Ninja Gaiden 4, a surprise announcement last week, is already 70-80% complete. In fact, the game is currently being polished ahead of its launch on the PS5 later this year.
PlatinumGames’ Yuji Nakao revealed the tidbit in an interview with the Xbox Wire, adding that his team is continuing to collaborate with Team Ninja to ensure “every detail meets the expectations of fans”.
He said: “There’s more information coming that will help you understand just how fun and exciting this game is, so please stay tuned. As both a fan and a developer, I’ll do my utmost to deliver an experience that satisfies everyone.”
The sequel is set years after Ninja Gaiden 3 in a drizzly, cyberpunk incarnation of Tokyo. It’ll feature a new protagonist named Yakumo, but franchise favourite Ryu Hayabusa will also return – and will be playable, too.
“It’s been a while since the last game, so we wanted a new hero to make the series more approachable for new players,” explained Nakao.
“Of course, we also wanted long-time fans to enjoy the game, so Ryu Hayabusa plays a significant role in the story, serving as a major challenge and growth milestone for Yakumo. Ryu will appear throughout the game and be playable, ensuring his prowess and presence is deeply felt.”
As for the reason behind the franchise’s return, well, it sounds like we can thank Xbox boss Phil Spencer for that!
“Koei Tecmo’s president, Hisashi Koinuma, and PlatinumGames’ CEO, Atsushi Inaba, share a close relationship, which led us to explore a collaborative development effort,” Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda revealed.
“PlatinumGames had the expertise we felt was ideal for working on Ninja Gaiden, and with support from Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, the three companies were able to take the next step towards creating a brand-new Ninja Gaiden.”
You’ll be able to play it at launch later this year on the PS5.
[source news.xbox.com]
Comments 29
This will be a day 1 for sure. Also bodes well they are already polishing with so much time left. confidence like this, is what sells games to me. The other example being KCD2 (who even brought their game forward!!)
Day one for me. Looks great
Currently slicing through the first 3 games and can't believe I have been sleeping on this franchise!! 🤯 Absolutely amazing! Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a gift from the gods 🙌🏻
So the major developer is Platinium not Team Ninja,oooh well.Tricky.
Easy day one for me, this game jumped right to the top of my most anticipated games list.
Cool. But which one gonna release first between this and Ragebound?
And hopefully Team Ninja don't repeat their mistakes with vanilla NG 3 or that spin-off Yaiba game. So please no QTE and walk slowly section like in NG 3. Just give me 95% combat and 5% platforming along with good enemy variety. I'm also okay with a bit of exploration to collect Golden Scarab or Crystal Skull as long they give a nice reward.
The series comeback fittingly snuck up like a ninja. Very happy about it.
Thanks to lies of p aka phil spencer ninja gaiden 4 is here and on ps5.ninja gaiden is a fun franchises.you can never count out some old video games franchises.its been decades and now Ninja gaiden 4 is almost here.word up son
Day one - Game Pass - for me.
@LazyGrinder Platinum are great but i thought they closed down.
@JorutoHayabusa they made Nioh 1 and 2. Two of the best games to come out.
Hope it's not like my industry where the last 20% often takes 80% of the time!
My most anticipated game right now. I think the cyberpunk setting is cool but I'm hoping there will be lighter stages. Kinda dont want the whole game in darkness lol. Also great to hear that theyre in the polishing phase. Thats a lot of polishing assuming the release will be around october or november.
Really hope it actually does launch this year. Right now it's at the top of my most-wanted list with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Currently playing through Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, I'd forgotten just how good this game is. Can't wait for the sequel.
Hello there fellow gamers.
Having already finished Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on my Series X and now replaying it on Hard mode and enjoying a lot, I also decided to revisit the OG Ninja Gaiden Black, my personal favourite NG and still one of the BEST action adventure games ever made, in my opinion.
Might also go for the Sigma version as well.
I love these games so much and I´m very glad the franchise is coming back with NG 2 Black, NG 4 and NG Ragebound.
The year of the Ninja indeed!
Cheers and happy gaming everyone
Finally Phil Spencer got something right
@JorutoHayabusa - Why avoid Sigma 2 when NG2Black is just a Sigma 2 port with less content? All they did was cut the Buddha and Liberty fights. No incendiary shuriken, no windmill shuriken. Forced use of LotG and LottG, no Test of Valor, no bow UT's. Those awful tag missions instead of the OG mission mode.
They cut the 2 crappy boss fights from Sigma 2, changed a few item locations added horrific input lag and called it Black for the sake of nostalgia. This game is not NG2.
@JorutoHayabusa - Clueless, NG2B IS NGS2. Its a port. Modders have already got the Buddha fight working. It is the NGS2 code reskinned in UE5 not NG2. You are playing Sigma 2.
Edit: Reply out of context. @JorutoHayabusa deleted their post I replied to.
@Shigurui Hey there friend.
Having finished Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, I have to agree with you though.
It´s basicaly NGS2. I kinda wanted them to actualy remake the original Xbox 360 version instead. But I´ll take what I can get.
Replying to @JorutoHayabusa, I have played all versions of all Ninja Gaiden games out there, being a Huge fan of these games.
They do have some interesting differences, but I do prefer the original versions of NGB, NG2 and if I´m in the mood, NG3 Razors Edge.
Wich I might play it again just for the sake of it while I wait for Ninja Gaiden 4.
Cheers friends and have a good one
@Balie3000 i would stop at 2
@themightyant prostitution?
@Toot1st Worse.
@Rezium can never get bored of using them wolverine claws! heads and arms flying everywhere
@RaZieLDaNtE - Hey Raz, yeah I finished it too but I'm pissed at myself for blindly buying it. They traded on the NG2 name and added insult to injury by putting Black in the title and saying its the definitive NG2 version when all they did was reskin Sigma 2 with less content than the Master Collection version.
@Shigurui Hey Shigu.
Yeah, I feel you. But from what I´ve been hearing, Team Ninja lost the original code og NG2, wich is why they went with NGS2 as a template for NG2B.
I think they did a pretty good job, but I would be lying if I didn´t say that I would have prefered if they had remade NGB instead.
As for the price of NG2B, it is kinda expensive, wich is why I played on my Series X trough Gamepass.
Might get the physical PS5 version some day.
Very excited for NG4. This is a great year if you are a Ninja/Samurai fan like me. Lot´s of good games coming.
Cheers
@RaZieLDaNtE - I get what you're saying but they cannot lose code when there are 1 million NG2 discs out there with the shipped code on them. Ebay is a thing. BluePoint don't use source code. They reverse engineer code from retail discs for their remakes. No reason why Team Ninja couldn't do that.
@Shigurui
It is an unfortunate decision, but you can always play the original NG2 Xbox 360 version if you get an Xbox One or Series S/X. It plays really well and it´s 60fps.
And who knows, Team Ninja might actualy remake NGB one day, wich would be fantastic. Time will tell
Let´s just wait for NG4 and see how it goes
Lol title makes it sound like a ps5 exclusive when it's not
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