October 20, 2025
PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
35h median play time

NINJA GAIDEN 4

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.

84%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, monetization

89% User Score Based on 2,571 reviews

Critic Score 79%Based on 9 reviews

Platforms

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About

NINJA GAIDEN 4 is a single player hack and slash game with violence and science fiction themes. It was developed by PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. and was released on October 20, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

The definitive ninja action-adventure franchise returns with Ninja Gaiden 4! Embark on a cutting-edge adventure where legacy meets innovation in a high-octane blend of style and no-holds-barred combat.

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,571 reviews

story117 positive mentions

grinding20 negative mentions

The combat is fast, fluid, and brutally satisfying with deep mechanics and numerous weapons, providing a thrilling hack-and-slash experience that rewards skill and timing.
The game features excellent boss fights, improved enemy AI, and satisfying gore and finishing moves that enhance the intense and cinematic action.
Performance and optimization are solid, running well even on modest hardware, complemented by a great soundtrack with standout vocal tracks that enhance the atmosphere.

The story is generally considered weak, underdeveloped, or confusing, with a new protagonist who lacks the charm of the classic lead and limited playtime for the iconic character Ryu Hayabusa.
Repetitive level design and environments, with excessive on-rails and traversal sequences, detract from the overall experience and make parts of the game feel like a chore.
The targeting and camera systems are problematic, causing frustrating lock-on and aiming issues, while the checkpoint system and some mechanics (like long reload times after death) hinder the game's flow.

