A Match Made in Hack-and-Slash Heaven?
Welcome back to another blog, the show where we give you some straight-up gameplay and our first impressions of the latest games releasing. Hi, folks, it’s Zaid, and Platinum Games, “Ninja Gaiden”: sounds like a match made in heaven. The masters of the hack-and-slash reviving one of the all-time greats of the genre. Sure, the legacy of the “Ninja Gaiden” series has been spotty and Platinum’s reputation isn’t as rock-solid as it once was, but the possibility of greatness exists, of course, in such a project.
What Makes a Ninja Gaiden Game?
The thing about “Ninja Gaiden 4” is that it’s actually pretty different in certain ways from Platinum’s usual fare. So the big question going in is, is this a proper “Ninja Gaiden” game or a Platinum game with a “Ninja Gaiden” suit? What makes these games different isn’t the absurd violence. Not just the absurd violence, anyway. It’s stuff like the controls, which are a little heavier, a little more deliberate. There’s a little bit more need for precision and careful positioning, the management of resources, and, of course, the grueling difficulty. That stuff defines “Ninja Gaiden”. If it’s not making you contemplate punching a hole through the wall, it’s not “Ninja Gaiden”. The challenge is what defines the series the most.
Otherwise, it’s pretty malleable, honestly. But Black and 2 are extremely different games, for instance. The first game focused on carefully crafted level design, small skirmishes, tough enemies. Sequel 3 in the big open environments had you take on hordes of aggressive cannon fodder and endless waves of extreme violence. In the third game, I guess it was closer to the second, but it doesn’t really matter.
Black vs. 2: Where Does 4 Fit?
So there’s a couple of different viewpoints and approaches you could take with this game. If what you want is “Ninja Gaiden Black”, 4 is definitely closer in spirit to the second game, with all its positives and negatives. I could probably end the review right there. It’s like the second game cut and print, there you go. Somebody who wants “Ninja Gaiden Black”, not gonna be their favorite game. Somebody who wants “Ninja Gaiden 2”, I think you’ll be satisfied. I’d venture to say I even think it might be more better.
My Perspective: Platinum First
And then there’s the approach that I’m taking. Well, I definitely have a fondness for “Ninja Gaiden Black” more than 2. That isn’t really what I’m here for. To me, the original “Ninja Gaiden” games, or the original 3D ones anyway, were kind of proto-Platinum Games. They’re extremely inconsistent in quality. There are ideas there that were ultimately developed later by Platinum, and although it’s a different developer, different thing, to me the games are more important as forerunners of what is ultimately a type of action game.
I’m honestly here for Platinum. I love a good Platinum game. I like it when they innovate and they add new things. But they’re one of those developers that has a type of game that I just like. And sometimes you don’t really need the wheel reinvented. Sometimes you just need more quality stuff. And that’s what this is. It’s another Platinum game. It’s very good. It’s not their best, I’m not gonna claim it’s their best, but I mean, keep these perspectives in mind as I’m talking.
I think that there are flaws in this game that I think people who are specifically in it for the “Ninja Gaiden” experience are probably going to be more affected by. And somebody who’s coming at this from a more Platinum-centric viewpoint is probably going to enjoy it more.
Combat and Budget: Platinum’s Signature
So that all in mind, the combat’s incredible. The Platinum-ness of it is, it’s there. It’s so there. And for some people, that might involve some of this stuff feeling maybe a little undercooked and maybe a little cheap. It’s clear that Xbox or Koei Tecmo did not allot this the biggest budget in the world, and that kind of might make some people feel it’s sort of a B-tier game. I don’t personally care a whole lot about that. Some of my favorite stuff in Platinum is, you know, relatively cheap. It’s very arcadey. Platinum is just an extremely video-gamey developer, and for whatever reason, I just require less artifice with them.
But that’s also, in my opinion, something that makes them a little bit more controversial, because not everybody is like that. For some people, this is a great, solid, straightforward Platinum game, and for some people, it’s gonna be something that they wish was something more. Personally, I am quite happy with it, because Platinum sans Kamiya making something that is just a straightforwardly good Platinum game, I’m happy. That’s great. I like that. But that doesn’t mean that you are going to completely agree with me on that. I am a Platinum fan bird, and I’m getting what I want here.
Yakumo vs. Ryu: Who’s the Star?
