Ninja Gaiden 4 Review – Total Massacre

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While some action games focus on compelling characters, titles like Ninja Gaiden often get overlooked despite their challenging gameplay, intense violence, and complex fighting systems. The series suffered a setback with the poorly received Ninja Gaiden 3 in 2012, which strayed from what fans loved about the main character, Ryu Hayabusa. Now, after years of remaining a hidden gem from Team Ninja (and PlatinumGames), a new game is on the horizon, hoping to restore the series’ reputation and deliver a thrilling, action-packed experience.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden 4 is a success. Despite a few moments where the game loses momentum, the wide range of new weapons and satisfying combat make a strong impression.

This is the first game in the series where you don’t play as Ryu Hayabusa. Instead, you control Yakumo of the Raven Clan. He starts out assigned to kill Seori, a powerful priestess, but ends up working with her to remove the seals on a dangerous enemy. Their goal is to purify this foe, which is currently causing problems and lowering property values in Tokyo.

The biggest draw of Ninja Gaiden 4 is its exciting action, and there’s a lot of it. You start with two swords, but Yakumo quickly gains access to a rapier, a staff, and a powerful set of ninja tools – including throwing stars, bombs, and more – affectionately called the ‘box of death,’ which looks as awesome as it sounds.

Fans of previous Ninja Gaiden games will recognize the Dark Dragon – its power was central to major crises in the past. Now, it seems only a ninja from the Raven Clan can deal with it, and Yakumo needs Seori to be alive to do so. But releasing the seals that contain the Dark Dragon could unleash disaster, creating a tricky situation. Things get even more complicated with the involvement of the DDO, a group dedicated to guarding the Dark Dragon’s remains, and Hayabusa himself.

The story begins with a puzzling standoff, but quickly reveals hidden layers and unexpected truths. While it might seem like Yakumo and his team are the villains, the Raven Clan simply takes on various jobs, and Yakumo is focused solely on completing his current mission: destroying the Dark Dragon. He often appears serious and detached, but deeply cares for his team – Umi, who handles communications and navigation; Misaki, the tech expert; Tyran, the experienced instructor; and eventually Seori, whose sharp wit complements Yakumo’s personality, though their relationship doesn’t immediately blossom into friendship.

The biggest draw of Ninja Gaiden 4 is its fast-paced combat, and there’s a lot of it. You start with two swords, but quickly gain access to a variety of weapons like a rapier, a staff, and a powerful set of ninja tools – complete with throwing stars, bombs, and more, which look as awesome as they sound. On top of that, Yakumo can use Bloodbind ninjutsu to coat his weapons in blood, changing their form. This transforms the dual swords into one massive blade, the staff into a rocket-powered hammer, and the rapier into a drill that lets you dash around quickly – and each weapon offers a completely different fighting style.

The quarterstaff is a surprisingly effective weapon – it’s great for fighting multiple opponents, but also packs a powerful punch as a single-target weapon. While dual katanas excel at quick attacks against one enemy, and even allow you to launch them into the air for a special move called the Izuna Drop, transforming into Bloodraven form significantly increases their range, making them effective against groups as well.

You can’t leave Bloodraven’s ability on constantly – it gets stronger with each enemy defeated, especially when enemies are completely destroyed. This pushes you to defeat your enemies quickly and decisively, which can be challenging depending on the opponent. While weaker enemies fall easily, tougher foes like elite DDO soldiers are much more resilient. They can unleash powerful electric attacks or relentlessly attack with speed and force. To overcome their defenses, you’ll need to use Bloodraven’s attacks to stagger them and create opportunities to strike.

Facing multiple opponents? Jump onto your weapon and deliver a powerful swing, or use the rocket hammer to launch yourself upwards and follow with a spinning attack.

The combat system offers a lot of different moves and strategies. When facing multiple enemies, you can jump onto your weapon and swing it powerfully, or use the rocket hammer to launch into a spinning attack. The ability to quickly switch weapons lets you create amazing combos – like launching enemies with bombs, then drilling through one while in the air, and finishing with a hammer blow. You can also perform standard attacks using directional inputs, and the possibilities for chaining these moves together into long combos are extensive.

A strength of Ninja Gaiden 4 is its focus on defense. Players can block most attacks, counter red-highlighted strikes with a Bloodraven attack to stun enemies, or parry and deliver a powerful Fatal Flash. Mastering the game unlocks Perfect Final Flash, allowing for devastating Bloodraven-powered slices. Perfect Dodging is another key skill, letting you dismember opponents with a well-timed follow-up attack, depending on the weapon you’re using.

It’s best to switch up your defensive strategies, particularly when facing groups of enemies (this is more important on harder difficulties, but helpful on all levels). Don’t forget to use your speed and positioning to your advantage – taking out weaker enemies from a distance can help you charge up powerful Ultimate attacks. Being aggressive fills your Berserk meter, which, when activated, lets your Bloodraven attacks instantly defeat enemies and delivers a powerful finishing move that can wipe out nearby foes. This Berserk ability works perfectly with your Bloodraven techniques.

