Ninja Gaiden 4: Bloody Battles with Unexpected Humor at the Core

Ninja Gaiden 4 was one of the major announcements at the Xbox gaming show last weekend. During the Summer Game Fest event, I had the chance to try this game personally. I had never played the Ninja Gaiden series before and was skeptical about its grim aesthetic, which seems to be taken from 2012. However, after a brief demo and an interview with the developers, my distrust vanished, and my interest grew.

Although the title features the number "4," this game is more of a soft reboot of the franchise. Players control Yakumo—a ninja from the Crow clan tasked with saving Tokyo from corruption. The game resembles a hack-and-slash with a strong emphasis on slicing and dicing. Yakumo wields various weapons and abilities: swords, throwing knives, and the ability to temporarily transform into a demonic crow for added power.

My brief encounter with the demo involved Yakumo jumping through ruined city streets, battling groups of cyber-demons. In combat, players can combine attacks into visually spectacular combos. I particularly enjoyed the ability to recover in mid-air—if you get knocked down, you can quickly press a button and return to the fight instead of being sent flying. It seems that the Team Ninja / PlatinumGames team are fans of Kingdom Hearts, as elements of those companies' styles are noticeable in the game.

Along the way, I met Yakumo's allies (one of whom is voiced by Brandon "Garrus Vakarian" Keener), who helped immerse me deeper into the game world by providing hints and boosts for combat. The game is very bloody, almost cartoonish. After weakening enemies, I could dismember them in various brutal ways—it looked so exaggerated that it elicited laughter in the demo room. Perhaps this is a deliberate contrast between the seriousness of the heroes and the absurdity of the violence, and the developers confirmed that this was indeed the intention.

Yuji Naka from PlatinumGames noted that while Ninja Gaiden has always been a violent game, they didn't want to make it just grotesque to avoid boring players. The partnership between Team Ninja and PlatinumGames—the studio that created Bayonetta—adds a certain tonal dissonance to the game. Bayonetta is known for its humor and style, and some elements of that are present in Ninja Gaiden 4.

Masakazu Hiraiyama from Team Ninja explains that they aimed to bring a unique PlatinumGames style to the series. It has been over 12 years since the last original Ninja Gaiden game (not counting ports and spin-offs). During this time, a new generation of players has emerged, more familiar with Bayonetta, and an older generation that remembers Ryu Hayabusa and Ninja Gaiden Black. As a result of this collaboration, the game appeals to different generations of players.

Ninja Gaiden is about the variety of tools and abilities to feel like the best ninja. The new hero and his skills open up many new options. The game may seem less interesting for newcomers to the series, but my doubts were dispelled by the excessive bloodiness and the cheerful humor that lies beneath the seriousness.

Ninja Gaiden 4 will be released on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on October 21.