{"id":52884,"date":"2025-10-11T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52884"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T07:39:05","slug":"ninja-gaiden-4-creators-say-fairness-in-dying-is-what-sets-apart-a-challenging-action-game-from-an-unreasonable-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/ninja-gaiden-4-creators-say-fairness-in-dying-is-what-sets-apart-a-challenging-action-game-from-an-unreasonable-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Ninja Gaiden 4 creators say \u201cfairness in dying\u201d is what sets apart a challenging action game from an unreasonable one\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Come October 21, Microsoft will release <strong>Ninja Gaiden 4<\/strong>,<strong> <\/strong>a long-awaited collaboration between Koei Tecmo\u2019s Team Ninja and Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames. In typical Ninja Gaiden tradition, the franchise\u2019s latest mainline entry is <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/pure-action-games-never-get-old-and-ninja-gaiden-4-will-be-the-game-to-prove-that-we-ask-team-ninja-and-platinumgames-about-what-players-should-expect-from-the-new-title\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a return to \u201cpure, rudimentary action.\u201d<\/a> But for a series famous for its punishing difficulty, navigating the fine line between \u201cunreasonable\u201d and \u201ctoo easy\u201d is not a simple task. AUTOMATON asked directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu Hirayama (Team Ninja) about how they approached this balance in Ninja Gaiden 4.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NINJA GAIDEN 4 - Master Ninja Gameplay | Tokyo Game Show 2025\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wzqvkh9m8jY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Whilst acknowledging that difficulty is ultimately subjective, the developers emphasized a crucial aspect of designing the \u201cright\u201d kind of difficulty \u2013 fairness. \u201cWhat really stands out throughout the Ninja Gaiden series,\u201d Nakao says, \u201cis how enemies are on equal footing with the player. They guard, and they even use throws.\u201d The developers made sure to keep this balance intact in Ninja Gaiden 4. \u201cWe focused not only on making the action feel satisfying, but also on offering the cathartic release of overcoming disadvantageous odds, that was a core part of development.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And while it\u2019s a given that you\u2019ll die plenty before reaching your catharsis, the deaths need to feel like a consequence of your actions and decisions. As Hirayama explains, \u201cI think fairness between the player and enemy is crucial. Whether or not a death feels like it was your fault is a huge part of maintaining that sense of fairness.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1348\" height=\"758\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1348px) 100vw, 1348px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-003.jpg\" alt=\"Ninja Gaiden 4\" class=\"wp-image-52892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-003.jpg 1348w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-003-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-003-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf the player gets killed unreasonably,\u201d he explains, \u201cit\u2019s hard for them to reflect and think about what they could\u2019ve done differently. But if they die because they made the wrong choice among several options, they\u2019ll think, \u2018Okay, let&#8217;s try this instead.\u2019 That kind of trial-and-error cycle requires a fair dynamic between offense and defense to work. That\u2019s something we talk about a lot at Team Ninja, and it\u2019s something we\u2019ve always valued throughout the series.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, whether Ninja Gaiden 4\u2019s difficulty feels \u201cjust right\u201d or not will depend on the player, but one thing director Nakao guarantees, as a longtime fan of the franchise, is that \u201cit\u2019s not a game you\u2019ll be able to breeze through \u2013&nbsp; I envision it as a game where a certain level of challenge or hardship is scattered throughout. That sense of catharsis you feel when you overcome those challenges is something I truly value.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1354\" height=\"760\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1354px) 100vw, 1354px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-002.jpg\" alt=\"Ninja Gaiden 4\" class=\"wp-image-52893\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-002.jpg 1354w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-002-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-002-768x431.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While it improves accessibility and offers customizable difficulty, the developers believe Ninja Gaiden 4 retains the intensity its predecessors are known for, achieving just the right balance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21 for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2627260\/NINJA_GAIDEN_4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ninja Gaiden 4 directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu Hirayama (Team Ninja) on balancing difficulty with fairness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,10],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-interviews","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ninja Gaiden 4 creators say \u201cfairness in dying\u201d is what sets apart a challenging action game from an unreasonable one\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ninja Gaiden 4 directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu Hirayama (Team Ninja) on balancing difficulty with fairness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/ninja-gaiden-4-creators-say-fairness-in-dying-is-what-sets-apart-a-challenging-action-game-from-an-unreasonable-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ninja Gaiden 4 creators say \u201cfairness in dying\u201d is what sets apart a challenging action game from an unreasonable one\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ninja Gaiden 4 directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu Hirayama (Team Ninja) on balancing difficulty with fairness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/ninja-gaiden-4-creators-say-fairness-in-dying-is-what-sets-apart-a-challenging-action-game-from-an-unreasonable-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-10T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251010-52884-header-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1346\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ninja Gaiden 4 creators say \u201cfairness in dying\u201d is what sets apart a challenging action game from an unreasonable one\u00a0 - 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