Ninja Gaiden 4

Ninja Gaiden 4 revives the legendary saga with brutal precision and style. PlatinumGames and Xbox deliver fast, fluid combat that rewards mastery and precision. Technically outstanding, it runs flawlessly on Xbox Series X and the ROG Xbox Ally X, showcasing sharp visuals and smooth performance. Its mix of tradition and modern design makes every battle unforgettable.

NINJA GAIDEN 4 is an absolute no-brainer for any fan of a hack and slash game. It is fast, bloody and quite often breathtaking, and it looks brilliant to boot. If you can work around the camera issue then this will be very close to perfect.

We can call it now — Ninja Gaiden 4 is the best action game of 2025. Brutal, rewarding, beautifully presented; it's a return Ninja Gaiden fans could once only dream of. While it disappoints in a few places (mainly with its level variety and story), you'll find few action games have ever delivered gameplay as refined and cathartic as Ninja Gaiden 4.

It’s a brutal game and one that’s fully sat within the oddball Japanese manga-style of near nonsense storytelling. There can be too much lore when all you want ultimately is the addictive gore of the gameplay. Difficult, frustrating, face-flushing - this game is all of them. But it’s also fantastic in its fluidity when you get things right and rewarding when a chosen baddie is finally slain after the umpteenth attempt. Overall, another strong title on the Xbox and PS5 consoles.

Ninja Gaiden 4 delivers a fast, fluid, and brutally satisfying combat experience that stays true to the series’ roots while evolving its gameplay with modern flair. The dual protagonists, deep mechanics, and intense metal soundtrack make every fight a thrill. While the visuals lag slightly behind today’s standards and some repetition creeps in, the game’s energy, challenge, and replay value make it a strong return for the legendary action series.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is the best game Team Ninja has put out since Nioh 2, and for co-developer PlatinumGames it’s easily its strongest project since 2019’s Astral Chain. A boisterous, blood-drenched character action game, Ninja Gaiden 4 combines the rock-solid difficulty of its predecessors with Platinum’s prowess for satisfying, fast-paced combat. Some levels do drag on with dull platforming sections, but few games this year match the unapologetic thrills of Ninja Gaiden 4’s brutally brilliant combat.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a prime example of how to offer varied combat and keep it evolving over the course of a game, with some stunning set pieces and endless brutality.

Returning to where this review started, I obviously raised some questions about Platinum’s ability deliver a game faithful to the Ninja Gaiden series, and for the most part, this new entry starring Yakumo is just as badass as any of Ryu’s past adventures. It retains the spirit and traditions of the previous games, expands on combat in new and stylish ways, and if you’re a fan of this type of game – it’s a bloody excellent fight from start to finish. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got some more fiends to slay.

Ninja Gaiden 4 masterfully revives the series’ legacy, blending Team Ninja’s spirit with PlatinumGames’ flair. Yakumo’s journey delivers thrilling combat, massive boss fights, and a deep progression system that rewards skill and dedication. Despite camera flaws, repetitive environments, and Ryu Hayabusa’s limited role, it remains a brutal, stylish, and essential action game for fans and newcomers alike.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a shock to the system that reminds us of a time before Souls-likes. It's a high-octane, unrelenting, and effortlessly cool action game experience that newcomers and franchise fans alike need to play.

Ninja Gaiden 4 proves that the long wait for Ryu Hayabusa’s return was worth it, delivering an experience that feels familiar while evolving its combat in compelling ways to offer a hack-and-slash that is fun, challenging, varied, and highly replayable.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a great return for the series. Sure, it deviates from the first two entries, but has its own appeal.

It's hard to imagine any action game fan not being entertained by Ninja Gaiden 4. Its combat is visceral and incredibly fluid. Moving around the environment is more engaging than ever, making every battle a ballet of acrobatics and combat. Some sequences slightly overstay their welcome and there's a questionable bit of storytelling near the end. Breathe a sigh of relief. Ninja Gaiden 4 is the return to the bloody good time that fans have been hoping for.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is back with a vengeance. The game is fast, brutal, and razor-sharp in all the right ways. While enemy variety is lacking, the slick combat, tight performance, and intense challenge make it a must-play for action fans craving a real test.