story
726 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
74%
10%
The story in this game is widely seen as serviceable but uninspired, serving mainly as a backdrop to the intense and satisfying combat rather than a compelling narrative. While some enjoy the new characters and find moments of emotional depth, many criticize the plot for being generic, repetitive, and underdeveloped, with particular frustration over the minimal role and limited content for the series’ iconic protagonist, Ryu. Overall, players recommend focusing on the gameplay, as the story is not the main attraction and often falls short compared to expectations.
- “The combat is fluid and responsive, the animations beautiful, the music superb, the story interesting, and overall presentation great.”
- “Supporting characters and villains help add personality and tension to the story, making the world feel alive and dangerous.”
- “Yakumo is insanely fun, the story is simple but I enjoyed it a lot, the music is awesome, bosses are fun to fight and designed really well, it has the same amount of replayability as these games tend to have, yes Ryu is only a small part of the game but he’s still ridiculously fun to play, and overall the game is an absolute blast from beginning to end.”
- “The story is basically nonexistent, reduced to a repetitive loop of the same tasks and boring maps just to reach the end.”
- “Unfortunately, by the end of my first playthrough I was hit with the unavoidable realization that the combat is the only good part of the entire experience... the world is bland with no substance, the environments are super basic and are blatantly reused over and over again, and I'd be truly shocked if the devs spent more than a few days brainstorming the story behind it all... and calling it a story is being generous.”
- “The story consists mostly of Yakumo, who takes up 85% of the gameplay, while Ryu only has 15% of the story and is limited to a few short missions with only one weapon; this imbalance and lack of development diminishes the narrative experience.”
gameplay
695 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
62%
4%
Ninja Gaiden 4 delivers fast-paced, fluid, and mechanically deep gameplay that successfully blends classic Ninja Gaiden combat with PlatinumGames’ signature style and modern action mechanics like parrying and dodge offset. While some criticize the complexity and occasional bloat of mechanics, as well as technical issues and certain gameplay imbalances (notably with Ryu’s limited moveset), the majority praise the challenging combat, satisfying combos, and boss encounters, making it arguably the best in the series for gameplay. Despite a weak story and some design inconsistencies, the combat remains the game's standout feature, offering a rewarding and engaging experience for fans and newcomers alike.
- “Truly one of the greatest action games of all time in terms of gameplay.”
- “The gameplay focuses on fluid movement, responsive dodging, and deep combo systems that keep every fight engaging. Enemy encounters feel intense and strategic, encouraging players to master the mechanics and adapt to different combat situations. Every single move and hit is satisfying to no end and the gameplay loop is extremely rewarding.”
- “The combat is very high octane for sure, but there are so many things that make this game only reserved for masochists or people who spend all their time dealing with incredibly unfair and punishing mechanics to brag about themselves online.”
- “A lot of the time it feels like you're fighting the janky mechanics more than the enemies themselves.”
- “It's baffling how bad and convoluted the gameplay truly is.”
- “The tight core mechanics of ninja gaiden are gone, and in its place are weird meter management systems for blocking, bizarre combat choices, a terrible auto lock, and dumb enemies.”
music
320 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
47%
3%
The music in this game is widely praised for its high-energy metalcore, rock, and electronic soundtrack, featuring dynamic compositions and memorable boss themes that greatly enhance the combat experience. Many reviewers highlight Victor Borba’s vocal contributions and the soundtrack's ability to ramp up intensity and atmosphere, making it one of the series’ best soundtracks. However, some find the music generic or inconsistent, with occasional issues in audio mixing and a few tracks less memorable.
- “The soundtrack is absolutely amazing; every encounter and boss fight had some of the best music in video games.”
- “As a musician myself, and one who loves modern metalcore at that, the soundtrack in this game is nothing short of exquisite.”
- “The music especially stands out; the addition of Victor Borba's vocals during some boss fights adds a unique contrast to previous Ninja Gaiden games.”
- “It's just once you heard one song you heard them all, not to mention the audio mixing being quiet for the boss fight songs.”
- “Soundtrack: horrid... absolutely horrid, if you like emo crybaby rock/metal then you are in luck.”
- “The music is generic emo metalcore music and not memorable at all.”
graphics
221 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
47%
6%
The game features impressive, sharp, and stylish graphics with a cyberpunk aesthetic that many find visually striking and well-optimized, delivering smooth performance even on mid-range hardware. However, some users note a lack of graphical settings customization, occasional crashes, and repetitive or dark environments that mask limited level variety. Overall, while not groundbreaking, the visuals effectively complement the fast-paced combat and intense action, earning generally positive praise for their quality and atmosphere.
- “The game features sharp visuals and detailed character models that make every battle feel dynamic.”
- “The visuals are sleek, the animations are fluid, and the overall presentation perfectly matches the game’s relentless intensity.”
- “The story isn’t overly complicated, but it’s engaging enough to keep the momentum going, and the visuals are gorgeous—sharp, stylish, and packed with atmosphere.”
- “Validating the game files allowed me to get into the main menu, but most of Ryu's textures seemed to be missing; also, the game crashes when trying to load a level or change graphical settings.”
- “Love it when a developer treats me like a three-year-old and locks the graphics settings of my game with no way of bypassing this. I'm not even able to resize the window or play exclusive fullscreen.”
- “Game looks amazing and runs relatively well, but my issue was it auto-locking me out of changing any display settings whatsoever, which was an immediate letdown. I couldn't even change my resolution to make the game look or run better at native resolution.”
optimization
178 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The game's optimization is generally praised for delivering smooth, stable performance even on modest hardware and various platforms, with few stutters or frame drops during fast-paced combat. However, some users experience occasional frame drops, stuttering, and minor technical issues, especially on certain PC setups, indicating room for improvement via patches. Overall, it stands out as a well-optimized action title, often exceeding expectations compared to contemporary releases.
- “The game performs phenomenally well, no stuttering or anything like that despite the graphics looking absolutely beautiful.”
- “Performance has been fantastic from launch and is a stark contrast to many other games released these days where they often arrive broken or unfinished, requiring post launch patches to even be playable.”
- “I would even go as far as to say that Ninja Gaiden 4’s release should be an example for upcoming games, because it was released with perfect optimization, along with lots of content such as new game plus, extra challenges, and playable Ryu for all chapters.”
replayability
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
46%
9%
The game offers high replayability, especially for players who enjoy challenging, skill-based combat and mastering complex mechanics. While some reviewers note it may not match the depth or polish of previous entries, its diverse challenges, fast-paced action, and engaging combat provide strong incentives for multiple playthroughs. Additional playable characters and post-game content could further enhance replay value, making it particularly appealing to fans of intense, visceral action games.
- “I will be forever grateful that Microsoft decided to greenlight NG4 because it is an absolute gift for anyone that loves overstimulation-induced dopamine hits cranked to 11 (and killer sound design) for hours on end with a high amount of replayability and a mind-melting amount of speed and prerequisite reactivity.”
