The Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast is upon us. Yakumo steps into the battle arena, gripping in his hand the Takeminakata, one of the weapons that has carried him through countless deadly fights. This is the first block of hell incarnate, taking the form of Ninja Gaiden 4‘s first chapter, Bloodsoaked Tokyo. The difficulty, Master Ninja. It is a world where a single misstep in judgment can snuff out life with terrifying ease. 

With steady steps honed purely by experience, Yakumo slaughters the D.D.O. operatives, displaying the full might of a true Master Ninja. He deftly parries the fatal blades, strikes that could very well spell instant death if they landed. He is accompanied by the player, who has overcome countless trials alongside him. 

The path to reaching the point where Yakumo and the player now stand against the ultimate challenge of the Master Ninja difficulty was a long and arduous journey — neither of them possessed the complete prowess of a Master Ninja from the very beginning. Reaching this point required relentless effort along with tireless training, which is a journey that Ninja Gaiden 4 is designed in mind. No matter what skill level you begin with, this game will forge you, guiding you along a path of growth alongside Yakumo and Ryu, into someone who can truly stand atop the heights within the realm of the Master Ninja. 

A Challenge for Everyone 

From its origins in the classic Ninja Gaiden, this series has always centered on swift, ninja-like movement, dazzling swordplay and ninpo (the spiritual teachings of the ninja), and the thrill of cutting down enemies, all while offering a notoriously high-difficulty experience. Especially within the pure action game genre, the Ninja Gaiden series has long stood as a paragon of merciless challenge. For that very reason, when you think about picking up Ninja Gaiden 4, you may feel a moment of hesitation. 

But as if to answer such concerns, Ninja Gaiden 4, which marks the first new installment in 13 years, introduces an exceptionally fine-grained and thoughtfully designed difficulty and accessibility system. At the start, you can choose from three core difficulties: Hero, Normal, and Hard. Within these tiers lie further detailed settings, and with the ability to freely switch between difficulties at any time, you can always find the perfect balance of challenge while progressing through the story. 

Let’s consider an example: those who are not only new to the Ninja Gaiden series, but to action games altogether, how might their difficulty settings evolve as they play, ensuring a steady stream of satisfying challenge? 

Starting on Hero mode, you can enable Auto Evade, Auto Block, and Auto Assist features unique to this difficulty. These tools provide beginners with valuable lessons; cues of when to evade or block to seize the flow of combat, and how to string combos together for seamless offense. In my initial playthrough, Hero mode allowed for a moment of observation, where you could focus on what Yakumo’s optimal moves were – both when surrounded by enemies, as well as dealing with formidable enemies, all the while providing that visceral experience Ninja Gaiden games are known for. Yakumo would swiftly evade oncoming attacks, follow it up with a combo that lead to the enemies delimbing, and finish the encounter with a well-placed Obliteration Technique. 

Watching Yakumo spring to life through these assist functions, you will soon be able to build upon the foundation for manual dodging and guarding. Midway through the story, should you dare to disable Auto Evade or Auto Block, you may find yourself realizing how much your own instincts have grown within the gauntlet that is Story Mode. 

Once you can reliably conquer the Hero experience, you can set your sights higher by engaging in Normal mode. Freed from support features, Yakumo now responds wholly to your intent. Every smooth combo that lands and every crushing counterattack suffered now directly influences your experience. Training sessions with Tyran, who offers new techniques in exchange for Ninja Coins, expand Yakumo’s arsenal while you steadily develop the skill to wield him more fully in battle. 

And if stepping up to Normal mode proves harsher than expected, with setbacks piling up, there is no penalty. Thanks to the ability to move freely between difficulties, you can continue honing your skills in Hero mode until ready. Then, with renewed confidence, you can return to Normal mode and eventually seek out the even sharper edged challenge: Hard mode. 

By ensuring you’re always met with a difficulty level that bites just enough, Ninja Gaiden 4 delivers a consistently tense, nerve-shredding action experience through its comprehensive and adaptive approach to difficulty.

Building a Comfortable Experience 

In addition to features like Auto Assist, Auto Evade, and Auto Block, Ninja Gaiden 4 provides a wealth of accessibility options, each designed to help create the right kind of challenge for you. Series veterans, for instance, can disable Hit Lag (hit stop) or hide the Lock-on Marker that indicates targets you will attack, recreating the feel of earlier entries in the franchise.  