There’s not much to do outside of slicing and dicing, but high-speed rail grind sequences and fast-paced grapple hook-focused parkour segments can be almost as fun as the combat. Although the often lengthy battles can wear out their welcome and need wider enemy variety, and the simple side quests and challenge rooms are uninspired, Ninja Gaiden 4 gives fans what they want: a pure, often arduous test of their ninja skills. This comeback finally washes away the bad taste left by the reviled Ninja Gaiden 3, and I hope to see Yakumo’s legend grow over a new series of stylish action adventures.

Technically, it's not the ultimate, and artistically, it's a rather flat game, lacking any particularly surprising moments. However, the spectacular combat and the impressive choreography you can perform with a little practice are well worth it. Ninja Gaiden 4 is the game you'll want to show off to your friends once you've learned how to play it, because it makes you feel like a true hack 'n' slash god once you've mastered it. That, in the end, is its key, which is partly what Ninja Gaiden has always had: making us feel like authentic ninjas overcoming seemingly impossible challenges.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a comeback with a capital C. We've seen how the series has embraced modern mechanics without sacrificing difficulty, edge, or the essence of the ninja who seeks to surpass himself. In many sections, the game is simply spectacular: fast-paced, fluid combat that's visually stunning. However, not everything is perfect: we miss a more developed narrative, certain transitional moments that don't break the rhythm so much, and Ryu Hayabusa playing a more central role. Platinum Games has come on strong, and the generational change makes sense.

Thanks to its very clear objectives, Ninja Gaiden 4 brings back the series in a mostly solid way. However, flaws such as poor level design, repetitive ideas, and a general fear of trying genuinely new things hold it back from being something much more significant for the medium and for this new face of PlatinumGames. Long-time fans, and likely a good number of new admirers, will find a very solid and intense hack and slash that brings out the values ​​that the genre has always had, but precisely because it wants to stay within that very traditional line, it drags along some of the vices that had been overcome over the years.

After a 13-year hiatus, Ninja Gaiden 4 marks the franchise's grand return to 3D hack and slash. With agile, versatile combat that gives the new protagonist Yakumo a multitude of offensive tools, the game shines with its combo systems, good variety of weapons, and extremely responsive commands, as well as offering a good range of defensive options for moments of chaos and boss fights. Although it suffers from linear missions and repetitive enemies, the partnership between Team Ninja and PlatinumGames delivers the game that the franchise deserved and did not receive in Ninja Gaiden 3, with gameplay as sharp as a katana blade.

Unity truly makes strength, and the collaboration between Team Ninja and PlatinumGames hits the mark. Despite a few minor flaws, Ninja Gaiden 4 stays true to the spirit of the series, enriching it with new mechanics that clearly bear the signature of the Bayonetta team. The result is a spectacular, technical, and varied combat system that delivers immense satisfaction once fully mastered.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is not just a beautifully gory return for Team Ninja's twenty-one-year tenure with the series, but it's also vintage PlatinumGames, serving up a relentlessly paced flurry of swords, lopped limbs, and buckets of blood. What more could a ninja fan possibly want?

Ninja Gaiden 4 marks a significant evolution for the iconic action series, blending the punishing precision fans expect and putting that on the shoulders of a new protagonist with some of the most stylish action systems to date. While its narrative stumbles and some enemy encounters repeat, the fluidity of its systems and incredible pacing make it one of the most thrilling action games in recent memory.

NINJA GAIDEN 4 revives the decade+ dormant franchise with a new developer leading it into an insanely fast, new direction. It’s a fun, occasionally beautiful title with an actually not terrible story, perhaps a first for the series.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a very good entry in the saga. It doesn't invent anything revolutionary, but it improves practically everything the previous entries did well and fixes many of the things they did wrong. The camera works, the combat is fluid and brutal, Yakumo is a competent protagonist who doesn't pale in comparison to Ryu, and the technical aspects are up to par. It has some flaws, of course. The on-rails sections become repetitive, the difficulty can be frustrating instead of challenging at certain moments, and the amount of techniques is overwhelming at first. But these are minor complaints in the overall context.

