Ninja Gaiden 4 is about as pure motion as a recreation can get, and it’s a scrumptious and generally exhausting gauntlet of more and more brutal bouts that check your reflexes, dexterity, endurance, and creativity in thrilling methods. It’s a welcome return to type for a franchise whose final mainline entry was nicely over a decade in the past, and its trademark tight controls have by no means been tuned finer. Platinum Video games, which serves as the first developer behind this entry, nails the distinct really feel of Ninja Gaiden’s motion to the purpose that followers would by no means discover a brand new developer is on the reins. However the studio behind Bayonetta and Steel Gear Rising does carry some enjoyable new concepts, mainly a brand new ninja on the helm whose battle prowess exceeds longtime hero Ryu Hayabusa.
The story facilities on Yakumo, a member of the Raven Clan, the secretive and morally versatile department of the righteous Hayabusa Clan. This younger, prodigious ninja is on a mission to stop one more resurrection of recurring nemesis, the Darkish Dragon, by killing a wonderful priestess, the vessel of the dragon’s dormant soul. However when the priestess convinces Yakumo that the one method to completely finish the Darkish Dragon is by releasing it, they embark on a quest that places Yakumo and his small crew at odds with the person decidedly towards the dragon’s return: Ryu Hayabusa. Regardless of a cool premise, the story is nothing to put in writing house about, with predictable melodramatic beats and a hilariously unearned trace of a romance. Fortunately, I don’t play Ninja Gaiden anticipating a robust narrative; the motion is the star of this present.
What Yakumo lacks in compelling character traits – he’s a one-dimensional, gruff edgelord of an virtually comical diploma – he makes up for in sheer brutality and finesse on the battlefield. Creating absurd combo chains by swapping by way of his 4 distinct weapons creates a frenetic flurry of flashy offense that by no means ceases to be a deal with to execute, irrespective of what number of limbs I lopped off. Every weapon sports activities a novel playstyle, and good pacing permits gamers to acclimate to their instruments earlier than one other is launched. I like how every weapon fills an important gap in Yakumo’s recreation. His twin swords are an amazing mid-range possibility, however a workers is healthier at ranged crowd management. One delightfully foolish projectile weapon excels at zoning and extends combos higher than the usual shuriken assaults.
Powering up Yakumo’s offense utilizing the brand new Bloodraven type transforms weapons into extra highly effective variants that shatter sturdy defenses and interrupt unblockable assaults. I take pleasure in strategically incorporating this formidable increase into my offensive strings, and beautiful adversaries with a well-timed Bloodraven assault is all the time satisfying. Ninja Gaiden 4 loves overwhelming gamers with scores of foes, however filling a meter solves this downside by unleashing a satisfying finisher that immediately kills a number of targets. I can’t consider a greater reward for shelling out tons of offense.
Make no mistake: Ninja Gaiden 4 is Yakumo’s recreation. However Ryu Hayabusa is playable, albeit for a handful of underwhelming missions retracing Yakumo’s steps by way of outdated ranges, together with re-fighting the identical bosses. Ryu provides a extra precision-based model, mixing razor-sharp sword assaults with Ninpo magic and his personal variation of the Bloodraven mechanic. Although enjoyable in his personal manner, I a lot most well-liked utilizing Yakumo and am glad Ryu takes a backseat. No matter which ninja you management, taking down grunts or creatively designed demonic bosses is such a blast that the half-baked stealth gameplay is extremely ill-suited. Stealth quantities to nothing greater than slowly (and tediously) stepping ahead and stabbing simply alerted targets; at the very least let me crouch in order for you me to trouble with sneaking.
There’s not a lot to do outdoors of slicing and dicing, however high-speed rail grind sequences and fast-paced grapple hook-focused parkour segments may be virtually as enjoyable because the fight. Though the customarily prolonged battles can put on out their welcome and want wider enemy selection, and the straightforward aspect quests and problem rooms are uninspired, Ninja Gaiden 4 offers followers what they need: a pure, usually arduous check of their ninja abilities. This comeback lastly washes away the dangerous style left by the reviled Ninja Gaiden 3, and I hope to see Yakumo’s legend develop over a brand new collection of trendy motion adventures.
