REVIEW | Ninja Gaiden 4: The Dark Dragon’s End

Thirteen years have passed since the last installment of Ninja Gaiden. The failure of the third part, which was the first without the direction of the legendary Tomonobu Itagakihad left the history of Ryu Hayabusa and company. However, Team Ninja and Platinum Games joined forces and carried out the arduous task of reviving this intellectual property of Koei Tecmo. Ninja Gaiden 4 It is a crucial title for the future of the franchise because it has two clear objectives.

On the one hand, to introduce this universe to a new generation of players and on the other, to embrace lifelong fans who spent more than a decade without anything new to play. The result is, in general terms, positive and achieves the delicate balance between modern gameplay but still linked to the roots that forged the identity of the saga.

The story puts us under the mask of Yakumo, a new protagonist who belongs to the Raven Clan, who can use the blood of his enemies to modify weapons and make brutal attacks. This clan has always worked in the shadow of the Hayabusa Clan, without receiving credit for their actions or taking responsibility for the actions of their deity “The Dark Dragon”. The same dragon that Ryu has been defeating since the beginning of the modern saga, whose last defeat links this new installment with the previous one.

In short, only a master of the Raven Clan can purify and truly kill the Dark Dragon, which is why Ryu had never been able to finish his task. Throughout 19 chapters we will learn about a cast of characters with whom we will revive the villain of the saga for the last time to kill him once and for all. Along the way there will be secondary missions, spectacular bosses, high-flying challenges and we will be able to play once again with Ryu Hayabusa.

The first thing we are going to notice is that Ninja Gaiden 4 It looks spectacular and runs at a very high frame rate. The proprietary engine Platinum Games It is more than proven and once again lives up to the generation, offering eye-catching levels full of details without sacrificing performance. Most of the adventure takes place at night or in dark levels where lighting effects take on greater relevance, highlighting rain and reflections on wet surfaces.

In addition, the bloody style of the saga guarantees that we are constantly wearing blood-stained clothes, all of this is seen perfectly and never negatively impacts engine performance. It’s a spectacular experience from start to finish, with separate animations for executions, special attacks, and boss completions.

When playing, Platinum Games It demonstrates once again that it is one of the studios that best understands the third-person action genre. The combat engine is simple to understand but complex to master, with spectacular combos, special moves and a range of defensive tools worthy of the genre’s elite. There are last-minute dodges and parrys leading to brutal counterattacks, execution of weakened enemies, and a charged attack that literally devastates its path.

All this while we run and do parkour At full speed, we dodge projectiles and are surrounded by a dozen enemies at a time. The controls are responsive, letting the veteran studio’s brilliant design do the talking in creating polished and challenging action experiences.

Yakumo begins with a double katana that, in bloodraventransforms into a huge two-handed katana. As we progress through the chapters, we will release the seals that contain the Dark Dragon, and thus we will obtain new weapons. They all have a second form and fulfill a specific function in battle. Technically we can complete each confrontation with any of them, but if we pay attention to the tutorials, we will see that they offer an advantage in certain situations.

The rapier/spear was one of my favorites, but without the staff/hammer’s area attacks, I wouldn’t have been able to get through the levels filled with small fish-type enemies. The same thing happens with each new weapon, they are all fun to use and have a twist that differentiates them from the rest.

Every time we defeat one of the main bosses we will be rewarded with one of the 3 new weapons which, in turn, have 12 abilities to unlock. The linear progression means that we spend too much time with each weapon, especially during the first half of the game, in which we will play with the double katana and the rapier. By the time we get the fourth, a ninja accessory box with two mechanical arms, we’ll be so used to the other three that we’ll be tempted to keep using them.

Luckily, the latter is so spectacular that it’s simply a pleasure to use, but I would have liked to have been able to use them in other levels during the first pass of the game. It is true that once finished we can play again on a new difficulty with everything we had unlocked but, at least in the initial experience, it feels as if there were predefined weapons for each segment.

In addition to the violent action scenes, Ninja Gaiden 4 It presents several segments of semi-automatic movement in which we must guide the protagonist through simple interventions. At the beginning it will be moving at full speed on rails, jumping between them to avoid moving trains, obstacles of all kinds and offering some of the most spectacular moments of the game. In the Temple of the Wind we will see that they are replaced by others in which we must take flight in currents of wind while avoiding obstacles.

Here the camera goes crazy and, instead of dodging with our reflexes and agility of hands, we will be worried about seeing where we are going and where we are going to land. Later, Yakumo will be able to use a kind of surfboard to navigate through the sewers in a situation that never ends. It does not offer a sensation of speed that adds to the frenetic experience, like when we are on rails, and it is not visually spectacular nor is it fun at all. They are tolerable moments that, in the end, keep us busy between battles and lengthen the duration of certain chapters.

The levels are usually linear but there are also hidden paths that take us to areas where secondary missions are carried out. There are optional challenges with rewards in ninja coins and increasingly higher weapon experiences depending on how much life we ​​have sacrificed when entering. These are simple arenas in which we must survive several waves of enemies at the same time, where we can use items without penalty and they are usually very challenging.

We can also complete simple secondary objectives that will be given to us in the store, which range from finding certain items, to eliminating certain enemies, to catching Gourdies. The latter are small characters that require a certain button combination to capture. They are usually well hidden, so you have to pay attention to the particular sound they make to find them. It is not a game that stands out for the variety of objectives to be met, but they are usually a good way to get experience, money and special items such as amulets and maximum life upgrades.

Ninja Gaiden 4 It’s a great return for the saga. It feels modern but without leaving aside the essence that gave it its identity, with spectacular and bloody battles that allow us to deploy the wide range of resources at our disposal. Whether defending or attacking, both Yakumo and Ryu have an arsenal of special moves that are a real pleasure to use. Perhaps the weakest point is the progression, which begins to lose pace in the second half of the game and ends up taking longer than necessary. Ryu arrives late to the party, when we are already used to playing with Yakumo, and goes through the same scenarios that we already played a few hours ago.

This, added to the tiredness of playing very long levels with generally dull segments on rails, means that the magic of playing two such skilled ninjas is lost a little. That said, it is still a great action game and a return to the heights of the franchise. There is a lot to improve, but I would like to see what else they have to offer Platinum Games and Team Ninja in a next installment.