There are times when I see a trailer for a game and I instantly think “I am going to suck so bad at this”. I am a games journalist after all. There are other times, I’d like to suggest far more often, when I see a trailer for a game and I instantly think “This game is going to rule”. It takes a special game to elicit both reactions.Ninja Gaiden4 is that special game.
With its blistering reveal at the Xbox Developer Direct (better yet, aiming to launch this year),Ninja Gaiden 4was the star of the show. In part, this was because it (along with the shadow drop of 2’s remake) was the big surprise of the night, withDoom: The Dark Ages,Clair Obscur, andSouth of Midnighthaving already been confirmed. But it was also because it didn’t just have a title card tease or a cutscene, but came with an action-packed spectacle of gameplay to leave us with no doubts as to what was to come.
Ninja Gaiden Can Never Be Easy
Ninja Gaiden is a difficult series by design. While I think the debate over video game difficultycan become wearisome and encourage gatekeeping, there are some games for which the difficulty is part of the experience. Gaiden offers a difficulty mode, which the likes ofElden Ringdo not, but there is still some understanding that the challenge is an indelible part of the game. Without it, it ceases to be Ninja Gaiden at its core.4 already promises to follow in these footsteps.
I expect, therefore, to be quite bad at it. Ordinarily, this knowledge would put me off - there are so many games to play and so little time in the day, week, life. You gotta know when to fold ‘em. But it has not with Ninja Gaiden. The prospect of failing over and over again, which rarely holds much appeal to me, finally feels like a selling point.
Perhaps it is because the presence of difficulty modes shows some level of balance, consideration, and player control. Maybe it’s because Gaiden’s story isless deliberately cryptic and arcane than Elden Ring’s. InSoulsgames I have found myself no longer compelled to go on not only because I lack the skill and the strength to do so, but because I know not what I fight for. It feels like this form of environmental, almost archaeological form of narrative would work better in a game that didn’t ask you to pause for several hours multiple times to learn the attack patterns of a god who will bark out three disconnected phrases that eventually fit into a puzzle.
But also, Elden Ring is one of the most popular games of all time, so I guess not.
Ninja Gaiden Is Bringing Action Back
Though fights will still be an agonising, drawn-out experience much of the time, where attack patterns must be learned as they repeatedly pulverise you at every turn, the lightning base of Ninja Gaiden 4 and electric cinematic art style are enough to hook me in. Whizzing through platforming gauntlets, leaping high to strike enemies down, and grinding on rails (always an instant sell for me), Ninja Gaiden is so frenetic that you get to make up for any boss battle stoppages by moving at lightning pace the rest of the time.
It’s also, despite having obvious Soulsborne tendencies with the aforementioned boss attack patterns, much more of a traditional action game. It would make sense that the series is not built on these foundations - the first Ninja Gaiden predatesDemon’s Soulsby four years. That extra pace, emphasis on level variety, and surplus of weaker enemies to be slashed down with ease also feeds much easier into the power fantasy. Yes, occasionally you will get your own posterior handed to you on a plate, but there are plenty of opportunities to get your own back. Souls games have smaller enemies too, but it often feels like once the hits start coming, they don’t stop coming. It doesn’t make you feel like an all-star.
Though tougher, it’s more in the vein ofBayonetta(PlatinumGames is even developing Ninja Gaiden 4),Devil May Cry, or more recently,Stellar Blade. It feels like more of the ‘very hard combo combat’ genre is being pulled in a Soulsy direction (even Stellar Blade suffers from this magnetism), so it’s great to see an old skool hard game return to offer a different bloodstained path. I have no idea how long it will take me to finish Ninja Gaiden 4, or if I will even be able to, but I can’t wait to try. That feels like a very good sign.