Ninja Gaiden 4 brings a bloodsport of epic proportions to AAA gaming, a must play title for fans of hack and slash, action, and anything ninja.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a great hack and slash game, highly challenging and filled with epic and bloody moments, and it will surely please longtime fans of the franchise who don’t mind playing as someone other than Ryu Hayabusa for most of the time.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a bloody return to the most straightforward hack 'n slash. It could have performed better in terms of variety and graphics, but its absolutely insane and perfectly measured combat makes it one of the most frenetic and special action games of the last decade.

The gameplay in Ninja Gaiden 4 is excellent. It looks stunning and is always fluid and it plays even better. It’d be easy to focus on all the shortcomings of the game: weak story, awkward and boring characters, sections that feel like a mobile game and other minor nitpicks. But the fact is that the gameplay, the part that really matters in the end, stands among the best in the genre.

The Dark Dragon God met his match with Yakumo, the brand-new protagonist of Ninja Gaiden 4. This installment restores the iconic series's relevance with a game packed with action, gore, and spectacular battles.

Ninja Gaiden 4 restores faith in the long-running series after a rather mediocre third entry. The nineteen-chapter adventure is just the right length for this kind of action, especially if you’re eager to hunt down every collectible and fight your way through every (devilish) Purgatory stage.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a slick and stylish entry into the franchise that has made steps to welcome newcomers while keeping veterans on their toes.

Despite the occasional on-rail hiccup, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Ninja Gaiden 4, and it’s easily a game I can see myself revisiting as I try to improve my own abilities and end of level scoring, offering up an easy reason to replay stages over and over again. It’s certainly a far better effort than its predecessor, and while it’s a very different Ninja Gaiden game compared to the recently released Ragebound, it’s a worthy follow-up to one of the more beloved action franchises out there. Hopefully the release of Ninja Gaiden 4 breathes new life into the franchise, as I’d love to see even more Ninja Gaiden titles released in the near future.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a darn function action game that unfortunately avoids the heights that one might expect, given the pedigree of the developers. The very fun core combat shines, but everything surrounding it feels underbaked. The rushed ending and lackluster second character keep it from shining as brightly as it should. It's still a fun character action game with some satisfying and meaty combat, and it's something that fans of the genre should enjoy.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a return to form after the misstep of its third entry, comfortably sitting alongside Ninja Gaiden 2 as a fast-paced action romp that makes you feel like a master ninja. However, some weak level gimmicks and an unremarkable central storyline hold it back from dethroning the earlier games in the franchise.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a treat for action gamers, with visually stunning sequences and a great feel. Unfortunately, the game's frenetic pace is punctuated by a few slow moments and can become repetitive at times due to a lack of variety in the enemy roster. But the main gameplay loop remains ultra-addictive and the bosses are so enjoyable that the game is still a pleasant surprise, both for newcomers and veterans of the franchise. We recommend it, and it's available on Game Pass from day one.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a thrilling action game, featuring Team Ninja's aesthetics and PlatinumGames' electrifying gameplay, a dream combination for any fan of both producers. The result is one of the best Japanese action games of the last nine years.

Ninja Gaiden 4 has turned out to be a very strong action game. The gameplay is rock solid, and those who love games where you can decapitate, dismember, and brutally tear into your enemies will definitely find plenty of enjoyment here. Still, I would’ve preferred to see PlatinumGames and Team Ninja balance the focus more evenly between Ryu and Yakumo. Ninja Gaiden 4 falls a bit short in polish here and there, and Ryu in particular doesn’t always feel like the Super Ninja the game constantly claims he is.

While we are a bit let down about the role of Ryu on this game, it´s still a beautiful, savage, old school action game that is easy to fall in love with.

