‘Ninja Gaiden 4’ Director Says Game Will Keep “The Challenge And The Difficulty” Series Is Known For, But Also Feature “Modes And Options For New Players”
In ostensibly seeking to put a major fan worry to bed, Ninja Gaiden 4 director and PlatinumGames veteran Yuji Nakao has promised that while the game will feature a number of gameplay modifiers to allow for inexperienced players to live out their ninja fantasies, their inclusion will not come at the expense of “the challenge and the difficulty” that has made the series so popular.
Nakao, whose notable studio credits include stints as the producer on both The Wonderful 101 Remastered and Bayonetta 3, offered this seeming reassurance regarding Ninja Gaiden 4‘s difficulty during an interview given to Eurogamer editor Ed Nightingale following the game’s reveal at the January 2025 Xbox Developer Direct.
“Ninja Gaiden is known for its intensity, especially that back and forth between offence and defence, and that dynamic ebb and flow of the combat,” he told Nightingale. “”With Ninja Gaiden 4, we are making sure it inherits those qualities and that the high speed action and the gameplay feel that longtime players have come to expect from Ninja Gaiden games – including the challenge and the difficulty – are present in this new entry.”
To this end, Nakao then revealed that the game would also be “also incorporating difficulty modes and options for new players, or players who aren’t very familiar with action games, to customise their experience,” all of which were “being designed in a way that will allow [new players] to still experience the intensity and the thrills of what makes Ninja Gaiden such a satisfying experience.”
The PlatinumGames dev would expand on the design philosophy behind these new difficulty options in a separate interview given to Japanese video game news outlet Game-Watch.
Per a machine translation provided by DeepL, Nakao likewise began his discussion of Ninja Gaiden 4‘s core gameplay identity by asserting, “I think the important thing in is a “fair defense and offense,” and in order to realize that the enemy and the player are equal, every action during the transition between offense and defense, and when the player falls into an inferior situation from a reversal are all part of the Ninja Gaiden concept.”
“I think the beauty of Ninja Gaiden is that you can enjoy the feeling that you are playing against an opponent,” he opined. “This time around, we wanted to emphasize this aspect and evolve it further.”
Later pressed about the game’s “adjustable difficulty settings”, as advertised on its official website, Nakao explained, “Rather than providing relief for beginners, we have included options and accessibility features that make the game easier to play and understand.”
“Also, there are difficulty settings,” he added. “We have prepared a number of difficulty levels so that players can enjoy the game in an exhilarating way. However, I believe that the most important aspect of Ninja Gaiden is the tingling battle, so I have tried to keep that in mind and aim to make the game customizable so that even beginners can enjoy the tingling feeling while playing.”
Further, when asked about how Ninja Gaiden 4 would handle its “checkpoint system”, particularly given the series’ reputation for claiming life after digital life from players, Nakao asserted, “We are trying to make the game highly replayable so that players can genuinely enjoy the battle, so we are focusing on the fact that players can go back to the previous point in the game.”
Ultimately, whether or not the series’ fourth mainline entry will actually retain its signature-and-absolutely-brutal difficulty levels remains to be seen when it slashes onto the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms sometime in Fall 2025.
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