With Ninja Gaiden 4 aiming to be the fastest Ninja Gaiden experience to date, both in and out of combat, I occasionally felt during my playthrough that both finding the timing to heal, as well as platforming under pressure, may be too much for some. This is where features including Auto Heal, which gives Yakumo gradual healing after taking damage, or Auto Movement, which lets the game take care of the platforming segment, can make the experience smoother. And for those who wish to tone down the overall intensity of the presentation, the Reduced Gore setting softens blood effects and other violent graphic elements.  

Accessibility in Ninja Gaiden 4 is not only about filling in the gaps with small but valuable conveniences; it also helps you manage visual information more clearly. For example, by enabling the Highlight Game Elements setting, you can freely recolor a wide range of in-game objects, choosing from countless options to suit their preferences, including: High contrast backgrounds, Ally characters, Normal enemies, and more. 

Control settings are equally flexible. Alongside Left-handed Inverted Controls, there is also support for Single-hand Play. And for those who want complete freedom, the game also includes an option to fully customize the control layout from the ground up. 

Such comprehensive configurations allow the Ninja Gaiden 4 experience to support a variety of input hardware, opening the game up to even more players. 

Step into the Realm of the Master Ninja 

Clearing the Story Mode unlocks the path to the Master Ninja difficulty, the ultimate trial for those who sought to claim the most honored title of all. In the footage revealed during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast, Yakumo was shown cutting through a brutal world where even a single hit could mean death. Recognizing just how razor-thin the margins were in those scenes, like threading a needle with the finest of strands, is a vital part of the mindset required for any player daring to challenge the Master Ninja difficulty. 

On Master Ninja, enemies such as the Enhanced D.D.O Soldiers, once confined to the later chapters, now appear from the very start. Even stronger foes, the D.D.O. Officers and their higher-ranking counterparts, the Enhanced D.D.O. Officers, who wield an array of weapons including giant shuriken, are placed throughout the early stages. What’s more, enemy forces often attack in greater numbers at each checkpoint. 

With enhanced AI, these high-tier enemies move to surround Yakumo aggressively, striking from beyond your field of view and unleashing merciless strong attacks the moment you allow for even a slight opening. To be surrounded by them is to anticipate an instant and brutal death. And of course, rocket soldiers appearing in troublesome positions at each checkpoint will continue to remain a constant thorn in the player’s side. 

Entering the Master Ninja difficulty for the first time, I soon realized how the resolve needed to overcome this extreme adversity was not yet ready in my case. Many of the techniques that worked in Normal and Hard mode did not give me enough of a chance to survive through the waves of hyper-aggressive D.D.O. operatives, and they easily overpowered Yakumo with a few swift moves. While you must bring to bear every lesson forged in Hero, Normal, and Hard — even then you may find the need for further refinement. In such cases, the Training Mode is invaluable. Accessible from both the title screen and within Chapters, it provides an ideal environment to spar directly with chosen enemies, test out newly acquired combat and weapon skills and practice advanced combos. Here, parameters such as the Bloodbind Gauge and Berserk Gauge can be fixed at its maximum, allowing limitless experimentation without fear of running out of meter. At the press of a button, you can also review the full list of combos for their equipped weapon, including approximate rates of delimbing.  

Through systems like these, Ninja Gaiden 4 enables you to thoroughly analyze and master your weapons, ensuring you are fully equipped to endure the harsh journey that awaits in “Master Ninja” difficulty. 

Experience A Glimpse of Master Ninja in Purgatory 

Master Ninja difficulty, the ultimate challenge in Ninja Gaiden 4, is locked until you’ve cleared the Story Mode at least once. It represents the absolute pinnacle of difficulty. However, there is a way to sample a taste of that merciless challenge even before completing the story. 

Within each chapter of the Story Mode lies a hidden trial known as Purgatory, accessible through blazing torii gates tucked away off the main path. Inside, you will face relentless gauntlets of enemies attacking, wave after wave. Entry may come at a price, as sacrificing a portion of your character’s maximum health will wield you greater rewards upon victory. At its most extreme, aptly named “Realm of Hell”, where you offer up 75% of your maximum health, even attacks that once felt like minor chip damage now strike as lethal blows. 

