Hello everyone!
My name is Nakao, producer/director of NINJA GAIDEN 4.

Have you had a chance to watch the latest trailer and gameplay video that was revealed the other day? It gives a glimpse at Yakumo’s fourth weapon and shows some more clips of the game’s story. It’s worth a watch, so please check it out if you haven’t already!

Since this is my first blog post for NINJA GAIDEN 4, I’ll use this chance to share a little about myself while diving into some details about the project.

At PlatinumGames, I held the role of producer for Bayonetta 3 and The Wonderful 101: Remastered. Even before joining PlatinumGames, most of my experience was in developing action game titles. Once discussions between PlatinumGames, Xbox Game Studios, and Team NINJA of Koei Tecmo came to fruition and it was decided that we would be working together on a new title in the NINJA GAIDEN series, I instantly raised my hand to be a part of the team.

Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a huge NINJA GAIDEN fan. I first played NINJA GAIDEN Σ when I was still a student, then came NINJA GAIDEN 2, then back to NINJA GAIDEN Black, then NINJA GAIDEN 3 and NINJA GAIDEN 3: Razor’s Edge, and so on. I even played the spin-offs like Dragon Sword (I loved that one!). I think I have played almost every game in the NINJA GAIDEN series, including ports to other consoles. So, to all the NINJA GAIDEN fans out there who are reading this now, I should probably say, “Thank you for your patience,” but the fanboy in me can’t help but say, “I’ve waited so long for this!” (lol)
Anyway, that’s a quick summary of who I am, and it makes me so very happy to say that we are just a short while away from being able to share the latest entry in this series with you all.
*The above image was taken by me personally using the NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black photo mode.

During the process of making NINJA GAIDEN 4, there was one thing that I made sure to always keep in mind: being faithful to the NINJA GAIDEN series. As the latest entry is being developed at PlatinumGames, we naturally included some elements that fit our flavor of action such as Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form and Ryu’s Gleam Form. But above all, we have made sure to never forget the core elements of NINJA GAIDEN, and to stay true to the series’ legacy.

For example, the Bloodraven Form is very visually dynamic, so some might think it seems overly flashy, going against the subtlety of NINJA GAIDEN. But actually, many of the new action elements (taught to you by the character Tyran) have a wide range of combat usage, from attack cancels to handy maneuvers and even little tricks that branch off from other combat skills. So, I hope you can think of all these as just a new way to experience the combat that NINJA GAIDEN is known for.

We have also meticulously studied the techniques and moves used in the previous titles of the series. Most of these have been implemented just as they were in the past titles, with a few of them slightly adjusted to match the combat pace and feel of this new installment. We’ve got all the classic tricks like shuriken cancels and Flying Swallow links from Wind Run, and so many more that I can’t even list them all here. If you’re a big fan of the series like me, please check out the training mode that we added into the game to try them out for yourself.

Some of you reading this blog post will be experiencing NINJA GAIDEN for the first time. If there is one takeaway from all this, please just know that NINJA GAIDEN is a series with deep mechanics that just feels so good to play. The new Bloodraven Form mechanic was introduced to emphasize this. You can launch flashy attacks with the press of a button and unleash a variety of attack combos that are more intuitive to execute than they may seem. We hope you will give it a try and enjoy the hardcore world of NINJA GAIDEN that awaits you.

I’m going to end things here before I get in trouble for spoiling too much. This game is a project of passion, and the culmination of the collaboration between Xbox Game Studios, Team NINJA, and PlatinumGames. We all hope you enjoy NINJA GAIDEN 4 as much as we have!

Until next time!

Yuji Nakao After working on several character copyrighted games as a director at his previous company, he joined PlatinumGames and worked as producer on “The Wonderful 101: Remastered,” PlatinumGames’ first in-house published title, and co-producer of “SOL CRESTA.” He oversaw the entire production of “BAYONETTA 3” as producer, and for his latest title, “NINJA GAIDEN 4,” he was appointed as both producer and director. In addition to managing projects and serving as an internal leader, he also makes efforts to nurture the next generation of developers.