While the October 21 release date for Ninja Gaiden 4 is still a while away, we now have a full hour of gameplay from the upcoming action title courtesy of bilibili (via GamersPrey). It doesn’t include any commentary and instead focuses purely on the gameplay over its 1 hour and 11 minutes-long runtime.
While things start simply enough with new protagonist Yakumo running across a long bridge, things quickly start going off the rails with the bridge collapsing, forcing Yakumo to find a new route to his objective. To do so, he grinds along a rail he manages to grapple onto while falling. This rail grinding section also features a bit of gameplay, with the player having to dodge obstacles while grinding. These obstacles range from simple barriers to jump over, to full-on trains coming along the same rail, forcing Yakumo to grapple off.
Shortly after this, we get a look at some of Ninja Gaiden 4’s brutal, hard-hitting and bloody combat. The gameplay appears to be quite clearly inspired by the Ninja Gaiden games of the past, as well as other action games, as Yakumo dodges and slices his way through a pair of enemies. The video also gives us a look at what the optional objective system will look like; players can complete objectives like beating a certain number of D.D.O. Soldiers or Burabura Lantern Daemons in exchange for rewards like Crimson Blood Pellets and NinjaCoins.
Throughout the gameplay showcase in the video, the words of director Yuji Nakao from back in June feel more and more true. In an interview a couple of months ago, Nakao had spoken about how he missed what he dubbed the “golden era” of action games from the mid-2000s. He brought up games like the classic Ninja Gaiden Black, as well as Capcom’s Devil May Cry games as examples of this, in contrast with the current action game landscape that has been largely dominated by titles inspired by Souls-likes.
“Speaking from a somewhat personal perspective, I grew up during the golden age of 3D slash-action games,” said Nakao. “For people of my generation, it feels like the types of games we grew up playing have become a lot less common in recent years. Instead, we’ve seen the rise of Souls-like games, which have certainly become very popular.”
“Of course, I’ve played and enjoyed many Souls-like games myself. But at the same time, I also think there’s some truth to the belief that ‘classic 3D slash-actions’ have been harder to find lately. Maybe it’s just my own wishful thinking, but I can’t help but feel that a lot of action game fans are starting to crave that experience again. Isn’t it about time we all dove back in?”
As we get closer to the release date for Ninja Gaiden 4, Team Ninja director Masakazu Hirayama has revealed that there are plans for post-launch DLC aside from just the extra weapons part of the game’s Deluxe Edition. More details about the post-launch DLC will be revealed later, however.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
