Ninja Gaiden 4 - The Ultimate Shinobi Experience

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One of the trends that has taken over the gaming industry lately is the soulslike one. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but just like any other developers or studios chasing that trend, we tend to have years that are bloated with those specific games, and like everything else out there, we tend to have some good experiences and some harrowing ones. Ninja Gaiden 4 is the game that will finally break this trend because it brings action-adventure to the table, and in the most engaging, polished, and visually stunning possible way. Ninja Gaiden 4 not only revives the legendary series but also revives a genre that we desperately need more of nowadays.

The Raven and the Dragon

Usually, we play Ninja Gaiden games for the gameplay and its fast-paced and deadly combat. However, the series has also delivered memorable plots, such as the ones we’ve seen in Ninja Gaiden 2: Black. To my surprise, Ninja Gaiden 4 had an excellent narrative that delivered many shocking moments and a lot of great fan service for fans of the franchise.

This time, the game puts you in the sneaky suit of Yakumo, a member of the Raven Clan. He’s tasked with killing a mysterious priestess. However, once he meets her, she uses her level 100 Speech skill and convinces Yakumo to let her live, as she can help with eliminating the Dark Dragon once and for all. So, Yakumo and his team, along with the priestess, are off to destroy a couple of shrines so they can get rid of this threat. However, the Super Ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, is behind them, which leads to some really intense and jaw-dropping story moments. Of course, I won’t spoil those moments here, but I can say that they are some of the greatest I’ve seen in the series.

In terms of Yakumo carrying the protagonist torch, I must say he’s an excellent lead and quickly became one of my favorites in the series. He is edgier, a bit reckless, and a bit broody at times, but he carries the story perfectly. The rest of the characters are equally great, and you’ll quickly get attached to them as you go from one stage to another. Of the new ones, Seori also steals the show in every scene she’s in, and I was also happy to see the high-quality voice acting behind all the characters, whether it was in English or Japanese.

In truth, the plot of Ninja Gaiden 4 was a pleasant surprise and one I ended up enjoying more than I thought. While it doesn’t have these epic cinematics in every chapter, when they occur, they are beyond amazing, and you’ll end up appreciating them even more if you’ve been following the series for years. In a way, this entry feels like one of the most approachable in terms of story, but most importantly, gameplay.

Deadly Ninja Skills

The bread and butter of Ninja Gaiden 4 is, undoubtedly, its gameplay. If you’ve played the series before, or more recently, the remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2, then you can expect a similar mold, but with many new improvements and flashier moves that make this the best Ninja Gaiden game in terms of combat.

Yakumo, who is the one you’ll be spending most of your time with, has many abilities and moves that are familiar to those of the Super Ninja. He has his light and heavy attacks, and then the Bloodraven form and different weapons you can unlock. So, let’s break it all down.

During a fight, you’ll be spamming your light and heavy attacks to fill your ninjutsu bar and then use your Bloodraven form. In terms of combos, there are many, albeit with a different way to pull them off compared to previous games. For instance, in Ninja Gaiden 2: Black, you had to press different buttons in a specific order to perform a move. However, Ninja Gaiden 4 has you use your stick and a couple of buttons to pull off a new move. This might come down to a matter of preference, but it is certainly a better way than memorizing so many button inputs to perform that one move.

Speaking of moves, there are several you can unlock that are shared between weapons and some that are weapon-specific. For example, the ones you purchase from Tyran, the combat skill trainer, are shared between every weapon. So, if you unlock the iconic Flying Swallow, you can perform it with every weapon you have, using the same input. However, there are also weapon skills that are exclusive to each armament. Fortunately, they also have the same inputs, just a different ability.

For instance, there is a move that requires you to move the stick to the front, then back, and then press Y. That move does a sweeping attack if you have your swords, but if you have the staff-like weapon, it extends the staff and then becomes a hammer before smashing enemies in front of you. This is highly approachable but doesn’t remove that skill ceiling of learning the actual button inputs. At first, I wasn’t digging the whole stick plus buttons combination, but I became accustomed to that quickly and realized how easy it was to perform some of the most complicated moves.

