Ninja Gaiden 4

“a refreshing PURE ACTION GAME your inner angsty teenage self will be stoked on!"

PC | PS5 | XBOX SERIES

HOW I PLAYED: I played Ninja Gaiden 4 via Xbox Game Pass on my R7 9800X3D, RTX 5080 Gaming PC on max settings. I was able to play at 1440p at 165fps on my 32" LG UltraGear display. I also played using my Arctis 7P+ Wireless Headphones.

STORY — 13/20

INTRO -4

Ninja Gaiden 4 (NG4) has a typical action game intro where you’re introduced to the player character, and you take on some early-game mobs to get the story started. I thought it was well paced, and I will always enjoy games that give your character full movement right off the bat (though there is SOME slow walking...). But the action kicks off quickly and rockets you straight into the story of Ninja Gaiden!

CUTSCENES -4

The cutscenes all look good. You gotta have the big tiddy waifu (Seori) and the cool emo main character (Yakumo) who’s the BEST ninja in all the land. I felt all the cutscenes were the right amount of corny that perfectly suit an action game like this. Think Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, etc. The game 100% knows what it’s going for, and I think that is refreshing.

WORLD BUILDING -2

World building is delivered through NPC dialogue at the start of each chapter and through cutscenes. There isn’t any environmental storytelling or deep lore hunting, but for this type of action game, that’s perfectly serviceable.

OVERALL STORY -3

Listen... if I was 13 years old again in my PEAK Dragon Ball Z-watching years, this would have been the greatest game of my life. But now that I’m a little bit older (cough cough), this is a simple action game story. It’s not deep, and I love it. The emo ninja kicks ass and murders 100’s of rival ninjas to save the big tiddy waifu… EZ.

GRAPHICS — 10/15

CHARACTER MODELS -3

The character models look good and serve their purpose. All the main NPCs look their part, and I didn’t find anything distracting or goofy.

ENVIRONMENTS -4

At first, I was a little worried that all we would see in Ninja Gaiden 4 was futuristic Tokyo. But I was pleasantly surprised that there was a decent amount of biome diversity. So kudos to the studio for switching it up and not just basing everything in the same cityscape location.

SPECIAL FX -3

There are lots of slash, spark, and blood effects. It hits exactly the level of flash you want for an action title like this.

AUDIO — 12/15

AMBIENCE -4

There’s a mix of traditional Japanese ninja movie music and some killer metal background tracks. The ambience in Ninja Gaiden 4 does a superb job of getting you amped up for the next mob of ninjas you need to cut into pieces.

BOSS MUSIC -4

Super rad metalcore music. As a metal fan, I am easily pleased. Give me sick guitar riffs and breakdowns and I’m happy. Loved it! And it totally amps up the action CHEEEZE in this game!

SOUND DESIGN -4

I thought the voice acting was solid, and all of the sound effects and sound design were well done. Everything keeps up with the high pace of the game.

PERFORMANCE — 9/10

FRAME RATE -4

With my RTX 5080, I played on max settings and hit the 165hz cap of my display with zero hitches. But the game maxes out at 60fps on consoles, and PS5 or Xbox Series X should definitely be able to push 120fps here.

STABILITY -5

I didn’t run into a single bug or game-breaking glitch. Very good performance on PC, and I didn’t notice any major traversal stutter or shader compilation stutter. Kudos to the devs!

GAMEPLAY — 29/40

CONTROLS -4

The controls felt fast and responsive, which is essential for an action game. I didn’t feel any stored inputs or input delay. I felt in complete control of the character. I’ve never really played the other Ninja Gaiden games, but I did play the Ninja Gaiden 2 Black remaster for a few hours, and I could clearly see how far this game has come with camera controls. Night and day better!

MECHANICS -5

There are an INSANE amount of mechanics in Ninja Gaiden 4! I took advantage of almost NONE of them, but players who love enemy juggling and ridiculous long combo strings will have an absolute field day here.

There are multiple weapon types you unlock as you progress, each with their own skill tree and abilities. There are also universal skills at an in game merchant. I felt a little overwhelmed by how much variety there was, but I wasn’t punished for it. I was still able to crush most of the game with basic-level moves and combos. I love this, give me all your options! Just don’t force me to use them.

PACING -3

The pacing is strong, but there’s a middle section where you replay the same areas again. I’m not a fan of this, as it’s clearly padding the runtime. I would WAY rather a tight 6-hour campaign than repeat sections just to stretch the game to 9–12 hours.

UI/UE -4

There’s a bit of information overload on screen at times. But overall, the menus, options, and HUD are effective and utilitarian. Nothing fancy, just functional.

BOSS QUALITY -4

Each boss feels distinct. You’ve got beefed-up NPC types and big monster types. Some rely on spamming ads to raise difficulty, which I’m never a fan of. But there’s enough variety to keep things interesting and fun.

ENEMY VARIETY -3

This is where Ninja Gaiden 4 falls a bit. The main enemy ninja mobs make up most encounters. There are other enemy types, and they match their biomes well, but you do fight the same core ninja enemies a little too often.

GAMEPLAY VARIETY -3

Alongside the main story, there are challenge shrines, secret collectibles, and checkpoint NPC tasks for extra rewards. It’s a nice bonus layer if you want to engage with it.

REPLAYABILITY -3

Unless you’re a trophy completionist, Ninja Gaiden 4 is a one-and-done game. You can’t experience the story differently on repeat playthroughs. You can challenge yourself or stick to one weapon type, but I’ll probably never replay it.

BONUS — 2/3

I was a little off-put when I saw there was no menu labeled “Accessibility.” But under Game Options, there’s a solid selection of visual accessibility settings and assist modes for QTEs and gameplay. So kudos to the devs for that!

OVERALL — 75/100

GOOD

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a refreshing PURE ACTION GAME that your inner angsty teenage self will be stoked on. This isn’t a Souls-like or a FromSoftware wannabe. This is a good old-fashioned action game straight out of 2009. If you want an easy-to-digest button masher where you chop enemies into filet mignon and watch them spray blood Kill Bill style… Ninja Gaiden 4 is a GAME FOR YOU! Corny, predictable story, good-looking characters, and big anime toddy’s. Exactly the kind of game my younger self would’ve lost his mind over.

PROS

✅ Enjoyable gameplay loop

✅ Good looking characters

✅ Cool weapons and gore

✅ Insane amounts of skills and build variety

CONS

❌ Mid game pacing is a bit sluggish

❌ Little replayability

❌ Dated graphics

TLDR: 75/100 (GOOD) Ninja Gaiden 4 is a pure, unapologetic throwback action game that delivers fast, flashy combat, ridiculous anime energy, killer metal soundtrack, and a simple but charmingly corny story about an emo ninja saving the big tiddy waifu. The gameplay is deep if you want to master it, but accessible if you just want to mash your way through slicing hundreds of ninjas into sushi. Bosses are fun, performance is rock solid, visuals are decent, and the vibe is straight out of 2009 in the best way possible. BUT mid-game pacing drags a bit, enemy variety could be stronger, and replayability is low. If you want stylish, brain-off action carnage, this game absolutely delivers.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO REVIEW HERE