“The flame of my life is about to go out,” reads the message. “The fact that this message has been posted means that my time has finally come. I am no longer in this world. (I have entrusted someone important to me with this final message).”

“My life was a continuous battle which I kept winning. I caused a lot of trouble for others too. I take pride in having fought to the end, and having followed my convictions. I have no regrets, but I am deeply sorry that I could not deliver new works to my fans. I’m sorry. So it goes.”

Itagaki had worked with Koei Tecmo on a wide range of projects, from its classic Ninja Gaiden series to the Dead or Alive fighting games, as well as a host of different spin-offs. He had left the company a few years ago, announcing the founding of his own company, Valhalla Game Studios, which was also eventually dissolved before he founded Itagaki Games back in 2021. His focus with his own companies was to work on new IPs for PC and consoles.

He had originally joined Tecmo back in 1992 as a graphics programmer where he originally worked on Tecmo Super Bowl. The development of the first Dead or Alive game, which at the time was developed for the same arcade hardware as Virtua Fighter, is noted as being the first major breakthrough in his career.

In 2001, Itagaki had taken up the role of the leader of Team Ninja, and 2004 saw him becoming an executive officer of the company. Along with having worked on all mainline Dead or Alive games up to the release of Dead or Alive 4, Itagaki also worked on projects like Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Super Swing Golf, and horror title Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly.

He also had a hand in the creation of Ninja Gaiden, which came about from his desire to develop a title that featured violent gameplay. This resulted in the release of Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. He also worked further on the title to then release it as Ninja Gaiden Black, before eventually also making Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on the Nintendo DS. He left Tecmo just before the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 in 2008, suing the company for withholding his bonus payments.

Itagaki is survived by his wife and daughter, the latter of whom he has credited as being a major inspiration behind the development of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. While he has worked on several titles throughout his life, the most recent game released with his name in the credits is Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time from 2020, where he served as the Supreme Advisor. Before this, Itagaki had also worked on 2015’s Devil’s Third as the director.

Halo 2 

The original Halo was a driving force in creating a substantial market share against Sony and Nintendo, and expectations for the sequel were naturally high. Halo 2 delivered upon those expectations in spades, combining an adrenaline-pumping story with a comprehensive suite of multiplayer options making for an experience that keeps you hooked and doesn’t let go. Hundreds of thousands of fans would have fond memories of duking it out against friends, and Halo 2 might just be the defining Xbox experience for a majority of those fans.

In the latest issue of Famitsu (translation by Hansuke21 on Twitter), studio president Fumihiko Yasuda spoke about the development of Rise of the Ronin, which he’s also producing and directing. He revealed that development is occurring right next to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s updates and DLC, with a release still on the cards for next year.

Interestingly, Yasuda also expressed interest in releasing a new game in 2025 and hopes to reveal more “when we can.” “The development team’s growth will be slow if we keep repeating the process of releasing one game over several years. We have a plan to release a game every year.” Yasuda also reiterated that there aren’t any plans to reboot Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is out on March 3rd for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. It also launches on day one for Game Pass with a free demo currently available on all platforms.

Rise of the Ronin and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Fumihiko Yasuda: The development for it is right next to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Updates and DLC production. We also planned to release the Rise of the Ronin in 2024.

— ハオ(ハンスケ) (@Hansuke21) March 1, 2023

Fumihiko Yasuda: "We want to release a new game in 2025. We hope to tell you about it when we can.

The development team's growth will be slow if we keep repeating the process of releasing one game over a number of years. We have a plan to release a game every year.

— ハオ(ハンスケ) (@Hansuke21) March 1, 2023

Remarks about reboot of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series:

Fumihiko Yasuda: The statement that plans are underway to reboot NINJA GAIDEN and DOA was misinformation (lol). 1/2

— ハオ(ハンスケ) (@Hansuke21) March 1, 2023

Fumihiko Yasuda: I only said that I cherish both of these series.

I can't really say any specifics about them at this time, but when the time comes, I would like to be the first person to talk about it.

— ハオ(ハンスケ) (@Hansuke21) March 1, 2023

“It goes without saying that when speaking about the development of our past and future projects, both of these important titles cannot be left without mention. However, there are no details or information to share on either of these franchises at this present time,” said Lee.

“Like many of our dedicated fans, we share the enthusiasm for the return of these beloved titles. And we will be sure to provide a proper update if and when that day arrives.”

