Ninja Gaiden 4

It’s always exciting when your favorite franchise that hasn’t had a new mainline release in over a decade finally makes its comeback, and the Ninja Gaiden series is making its triumphant, though flawed, return with Ninja Gaiden 4. Now my experience with this series is mostly through the Dead or Alive series since they take place in the same universe and share characters, and I only played Ninja Gaiden Black. I couldn’t get into this series mainly because there were so many editions between the original release, Black, and Sigma, that I got so confused since these all have their own exclusive content. That said, the one I did play was fantastic and I am excited to see this series return, especially for the fans.

After playing through Ninja Gaiden 4, I am confident in saying that gameplay-wise, this is one of the best action titles released in years. Unfortunately, the story and characters left a lot to be desired.

Since it’s been 13 years since Ninja Gaiden 3 was released, it makes sense that Ninja Gaiden 4 is somewhat of a soft reboot for the series. It is still a continuation of the previous entries, but we are now introduced to a brand new character in Yakumo. The original protagonist, Ryu Hayabusa, does make an appearance and is playable, but… well, more on that later.

You’re thrown right into the thick of it from the start. Taking place in the near future, Tokyo has now been plunged into darkness, thanks to the return of the Dark Dragon, which has also turned the city into a futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic that looks great. It’s Yakumo’s mission to break all of the Dark Dragon’s seals, release him, and defeat him once and for all.

This one just oozes atmosphere with the locations you’ll visit—from neon-lit rainy cities, tranquil mountains, dance clubs, and a giant skyscraper. The music is fantastic as well, especially the heavy metal tracks that kick in during boss fights. I even found myself lingering on the pause menu just to enjoy the theme, which reminded me of the safe room music from Resident Evil Remake.

Of course, one thing this series has been notorious for is its difficulty, and Ninja Gaiden 4 isn’t any different. Somewhat. There are three difficulty settings at the start: Hero, Normal, and Hard. Hero mode is easy and, while it still presents some challenge, it’s for people who just want to be a badass slicing and dicing everything in sight without issue. Normal and Hard do present challenges—the normal enemies in small groups didn’t give me too much trouble, but when they start filling the screen and ganging up, that’s when things get rough.

The most trouble came when snipers and gunners were introduced, shooting at you from a distance. Get rid of them immediately to make your life easier. Funnily enough, the one enemy I absolutely despised was these lanterns that fly around and shoot projectiles. When you kill them, they explode and deal damage. You’ll need to block, parry, and dodge constantly because combat moves so quickly that you can easily be surrounded within seconds—and sometimes I’d be moving so fast I’d throw myself off cliffs mid-fight.

Yakumo has a lot of tools at his disposal, including five different weapons acquired over the course of the campaign. These include a sword that looks like an umbrella and turns into a drill, a staff that transforms into a hammer, and more. Each weapon has its own combos that can be unlocked with currency earned by defeating enemies or completing chapter challenges. Yakumo also gains access to additional attacks via “Bloodraven form,” which transforms his weapons and enables more devastating moves. This is essential for defeating shielded or larger enemies that block all your attacks.

Boss fights, however, are probably where most of your deaths will come from. They’re the real hurdle—each has different phases and attack patterns you’ll need to memorize. That said, these fights are a ton of fun and evoke that Soulslike thrill of anticipating the next boss just to see what kind of tricks they’ll throw at you.

Combat is incredible. Attacks are performed with simple X and Y light and heavy inputs, and you can visit a shop to unlock more maneuvers like launching enemies into the air, ranged attacks, new parry and dodge counters, and more. Attack enemies enough and you can dismember them. Dismembered foes are vulnerable to finishing blows—Mortal Kombat-level fatalities with buckets of blood flying everywhere.

You also build up a meter during fights, and when full, pressing L3 and R3 together activates Berserk state. In Berserk, you can perform “bloodbath kills” that instantly eliminate enemies in a gory, stylistic fashion—the screen turns red, blood turns white, and silhouettes are sliced into ribbons.

If the difficulty proves too much, you can change it at any time. There are also accessibility settings like auto block and dodge.

Combat absolutely carries the experience because, in my opinion, the story and characters are the weakest part. We’re introduced to a new cast like Yakumo and his friend Umi, who’s never seen and only communicates via headset. There’s also Seori, the new Dark Dragon Priestess, whom Yakumo rescues to help destroy the seals and awaken the Dark Dragon. But we barely spend any time with these characters. Seori appears early on but is then relegated to headset chatter like Umi, guiding Yakumo through shrine cleansing.

As for Yakumo, he’s fun to play, but his personality is pure angsty teenager with an insufferable, uncaring attitude. So the narrative and character moments really became background noise while I was having too much fun hacking and slashing.

The big issue comes near the end when twists are revealed and emotional beats hit—but they fall flat because we’ve had so little time to connect with anyone.

Another issue is how Ryu is handled and the overall structure. There are 19 chapters. You play as Yakumo for chapters 1–13, then swap to Ryu for 14–18, and back to Yakumo for the finale. Ryu’s chapters feel almost pointless. They take place years before Yakumo’s quest, are incredibly short, and mostly revisit earlier areas and bosses. While there are story reasons, these chapters feel like a short DLC episode. Two are just boss fights.

Ryu only gains new combat abilities by finding them in chests, and unless I missed something, he only has a single weapon. It really feels like they knew they had to include him for the fans but didn’t quite nail the execution.

The good news is that beating the campaign unlocks replay value: you can replay chapters with either character and access challenge trials with modifiers like time limits or restricted inventory. There are also Purgatory gates throughout, which drop you into challenge trials where you wager a percentage of your health. The more you wager, the better the rewards. These are brutal—small rooms, waves of enemies, and high stakes.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a fantastic action experience—that’s the heart of it and what matters most. My main issues are with the story and character handling, especially when emotional moments are expected to land despite minimal development. The ending wraps things up but also feels like setup for DLC, which makes the pre-release expansion announcement make more sense.

Either way, you’re getting a meaty 12–15-hour campaign with tons of unlockables and replay value. If you’re here for hack-and-slash action, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re hoping for compelling characters and story, you might be.