priestess to fulfill the prophecy and redeem his clan. Just before taking her out, the Priestess, Seori, tells him that to rid the world of the Dark Dragon truly, Yakumo must first revive it, to truly put it down for good. This gives us the juice for our story, tasking Yakumo with taking down four seals, along with any soldiers and demons blocking his path. The story offers minimal twists and turns, and don’t hold your breath for Yakumo to have a big character arc, but it’s compelling enough and never bogs down the gameplay.
Ninja Gaiden 4 maintains the series’ linear level-based gameplay, giving you sprawling levels to carve through, with a few side paths and extra activities to seek out. These are either quick missions, like an optional boss fight, or a Purgatory challenge, which asks you to win arena battles, with the option to reduce your health for better rewards. Since all of these are combat focused, it never feels like Ninja Gaiden 4 slows down, instead letting you point your melee combat destruction in a different direction on occasion.
The movement through each level features a few different special mechanics, like the grappling hook and glider, and while these sections have a clear path forward, the movement is fast and fluid, letting you fly through to the next batch of enemies. Not only do these provide the shortest of breaks so you can catch your breath, but they also make the world feel more expansive, as you fly through these massive areas. There aren’t as many different environments as I would like, spending a bit too much of the campaign in neon lit areas that start to feel the same, but outside of some actually reused areas late in the campaign, where I’m fighting enemies didn’t matter, as long as I was getting to enjoy the incredible combat.
The combat, the main star of the show in Ninja Gaiden 4, feels phenomenal. It maintains its fast-paced nature and an occasionally overwhelming number of enemies, but offers you so many tools to kill them that it never gets old. There is no stamina bar here to hold you back, although there are a number of smaller mechanics you have to keep in mind. When you hack an enemy’s limbs off, you can perform a finisher to get them off the field. Enemies will occasionally use an unblockable attack, but these can be interrupted using Raven Form abilities.
Blood Raven abilities use a metered approach, forcing you to charge up to use these heavy attacks, but they not only stop unblockable attacks, but also deal massive damage. Each weapon in the game has a slight spin on the timing of these attacks to maximize damage, giving you an aspect to improve beyond just meter management. There is also the ultimate meter, which puts you into a frenzy. During this, Blood Raven attacks can execute enemies in a stylish finisher, giving you an overpowered way to turn the tides of battle that doesn’t slow down the action itself.
All of that is in service of the regular combat, where you still have plenty of combos and special moves, including the iconic Izuna Drop. The parry system is perhaps the most powerful tool in your belt, allowing a well-timed attack to block an enemy before you do a big follow-up. Since this is done using your normal attacks and isn’t its own dedicated move, you aren’t incentivized to wait around for an including blow, instead going on offense and timing a parry during your combo.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is Fast, Fierce, and Unrelentingly Fun
The normal battles don’t require you to master these extra moves, at least on the normal difficulty, but there are two higher difficulty options; the boss fights certainly will. These one-on-one battles require you to make the most of parrying and interrupting unblockable attacks, but these more difficult fights also feel incredibly rewarding to win, especially if you absolutely obliterate your opponent. There are a few boss fights that have a slight gimmick to them, like one against an armored tank, that don’t feel fully designed around the combat of Ninja Gaiden 4, plus a couple, including the first phase of the final boss, that just feel incompatible with the gameplay, but overall, these are excellent fights.
Once you roll credits, you can chase better high scores in each chapter, playthrough on a higher difficulty or in a new mode or chase high scores on special trials unlocked after beating the campaign. You can also choose to keep any items and moves unlocked for your second run through the game, letting you take your full toolkit into the harder difficulties.
The Final Word
Ninja Gaiden 4 feels right at home with the classic, linear design of the first three entries in the series. A focus on tight, fast-paced action lets the best aspects of the game sing, and it avoids muddying the water with unnecessary souls-like mechanics. A few boss fights feel a bit too janky for the action, but overall, they make for excellent mission endpoints. The story isn’t exactly memorable, but it doesn’t bog down the experience, making for a tight roller coaster of an action game worthy of the title Ninja Gaiden.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