A great return to the roots of the franchise, proving that PlatinumGames was the ideal choice to carry it forward, even if there are a few rough edges. The combat system is nothing short of excellent. Faster, deeper, and more refined, without ever becoming overcomplicated, giving players full control over the flow. With stronger level design, both artistically and mechanically, and more memorable boss fights, it could have been a true masterpiece.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is exactly what we expected - nothing more, nothing less: an action game that focuses on combat and does so with great authority, showcasing all the power of an iconic franchise and the talent of a development team (actually, two) that needs no lessons from anyone.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a powerful return, imperfect but full of character, capable of making us forget the years of silence with a combat system that borders on perfection in its fluidity and ferocity. The union between Team NINJA and PlatinumGames works: the action is brutal, visceral, and visually stunning, with an artistic direction that transforms Tokyo and its nightmares into a kabuki theater of soft lighting and blood. A clear limitation is the linearity of the maps and the repetition of enemies and bosses, which end up diluting the pace, making the second half of the adventure more tiring than exciting. Ninja Gaiden 4 has plenty of character and confirms itself as an aesthetically captivating game, but incapable of maintaining the tension it promises in its best moments. A convincing new beginning, even if it's not yet the masterpiece fans have been waiting too long for.

Not only a return to form for Ninja Gaiden but for PlatinumGames as well, in a game that may lack in innovation, but makes up for it in mechanical complexity.

Ninja Gaiden 4 hardly re-writes the rules on what these kinds of games should look like, but fans who have been awaiting the return of the franchise may prefer this first re-entry takes things back to basics to some degree. Built in partnership between Koei, Microsoft, Team Ninja, and Platinum Games, Ninja Gaiden 4 has emerged a surprisingly coherent and confident product. Stunning and stylish hack n' slash gameplay could've been backed up with more compelling characters and story beats, but for those who simply want to carve a bloody path through endless enemies — Ninja Gaiden 4 is up there with the best of them.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a fantastic, fun and challenging action game that fans of the genre will be coming back to many times, with tons of replay value and inevitable DLC expansions in the future. It's a shame that the story and characters are completely undercooked, but the gameplay hard-carries this game to one of the best action games of the year.

Ninja Gaiden 4's biggest achievement isn't executing a new gimmick or risqué idea. It's the result of two studios famed for their action-adventure chops delivering a game with incredible polish and best-in-class gameplay that hits the sweet spot between accessibility and depth with god-tier precision.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a balls-to-the-wall action game with a relentless pace and an almost comedic level of gory combat. It's very much a one-trick pony, however, and as thoroughly entertaining as fighting waves of enemies is, its tendency to recycle assets near the end of the game means it can start to overstay its welcome if you don't take it upon yourself to use the wide variety of optional moves available to you.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a worthy successor to the best games in the franchise thus far. It modernises the combat without losing the spirit that made the original games so strong. While the handoff to Ryu is undoubtedly clumsy and a bit of a dip overall, Ninja Gaiden 4 is an outstanding action game that's punishing in all the rights ways.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a result of its production model, a niche game that must appeal to all gamers at the same time; and despite a few missteps, it succeeds in this difficult task. Hero Mode allows everyone to explore Yakumo's gruesome ninja frenzy while learning the defense techniques that allow you to climb the difficulty levels. By raising the bar each time you finish the game, even veterans will soon find something to sink their teeth into. The price to pay is subdued level design and annoying backtracking. The reward for those who persevere is the usual over-the-top madness with which Team Ninja tackles the subject matter.

At its best, Ninja Gaiden 4 is an exhilarating bloodbath that has finally struck the perfect balance between hardcore and accessible. It's a reminder of how invigorating this franchise once was, and how, in the right hands, it can be once again.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is beautifully made, blisteringly fast and defiantly old-school in its approach to combat and design. No rules are broken or rewritten, but fans and newcomers will find joy in the game's aggressive, approachable gameplay.

Even after barreling through the campaign in a couple of days, I still couldn't stop myself from going back for more. Ninja Gaiden 4 is a brutal menagerie of excessive blood spray, gratifying weapons, and gloriously stylish action. It banishes the sour memories of Ninja Gaiden 3 and has me pining for more character-action games, serving as a wistful reminder that games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta ruled the roost before the recent proliferation of Souls-likes. Every change is meaningful, adding to the rock-solid foundations and evolving the formula to bring out the very best in its phenomenal combat. If Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance weren't enough, then Ninja Gaiden 4 solidifies 2025 as the year of the ninja.