That being said, we do have to talk about a few things that a “Ninja Gaiden” fan isn’t gonna love. You spend most of the game playing as Raven Clan ninja Yakumo. Ryu’s in the game, and you do eventually play as him, but the new guy is the star attraction. Not a “Devil May Cry 5” situation where the game is evenly split up between the characters. You’re gonna play as the new guy for 80% of the game, and then a final stretch, you get a few levels with Ryu. That’s it.
I don’t mind it. Again, like, you get the perspective I am coming from at this point. I’m more here for the Platinum of it all than the “Ninja Gaiden” of it all. That doesn’t mean I don’t love “Ninja Gaiden” and understand why this would turn some people off, but I’m not turned off. I’ll say the trailers are a bit of a bait and switch, ’cause it is not a split protagonist game. Yakumo is “Ninja Gaiden 4”; Ryu is more of a bonus.
Story? Barely There
It is super satisfying to play as him. You get to don the shiny black spandex and “Ninja Gaiden” it up. Absolutely. There’s a story here too, but it really doesn’t matter a lot. There’s probably less story in this game than any of the other “Ninja Gaiden” games, and that’s saying a lot. Again, you play as Yakumo. He’s an edgy ninja with frosted tips on a mission to destroy the Black Dragon that devastated Tokyo. You gotta free the Dragon Priestess and purify four shrines before finally taking on the dragon itself. It’s all formulaic and straightforward. There’s very little to chew on, and that’s fine, ’cause the focus is the action.
In some ways, I could see missing the unnecessarily convoluted plot of something like Black. Not gonna lie, doesn’t really matter that much. This isn’t “Ninja Gaiden Black”, so don’t go in thinking it is. If you do, and that’s what you want, again, I think you’re gonna be disappointed in certain ways about this game. But if you can come at it like its own thing, or like it’s a Platinum thing, I think you’re gonna like that.
Level Design: Murky and Repetitive
In practice, you’re going through four major zones. You’re beating four main bosses, with the occasional sub-boss along the way. In terms of level design, stages are a bit bland. They’re of the open variety. Not a lot to actually look at here. Every area is kind of dark, kind of murky. You’re mostly running through linear corridors without a lot of variety to keep that stuff fresh. Level design, it’s probably the weakest aspect of the game. And also, it’s just gonna remind you of “Ninja Gaiden 2”. At times, you’re almost going to even feel like it’s a little indie-like. It reuses a limited palette of environmental details to build the levels.
This is kind of where I say it reminds me a little bit of an arcade endeavor. This is not the first time you’ve seen Platinum do something like this. It’s also not the first “Ninja Gaiden” like this, so, hmm. These dance club assets inexplicably sprinkled around the sewer, though, that, you’ll find that weird. Whether weirdly charming or weirdly not charming, heh, I guess that’s up to you. That’s a matter of taste.
Combat: The True Highlight
But let me bring you to the focus of the game: combat. They get combat 100% right. The combat is where this game shines. It’s exhilarating, and once you start getting the hang of it, you just, you’ll feel satisfied. Everything you could do in a previous “Ninja Gaiden” game, it’s all available here. Izuna Drops, obliterations, Ultimate Techniques, they’re all accounted for, along with some new stuff like the Blood Bind Ninjitsu, which allows you to power up your weapons while spending a meter called the Blood Bind Gauge. These are powered-up attacks that allow you to break through enemy guards, interrupt their attacks. Mastering it, absolutely necessary for beating some of the bosses in this game, because they can be brutal.
You might think that it being a Platinum joint means it might be a little easier. It’s not. Some of the bosses, some of the enemy encounters are brutally difficult. It is not Souls-like hard. You’re never gonna get completely stuck on something. But these fights, some of them are gonna require multiple restarts, and part of that is that there is a lot to learn here. The combat system is in-depth, it’s complex.
Each weapon has its own strengths, its own weaknesses. Learning how to best utilize the many abilities you have, it can be overwhelming, but I would argue in a good way. The weapons, all extremely satisfying to use. They’re spaced out so that you get just enough time with each of ’em before the game gives you something new, which is a great piece of pacing that a lot of games seem to not be able to grasp. Each major area has an entirely new set of enemies every time.
The demons, not quite as much fun to fight as the DDO guys, but they have a steady flow of new enemies to keep things from getting boring, even though the stages might not be throwing you a bone in terms of new stuff as much as maybe you would expect them to be. Like, there’s only so long you could spend in a windy forest before you start going, “Hmm, maybe something other than a windy forest would be good at this point.”
