January 23’s Xbox Developer Direct 2025 brought a lot of news for a few games, but no franchise benefited more thanNinja Gaiden. An Unreal Engine 5 remake,Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, was shadow-dropped, andNinja Gaiden 4was announced for Fall 2025 with Platinum Games as a co-developer. The announcements were exciting enough to reach outside the agingNinja Gaidencommunity, which should consequently have ample new blood by the end of the year.Ninja Gaiden 4has been a long time coming, and it’s great to see it finally move the series forward.
Dating back to the NES era,Ninja Gaidenhas been Koei Tecmo’s star action franchise for much of its existence, with Team Ninja ensuring it had the smoothest transition to 3D possible in 2004. Things were going great until Team Ninja’s head director Tomonobu Itagaki left afterNinja Gaiden 2in 2008, albeit necessarily due to legal troubles. 2012’sNinja Gaiden 3and 2014’sYaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z’s failuresultimately relegated series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa to crossover duty untilNinja Gaiden: Master Collectionsuddenly dropped in 2021. Fortunately, the legendary ninja is finally back in peak form, but he will need to get used to sharingNG4with a fresh face.
Two Equal Player Characters Are New For Ninja Gaiden
Like how the2025 spin-offNinja Gaiden: Rageboundhas players controlling Kenji Mozu to cover for Ryu while the Master Ninja is busy,Ninja Gaiden 4seems primarily concerned with the newcomer Yakumo. Ryu Hayabusa is still playable and integral to the plot, with the story concerning the Dark Dragon that gave Ryu’s sword and the DSNinja Gaidenspin-off their names, but a lot of emphasis has been put on Yakumo in early marketing. Ayame, Kasumi, Rachel, and Momiji have all been playable in 3DNinja Gaidenbefore, but this is the first time a co-protagonist has had equal or greater importance to Ryu.
Gameplay Is Still Key To Ninja Gaiden 4’s Characterization
So far,Ninja Gaiden 4looks like it’s making the right calls with Yakumo and Ryu, giving both separate movesets with key overlaps likeNinja Gaiden’s iconic Izuna Drop and Flying Swallow techniques. Ryu Hayabusa represents the series’ classic gameplay to the point of his level environments looking morelikeNinja Gaiden Blackand2’s backgroundsthanNG4’s usual cyberpunk cityscape, while Yakumo uses experimental new techniques like the crowd-clearing Nue Style and a grappling hook. Everything’s as clean-cut asNinja Gaiden’s gory action allows, but issues with these two lead ninjas may have yet to reveal themselves.
Keeping Ninja Gaiden 4’s Leads Balanced Will Take Ninja-Like Precision
Having two protagonists is tricky at the best of times, andNinja Gaiden 4has the tough task of introducing Yakumo while paying tribute to the iconicNGhero Ryu Hayabusa.Ninja Gaidenalready has a history with flimsy writing and typically allows gameplay mannerisms to convey Hayabusa’s character; needing to establish Yakumo while Ryu swings in and out of the plot is almost guaranteed to be an uphill battle. On the other hand, Yakumo also can’t steal the show from Ryu, whose return isa big part ofNinja Gaiden 4’s appeal.
How Yakumo and Ryu will be handled won’t be evident until the launch of the game, but they would be served well by emulating another stylish action franchise’s fourth entry.Devil May Cry 4also had to manage newcomer Neroalongside returning protagonist Dante, and it demonstrated that giving two player characters comparable screentime, with more for the newcomer, can work.DMC5’s upped the count to three leads, but found a balance by featuring Dante in pivotal moments while Nero and V got more combined screentime.Ninja Gaiden 4will have to find its own way through this issue, but it will need to confront it if it’s going to do both Yakumo and Ryu justice.
