Ninja Gaiden 4 Review - A Gloriously Gory Return
The year was 2004, I had just injured my knee and was couch bound for sometime. I needed something to battle the boredom, especially in a pre-streaming era where I was stuck with the inane, brain melting dribble of daytime TV. So I asked my partner if she would be so kind as to shuffle down to the local EB and grab me a copy of Ninja Gaiden. I had heard good things and felt like it was the sort of game I could really sink my teeth into over the recovery period. Little did I know that choice would lead me down the path of obssesion. I had to finish that game, it demanded more of me than any other title I had played until that point. Those demands, however, were met and it remains one of the toughest games I have ever finished. The moment the credits rolled, I became a lifelong fan and have keenly followed Ryu Hayabusa’s trials and tribulations through the great second game and the not-so-great third title. That seemed to be the end of Ryu’s journey and I was happy to put my obsession away…
That is until I got my hands on Ninja Gaiden 4, over 10 years after the release of the third title and it just goes to show, once an addict, always an addict.
No longer the sole domain of Team Ninja, Ninja Gaiden 4 is a joint op. Platnium Games has joined the fray as the principle developer with Team Ninja (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft) acting in a support role. This immediately felt like a match made in heaven, but I did have some concerns. Platinum’s recent output hadn’t been their best and I worried that they would bring a different style to the franchise I loved, while failing to re-caputre what made it great. Luckily, I was wrong. Within 10 minutes of holding a controller, I knew they had nailed it. The single greatest achievement of Ninja Gaiden 4 is that, despite some seriously needed (and well implemented) quality of life upgrades, this was, in all ways, a Ninja Gaiden game.
It felt almost immediate, muscle memory returned, dodges were performed, swarms of enemies were slain in bloody ways. It brought a smile to this jaded old video game critic’s heart. This is a game that revels in what it sets out to do. It celebrates dismemberment and death in a way that is both ridiculious yet totally appropriate, all the while providing some of the tightest pure action gameplay in recent memory. Make no mistake, this is what Ninja Gaiden 4 is, pure action. The game is largely free of any RPG trappings, there are no overworlds, no returning to base and no loot. This is one hundred percent pure as the bloody snow action and it felt like a breath of fresh air in the modern gaming environment.
Each level runs along pretty much the same formula. Get through the level with some tight, stylish platforming and kill everything that moves until you get to the boss. Knock that beast off and start the process again. That may not sound like a lot of variety but the loop is just so good, I could have happily played it for another 10 hours. Which leads me to one of my issues, game length. On normal difficulty it took me about 11 hours to finish the game and while there is quite a bit to do after credits have rolled (more on that later) it still felt a few hours short for me. I am not usually one to complain about a short game, but here I will make an exception because in essence, I am just being greedy and want more.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the multiple ways in which players can get around the levels. All the ninja skills you would expect are there and along with that there are a host of tools to help you on your way. By the end of the game you will be zipping around the levels with a grappling hook, gliding wings and a surfboard and if all else fails by grinding on rails as trains speed towards you. Some of the later levels combine all of these abilities together into thrilling sections that not only break up the game’s reliance on cutting enemies in to itty bitty pieces, but provide a wonderful thrill in the process.
If there is one thing I am not sure how longtime fans are going to take, it is the fact that Ryu is no longer the lead of the game. Ninja Gaiden 4 introduces a new protaginist in the form of Yakumo, a Raven Clan Ninja. Make no mistake, this is Yakumo’s game and while there is a small section where Ryu becomes playable in the story, this is principally about this young Ninja’s journey. I think it is a smart move by Platnium. Ryu is still very much present, linking the title to the previous games, but by focusing on a new character, new players aren’t put off by coming into a story that has a host of catching up to do. After all it has been over 10 years since the last title so bringing new players into the franchise will be key to the game’s success.
Sadly though, as a person, Yakumo is a bit of an emotionless lump who can be quite unlikeable. He carries the “stoic ninja” schtick a little too far and it makes him a hard guy to root for. The side characters around him try to make up for it by generally being overtly bubbly but it never quite succeeds. I would say that Ninja Gaiden 4’s biggest weakness is its writing in general. The story is fine at best and it tries to land some emotional beats that it never really earns so it just comes off as a little hamfisted. Throw in a host of jargon regarding enemy types and lore and you have a story that is servicable, but little else.
Thankfully people don’t come to Ninja Gaiden for story. They come for the action and it has that in spades. Even after completion players can go back and replay the levels again, with all four unlocked weapons or even as Ryu Hayabusa. I have to say, Ryu, while fun to play as, feels like a step back from Yakumo and his multiple weapons. It is certainly fun to experience Ryu’s clasic move set (with some modern touch ups) but it doesn’t offer the same visceral thrill as Yakumo’s. I fully intend on going back to the game and replaying it all on Hard, pushing my abilities and chasing my high scores. Speaking of high scores, there are online leaderboards allowing players all around the world to compete. I can see this becoming quite the obssesion for hardcore fans.
I mentioned difficulty before, but I must talk about it in more detail, after all, the challenge of the game is an inherant part of the Ninja Gaiden experience. I would say on normal difficulty, the game is about as tough as the recently release Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. That is to say, it offers a stiff challenge but not to the same extreme that the first game did. People who take pride in their skillset will probably want to play the game on Hard to begin with. For those that are put off by the challenge, there is an assisted mode that helps to teach players how to play, inputting missed commands and guiding skill development until the player is ready to take control on their own. It is a nice inclusion that will help bring new players into the fold. Finally, after completing the game on any difficulty, Master Ninja mode is unlocked. Not only are the enemies significantly tougher in this mode, but they have different attack patterns so prior learning is only partially helpful. This is going to be the real challenge for the dedicated fans, a challenge that is probably beyond my 45-year-old reflexes I’m afraid.
I had long believed that the Ninja Gaiden franchise was dead. The third entry was such a disappointment that I thought I would never get the chance to flex my Ninja skills again. I thank my stars that I was wrong because I had an absolute blast from start to finish with Ninja Gaiden 4. The combat, the platforming and the style are all outstanding, with a weak story doing nothing to detract from the good time I was having. This is, without doubt, a modern video game, but it is one that caputres the essenece of the franchise so well it is almost impossible to believe that it is from a different developer and it was released 10 years after the last game. If you are a fan of Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2 this is a no brainer and if you are new to the franchise, this is easily the best place to start. Put simply, Ninja Gaiden 4 is a brutal, bloody success and one of my favourite games of the year.
Ninja Gaiden 4 was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by Xbox Australia.
