Ninja Gaiden. A game synonymous with Xbox, often mentioned in the same breath as Microsoft’s premiere IP ‘Halo’, is back. During 2025’s Developer_Direct, we got stunned with a two stage attack a Ninja would be proud of.
The first surprise? A shadow-drop for Ninja Gaiden 2: Black, an Unreal Engine 5 powered remaster of the 360 classic. The second surprise? A brand new sequel, with Team Ninja and Platinum Games on duty to bring the franchise back in a big way.
For the past week or so, I’ve been playing around with an in-progress build of Ninja Gaiden 4, getting to know new protagonist Yakumo and reuniting with fan favourite Ryu Hayabusa. Lets slice’n’dice in the XboxEra Ninja Gaiden 4 Hands-on Preview.
Ninja Gaiden 4 starts us off in the a ruined future version of Tokyo, fallen to the damage caused by the previously unleashed (but now imprisoned) Dark Dragon, who’s husk haunts the skyline and causes poison rain to fall continuously. The city is patrolled by members of the Divine Dragon Order, who keep the now sealed Dark Dragon under lock and key.
Before getting stuck into the game proper, Ninja Gaiden 4 gives us a nice little introduction and training mission in the form of a flashback, as we step into the shoes of young Yakumo, a Ninja of the Raven Clan, with all the usual mildly irritating surly teenage angst you may have suspected would be present just from his character design.
He’s on a mission to kill the Dragon Priestess, an act that’s prophesised by the Raven Clan to bring an end to the Dark Dragon. It’s here where we meet new character Seori, the Head Priestess who his clan had sworn to kill. She suggests that rather than ending her life, she’ll help Raven Clan break the seals she put in place so the Dark Dragon can be permanently exterminated, once and for all (anyone else sense a betrayal in Yakumo’s future?). Either way, if that all sounds like convoluted nonsense, you’d probably be right – but who cares? It’s Ninja Gaiden. We’re not really here for a stirring narrative. Speaking of Ninjas…where’s Ryu? Well, I’ll get to that in a bit. Sit tight.
New Tools, New Rules
If you’re concerned that by not playing as Ninja Gaiden’s main protagonist Ryu Haybusa, that the game would feel different, fret not. It’s assuredly faster, with Platinum Games action-game pedigree on display here, but the majority of the feel of Ninja Gaiden remains intact. Wall running, Obliterations, Ultimate Techniques – it’s all here, and it feels great.
Yakumo comes equipped with a ton of new moves, and for the purposes of this preview, two weapon sets to play with. The first are the twin blades, which allow for faster attacks and combos. The second is the Rapier, a single blade that is a little slower and more deliberate, but packs a punch. Both of these can be transformed with Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form, which allows him manipulate his blood – or the blood of his enemies – to transform his equipped weapons into new, powerful forms for massive area of effect attacks to turn the tide in battle. There’s even a Beserk state, which allows Yakumo to instantly execute an enemy with a Bloodbath kill, and in quite a stylish fashion too – as long as the gauge is filled.
Blocking enemy attacks has returned, but with added flare. Now, players can time the block and if executed perfectly, can parry, knocking the enemy back and opening them up for a vicious counter attack. Equally, if you perfectly dodge with the left thumbstick, there’s a wonderfully addictive ‘slow-down’ animation, complete with a dopamine delivering sound effect as you dart behind your attacker to punish them accordingly. It’s super stylish, and one of my favourite improvements to the move-set. Some enemy attacks can’t be blocked, at least, not in the standard way, and it’s here where the Bloodraven form comes in again, allowing you to stagger the enemy just before they land their blow. Pull that off and stay close, and you’ll be chopping off limbs and slicing folks in half with a big dumb grin on your face before you know it.
Don’t Worry, He’s Got Help
Yakumo is aided on his adventures by a number of different (and again, mildly irritating) voices in his ear. Some of them we’ve not yet been fully introduced to, but top among them is Umi, who aside from being a cyber-ninja and computer expert, runs little shrine-like kiosks named ‘DarkNest Terminals” that are handily dotted around levels for Yakumo to pick up new supplies.
Much like the Muramasa shops from Ryu’s turn in the spotlight, Umi’s shops are usually around in moments of respite, allowing you to spend the karma you’ve earned through all of your bloodletting on health supplies, and other items. You can also pick up missions – think of these as side-objectives, that provide additional karma bonuses so you can spend more. Missions can vary from “kill fifty guards with your twin blades” to “find a hidden ‘Gourdy’ in an area”, a curious looking beastie that requires a quick QTE prompt to successfully capture. It’s a nice addition to provide a little more to do in amongst all the bloodletting.
Another pal that’s around to help out is Tyran, who’s red-eyed-Raven will appear every now and then in levels, and from whom you can learn new battle techniques. You can go off and practice these, even during the mission, which can be helpful when it comes to putting those new methods into practice.
