After a long wait, the release date for Ninja Gaiden 4’s upcoming The Two Masters DLC is officially revealed and it’s set to arrive on March 4 which is only around a week from now. Ninja Gaiden 4 came out in October last year and there has been a period of uncomfortable silence from the developers (Team Ninja and Platinum Games) regarding the highly awaited Two Masters DLC all this time, but thankfully now we know when players will be able to get their hands on the new contents plus what’s really in store for them in this post-campaign playthrough.
The upcoming DLC will add Two new weapons (one for Yakumo and one for Ryu) in Ninja Gaiden 4, three new story chapters, whole new enemies plus the Abyssal Road challenge mode which should be a ton of contents and can add new flairs into the overall experience. The brand new story chapters will see both Ryu and Yakumo continue their battle against all kinds of fiends including even deadlier ones and challenging new bosses.
The two new weapons will also add to each of their combat toolkit in different ways such as Yakumo’s new “Solitaire” scythe is great for crowd control and Ryu’s “Jakotsumon” serpent gauntlets will unleash new devastating moves in close combat, not that Ryu has any dearth of those moves anyways but still it’s going to be a worthwhile addition for gaming’s most iconic Super Ninja.
The Abyssal Road is sort of an endurance-style (think Bloody Palace from Devil May Cry) mode where players go up against 100 unique combat encounters or challenges which will include enemies from both base Ninja Gaiden 4 as well as from the DLC. This mode will also introduce two new gameplay elements named Special Blood Essence and Frenzied enemy mechanics which can drastically change the overall combat experience.
However, the new story chapters are definitely going to be the star of the upcoming DLC cause the base game already has some of the greatest combat system ever been put together in gaming but what it needed is more story elements especially in terms of character growth. Hopefully the three new chapters will be able to fill in what felt lacking in the base game, especially when you consider that it may take quite a bit of time for us to see these characters again, depending on what’s next for the series.
The Two Masters DLC will also come with “a wide range of quality-of-life improvements, balance adjustments, and bug fixes, including combat responsiveness improvements, new weapon set customization options, and fixes across multiple chapters to ensure a smoother experience throughout the campaign,” which sounds great.
And lastly, if you’ve bought the Deluxe Edition for Ninja Gaiden 4 or even have the Deluxe upgrade, you’ll get the Two Masters DLC for free while all other players will be able to buy it as a standalone content pack for $14.99.
