Ninja Gaiden 4 brought me back to an era of action games I thought was dead

Digital Trends

5 days ago

When I jumped into Ninja Gaiden 2 Black at the top of this year, the prevailing thought in my mind was 'Boy, they don't make 'em like this anymore.' My second thought after a rough few hours was 'maybe they shouldn't.' Action games from that era have all but vanished in the wave of soulslikes, with only Devil May Cry and anything by Platinum Games still attempting to keep that genre alive. So when I learned that it was none other than Platinum teaming up with Team Ninja on Ninja Gaiden 4, it felt like a match made in heaven. The only question was whether or not this old series could modernize itself enough to fit today's sensibilities while also keeping its core identity alive.
After playing through a demo of the first hour of the game on Xbox Series X, I was reminded just how much I loved this unique taste of action game. I just hope the new protagonist isn't as much of a wet blanket in the full game.
Go ninja, go ninja, go
Aside from recently reviewing Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, my only real experience with this franchise was Ninja Gaiden 2 on the Xbox 360. I never actually beat that game, only managing to get a little over halfway by learning to cheese encounters and brute-forcing my way through bosses. Going back to Black 2 reminded me of just how unforgiving those games were. If I wasn't on my guard from frame one after hitting new game, I would be ripped apart by a swarm of enemies before I even knew what the buttons did.
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My demo of Ninja Gaiden 4 began with a short tutorial section that gave me breathing room to lock down the basics of combat. I have quick and heavy attacks, a block, dodge, and the new Bloodraven Form. The latter isn't so much a transformation like the name implies, but a modifier to my normal moves — holding down a trigger alters my normal attack at the cost of a meter that refills as I spill blood. There's a lot more than that to discover, but the game keeps things simple at first and focuses on letting me feel cool right away by giving me small waves of enemies to dismember.
After getting to the first real mission of the game and encountering a raven that summons an NPC combat trainer, the depth of the combat revealed itself. This is where I was able to see every move and technique the game didn't tutorialize me on and enter a quick combat simulation to master them. Some of these techniques, especially the parry, seemed like things that should be taught more explicitly than an optional menu some players may not engage with. But there is a lot of depth to this combat system that is completely optional. I was able to gleefully improvise my way through all the regular combat encounters with whatever combo I threw out, adding in some Blood Raven attacks, and mixing in dodges, blocks, and parries, but Ninja Gaiden 4 has a skill ceiling so high I can't even see it. That became especially apparent when I got my rank at the end of the level and saw the breakdown of my score.
Even knowing how basic my technique was on that first run, I still felt cool every second of the way. Mashing out combos, dismembering foes, and getting the stray perfect dodge or parry looks and feels bloody amazing. I can't sleepwalk through normal encounters, but it doesn't feel like I can't make any mistakes without losing half my health bar.
Bosses are a different story. The demo concluded with one boss fight, but I was able to try out another via the extra challenge missions in the main menu. Bosses don't stagger normally so wailing on him didn't do me any good, and he hits back hard. Even on the normal difficulty, Yakumo would go down in four or five hits and I burned through my consumables in seconds. I had to completely reframe my ultra-aggressive mentality and really master my blocks, counters, and watching his animations to see when he was vulnerable to a stagger via my Bloodraven attacks. This felt closer to what a classic Platinum Games boss requires, and it felt just as satisfying to master.
Oh, and Platinum's fantastic use of layered music is on full display here, with vocals kicking in dynamically as the boss changed forms. This one track wasn't quite as strong as Rules of Nature, but it still got my adrenaline going.
What isn't so thrilling are the stealth elements. If you've played Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance then you know exactly how these feel. They are neither fun nor tonally consistent with every other part of the game. There are no stealth mechanics beyond a stealth kill if I manage to get up behind an enemy unaware. It feels clunky and tacked-on in a system built around speed and aggression. Thankfully, it wasn't required at any point in this demo and I could opt to go in swords blazing instead.
The other downer is Yakumo himself. He's our new main protagonist and member of the Raven clan of ninjas. Ryu will be in the game as well, but was only playable in the challenges for this demo. I don't want to judge him or the story too harshly just yet since I only got one proper cutscene and a handful of radio interactions between him and his team, but every line Yakumo delivered was a drag. Not only is he dull and as deep as a puddle in terms of personality, but the direction his VO got must have been to deliver each line with the enthusiasm of a sloth on a Monday morning.
He sticks out like a sore thumb when I'm engaging in some of the most high-energy action possible, executing enemies one by one, and have a cast of colorful characters in my ear to contrast with.
There's a lot more hinted at in this demo, like shops to purchase new moves, additional weapons, optional missions within levels, and a slew of challenges to test your skills at and compare ranks on the online leaderboard with, but what Ninja Gaiden 4 did best to sell me on the game was its ability to let me feel as cool as I wish I could've in the old games. Fodder enemies are deadly, but as long as I am active and using all the basic parts of my toolkit, I can have a blast coating Yakumo in their blood. That first boss was a perfect test to see if I could master those moves against a less forgiving enemy. It is all refreshingly streamlined in a way that feels like a lost art.
Ninja Gaiden 4 will launch on October 21 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.