Ninjas and samurai have always been a staple of video games, but even with their perennial popularity, 2025 has been an exceptionally good year for titles about deadly Japanese warriors. A bunch of ninja- and samurai-themed games hit PlayStation 5 this year, offering a huge variety of takes on the idea of becoming a sneaky, sword-wielding fighter in dark clothes.
From fast-paced combo-ridden action games, to slower and stealthier assassin-themed takes, no matter how you like your ninjas, 2025 has had something for you.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Sure, the Assassin’s Creed series is about two ancient orders of ridiculously influential warriors battling one another throughout history, and also there are godlike aliens. But what the games sometimes lack in narrative realism, they make up for in nailing historical settings. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ depiction of feudal Japan is unmatched, and the series’ focus on stealthy takedowns is right in line with the ninja sensibilities of its protagonist, Naoe — after all, “assassin” is right there in the name. But if you’re looking for some variety, good news: Assassin’s Creed Shadows has two protagonists, so you can get the ninja experience and a taste of the samurai life throughout the course of its lengthy story.
Publisher: Ubisoft | Developer: Ubisoft Quebec | PS5
Ghost of Yōtei
Like Ghost of Tsushima before it, Ghost of Yōtei sports a “Kurosawa mode,” named after the famed Japanese filmmaker, and that’s a pretty good indication of the cinematic experiences that await you. Yōtei is a lot like playing through a samurai film, but with a whole lot of shinobi elements thrown in along the way. Its protagonist, Atsu, isn’t a ninja or a samurai, per se — she’s a mercenary, and she uses every advantage she can to win battles on her quest for revenge. What Ghost of Yōtei channels from the ninja experience is the idea of stealth and silent takedowns. For example, Atsu’s upgraded kusarigama can snare enemies from a distance. She can also unleash kunai for chained assassinations and disappear with smoke bombs. Each enemy encounter demands clever improvisation to match the threat, and that’s Atsu all over.
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment | Developer: Sucker Punch Productions | PS5
Ninja Gaiden 4
Team Ninja’s and PlatinumGames’ titles are often all about speed — overwhelming your foes through ridiculously fast reactions and unrelenting combos. With Ninja Gaiden 4, it’s all slashing, dodging, and obliterating enemies. While there are a lot of classically ninja-esque elements at play, as you might expect from all the uses of the word “ninja” in this paragraph already, what Ninja Gaiden 4 really grabs onto is an over-the-top mobility and agility in its ninja experience. You’re incredibly fast as you run along walls, grapple over gaps, and dodge past enemies, and once you start laying into opponents, you’re able to combo them so fast they can’t even react. If you’ve got a need for ninja speed, this is the game for you.
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation | Developer: Team Ninja, PlatinumGames | PS5
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Side-scroller Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound channels the early entries in the Ninja Gaiden series, mixing modern game design ideas with an old-school charm. You fight through hordes of enemies, including a whole lot of demons, with weapons that kill most enemies in a single hit. The ninja fantasy isn’t so much in the blades, speed, or abilities — although those elements are all there — as it is in mastering the battlefield. You’ll need to size up your foes, and the order in which you need to defeat them, so you can make the most of power-ups to take down tougher foes, or avoid potentially devastating attacks.
Publisher: Dotemu | Developer: The Game Kitchen| PS5, PS4
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, as the name suggests, falls on the samurai side of the spectrum, but it shares a lot with 2025’s crop of ninja games, like powerful fighting abilities and a focus on battling demonic enemies. Capcom’s remaster of this 2002 classic sends you on a quest of revenge against an army of fiends, encouraging you to engage in smart swordplay as you balance slashing, blocking, and nailing powerful Issen counters. Onimusha 2 also gives the samurai experience a slightly different spin, drawing on elements of Capcom’s contemporary games of the time, like the Resident Evil series, to channel a bit of a survival-horror vibe.
Publisher: Capcom | Developer: Capcom Production Studio 2 | PS5, PS4
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Similar to Ragebound, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance also reinvigorates a famed ninja series by reaching back into its 2D side-scrolling past. Shinobi plays up the ludicrous power and skill of its ninja, Joe Musashi, with an emphasis on weakening enemies so that you can perform a blazing fast assassination on several of them at once. Strategically whittling down the life of every enemy on the screen without outright defeating them, just so you can watch Musashi zip around at lightning speed to finish them off, is always satisfying. With a katana, kunai, and powerful, magical Ninpo and Ninjutsu abilities, you have all sorts of ninja-themed options at your disposal to take on anything the game throws at you.
Publisher: Sega | Developer: LizardCube | PS5, PS4
Honorable Mention: Ninja Five-O
Another side-scrolling ninja title returning from the past, Ninja Five-0 was previously a super hard-to-find game that was only available for portable systems way back in the early 2000s. But with Ninja Five-0 making its way to the PS5 this year, you’re finally free to answer the age-old question: What would happen if a cop was also a ninja? You’ve asked that question, right? Ninja Five-O gives you a pretty in-depth answer as you use ninja skills and abilities to save hostages and take down bank robbers and other criminals. Firearms are no match for your speed, skills, or the arsenal of classic weapons at your disposal, including a katana, a grappling hook, and shuriken.
Publisher: Konami | Developer: Hudson Soft | PS5, PS4
While 2025 might be drawing to a close, don’t worry — it seems we won’t be short on ninjas and samurai on PS5 in the New Year, either. Sucker Punch is gearing up to deliver cooperative multiplayer action with the release of Ghost of Yōtei Legends next year.* Ghost of Yōtei Legends will be free DLC for all Ghost of Yōtei owners.* Nioh 3 is already preparing to strike on February 6, and brings a whole set of ninja skills and abilities to complement its deep samurai gameplay. Ninja Gaiden 4 is arming itself with a major expansion in early 2026 that adds new story content and weapons for its ninja protagonists. And Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the first new mainline entry in Capcom’s series in two decades, will launch a sneak attack sometime next year.
*Available via patch update. Internet connection and account for PlayStation Network required. PlayStation Plus subscription (sold separately) required for online play or multiplayer. PS Plus is subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Terms apply: play.st/psplus-usageterms .
