Ninja Gaiden is Back to Retake its Crown From Soulslikes

ign.com:

Of all the reveals at the 2025 Xbox Developer Direct, the revival of Ninja Gaiden has to be one of the biggest. The classic action franchise is receiving multiple new games, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, the latter of which shadow dropped right after the event. Such a 180 degree turn for the series was certainly a surprise, since outside of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection compilation, the last time we received a proper entry in this franchise was Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge all the way back in 2012. But it also heralds what could be a pivotal turning point for games as a medium: the return of old school 3D action games after years of the genre being dominated by Soulslike games.

Where once games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry and the original God of War series ran the action scene, that style of game has been all but supplanted by the likes of FromSoftware entries such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. We don’t dislike that type of game, to be clear, but there should be room in the AAA marketplace for both, and the return of Ninja Gaiden could be the balancing of the scales the action genre desperately needs.

The Ninja Gaiden series was once widely considered the pinnacle of action games. The 2004 relaunch on the original Xbox was a far cry from the 2D action platformers that popularized the series on the NES, but the new take on Ryu Hayabusa’s adventures became instantly iconic for its buttery smooth gameplay, remarkably fluid animation and extreme difficulty. Sure, there were plenty of other hack and slash action games on the market, and some were even known for being hard like Devil May Cry. But Ninja Gaiden stood apart from the pack, practically daring players to give up before they even finished the first level. Many players have told stories about being beaten into submission by Murai, a master of nunchaku and the first boss of the game.

But despite the challenge, anyone who’s spent a decent amount of time with the game will