Team Ninja is not an unknown name in the action genre, and it’s a studio that many might know now for its recent forays into Souls-like experiences like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Rise of the Ronin, or the Nioh series. With Ninja Gaiden 4, the company is returning to its roots in more ways than one. Other than continuing the mainline series that has been dormant for 13 years, bringing back iconic faces, and jumping back into pure action gameplay, it has also teamed up with Xbox again to publish the game.
There is a big switch-up with the latest development: PlatinumGames is the primary developer of this entry. If you’re unfamiliar with that name, it’s the studio that has brought us action masterpieces like Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Nier: Automata. That roster should give you an idea about what kind of game Ninja Gaiden 4 has turned out to be, and from my time with it, I can say it’s a fantastic fit for the studio.
I have probably been playing a few too many Souls games in recent years. The slow, methodical combat and punishing foes are immensely satisfying. However, I miss the overwhelming enemies, flashy moves that need split-second reaction speeds, and overpowered protagonists. The combos that I could spam with muscle memory even years later are still what I associate proper action games with.
I jumped at Ninja Gaiden 4 when offered a review opportunity, excited to see how PlatinumGames brings back its classic action or transforms it. Here are my thoughts on the game after spending my time in the ravaged, cursed city of Tokyo.
A New Hero
Ninja Gaiden 4 is set in a world where the good guys have already won. This version of future Tokyo isn’t anything close to being a lively city, however, as a giant skeleton of a defeated dragon hangs in the sky. A constant, cursed rain is landing on the region from the corpse above; the thing isn’t technically dead either, as multiple seals keep the giant monstrosity from returning to life. This is where the new protagonist, Yakumo, steps in, following a prophecy that has him attempting to resurrect this ancient dragon and end it properly this time. This means making enemies of both the good guys and the bad guys. It’s a simple enough plotline that even newcomers will be able to follow it, but it wasn’t something that managed to surprise me or make me feel attached to the characters. Thankfully, the gameplay makes up for everything.
The combat is extremely easy to pick up. Light and heavy attacks, acrobatics, jumps, and special moves are all intuitive to learn as the game slowly ramps up the intensity of combat. It"s a largely linear chapter-based campaign, with every stage involving waves of a dozen or so enemies at a time. Side avenues offer more challenging fights and useful power-ups, so there is always a fight waiting around every corner.
At first, fights were all extremely satisfying button-mashing sessions where all enemies simply ended up becoming pieces on the floor. Before long, however, I was chaining combos left and right, marveling at just how intricate I could be with my abilities and how much more effective and stylish fights end up being.
Unlocking and pulling off moves in the middle of combos that required me to twirl the joystick in different directions, hold down a trigger, tap a bumper, and input a specific X and Y combo on my Xbox controller had me staring at the screen with a grin on my face as the blur of my character tore apart gigantic demon bosses.
It’s an absolute joy when I pull off something I intended to do instead of wondering, “how the heck did I do that?” As fights happen, a little gauge begins to fill up in a corner, building up towards making our hero the ultimate warrior. When ready, pressing down on both thumbsticks enters us into this Berserk State. Finishers capable of slicing the toughest of foes in half in one strike become suddenly possible in this state, complete with a comic book page-style freeze-frame to show off the effect. I used it both as a means to escape from tough predicaments as well as level finishers to look all cool as everything around Yakumo falls away as if it’s a synchronized dance.
While I won’t go deep into detail about it so as to not spoil it, Ryu gets his own levels later in the campaign, switching the role of the protagonist to the classic hero from the previous installments. The gameplay styles of the duo are a little different, but the button combos I needed to pull them off were the same. The Ryu levels did not have the same arena depth or ability unlock structure as Yakumo’s, unfortunately, but the more compact and action-packed gameplay was immensely entertaining.
Going back to Yakumo, the young ninja gains more weapons as the campaign progresses, which include twin swords, hammers, and even a drill to power through even the toughest foes, all with unique animations and use cases. Aside from the primary upgrade path with more intricate ninja techniques, each of these weapons also has its own unique upgrades that slowly unlock as they get used in battle. Later in the campaign, with all weapons in place, I was switching between them as I needed to get the job of decimating foes done most effectively, be it squashing large numbers of land fish or taking out flying enemies without hassle.
Speed is something that the game does not hold back on, even when out of combat. Outside of on-rails sections, running through levels in between fighting sections takes no time at all. Everything from the intro cards with developer and publisher names to cutscenes is easily skippable, letting you go right back into the action immediately.
Accessible Action
Even if you haven’t played the Ninja Gaiden series, you might already know that it’s not known for being a cakewalk. The crazy combos, air zips, and flashy techniques can easily fall apart with a mistimed input that lets enemies take chunks off the health bar and quickly finish you off. Ninja Gaiden 4 does not shy away from this, with the satisfaction of clearing a tough fight still being the pinnacle of its experience. Avoiding damage while being as aggressive as possible, using dodges, parries, and invincibility frames, is a tough balance to keep with a fast-paced game such as this.
