Out of all the action games to release in 2025, perhaps no other title has as much riding on its shoulders as Ninja Gaiden 4. The first new 3D entry in the franchise in 13 years, and a follow-up to a successful return to the series' 2D roots with this year's Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Ninja Gaiden 4 also happens to be the first game in the franchise to feature a collaboration between series shepherds Team Ninja and legendary character action studio, PlatinumGames. Throw in the recent untimely passing of series creator Tomonobu Itagaki, and you have a perfect storm of expectations that set a high bar for Ninja Gaiden 4. And to its credit, it doesn't just clear it — it smashes it.
Remarkably, Ninja Gaiden 4 is as much a familiar experience as it is a fresh new take on the franchise's 3D lineage, mixing the mechanically deep and complex inputs and combat that fans of Team Ninja games will recognize with a level of style and flair that's undeniably the work of PlatinumGames. There's a new protagonist to control, with Raven Clan ninja Yakumo stepping into the spotlight and letting Ryu Hayabusa assume a supporting role. That pivot proves to be a smart play that lets PlatinumGames get incredibly creative with the game's combat sandbox, all while setting up a future for the franchise that feels all the more essential after rolling credits. Together with this year's surprise drop of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and the aforementioned Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Ninja Gaiden 4 is the final piece in the puzzle to signal that the Ninja Gaiden franchise is back and better than ever.
Ninja Gaiden 4 Is Most Definitely a PlatinumGames Title, and It's All the Better For It
Once Ninja Gaiden 4 begins in earnest and the opening credits start to roll, the game makes it a point to explicitly state that it's PlatinumGames, and not Team Ninja, that's at the helm this go around. And while that much has been known since the game's reveal, the extent of Team Ninja's involvement in the actual gameplay side of things seems to be ancillary compared to how much PlatinumGames DNA shines through in Ninja Gaiden 4's moment-to-moment gameplay. Ultimately, this is a PlatinumGames title through and through, which results in Ninja Gaiden 4 being the bloodiest, flashiest, most outrageously action-packed 3D entry in the franchise. If Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound was a callback to the series' 2D origins, Ninja Gaiden 4 steps in as a glimpse of where the series can and should go from here, and it honestly feels like there's no going back once you've experienced how satisfying it is at every conceivable level.
PlatinumGames has long been known to produce a very specific kind of action game, from its earliest hits like the Hideki Kamiya-helmed Bayonetta to more experimental projects like The Wonderful 101 and Astral Chain. There's an almost undeniable sense of style that goes hand-in-hand with a PlatinumGames title, and it's front and center in Ninja Gaiden 4. Combat is, of course, the star of the show and the reason why Ninja Gaiden 4 will keep players engaged throughout its roughly 10–12 hour runtime, and it's the main area where Platinum's DNA comes through the most. While Ninja Gaiden 4 still demands a lot from players and will actively punish you for not learning each weapon's moveset and responding to enemy attacks with button mashing, it's much more forgiving on Normal difficulty than any of the previous 3D Ninja Gaiden titles. That nod toward accessibility is undeniably a PlatinumGames trademark, and it makes Ninja Gaiden 4 the easiest game in the series to just jump into and immediately start having fun.
But fret not — those looking for a true challenge are sure to find it in Ninja Gaiden 4. Regular cannon-fodder enemies are mostly manageable on Normal difficulty, but it's the boss enemies of Ninja Gaiden 4 that represent the game's biggest difficulty spikes. A couple of these encounters begin to border on frustration (especially as repeated deaths destroy your end-of-chapter ranking), but the strategies necessary for victory eventually reveal themselves to where none of these fights ever feel unsatisfying or like a chore to get through. On the contrary, Ninja Gaiden 4 is the gaming equivalent of a roller coaster: it offers one non-stop thrill after another, and its short campaign goes by in a flash, to where you're all too ready to hop back on for another spin. And once you've mastered Normal mode, some of the best fun to be had with the game kicks in on Hard and Master Ninja difficulties — something I'm still making my way through and having a blast doing it, my first attempt at a Master Ninja run since Ninja Gaiden Black and a vindication for PlatinumGames' debut crack at one of the more legendary action franchises.
