Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go…?!?

So…recently Ninja Gaiden 4 came out; when I first saw the trailer and discovered that Ryu was not the protagonist I was a bit worried for the series, so I just had to play it to see if my premonitions were on point or not. I played through the fourth installment, clocking out at about eight hours and here’s what I have to say: Ninja Gaiden 4 is still a serviceable hack and slash game although it feels a bit mid and certainly not up to the name of such a series. With this article I just want to share some of my points of view, without spoiling too much of the game itself.

Let me start of by stating the obvious: I assume that we all – collectively as fans of the franchise – wanted to see Ryu motherfreaking Hayabusa. So here is the big problem with the game itself, it suffers from what I would call the ‘Nero Syndrome’ – remember when we had to slog through the first half of Devil May Cry 4 as Nero, just to then play as the devilishly handsome Dante? Yeah, that happens with Ninja Gaiden 4 as well, and you get Ryu for about three or four chapters out of the nineteen total. Here’s the problem with that: Yakumo – the new protagonist – tries to be a bit edgy, a bit rough, a bit dressed in black leather armor with his nice oni mask, but he ain’t no Ryu. And that would be perfectly fine if it would be any other game (same with Nero).

If the intent of the developers was to appeal to a younger generation or to try to make another story within the same narrative universe, why not give the game a different title? Obvious answer is because the fandom that the game already acquired along the years makes it easier to make sales. Counterpoint to that is the fact that they are however not meeting the expectation of said fans. It’s not like Yakumo is bland – at least not totally – but Ryu’s shadow is always there lingering over him. The reason why Ryu could be an ultimate edgelord, be laconic, have the personality of a freaking wall, and still look cool while merely grunting was because of how he was created. As players we have witnessed first hand just how much of a badass he actually was, so we got used to him being a ninja that could do the impossible and say almost nothing at all. Although in the game they at least tried to give Yakumo a background (the different clans, the rivalry, the Dark Dragon God and so forth), I can never quite shake the feeling that he is just a cheap imitation.

You may argue that it is unfair to compare the newer installment with Ninja Gaiden 2, given that the second one, at this point, is recognized amongst the best in its particular genre. Well, to that I say too bad; I am very demanding when it comes to games and franchises that I have a soft spot for, so I will compare as much as I want.

So let’s talk a bit about weapons, since they tend to be a hallmark for the series. Except for his iconic sword, in Ninja Gaiden 2, Ryu had an arsenal of 7 main weapons, as well as another two special unlockable ones, four range armaments and four different ninpo techniques. As a side note, I remember pretty darn well Ryu’s weapons because they each had an achievement for completing the whole game using exclusively one at a time (and I got them all – to be fair I did so by getting through most of the game by using only ninpo/range and saving before the ending – but hey, an achievement’s an achievement). Now let’s take a look at Yakumo: he gets 4 main weapons, some shurikens and the special extra sword at the end – that’s it; and yes, you may argue that each of them has the special Bloodraven variation combo, which makes them look and feel different. My problem with this reasoning is that they are still skill sets of the same weapon, so I count them as one. For those who want to argue that the Kage-Hiruko actually combines melee and range and it depicts like five or six weapons, sorry, but DMC IV did that long ago (Pandora and the 666 transformation – well, more like 6, the description was misleading). But yeah, again I stress that this feels like a shortcoming.

Enemy variations also feels a bit limited, but this may just be me. I hope that they included the demons from the original one as a nod to the player and not because they were out of ideas. I also didn’t feel that there were many bosses; to be fair the game has a system that lets you pick up missions, explore a bit more and fight some side mini-bosses. I didn’t do that as much; at a certain point I just wanted to get it done with so I kinda speedran through the levels.

I will say that I did find some minor inconsistencies. An example that comes to mind is that some fatal blows are animated only with specific weapon types, even though you are using a different one in that moment. Oh, and hearing Ryu asking “what is this?” if front of a Muramasa Shop… dudes, come on, it’s the fourth installment of this franchise, it’s iconic, don’t try to fake Ryu not knowing who Muramasa is (ffs).

A couple of last notes before I go. Ninja Gaiden 4 suffers from the ‘grappling hook’ frenzy of the last four or five years (everyone gets to grapple – heck, even Master Chief got one). However, I can be on board with the hook, I can even get the ninja wingsuit – it’s cool – but I draw the line at the ninja surfboard (imagining a ninja with a Beach Boys soundtrack is just too much for me). By the way, since there is also a ‘water’ level where you control Ryu, and since the man can literally run on water, the level design team decided to leave the parts where you have to slide under obstacles. With a surfboard it makes sense, but having Ryu Jesus Hayabusa slide on water is just a tad ridiculous at this point  – might just be me though. Speaking of water levels, interdimensional disco shark was definitely not on my bingo card, but here we are. Also also, they did Ayane dirty – that new hairstyle – sorry, it just doesn’t suit her.

There would be some other nitpicky things to add, but at this point I have rambled long enough. I will end with reminding you that this was not meant to be a hate post; I still consider Ninja Gaiden 4 a serviceable hack & slash game, with some flaws here and there. If anything, writing this article reminded me of how good of a game Ninja Gaiden 2 was. I also don’t attribute the shortcomings of the fourth instalment to the devs themselves, but rather to the more recent market trends themselves and gaming studios becoming more and more corporate than actual people with a passion for making games.         

PS: yes, the title is a stupid reference to Vanilla Ice’s Ninja Rap.