The anticipation around today’s Xbox Developer Direct had fans buzzing about which mystery game would be revealed. While the consensus seemed to lean towards a Japanese developer, few accurately predicted what the game would be.
To everyone’s surprise, the game unveiled is none other than Ninja Gaiden 4! This exciting new entry is a collaborative effort from Team Ninja and Platinum Games.
During Xbox’s January Developer Direct livestream, viewers got an exclusive glimpse inside the legendary Team Ninja studio, the masterminds behind the forthcoming Ninja Gaiden. This game is their next big venture and it’s astonishing how it managed not to leak before today. It’s equally surprising that the announcement took place on an Xbox platform.
Fans of Ninja Gaiden will be thrilled with what’s on offer. Expect fast, exhilarating combat, intense action, and slick melee encounters, all wrapped in a dramatically rainy atmosphere. Oh, and Ryu Hayabusa is back in action, seemingly taking on a rival role! The development team provided a comprehensive overview of the game, and you can catch the reveal trailer below to see it all for yourself!
The Ninja Gaiden franchise has deep roots with Xbox, although Team Ninja has been more closely associated with Sony in recent years. Since the release of the original Nioh and its follow-up Nioh 2, Team Ninja has been considered more of a PlayStation ally. These games found their way to PC but bypassed Xbox entirely. While Team Ninja did bring Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty to Xbox, their major project, Rise of the Ronin, stayed a PS5 exclusive.
Rise of the Ronin had some intriguing concepts but strayed too far into what Western open-world games have to offer, ultimately providing an experience that didn’t fully satisfy fans of Team Ninja’s top-notch combat nor those seeking a lighthearted samurai-themed adventure.
Meanwhile, the Ninja Gaiden series seems to be experiencing a resurgence. Recently at the 2024 Game Awards, Dotemu, a publisher known for retro-inspired hits, announced Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a fresh 2D action game created by the talented team behind the Blasphemous series.
