## 2025-11-02 **Ninja Gaiden 4** is a [[Spectacle Fighter]] in its purest form. It is everything **Ninja Gaiden 3** should have been. I had a great time with it! I wouldn’t spend $70 on it though — it’s one of those games that make you miss Blockbuster.[^1] More important than that, it’s a solid indicator, I think, that [[Platinum Games]] still has it. This game captures everything great about **Ninja Gaiden** as a series, and doesn’t really shy away from any of it: the intentional tempo of its combat, the hyper-aggressive enemies that could all easily kill you in seconds, even the nigh non-existent story. Don’t worry, Ryu Hayabusa isn’t contemplating the ethical implications of all the killing he does in this game. By the way, I’ve seen people say Yakumo isn’t as interesting of a character, but Hayabusa isn’t either, to be clear. He just has the benefit of existing forever enough to be a core memory for most people. Honestly, Yakumo’s design flourishes with things like his scarf turning into a raven wing — his clan namesake — when he switches stances make him stand out a lot more. The combat in this game is perfection. It’s not the same pace as the usual **PG** fair, to be sure. Your attacks are commitments that you can’t cancel into witch-time dodging on any frame. But when you’re really in the zone, parrying, closing distance, breaking the enemy’s guard, honestly very few things feel better. You can tell it’s a true *spectacle* by the way some of my friends were literally gasping and getting hyped up just by watching me lock the fuck in. I had a blast with the game! Though I did switch down to Hero mode after a few missions just because I wanted to get through it so I could dive back into the deluge of good shit that’s come out these past few weeks. Plus these old bones aren’t SSS-tier like they used to be. But if you’re looking for a game to really master and feel like a God playing, even at high difficulties, you can’t do much better than **Ninja Gaiden 4**. Also shout out to that Club Banger.  [^1]: [Gamefly](https://www.gamefly.com/) *is* still a thing, though!