Controlling this feels fantastic – the movements are smooth, and every hit feels impactful. Despite the constant threat of being defeated, you’ll quickly find yourself amazed by the incredible things you can do. Before long, you’ll be striving for perfection, dismissing even small errors as you relentlessly pursue higher scores.

The combat is varied, which is good, but fights can sometimes feel repetitive. When the environment offers interesting options – like throwing enemies off bridges or using gaps to your advantage – it’s exciting. However, when you’re stuck in basic arenas or narrow hallways, constantly fighting the same enemies, it can become tiresome.

Ninja Gaiden 4 starts strong, feeling like a thrilling ride, but truly comes alive once you control Ryu Hayabusa. Even with just one weapon, he’s incredibly fun to play. The Dragon Gleam ability adds depth with follow-up attacks, and his fighting style feels different from Yakumo’s. However, some of Ryu’s levels aren’t as well-designed.

It’s not that the enemies are too diverse – actually, the game introduces stronger soldiers later on, which fits the story. The real problem is repeatedly fighting the same types of fiends over and over. I was genuinely frustrated and almost relieved to see any different enemy appear, even the standard DDO soldiers!

Team Ninja and PlatinumGames keep the gameplay fresh with a variety of movement options. Yakumo can grind on rails, jump over obstacles and switch between tracks to dodge trains, seamlessly transition between wall-running and grappling, glide through windy areas, and even ride a ninja surfboard. Many levels cleverly combine these moves, and everything feels very responsive, though most of these sections aren’t particularly difficult—except for one challenging level near the end of the game.

Okay, so the boss fights are mostly solid. I really liked how Yakumo goes from mowing down hordes of enemies to a proper one-on-one fighter. But honestly, when the game tells me to take to the skies during a boss fight, hoping for some awesome aerial combat, and it just…doesn’t deliver? That’s a bit of a letdown. Luckily, that doesn’t happen often. Whether I’m battling Fiends or other skilled opponents, the game keeps my heart racing most of the time.

Ninja Gaiden 4 starts strong, feeling like a thrilling ride, but truly shines once you control Ryu Hayabusa. Even with just one weapon, he’s incredibly fun to play, thanks to a special attack that lets you chain combos, which feel different from Yakumo’s. However, Ryu’s levels aren’t as impressive – they revisit familiar areas and don’t have much of the exciting platforming the series is known for. Not only are there few of his levels, but they’re also quite short, almost as if the developers didn’t want to challenge players with a substantial chapter.

These inconsistencies might make players hesitant to replay chapters when Chapter Select is unlocked. While there’s a reason to go back – you can earn Tally items to unlock new missions, often involving defeating a certain number of enemies with a specific weapon or achieving a high kill count – it can feel repetitive. The late-game accessories that let you exchange Ninja Coins for Weapon EXP (and vice versa) are a nice addition if you need to catch up in either area. Otherwise, you’ll likely be revisiting chapters to complete remaining side quests, such as capturing Gourdys, completing challenging trials, eliminating targets, or gathering materials.

Team Ninja and PlatinumGames aimed to create something fresh, and they succeeded with a blend of innovative gameplay and quick, exciting platforming. While Ryu’s sections weren’t perfect, the game is still very enjoyable.

Beyond the main story, the game offers Boss and Combat Trials for extra challenges. Boss Trials let you re-fight all the story bosses as either Ryu or Yakumo, with adjustable difficulty levels and an optional ‘Death Wish’ mode that removes all character upgrades. Combat Trials throw together enemies from across the game, often with unique restrictions – like limiting Yakumo to her base form, making it harder to break enemy defenses or react to special attacks. If you enjoyed the game’s combat, these trials provide plenty of additional content to test your skills.

Visually, Ninja Gaiden 4 is appealing – the characters and enemies are well-designed and move smoothly. However, the game’s art style, which features dark, cyberpunk-inspired environments and frequent rain, can sometimes feel a bit dull if that’s not your preference. Thankfully, there are also some interesting and varied locations, like a club filled with demons, and the game often feels impressively large in scope. What really stands out visually are the satisfying and brutal combat animations. On my PC (Intel Core i5-11400, 32GB RAM, RTX 4060), the game ran smoothly at 1440p with very few frame rate drops.

These results are with DLSS turned on, using mostly High or Medium graphics settings. It’s a little odd that the game doesn’t offer different DLSS quality modes like FSR does, although it does include an option for DLAA. The music is generally good, blending traditional percussion with rock songs, and key battles feature some vocal tracks that are either really exciting or feel a bit out of place. It’s as if the developers couldn’t decide whether to go all-in with their typical PlatinumGames style or play it safe.

If you’re hoping for a return to the classic Ninja Gaiden games, the new installment is generally enjoyable, though it might not fully recapture that original magic. The developers aimed to evolve the series, and the blend of new features and quick action sequences creates a fun experience. While the levels could have been more polished, it’s a solid entry in the series, offering plenty of opportunities for both newcomers and longtime fans to explore and master its combat system.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2025-10-21 02:14