September, 19 , 2025

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚: 𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝟒’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩, 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞


Yamaguchi Sebastian, Xbox Wire Japan






Summary

Walk through the experience of playing the first 3 chapters of Ninja Gaiden 4 with its Director and Producer Yuji Nakao.
Dive deeper into the game’s mechanics and playability, now refreshed with a brand-new arsenal, instant weapon switching, and a Ryu Hayabusa who has mastered the True Dragon Sword.
Ninja Gaiden 4 arrives on October 21 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Play Anywhere. Play it day one with Game Pass.


Racing through a Tokyo consumed by darkness, slipping behind enemies and striking in a flash. A standoff where you are against all odds, dancing on the edge of death in relentless swordplay. Before I realized, the character I was controlling felt less like a digital avatar, and more like an extension of my own body.

Ninja Gaiden 4, doesn’t just let you play as a ninja—it slowly, silently transforms your mind and body into one.

Since its explosive reveal at this year’s Developer Direct, Ninja Gaiden 4 has been featured on Xbox Wire, spotlighting several key elements: Yakumo, the new protagonist, the near-future Tokyo landscape, the visceral Bloodraven Form that redefines the series’ combat, and the long-awaited return of Ryu Hayabusa.



But now that I’ve played through the first three chapters, it’s clear that there’s more beneath the surface. Something deeper. Something that demanded to be uncovered.

What makes Ninja Gaiden 4 so striking is its ability to draw players into a state of flow, where reaction overtakes thought, and instinct replaces intention.

You’re not just pressing buttons. It’s as if your entire nervous system is tuned to every motion, every enemy, every second. You’re not calculating the perfect moment. You’re responding with something closer to that of pure animal instinct.

It feels as though the game is training you, refining your senses to match the pace and pressure of the world it throws you into.

To get to the heart of this immersive design, the Xbox Wire Japan editorial team sat down with Yuji Nakao, the producer and director of Ninja Gaiden 4 himself.



After spending time in the early chapters, we brought the questions that naturally rose from the experience, unfiltered and direct. The conversation ranged from the intricacies of the battle system, to the shaping of this new Ninja Gaiden world, to the dynamic between Yakumo and Ryu. And in their answers, we uncovered a philosophy: a quiet intensity and clarity of purpose driving the game’s ferocious polish.

In this article, we revisit the moments that pulled us so deeply into Ninja Gaiden 4’s world, and together with the developers’ insights, unravel the secrets behind its razor-sharp design.



𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐨?

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 “𝐒𝐤𝐲 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐲𝐨.” 𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝟒 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝟐, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐨’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚.


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭?

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝟒. 𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐, 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞.


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