Not too long ago, Team Ninja and Xbox showed off the upcoming action slasher title, Ninja Gaiden 4, at Gamescom 2025. And while we weren’t present at the event to get some hands-on, we were lucky enough to do so at PAX West 2025, as Xbox invited us over to a special session with the game, along with the ROG Xbox Ally X. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to record any of our gameplay. But now, Team Ninja has released several minutes of advanced gameplay starring Yakumo, the opposite of Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden 4.
Watch the Ninja Gaiden 4 gameplay below.
While Ryu is the familiar powerhouse that we all know from the prior Ninja Gaiden games, Yakumo is the newcomer from the Raven Clan and plays nothing like Ryu. He feels closer to a character out of a PlatinumGames title, drawing comparisons to Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Nier: Automata. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t fit in. Far from it. Instead, he offers a very different playstyle that’s agile, stylish, and one that I quite enjoyed during my time with the game.
Ninja Gaiden 4 takes place several years after Ninja Gaiden 3 in a rain-soaked, near-future Tokyo, where the remains of the Dark Dragon have unleashed the Rain of Darkrot, corrupting the city and its people. As a member of the Raven Clan, Yakumo is bound to a prophecy that his clan must end the Dark Dragon’s existence once, which rivals the Hayabasa Clan’s responsibility to protect the Dragon Sword which has belonged to the clan for ages and seal away the Dark Dragon. So, you can see that both Ryu and Yakumo are rivals, but not exactly enemies.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is set to launch worldwide on October 21, 2025, and will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. Xbox players will also be able to play it Day One on Game Pass.
Source: Team Ninja
