Ninja Gaiden 4 promises a long-awaited return to the series’ signature fast-paced hack-and-slash action, but for $69.99, there is a question of value. In a new preview and interview with Next-Play, Team Ninja director Masazaku Hirayama confirmed that a first playthrough of the story would take about 15 to 20 hours.
“But, like I mentioned before, after you beat the game once, you unlock Master Ninja difficulty, and then, of course, outside of the story mode, there’s also the challenge missions and also chapter challenges as well. So there’s going to be a robust amount of content for players to sink their teeth into after they complete their first playthrough.”
These include Purgatory, tough optional battles that you’ll need to find in each chapter, akin to Tests of Valor. The twist is that you must wager something beforehand (like your max health). “It’s kind of an evolution of the Tests of Valor that were in previous Ninja Gaiden games. The idea of having players choose the level of risk for that reward was something we included to kind of stoke the flames of challenge,” said Hirayama.
There are also Challenge Missions where you can rematch against story bosses to earn a rank. And if you’re really itching for a challenge, activate “Death Wish” to fight without any upgrades. Hirayama also teased that the game offers “missions outside of just boss fights. So you have to fight in groups of enemies under special conditions that differ from what you experienced in the story mode.”
Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, but it will receive DLC post-launch in the form of new weapons for Ryu Hayabusa. You can also expect other content with more details to be revealed in the coming months.