- “Barring some questionable gameplay decisions, NG4 is a really solid action game with great music, great combat feel (especially on higher difficulties), high levels of power fantasy, and lots of replayability.”
- “Tl;dr - if you're a fan of fast paced, visceral action games with complex combat mechanics, challenging boss encounters, and a good bit of replayability, pick this one up.”
- “It has nowhere near the replayability or polish of a game like DMC5.”
- “Overall the game is fun and worth playing, but if you're expecting the same level of depth or replayability as in previous installments you will be sorely disappointed.”
- “There's so much wasted potential here to give this all even more replayability, and you could expect that they would give back the 'love' to Ryu to not let down the players who wanted to come back to Ninja Gaiden or had high hopes after all those years.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
73%
27%
The game generally runs very well across a range of PC hardware, delivering smooth performance and enjoyable gameplay, especially with optimized settings like FSR or TAA. However, some users report occasional minor glitches such as audio issues, model glitches, and intermittent freezing, often related to NVIDIA settings or specific cutscenes. Overall, stability is solid with few major bugs, though a small number of users experience occasional crashes and freezes.
- “On the plus side it runs well and is pretty much bug free.”
- “My only minor complaint is that some cutscenes are frame locked to around 30fps, but apart from that, the game runs great with very few stutters, and the music is absolutely incredible.”
- “Great graphics and gameplay and it runs perfectly smooth at launch with no glitches!”
- “Also still has its fair share of glitches (there were a few times where the game was constantly freezing).”
- “Music keeps cutting out, level assets won't load, game freezes.”
- “I've played janky ports and buggy launches but 'literally literally unplayable' is a first.”
emotional
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
79%
21%
The emotional impact of the game resonates strongly with fans, especially through nostalgic ties to characters like Ryu and heartfelt moments such as Yakumo and Saori's relationship, though some find these developments rushed. While the story and emotional sequences receive mixed feedback—ranging from genuine tears to feeling underdeveloped—the fast, fluid combat and engaging music contribute significantly to an overall wholesome and satisfying experience. However, some players criticize the narrative depth and boss encounters, feeling the emotional highs are occasionally undermined by pacing and story execution issues.
- “Then the first boss came... I cried.”
- “From the music, to the story progress, to the characters, to the gore and brutal chaos, to the absolutely flawless gameplay, to my emo boy Yakumo, and finally to Seori's sense of humor and emotional scene at the end (that almost made me cry), this game is my personal game of the year and all-time favorite.”
- “The story of the game is good enough for me, and interesting as Yakumo's mission intertwines with Ryu's, but honestly Yakumo and Saori's relationship felt a little rushed even though I like all the emotional bits where someone who doesn’t really love or care for many people, if anybody, learns that feeling of love, friendship, and heartbreak, and grows as a person, as he is still young.”
- “It does have some repetitive missions and a boring storyline, but the action is what keeps it fresh and addicting enough to make me wanna keep playing.”
- “Boring bosses, boring story, boring weapons, boring combos. Who made this? LMAO.”
- “Honestly, having Ryu and Ayane in this does save an otherwise boring story. The ending was good, but all the stuff to get there wasn't that great.”
atmosphere
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, cyberpunk aesthetics, varied environments, and immersive soundtrack that blends atmospheric electronica with nu-metal, enhancing exploration and combat. While many find the setting and music compelling and integral to the experience, some critics note a lack of level variety and distinct emotional impact, resulting in a mixed but generally positive reception. Overall, the atmosphere effectively complements the fast-paced gameplay and diverse stage designs, creating a memorable ninja-themed world.
- “The environments look great, whether you’re moving through dark, atmospheric streets or fighting in chaotic battle zones filled with enemies.”
- “Quieter moments feature atmospheric music that enhances the mood of exploration.”
- “The atmosphere of neon lights and cyberpunk darkness; to the forest greens of ancient monk temples and shrines; to the dank underground sewers are all done well.”
- “The consistent dark atmosphere, along with a similar-looking, futuristic, bland environment, left a really bad taste in my mouth.”
- “There’s no atmosphere, no charisma, no memorable characters, no emotion - and certainly no soundtrack that hits like Metal Gear Rising’s.”
- “The dark atmosphere is just a way to hide the lack of level variety and PS4 level of graphics.”
character development
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The character designs receive widespread praise for being fresh and stylish, but the character development is generally criticized as minimal or nonexistent. While the game's combat and visuals are strong, the story and depth of character growth are seen as lacking or secondary to action elements.
- “Character design is great, it's refreshing to see a character like Seori in 2025, glad they stuck with what they wanted to make instead of pandering.”
- “These character designs are too good to not be used to their max potential.”
- “I wish there were more cutscenes and character development, and more weapon variety.”
- “No character development at all.”
- “Story is bland and the character development is nonexistent.”
- “Story itself does not even explain growth or character development; they just throw Yakumo in and that's it. He is there for the gameplay.”
grinding
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding aspects like rail grinding, surfing, and gliding are frequently described as repetitive and overused, often interrupting the pacing and feeling tedious despite occasional thrilling moments. These traversal mini-games act as palate cleansers but tend to overstay their welcome, detracting from the core combat experience. Overall, while some find them fun or creatively integrated, many view grinding mechanics as a frustrating or dated distraction within the gameplay.
- “This game has segments that overstay their welcome, like the rail grinding, gliding, surfing and traversal, but the most egregious is dying.”
- “Ng4, however, turns the gameplay into combo-grinding.”
- “The economy is very tedious to deal with and there is way too much focus on it.”
humor
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
93%
7%
The humor in the game is polarizing, with some finding it hilariously absurd and chaotic, embracing its nonsensical and edgy style, while others see it as cringey, forced, or nonexistent. Many players appreciate the game's irreverent and unapologetic tone, though the story and character-driven humor may come off as confusing or unfunny to some. Overall, humor is a mix of intentional zaniness and accidental laughs due to plot absurdities and gameplay quirks.
- “This game is completely deranged and proud of it—nothing here makes any modicum of sense and everything runs on the rule of cool, which is objectively hilarious.”
- “More charisma than these characters. Everything that Ryu did in the first game is like it never happened; the story just doesn't make sense. Special mention to the plot twist of Misaki—I was laughing at how absurd it was.”
- “As the genre languishes under industry trends, stamina meters, souls-like design, or Sony Interactive over-the-shoulder narrative, NG4 emerges like a raven and spreads its wings unapologetically, laughing in your face for wanting a casual experience and unceremoniously spitting on you if you refuse to take it for what it is.”
- “He is nothing more than a boring, cringey edgelord teenager, kinda like the goth kids from South Park but not funny.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers a fair monetization model with no microtransactions or season passes, presenting a complete experience without unfinished content. While priced around $40, fans are willing to invest more if it supports future quality updates rather than quick cash grabs.
- “A complete package with no microtransactions, no season passes, and no unfinished nonsense.”