Why We Need Ninja Gaiden 4

Ninja Gaiden hasn’t seen a full release since its third instalment, and that game definitely divided opinions. Personally, I loved Ninja Gaiden 3 (I did play Razor’s Edge) and I’ve been left wanting more of the ridiculous, bloody action the series has become known for. A new Ninja Gaiden probably won’t win any awards, nor will it sell particularly well, but there is a place in my heart for games like it. Devil’s Third was released fairly recently, and that goes someway to scratching the itch for an over-the-top, graphic action game, but it is not as good as Ninja Gaiden, which I think is the best in the genre.

However, the hack n’ slash action game is something of a ‘B-tier’ product. Typically, these are Japanese releases, with good production values, but not the highest. Take Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge for example, which is fairly well made, but it doesn’t have the looks or quite the feel of a AAA game despite being very, very fun. I like a game that is ludicrous, and Ninja Gaiden certainly is, with its ridiculous plots, characters and violence. The series does provide some quality ‘B-tier’ action, with slightly clunky dialogue and set-pieces set alongside gloriously gory limb-chopping combat.

I think there is a place for Ninja Gaiden 4, however. The overwhelming success of the Dark Souls series and Fire Emblem in recent years has opened up the door to the difficult games. Now, Ninja Gaiden is definitely a hard series, but it is not difficult in the same way as Dark Souls. Dark Souls is punishing, lumbering, with death at every corner. Ninja Gaiden meanwhile offers death by an overwhelming number of enemies. Team Ninja know that there is an appetite for the difficult video game, with their own ‘version’ of Dark Souls – Nioh – due for release later this year. Nioh’s slow, violent gameplay looks excellent and its art-style is rather beautiful, but it isn’t Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden is exciting, fast-paced and stupidly fun – Nioh doesn’t look like it will be any of these things, despite looking great in its own right.

The hack n’ slash genre is starting to show signs of life too, with Hyrule Warriors rejuvenating people’s interest. Again, the Warriors style game isn’t the same as Ninja Gaiden, in that it offers almost no difficulty, instead opting for screen-filling attacks that take out hundreds of enemies at once for its thrills. Ninja Gaiden is somewhere between a game like Dark Souls and Dynasty Warriors, and personally, I think it’s better than both. You get the difficulty of the Souls games, and the large number of enemies of the Warriors games.

There are plenty of other games out there like Ninja Gaiden, such as Bayonetta, but none of them have the same feel to them. Team Ninja know how to make great action games, and if they were smart they’d wait to make Ninja Gaiden 4 for the NX as well as the PS4 and Xbox One. Ninja Gaiden’s roots are in Nintendo, in the NES, but the 3D reboot of the series has its roots stuck firmly into the Xbox. These days, a game like Ninja Gaiden would likely be released on all consoles, to try and eek out as many sales as possible.

Ninja Gaiden is one of those series where fans across all consoles can get behind it and enjoy it. It has the dark brooding of so many Xbox games, the slick graphics of a Playstation game, and the great gameplay of a Nintendo game, rolled into one. It’s a shame that people fell out of love with the series after the third game, but a fourth game can right where that game went wrong in so many people’s eyes. Ninja Gaiden 4 needs to be difficult, but not infuriating. It needs to have a solid, but over-the-top plot and feature the same kick-ass limb-slicing gameplay of its predecessors. If you don’t want to play a game like that, well, you’re seriously missing out. I mean, who doesn’t want to dismember giant android dinosaurs in the same game as ripping apart a God?

I would love to see Ninja Gaiden’s over-the-top, violent antics back on our screens, and soon. Ryu Hayabusa, it’s been too long, and we’re all missing your overly dramatic plots that make little sense, your combat skills and most of all, your ability to slice people up into lots of very small parts.Team Ninja should do well from a new Ninja Gaiden, as long as it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel – bring back the ‘B-tier’ video game! Oh, just don’t bring back the shooting parts, they stink.

Toby Saunders is sometimes opinionated. You’ll find him posting garbage about games, films and his beloved Spurs and Bath City FC on Twitter.