Ninja Gaiden 4 – Game Review
In almost every respect, Ninja Gaiden 4 is a disaster.
Set in a world where the rain never stops, the latest from PlatinumGames looks busy and garish. Character designs fall solidly into the margins of a teenage boy’s notebook, to the point where they feel like things I remember drawing at that age. This isn’t exactly a departure from the prior games in the series, but that style was as embarrassing then as it is now. Every character and enemy looks goofy and overdesigned, from Ryu Hayabusa’s butt armor to the purple ropes that run through newcomer Seori’s cleavage. Only our hero, Yakumo, gets a pass here. His look is so “brooding edgelord anti-hero” that it kind of works.
Like the visuals, the story is equally off-putting. The basic plot is relatively inoffensive—Yakumo, a member of the Raven clan, is at odds with Hayabusa and forms an unlikely bond with Seori to properly defeat the Dark Dragon once and for all. That would all be a fine excuse to introduce a new main character and give the player some simple motivation, however a lot of the story—particularly Seori’s line delivery—is laced with a smarmy, insincere tone that feels out of place in a Ninja Gaiden game.
The level design is about as basic as you can imagine. This was never Platinum’s strong suit, but while combat in Bayonetta might take place upon a clock tower endlessly falling from the sky, most of Ninja Gaiden 4’s environments are barren hallways. The only real exploration is in trying to figure out which hallway is the main path and which hallway holds a hidden treasure chest or sidequest combat encounter.
Padding is implemented shamelessly at times. Chapters double back on themselves or force you to replay through the same sections again and again. This is Halo 1 levels of repetition, and the game is all-too happy to throw every possible configuration of enemies at you—4 dogs and 2 zombies, 7 zombies and 2 dogs, 5 dogs and 2 ninjas—and call it a new fight.
I need you to understand that I think this is all bad and worthy of serious criticism. This game doesn’t match the heights of PlatinumGames back catalog or Ninja Gaiden’s pedigree as an overall package. That said, and despite my paragraphs of complaints above, I couldn’t put this game down.
The combat of Ninja Gaiden 4 absolutely rips. It feels like a perfect mid-point between Ninja Gaiden’s fighting game-inspired technicality and Bayonetta’s over-the-top flash. Classic moves like the Flying Swallow and Izuna Drop are included, as are core mechanics from the first two games like cutting off limbs for finishers and charging stronger attacks by consuming health orbs. The core feel is purely Ninja Gaiden and it feels right, but that’s layered with a dodge similar to Bayonetta’s Witch Time and a new mechanic called Bloodraven form—a gauge that overpowers and transforms your weapons with new attacks.
Yakumo also differs from Hayabusa through his weapon variety. His arsenal feels more in line with his tryhard character design and the bloodsoaked aesthetic. His first weapons are dual katanas, but he quickly acquires a giant drill, a staff that can transform into a hammer, and an entire weapon designed around a bottomless supply of random projectiles.
This mix results in combat that feels fast, thrilling, and extremely over-the-top. Yakumo shreds his opponents into bits and is constantly soaked in blood. Every fight ends with limbs flying in every direction, often pausing in a red and black silhouette for extra style points. And while I acknowledged the repetitive encounter design earlier, this critique simply doesn’t register in the moment while I’m fighting for my life.
Ninja Gaiden 4 doesn’t feel as challenging as I remember the older games feeling back in the original Xbox days, but it also doesn’t leave room for hesitation. Enemies swarm you and will happily take turns comboing you into the dirt, peppering you with bullets or firing rockets from above. Blocking, dodging, and parrying are all key to success, and you’ll have to observe the arena and dismantle the enemies in the right order to make the fight manageable.
That’s pretty much what you’re getting here. Ninja Gaiden 4 is 15-ish hours of nearly relentless hacking and slashing that doesn’t wear out its welcome despite every other element of the game being a total drag. If you’ve never excused a bad story or ugly graphics in favor of strong gameplay, you might be a lot more critical of this game. But if, like me, you’ve found yourself shamefully admitting that good gameplay can make up for a lot of issues, you may come away with a huge smile on your face.
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