One of the new pieces of equipment you’re given early on in the game is the Caddis Wire, a grapple that allows you to swing for predefined hook points with a press of right bumper. It can also be used during combat, provided there’s a hook point you can latch on to, and allows you to either reposition or get out of danger.
The World is but a Stage
The preview that I’ve played so far takes us to few places, like the futuristic, ruined version of Tokyo, or the more atmospheric temple area, and while the game performed flawlessly, I’m not currently in love with a lot of the level design at present. Yes, there’s places to occasionally explore off the beaten path, but a lot of the level design itself feels straight out of 2005.
Critics of the dreaded ‘yellow paint’ will find plenty to complain about here, and while the combat arenas are fine functionally, everything is the Tokyo sections feels quite bland and boxy, punctuated with cyberpunk neons and an endless abundance of crates. It doesn’t particularly inspire or draw the eye, with repeated assets and texture use on display in most areas.
There are also some grind-rail sections to play through with our Caddis Wire, and while they break up the brutal combat a bit, feel strange to me in this sort of game, and frankly don’t really make a lot of sense thematically. I’m here to play Ninja Gaiden, not Subway Surfers! Still it’s early days, and there does appear to be more variety ahead – I just hope it doesn’t feel like everything is made out of right angles.
Et Tu, Ryu?
I can hear all you hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans clamouring – “Where’s Ryu? How does he fit into all this?” Well, while I won’t give away any hints as to his role in the main story or plot, I can say that I’ve been able to play as him, and this was thanks to Ninja Gaiden 4‘s new ‘Challenge Mode’.
Here, players can choose to either replay levels with either Ryu or Yakumo to earn the best score on the highest difficulty you can manage. There are also Combat Trials, where players can replay specific boss fights or as of yet unseen combat arenas. You can adjust your loadout, enable ‘Death Wish’ (Which disables all your currently unlocked character upgrades) and more.
It’s a really neat addition, and playing as Ryu again felt absolutely fantastic. Instead of Yakumo’s Bloodraven technique, Ryu utilises ‘Gleam’ form, and while there are similarities in some of the movesets, it felt quite different to play as our favourite member of clan Hayabusa. Ryu also still has Ninpo magic available, which presumably can be advanced with new spells and powers. In general combat, Ryu’s moves felt even more brutal, and there’s a little bit of me that preferred playing as him compared to the new lead – though I fully admit there’s probably more than a little nostalgia at play there.
As always, you can take either character and practice, and the combos and different moves available are already quite extensive – I really can’t wait to see what other weapons and ideas they plan to bring to the table when the game is released.
Players can choose to tackle every level with Ryu, though of course as some of the plot won’t make sense, many cutscenes are skipped entirely. Umi’s DarkNest Kiosks are replaced with our old friend Muramasa, and the Dragon Sword, at least for now, was the only weapon available. I had an enormous amount of fun tackling bosses and levels again in Challenge Mode, and it’s a really smart addition to encourage a ton of replayability in Ninja Gaiden 4.
Accessible Ninja
One thing I was surprised to see was the number of accessibility options available. For returning fans, Normal, Hard and Master Ninja Modes are here, and while I didn’t have to much trouble on normal thanks to many years of experience in the series, bumping it up to hard was like taking a swift kick to the nuts. Master Ninja afficionados will likely find plenty to devour here.
For fans new to the series, Hero mode enables a far easier go of things, but Platinum and Team Ninja have added a ton of accessibility options to make life even easier for Ninjas-in-training. Players can adjust the HUD, and choose whether to leave move-sets and combo suggestions on screen or not. You can enable auto block and dodge (which is fairly akin to a god mode at this point) and even adjust things like auto-lock on, hit lag, obliteration animations and more.
There’s also a photo-mode, and on Xbox at least currently, a favouring Performance mode (60FPS), a Visuals mode (which honestly didn’t look a lot better and the framerate was assuredly not 60FPS – don’t even bother with it) and even a 120FPS mode for the campaign. It’s an impressive feature set, and if you’re particularly interested in playing a Ninja Gaiden game but are perhaps put off by the infamous difficulty of the series, you can rest easy that there are plenty of options here.
Final Thoughts
While I’m extremely pleased to see this classic franchise return in all of its blood-soaked glory, I’m a little torn on how I actually feel about it, now that I’ve got my hands on it. All the pieces are here – it plays like a modern Ninja Gaiden game, but with some lovely Platinum flare. Combat is visceral, satisfying and challenging and is undoubtedly the star of the show, but a lot of the other elements – story, level design, voice acting – leave me feeling a bit cold.
Despite this however, this old ninja remains pretty positive, and dare I say it – hopeful. Gameplay is king, and right now, Ninja Gaiden 4 packs some serious punch with a fresh take on the franchise, packed with new mechanics and a whole heap of challenge. There’s more story to discover, and we still don’t truly know how Ryu will fit into all this. Either way, it seems you can teach an old Ninja Dog new tricks after all.