Ninja Gaiden 4 Sets Up Yakumo as a Worthy Successor to Ryu Hayabusa's Legacy
It's probably safe to say that most players don't play the Ninja Gaiden games for story. But while Ninja Gaiden 4's narrative isn't going to win any awards, it's serviceable and an interesting continuation of the series lore that picks up not too long after where Ninja Gaiden 3 left off. More importantly, though, it establishes Yakumo as the shoulders on which the next era of the Ninja Gaiden franchise could sit. It may seem sacrosanct to suggest that any other hero could carry the Ninja Gaiden franchise in the same way that Ryu Hayabusa has since 1988, but Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound's Kenji and Ninja Gaiden 4's Yakumo definitively prove that there's room for more than just one Master Ninja in the series.
The end of Ninja Gaiden 3 saw the Dark Dragon once again defeated, but the inability of a member of the Dragon Clan to truly vanquish the evil foe has resulted in its corpse being suspended over a futuristic Tokyo, generating a miasma of rain that summons fiends over into the natural world and puts the city on lockdown. But while Ryu Hayabusa and the Divine Dragon Order (a paramilitary organization dedicated to Sky City Tokyo's protection) are busy keeping the world safe from the proverbial enemy at the gates, a young Raven Clan ninja by the name of Yakumo sets out to fulfill his clan's prophecy by slaying the Dark Dragon once and for all. And in true Ninja Gaiden fashion, what seems like a simple "search and destroy" mission quickly gets a lot more complicated, especially as Yakumo and Ryu find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
That conflict is at the center of Ninja Gaiden 4's story, serving as a metaphor for the game in general. Ryu's efforts to prevent evil from seeping into our world have ultimately failed, and Yakumo's mission cements him as the new generation of ninja capable of finishing the job. There are plenty of twists and turns that fans of the series and action games will likely see coming a mile away, but the way that Ninja Gaiden 4's story wraps makes it feel like a passing of the torch from one generation of ninja warriors to the next — a fitting meta commentary on the game's place as what could very well be the first title in a new line of 3D Ninja Gaiden games.
Between Ragebound and Ninja Gaiden 4, 2025 is the 'Year of the Ninja'
In addition to its combat featuring PlatinumGames' undeniable flair, Ninja Gaiden 4 has plenty of other gameplay aspects that will feel familiar to fans of other character action titles. Like in previous 3D Ninja Gaiden games and other Platinum titles like Bayonetta, defeating enemies in Ninja Gaiden 4 earns players currency ("Karma") that can be used to unlock new combat techniques, purchase restorative items, or unlock new slots in which to equip accessories that buff Yakumo's abilities. This sort of "RPG-lite" progression is a hallmark of the character action genre that a new Ninja Gaiden game wouldn't feel complete without, so it's great to see it make a return in Ninja Gaiden 4 alongside some of the other, newer elements that the title introduces to the franchise. One of the most surprising elements of Ninja Gaiden 4's levels is the amount of platforming that players will find themselves doing, which is all incredibly smooth, responsive, and satisfying. The levels themselves may be a little linear, but that linearity is frequently broken up by wall-running, grapple hooking, and grinding on rails across the skyline of a futuristic Tokyo.
All that to say, Ninja Gaiden 4 feels like the complete package that fans of the series would hope to see from a new entry. Its combat may not please hardcore purists who feel that Ninja Gaiden Black and the original Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden 2 are the series' peak, but I'd argue that it places a greater emphasis on pure fun than either of those titles ever did.
Much like Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Ninja Gaiden 4 takes the best elements of the series that players remember — a tough-but-fair challenge, outrageous enemy designs, and refusal to shy away from bloody, gore-soaked combat — and updates them just enough without completely trying to reinvent the wheel. It proves that the Ninja Gaiden franchise is primed for a new golden era with fresh perspectives steering the ship, and it has positioned itself as one of PlatinumGames' best titles and quite possibly the best action game of 2025.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
- Released
- October 21, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Platinum Games, Team Ninja, Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- A stunning return to form for the Ninja Gaiden series' 3D entries that almost outclasses its predecessors
- Fluid and responsive combat sandbox that's an absolute blast to use
- Yakumo is an exciting new protagonist and a perfect torchbearer for future Ninja Gaiden games
- Visually impressive character models and environments that display PlatinumGames' telltale penchant for stylish flair
- Some boss battles present difficulty spikes that may prove frustrating
- Levels can occasionally run too long and contain too many narrow, linear paths