Lee’s statement is interesting, considering Nick Baker of XboxEra was told that PlatinumGames is developing the Ninja Gaiden reboot. Team Ninja didn’t address the same, so time will tell if it’s true.

The last mainline title in the Dead or Alive series was Dead or Alive 6, which was released in 2019 and ran on a new engine. Ninja Gaiden’s last major title was Ninja Gaiden 3 in 2012, followed by an updated version, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, later that year. There’s also Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection which was released in June 2021 and included Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2 and Razor’s Edge in one package for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Check out our review here for more details.

Some, however, have wondered how the studio is handling development with so much already on its plate, including 2023’s Wo Long: Fallen Dynast and 2024’s Rise of the Ronin. As it turns out, that might be because the Japanese developer is outsourcing some of its projects to external studios.

That’s as per XboxEra co-founder Nick Baker, who recently took to Twitter following Team Ninja’s aforementioned announcement of the two reboots and claimed that the Ninja Gaiden title is being developed by PlatinumGames, the studio best known for the likes of Bayonetta, Vanquish, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, NieR: Automata, and more.

PlatinumGames has a long history with character action games, of course, so it might be a particularly well suited studio for a new Ninja Gaiden game. Interestingly, Team Ninja said earlier this year in an interview with VGC that it would be open to outsourcing a new Ninja Gaiden title to a third party studio.

Of course, this is far from officially confirmed right now, but hopefully Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo will have more to share in the near future. Stay tuned until then for more updates.

ok bugger it, been told the studio signed on to make Ninja Gaiden is Platinum

— Balatro Nick  (@Shpeshal_Nick) November 20, 2022

But of course, the two big franchises that many would argue the developer built its reputation around are Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, and both – especially the former – have been in heavy demand where series revivals are concerned, not least because it’s been so long since either franchise saw a new mainline release.

It seems, however, that reboots for both franchises are in the works. As reported by Ruliweb, at a recent panel at the G-Star conference held in Busan, South Korea, Team Ninja’s president Fumihiko Yasuda reportedly confirmed that Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive reboots are in the works, with the developer hoping to reveal new information soon.

Additionally, a slide shown at the end of the presentation also showcased screenshots from both franchises, with the slide’s headline reading, “the future of Team Ninja- reboot of popular series”. You can view the slide below.

Given how big Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive and how important the two series remain to Team Ninja, it doesn’t come as a shock that the developer has plans for both, though the fact that they’re being rebooted might catch some by surprise.

Team Ninja has, of course, acknowledged in the past that fans are hopeful of a Ninja Gaiden revival, and has stated on a number of occasions that it would like to develop a new game in the series.

DEUS EX

The Embracer Group will soon finalize the acquisition of the vast majority of Square Enix’s North American business, which will include the Deus Ex IP and the studio responsible for it as well. And while that acquisition is, of course, going to lead to a new Deus Ex game down the line, the Embracer Group has made it clear that it might develop remakes in its newly acquired franchises as well. And a remake of the original Deus Ex would, honestly, be perfect at this point in time. The game was absolutely legendary when it came out and remains an all-time classic to this day, but like any game from that period, it hasn’t aged particularly well. Remaking it from scratch with modern-day visuals, a large world to explore, and gameplay mechanics that are more in line with Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, would be an exciting prospect.

Ori and the Blind Forest

Moon Studios’ acclaimed game had its share of aggravating platforming, accentuated by its checkpoint system. While you had normal save spots, energy could be spent on creating checkpoints anywhere. During difficult sections, you may forget to make a checkpoint or not have enough energy to create one. Thankfully, the sequel forgoes this for a more traditional auto-save and checkpoint system.

ZUBAT (POKEMON)

If you’ve spent even a couple of minutes in a cave in a Pokemon game – especially one of the earlier ones – you’ve cursed out at the sight of a Zubat. These pesky Pokemon appear with far too much regularity, forcing players to exit out of battles what feels like one every few seconds. If you don’t have some Repels handy, you’re in for a true test of patience.

Check out the previous part here.

Shadow Warrior 3

The one where Wang gets a grappling hook. Shadow Warrior 3 does away with its predecessor’s wide array of melee weapons and focuses on one single constant – the Dragontail katana. Being able to quickly whip it out and slice an opponent feels more intuitive, and each slash feels more responsive. Upgrades also allow for directional inputs to call down lightning, shoot fire or unleash a wave of water which is also nice.