Ninja Gaiden 4 to Feature Difficulty Settings and Customization Options For Everyone of All Skill Levels to Enjoy

Team Ninja and Platinum Games have released additional details concerning Ninja Gaiden 4 and its difficulty settings; rather than purely focusing on the challenging gameplay the series is known for, the game will be divided into Hero, Normal, and Hard modes with further customization options within each tier.

Yamaguchi Sebastian, Xbox Wire Japan, has provided a detailed look at this change in difficulty settings, and has expanded upon what Ninja Gaiden 4 has to offer ahead of its October 21st release.

Some of the new customization and accessibility options include:

• Auto Block
• Auto Dodge
• Auto Assist
• Auto Movement
• Auto Heal
• Blood and Gore Reduction
• and more

Meanwhile series veterans can further customize the experience to match the previous titles by turning off lock-on markers, hit lag, and other new additions to Ninja Gaiden 4.

You can watch the Tokyo Game Show 2025 Trailer showcasing these new options in action, but for a more detailed look, here is what Yamaguchi Sebastian had to say about the game. You can also read the full article over at Xbox Wire, where he details the unlockable Master Ninja Mode, and the other challenges that await players throughout the game.

A Challenge for Everyone 

From its origins in the classic Ninja Gaiden, this series has always centered on swift, ninja-like movement, dazzling swordplay and ninpo (the spiritual teachings of the ninja), and the thrill of cutting down enemies, all while offering a notoriously high-difficulty experience. Especially within the pure action game genre, the Ninja Gaiden series has long stood as a paragon of merciless challenge. For that very reason, when you think about picking up Ninja Gaiden 4, you may feel a moment of hesitation. 

But as if to answer such concerns, Ninja Gaiden 4, which marks the first new installment in 13 years, introduces an exceptionally fine-grained and thoughtfully designed difficulty and accessibility system. At the start, you can choose from three core difficulties: Hero, Normal, and Hard. Within these tiers lie further detailed settings, and with the ability to freely switch between difficulties at any time, you can always find the perfect balance of challenge while progressing through the story. 

Let’s consider an example: those who are not only new to the Ninja Gaiden series, but to action games altogether, how might their difficulty settings evolve as they play, ensuring a steady stream of satisfying challenge? 

Starting on Hero mode, you can enable Auto Evade, Auto Block, and Auto Assist features unique to this difficulty. These tools provide beginners with valuable lessons; cues of when to evade or block to seize the flow of combat, and how to string combos together for seamless offense. In my initial playthrough, Hero mode allowed for a moment of observation, where you could focus on what Yakumo’s optimal moves were – both when surrounded by enemies, as well as dealing with formidable enemies, all the while providing that visceral experience Ninja Gaiden games are known for. Yakumo would swiftly evade oncoming attacks, follow it up with a combo that lead to the enemies delimbing, and finish the encounter with a well-placed Obliteration Technique. 

Watching Yakumo spring to life through these assist functions, you will soon be able to build upon the foundation for manual dodging and guarding. Midway through the story, should you dare to disable Auto Evade or Auto Block, you may find yourself realizing how much your own instincts have grown within the gauntlet that is Story Mode. 

Once you can reliably conquer the Hero experience, you can set your sights higher by engaging in Normal mode. Freed from support features, Yakumo now responds wholly to your intent. Every smooth combo that lands and every crushing counterattack suffered now directly influences your experience. Training sessions with Tyran, who offers new techniques in exchange for Ninja Coins, expand Yakumo’s arsenal while you steadily develop the skill to wield him more fully in battle. 

And if stepping up to Normal mode proves harsher than expected, with setbacks piling up, there is no penalty. Thanks to the ability to move freely between difficulties, you can continue honing your skills in Hero mode until ready. Then, with renewed confidence, you can return to Normal mode and eventually seek out the even sharper edged challenge: Hard mode. 

By ensuring you’re always met with a difficulty level that bites just enough, Ninja Gaiden 4 delivers a consistently tense, nerve-shredding action experience through its comprehensive and adaptive approach to difficulty.

Building a Comfortable Experience 

In addition to features like Auto Assist, Auto Evade, and Auto Block, Ninja Gaiden 4 provides a wealth of accessibility options, each designed to help create the right kind of challenge for you. Series veterans, for instance, can disable Hit Lag (hit stop) or hide the Lock-on Marker that indicates targets you will attack, recreating the feel of earlier entries in the franchise.  

With Ninja Gaiden 4 aiming to be the fastest Ninja Gaiden experience to date, both in and out of combat, I occasionally felt during my playthrough that both finding the timing to heal, as well as platforming under pressure, may be too much for some. This is where features including Auto Heal, which gives Yakumo gradual healing after taking damage, or Auto Movement, which lets the game take care of the platforming segment, can make the experience smoother. And for those who wish to tone down the overall intensity of the presentation, the Reduced Gore setting softens blood effects and other violent graphic elements.  

Accessibility in Ninja Gaiden 4 is not only about filling in the gaps with small but valuable conveniences; it also helps you manage visual information more clearly. For example, by enabling the Highlight Game Elements setting, you can freely recolor a wide range of in-game objects, choosing from countless options to suit their preferences, including: High contrast backgrounds, Ally characters, Normal enemies, and more. 

Control settings are equally flexible. Alongside Left-handed Inverted Controls, there is also support for Single-hand Play. And for those who want complete freedom, the game also includes an option to fully customize the control layout from the ground up. 

Such comprehensive configurations allow the Ninja Gaiden 4 experience to support a variety of input hardware, opening the game up to even more players. 

 Ninja Gaiden 4 will launch on October 21st for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. 

Trailer: