Ninja Gaiden 4 — Review

Ninja Gaiden has been waiting a long time for a real fourth entry. The Team Ninja x PlatinumGames collaboration is the version of that game most fans wanted to see — and rare among long-dormant series, it commits to the difficulty identity that made the originals matter.

How It Plays

Sharp, fast, punishing. The base combat is unmistakably Team Ninja, but PlatinumGames' fingerprints are visible in encounter design, weapon variety, and the willingness to throw absurd setpieces at the player. Each weapon has its own pace and risk profile, and the game expects you to switch between them mid-encounter rather than picking a favourite and grinding it out.

What Stands Out

The franchise's identity is intact. This is not a soulslike, not a hack-and-slash made easier for modern audiences — it's still the genre Black defined. Difficulty options exist, but the core design is uncompromising in the way the series has always been. The boss roster is the most varied since Gaiden 2, and the camera and lock-on systems have been quietly modernised in ways the older games desperately needed.

What Holds It Back

Some pacing issues in the middle act, where two consecutive levels lean too heavily on enemy gauntlets. A few boss-fight camera moments that the Devil May Cry V engine generation has shown how to solve. Story is functional rather than essential — which is on-brand for the series, but a missed opportunity given the talent involved.

Who It's For

Anyone who has been waiting for character-action to come back. Anyone who loved Black or Gaiden 2. Anyone willing to fail a lot, learn a lot, and walk away with the muscle memory the genre rewards.