It’s tough to shake the feeling that Ninja Gaiden 4 parallels Yakumo himself. Extremely competent in its own right, but overshadowed and outmatched by a legend it doesn’t manage to live up to. It’s crazy that the first mainline series entry in over a decade is somehow only the third best Ninja Gaiden title to come out this year… but that’s how it is.

Over a decade after the last mainline entry, Ninja Gaiden returns, this time infused with PlatinumGames’ unmistakable style. The result is a game packed with fast-paced, over-the-top action that’s undeniably fun, but it often feels more like Bayonetta than Ninja Gaiden. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though it might not be exactly what longtime fans were hoping for. Oh, and yes, the camera issues are still hanging around!.

Brutal yet technical, Ninja Gaiden 4 ticks the boxes of what we'd expect from a good 3D beat 'em up like a ninja stringing life beads from the Gods. Driven almost exclusively by its rich combat gameplay, the baby of the Team Ninja/PlatinumGames couple delivers the essentials without being as sharp as we would have liked. The environments lack soul in addition to being repetitive, progression is marred by a flashback that makes us repeat the same levels/bosses, the weapons are few and far between, and various choices are questionable. Sometimes "wow", sometimes "meh", Ninja Gaiden 4 suffers from an irregularity that could be scorned by shinobi masters. Nevertheless, the heart of the game - the action - beats so strongly that we willingly return to it to lose our heads... by splitting those of others.

Ninja Gaiden 4 emerges as a meeting point between Team Ninja's development philosophy, which led to the series' dazzling rebirth as a hardcore action game, and that of PlatinumGames, which, over the years, has become a true pillar of the genre. The combat system is still incredibly fun and at times exhilarating, and the new features introduced to the game world allow for a more satisfying progression than in the past. Given these premises, however, it's truly a shame that the same effort hasn't been put into the narrative, which unfortunately fails to capitalize on the excellent premise of the plot and ends up being a formulaic and lackluster tale. After over a decade of absence from the scene and given the names involved in the project, it was reasonable to expect a production effort of a different caliber.

Team Ninja and PlatinumGames' collaboration brings a stylish new numbered entry of this hallowed series into the modern era. Some old problems persist, but it's nonetheless a (very) bloody good time with some of the slickest action gameplay out there.

The main drawback of Ninja Gaiden 4 is its repetitive level design. It’s a real shame, because the game can be vibrant and stylish, and you could watch the ninja’s dance of death forever.

If I had to describe Ninja Gaiden 4, it’s like a metal song: loud, boisterous, hard as hell, and simultaneously brutish and complex. It’s hard to expect that much more from a Ninja Gaiden title, even in a new generation. If 4 is the base for future games, the Year of the Ninja may wind up needing a few pages in the calendar.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a frustratingly good time. On one hand, the combat can be entertaining, with highly engaging move sets and combos. On the other hand, the story, pacing, mission structure and some enemy designs leave a lot to be desired.

Ninja Gaiden 4 thus gives a rather mixed impression, but nevertheless one that leans positively. There is a familiar charm to the way the adventure is structured, and although I don't want to brush aside the criticism of substandard graphics and outdated design and defend it with rose-tinted nostalgia, the concept of simple action, built with equally simple game code, works surprisingly well. It's not a game that will go down in history in the same way as its predecessors, but it's still an adventure worth playing through if you're craving more frantic ninja action.

A fantastic combat system and memorable bosses are held back by tedious level design. Nearly every stage is double the length it should be and gets visually stale even before then.

When Ninja Gaiden 4 is at its best, the graphics paint a vivid portait of a bloodsoaked ninja moving through enemies like a ghost while cutting them to pieces with brutal efficiency. In these moments, everything falls away and players are left with a rich experience of unstoppable power. More often than not, however, players may be more frustrated by needing to cut down the same looking soldier for the 50th time in a level just so they can turn in a side-mission to unlock another air combo. A solid entry point for the series and an enjoyable enough experience for gamers who love a good action title, long-time fans might find themselves disappointed in the lack of variety in Ninja Gaiden 4 — but if you’re looking for an excuse to cut up ninjas in gruesome high-definition video, this is the game for you.