Of course, the enemies here don’t necessarily wield the razor-sharp enemies of true Master Ninja difficulty. But as a glimpse of its brutality, Purgatory is more than enough to let you feel what is waiting for you.

Rising Towards Greater Heights 

As a newcomer to the Ninja Gaiden game series, which is widely accepted as one of the hardest pure action game series to date, the thought of not being able to make it through the game can be a legitimate fear, a barrier that would keep you from trying it out. That said, Ninja Gaiden 4 opens up the classical, hardcore Ninja Gaiden experience for those who wish to seek what it is all about — it accomplishes to provide the invaluable steps that you needed to warm up to the game through features such as Auto Evade, Auto Block, Auto Assist, Auto Heal, and many more. It then propels you further into the game by allowing you to carefully tailor your experience, letting you choose which features should continue to be active during your playthrough, as well as with difficulty levels that can be switched whenever required. Combined with extensive customization of visual information and control layouts, the game ensures that growth always feels achievable, seamless, and rewarding. With the addition of the Training Mode, players can refine their mastery of Yakumo and Ryu’s actions in a stable environment, sharpening their abilities in preparation for the challenges that await them. 

Finally, it should be noted that even within Master Ninja (and all preceding difficulties), there exists a setting for the game to create an experience that will ask you to perform at a higher level of skill expression: the Death Wish mode, where growth elements are reset, and difficulty can be escalated towards an even harsher extreme. While I was only able to complete a deathless Death Wish Master Ninja run for Chapter 1 after countless hours of acclimating, training, and strategizing within Training Mode, it was apparent that Chapter 2 had something completely different prepared for me. Its introductory battle, yet again, easily overpowered me – not to mention the struggle during the boss fight. This has lead me to believe that the deathless run may very well have just scratched the surface of a glorious but brutal journey, all of which Ninja Gaiden 4 can, and will train you to survive through, one way or another. As we approach the launch of Ninja Gaiden 4 on October 21, look forward to more details about its ease of entry, wide accessibility, and limitless heights. 

Ninja Gaiden 4 arrives on October 21 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Play Anywhere – also available on Steam and PlayStation 5. Play it day one with Game Pass. 

The Deluxe Edition includes future gameplay content “The Two Masters”, along with additional character skins, weapon skins, and in-game items. Pre-order either the Standard Edition or the Deluxe Edition to get the Dark Dragon Descendent Yakumo skin at launch. 

NINJA GAIDEN 4

Xbox Game Studios

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7

★★★★★

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Pre-order now to receive the Dark Dragon Descendant Yakumo Skin at launch

The definitive ninja hack & slash franchise returns with NINJA GAIDEN 4! Embark on a cutting-edge adventure where legacy meets innovation in this high-octane blend of style and no-holds-barred combat.

Return of the Legend
Experience a return to the intense, high-speed combat that established NINJA GAIDEN as a premier action game series. Prepare for a legacy reborn with captivating style for a new generation of players.

Epic Hack and Slash Combat, Evolved
NINJA GAIDEN 4 fuses Team NINJA’s tempered combat philosophy with the stylish, dynamic action gameplay of PlatinumGames. Engage in visually stunning combat that rewards precision and strategy. Use Bloodbind Ninjutsu to transform your weapons and unleash devastation upon your enemies, alongside legacy techniques like the Izuna Drop and Flying Swallow. The legendary Ryu Hayabusa also returns with a revamped yet familiar set of tools to master. With a customizable player experience, NINJA GAIDEN 4 will push action game veterans to their limits while allowing newcomers to enjoy a heart-pounding adventure full of twists and turns.

An Ancient Enemy Returns
An endless rain of miasma hangs over a near-future Tokyo in the wake of an ancient enemy’s resurrection. The fate of the city lies in the hands of young ninja prodigy, Yakumo. Fighting his way through cybernetic ninja soldiers and otherworldly creatures, Yakumo must reconcile a destiny he shares with the legendary Ryu Hayabusa himself and free Tokyo from the ancient curse that brought the city to its knees.