Ryu’s Return: Late but Worth It
It also, it takes a while to get to play as Ryu. You get to play at around hour eight or nine of an 11-12-hour game. But he is fun. Yakumo is fast like a Platinum protagonist, and Ryu still has some of the same old deliberate movement he had in the older games. Playing as him again is like putting on an old glove. It feels right. Like, I don’t feel like they made him particularly different despite the fact this is a fairly different game. It’s a Platinum game. I don’t mind that they slowed him down, because again, it’s more established that that’s how he moves. It feels good. I like it. They’re some of my favorite parts in the game, even if some of it is retreading some ground.
It is, I mean, not as bad as “Devil May Cry 4”. The second half of “Devil May Cry 4” is like repeating the first half, and each Ryu stage cuts down multiple part levels into a quick little replay where you get the highlights, refight the boss with his incredibly powerful arsenal of magic spells, and then you move on. Kind of disappointing, he’s only got one unique boss, but getting to play as him is a lot of fun, and they even bring back the classic NES “Ninja Gaiden” theme back for a level, which I didn’t think that they’d bring back, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Depending on what you like with games, you might say that this is a little, it’s maybe a little cheap, or it’s maybe a little video gamey, ’cause replaying these parts, it feels like padding, but not like bad padding. They bring back some classic enemies for his segments, but it could have been more. You can play through the entire campaign as Ryu after beating the game, which is a solid reward.
Bosses: Tough, Tactical, and Sometimes Souls-Like
The bosses in general, pretty tough, and depending on your taste, they may stray a little too far into “Dark Souls” territory with how you fight ’em. They’re well-designed, though. They may or may not mesh with what you expect for this type of a game, but they’re well-designed. There’s less spectacle and more mechanical depth, which is probably better for hardcore players, but sometimes you’re gonna want the big dumb spectacle, and it’s maybe not to the level you expect it or want it. I don’t know. Maybe you know.
There’s a risk/reward system for these things. You can get higher rewards if you enter the gate with lower max health. It’s a cool idea, but I’m fine with the base level. There’s certain people that are really going to think the game is most rewarding after finishing the main campaign. So you get all the challenge modes opening up, you can really dig down on the combat.
Main story is pretty short. Like I said, you’re gonna finish it in probably 11-12 hours, but there’s a lot more that gets unlocked after beating it. So they do give you something to do after the credits roll.
Final Thoughts: A Platinum Fan’s Take
I really enjoy “Ninja Gaiden 4”. I don’t know if it’s gonna wow anybody, but again, that’s a matter of perspective. Depending on where you’re coming from, you might just want a really video gamey ass game, and that’s, I feel like it’d be hard to argue that’s what this is. It’s that. It’s kind of a more subdued, maybe less bombastic Platinum game, which that might be a positive for a lot of people. But for some people, it might be a little too stripped down.
I think there are going to be people that say this might be the best combat in a Platinum game. I don’t think that’s gonna be a particularly controversial statement. Like, it’s really, really, really, really good. But I think that there are differing expectations as to what other people might want from a “Ninja Gaiden” game. I don’t necessarily expect a great narrative, but there are gonna be people who think that the plot is just way too non-existent.
So again, I think that we’ve done a good job representing a couple of different sets of expectations for this. Before you buy, if you’re like me, if what you want is another Platinum game perhaps, the one with the most satisfying combat of any Platinum game other than “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance”, which I don’t know if you’re ever gonna be able to beat that, I will honestly say this really would’ve been a place where they could have implemented the slicing. Like, where else are you going to get a perfect reason to have the slicing than “Ninja Gaiden”, the famously bloody forerunner to the Platinum-type game?
If there’s one major criticism I personally have, why isn’t the slicing from “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance” here? But again, that’s just gonna be something that I’ll probably say with any Platinum game that has a sword in it ever. And there’s swords in this. Now, bearing in mind I don’t expect them to have the sword mechanic, this is probably some of the tightest combat they’ve ever done, period. It’s that simple.
This is a really satisfying Platinum game. For me, it’s an easy recommend for somebody wanting something closer to “Ninja Gaiden Black”. Maybe a little harder. I’m not gonna say you’re not gonna like it. I think, try it, see if you like it. There, unfortunately, isn’t a demo, so that probably means wait for it to be on sale. But for me, I’m there. I like it.
What about you, though? Leave us a comment. Let us know. And as always, thank you very much for reading this blog. I’m Zaid, and we’ll see you next time right here on “Aura Riot”.