The Bloodraven form is another important tool. During a fight, the bar will passively fill up, with obliterations, which are moves that instantly kill an enemy, filling up the bar even more. Once it’s filled up, you can press the left trigger and then any of the action buttons to perform a different move, with a new weapon form. For example, Yakumo’s blades become a longer sword in Bloodraven form. The rapier weapon becomes a drill. The staff becomes a hammer, and so on. This form does more damage than the basic one, and you can even use it to stagger powerful foes, and interrupt some of their attacks. Another neat thing about this form is that it shares the same combo inputs. All you need to do is purchase the skill and then press the left trigger to perform it, making memorizing inputs much easier.

On top of that, you have your Berserk mode, which lets you pretty much one-shot almost every enemy. You can press the left trigger to ready your Bloodraven form, and if you time the hit right, you’ll counter a foe’s attack with an instant kill. You can also end the mode faster by pressing the same input that activates it and kill all enemies in the vicinity.

Yet, it isn’t only offensive moves that Yakumo has. You can unlock ways to parry attacks and perfectly dodge some blows. Then, you can follow up with even stronger blows that decimate enemies in seconds. In truth, these moves are quite useful, as despite having played Ninja Gaiden 2: Black recently, Ninja Gaiden 4 is extremely challenging, even in the normal difficulty. While I died only once during the first nine chapters, I ran out of healing items during every boss fight and in many enemy waves that really pushed my skills. So, if you’re a veteran, you can expect one of the deadliest and most involved Ninja Gaiden games out there.

Oh, and before you think I forgot about the Super Ninja, you can also take him out for a spin in some sections. Ryu’s gameplay is similar to that of Yakumo in terms of inputs, and while he doesn’t use the Bloodraven form, he returns with the iconic Ninpo that many of you know. As expected, both gameplay forms are terrific, but I must say that Yakumo’s kit surprised me in many ways, and seeing him brutally slice and dice enemies was the most satisfying thing ever.

A Futuristic World to Discover

It isn’t all fighting, however. As with other action-adventure games, the adventure part is just as important. All levels have their traversal challenges, like wall running and wall jumping. As you progress, you’ll unlock several tools that allow Yakumo to glide in certain parts or even surf to reach the next place. These parts don’t take huge portions of the game, but they are extremely well made and provide some stunning visual set pieces.

You’ll also get several optional quests in many of the terminals you can use to heal up. Some of these quests involve defeating a specific amount of enemies or finding some hidden mini-bosses. It is an excellent addition that gives players something extra to do while going from point A to point B and adds to the huge amount of replayability the game already has on top of its difficulty modes and challenges.

Another thing you’ll find while exploring are the Purgatory stages, which are separate levels within a level that pit you against waves of enemies. You can grind these to gain NinjaCoins and weapon experience, and there are a few modifiers you can enable to make your fight more challenging but also more rewarding. There is a way to lower your HP in the fight, and the lower your health, the bigger the rewards you’ll obtain at the end. These stages were extremely engaging to tackle, and since they don’t affect your Karma score, you can use them as a way to improve your combat skills or just see how well you perform in the hardest difficulty. Plus, you can bring some currency back home, so that’s a huge incentive.

Taking the Action-Adventure Throne

After being used to years of just seeing games following the soulslike trend, I’m glad Ninja Gaiden 4 has finally shattered that trend to bring the best action-adventure experience of 2025 and one of the greatest Ninja Gaiden titles.

If you’re a fan of this legendary shinobi franchise, you’ll have a blast with Ninja Gaiden 4. Its combat is the pinnacle of what Team Ninja and PlatinumGames have created, and despite its challenge, it remains highly approachable for those jumping into the series for the first time. Hopefully, this will usher in a new action-adventure era because the soulslike burnout is real, but Ryu and Yakumo are here to finally give us the fast-paced, brutal, and jaw-dropping action we were all waiting for.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Ninja Gaiden 4 (Xbox Reviewed)

9 Superb!

Ninja Gaiden 4 is the action experience that perfectly caps off the year of the Ninja. It's fast-paced and brutal combat respects the franchise's legacy while modernizing its accessibility.