In a recent interview with Xbox Wire Japan, the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4’s game director Yuji Nakao has revealed that he wants to see the older, hack-n-slash genre of action titles making a grand comeback and become more popular besides the myriads of Soulslike action games that dominate the industry today.
And while he’s a huge fan of the Soulslike titles himself, he explained that they have become the only popular games in the entire action genre and he would like to see older series’ from the PS2 and the PS3 era find success in the industry too.
“As a member of the [PS2 and PS3] generation, I can’t help but feel that there are fewer games in the genre I’m used to playing these days. Instead, I feel that Soulslike games are becoming more popular. Of course, I’ve played a variety of Soulslike titles and have enjoyed them very much. However, I think it’s also true that we haven’t had many experiences recently that could be called original 3D slash action games, like those in the golden age of slash action games.”
Nakao added that he hopes their upcoming action title Ninja Gaiden 4 will spark the resurgence of the older hack-n-slash genre again.
“This may be a selfish delusion, but I think that action game fans are starting to want to play them again. I feel that this game will really hit home with those kinds of people. So I’d be happy if it could make its mark in history as a new type of slash action game. I would also be [happy] if Ninja Gaiden 4 could spark a movement that really gets the genre going.”
In the interview, he also explained that Ninja Gaiden 4 will see a unique approach towards game difficulty that will have players master two distinctly different styles of combat named Nue and Crow style.
“Since enemies will attack relentlessly while you are learning, it may feel like the difficulty has increased. By gradually getting to know the Crow style and then the Nue style, and gradually understanding the advantages of each, you will eventually be able to enjoy a completely new experience called NINJA GAIDEN 4.”
The fourth entry in the legendary hack-n-slash series, Ninja Gaiden 4 is currently scheduled to release on October 20 for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC, and Game Pass. You can also pre-order both the standard and the deluxe editions of the game on your platform of choice from either Best Buy or Walmart as of right now.