At the same time, Ninja Gaiden 4 is not above letting players put training wheels on. Offered as a recommendation for those brand-new to the genre, the Hero mode difficulty does not make the action any less hectic but transforms the experience into an action movie where the hero is able to dodge and deflect everything around him automatically. The game asks you to only use this mode to learn the mechanics before stepping out into the real environment.
Without the Hero mode, I feared that the difficulty would still be insurmountably steep for anyone new to fast-paced action games and simply jump in expecting to button mash. However, the training mode is possibly the best I’ve seen for the genre. It is one you’d expect to see in a competitive fighting game like Tekken or Street Fighter. Aside from having an on-screen, easily readable move list separate for each stance and weapon, a highly customizable settings page is available to tweak almost every aspect of the arena. One of the highlights is the option to let me have an unlimited special move gauge. Considering these states only activate for a few seconds during major encounters, the practice mode is a godsend to make sure these precious high-damage windows aren’t wasted on cutting air or walls, speaking from experience.
The mode isn’t restricted to certain areas or the main menu either. At any point in-game, the pause menu allows instant access to training. Curiously enough, the back button on the controller can be rebound to enter practice mode as a direct shortcut. This button usually puts the game into photo mode. The customizability is a massive strength for an action game that’s coming from a series that’s known to be ‘unforgiving’.
Looking over the controls and other sections in settings also has pleasant surprises. There are options for single-handed play, complete button remapping (including for controllers), extensive camera customizations, and much more for optimizing the gameplay to just how you like it. The Accessibility Settings section is a whole other beast. Auto dodge, auto block, auto heal, auto movement, auto interact, and a huge wealth of color customizations make sure almost anyone will be able to experience Ninja Gaiden 4, no matter what their capabilities are.
Pacing Stumbles
Impressive as it is, combat alone can’t make up for Ninja Gaiden 4’s shortcomings. Recurring enemies are something I am used to in action games. Some games even bring back bosses as general fodder enemies in later stages when the protagonist is that much more powerful. However, here, several biomes and bosses return with the exact same enemies as well as final bosses in certain chapters. While I was able to go through them faster, and there was a lore reason for their return, it wasn’t a very enjoyable experience.
Adding to that, PlatinumGames has not shied away from adding a ton of on-rails sequences into levels that essentially involve third-person platforming. Jumping between rails while avoiding incoming trains, missiles, and missing tracks, taking to the air, preventing jutting mountains, or sliding through sewers on a surfboard avoiding pipes, could have been more fun if used sporadically. Unfortunately, these appear just too much for my tastes, breaking up the momentum from amazing fight sequences. Only a few hours in, I was wishing these returning rollercoaster rides would end so I could get back into swinging my actual weapons. The one place I wanted a skip button wasn’t there.
Visuals and Performance
Ninja Gaiden 4 doesn’t have the look of a Western AAA game, but if you have played games from Team Ninja or PlatinumGames, this fits right into their style. The character models and textures all have a last-gen look to them if you pay attention during cinematics, but who does that in a pure action game anyway? It’s all about dramatic showdowns and very much expected betrayals. It’s during fights that the game begins to shine.
The impossible ninja movements are fast, smooth, and light, with every input being translated into a feast for the eyes. Blood-covered swords slashing through the air, gigantic weapons clanging off each other, projectiles swarming through the sky, and afterimages of my ninja’s hectic movements all fill the screen. I never found the visual effects to be overwhelming. The finishing moves that the protagonists can pull off to instant-kill monsters, complete with a sleek pose at the end, are just the icing on top. It’s a spectacular-looking game.
Playing on an RX 9070 XT-equipped Windows 11 machine at 1440p, I was easily staying above 200 FPS on ultra graphics settings. During the most intense battles involving evolving stages and massive bosses, I was still above 100 FPS without the need for any upscale tech. Considering it’s already verified on Steam Deck and other handhelds, I imagine this won’t be a difficult game to run on most modern machines.
Conclusion
With PlatinumGames in the driving seat, Ninja Gaiden 4 is easily the best pure action game I have played in years. The addicting combat had me staying up late into the night, pulling off combo after combo as my muscle memory improved. The one-hit killing Berserk moves were just the icing on the cake for this furiously fast and stylish action game. While known for being a brutally difficult series, the number of training wheels this entry offers is impressive on its own, setting a high bar for accessibility.
The game does have pacing issues with the heavy-handed on-rails platforming sequences and instances of repeating levels and boss battles. But overall, bucking the Soulslike trend, this is an action experience that rewards aggressiveness and speed over everything else, and I can easily recommend it for both newcomers and returning veterans.
Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21, 2025, on PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, as well as Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, with a $69.99 price tag. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on the same day.
This review was conducted on a pre-release PC version of the game provided by Microsoft.