Ninja Gaiden 4 Guide: Beginner Combat Tips

Once you start Ninja Gaiden 4, you quickly realize one thing: it’s brutal. The combat is faster than ever, the enemies are relentless, and the new stance system can take some getting used to. While veterans are calling it a return to form, even they admit it’s got a steeper learning curve than expected. So, whether you’re new to Ninja Gaiden or trying to unlearn your Ryu Hayabusa habits, this guide with five beginner tips will make your first hours far less painful.

Change your control scheme

Blood Raven Stance is the new stance for series newcomer Yakumo. As soon as you start the game, go into Controls settings and switch the Blood Raven Stance button from “Hold” to “Toggle”. The Blood Raven stance introduces extra flexibility and mobility. It is a meter-based mode where Yakumo can transform, access new movesets, break guards, and gain i-frames.

The reasoning is simple. You can react faster when you don’t have to hold down the left trigger button. You can react much quicker to the powerful attacks by overwhelming them with your attacks without having to awkwardly hold down the trigger. However, be mindful of the meter usage – weaving in and out of it mid‐combo is necessary to keep the fights in your favour.

The other part is that it makes it much easier to switch stances during mid-air combos. Also, use walls as springboards for heavy attacks. It’s a good strategy when you’re learning patterns.

Izuna Drop is back so use it

Everyone knows what the Izuna drop is – unlock it as soon as possible. It is a great mid air combo ender. The best thing about it is it gives a ton of invincibility frames – make it invaluable while fighting trash mobs – and since both Yakumo and Ryu can use it, it carries it’s usefulness through to almost the very end.

You can dodge, dash and close the gap to enemies with projectiles and then prop them up to Izuna drop them.

If the mobs keep blocking attacks – use shurikens to open them up and then use the Izuna drop combo. The input for Izuna drop is – square, triangle, square, square, square, triangle.

Hard Lock-On is fun, but don’t always rely on it

When you are not fighting bosses, you are always fighting an army. And you get swarmed fast – so do not engage hard lock-on during these fights. It will focus on one enemy, and the others will just get lost in your peripheral vision – leaving you open to attack. You can stop what you can’t see coming. Yakumo can bounce around each arena quickly, and ranged snipers / off-screen threats are still a problem.

Once the hard lock on is engaged, Yakumo will take over the camera and will always automatically lock on to the enemy closest to him.

But it is invaluable – if annoying to series purists – during the boss fights. It makes parrying, perfect block and dodging much easier. It makes it easier to hit stun early bosses for long durations.

Use the environment

Use the wall hooks dotted around the arenas, jumping off them into Flying Swallow is not only super satisfying – its incredibly useful in terms of mobility and invincibility. Wall-hooks / grappling allow repositioning, escape, and also set up attacks with good i-frames or positional advantage. This is crucial when many enemies surround you or you’re being swarmed.

It gives you respite from the pressure of multiple enemies and you can chain into Flying Swallow, stagger them and hit the Izuna Drop combo. You can also use Guillotine Throw from the wall hooks – this opens up enemies for a follow up rush.

Practice Parry and Perfect Dodge timing

Unlock the parry and perfect dodge as soon as you can. Parrying is a mechanic we can’t get away from so you might as well use it. This game is heavily reliant on parrying. Do not play Yakumo like you would play Ryu. He is much faster and has different mechanics. Go into training mode and practice parrying and perfect dodge/block timings. It will open up a whole new way of combat.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is much faster than the previous entries and it can overwhelm you. Just keep practicing to get the timing down and you will have a much easier time. Don’t expect to button-mash your way through. You’ll be punished for sloppy play.

Platinum Games is relying on how they design Bayonetta’s combat here. Perfect dodge, which was a vital mechanic in previous Ninja Gaidens is more of an afterthought here. They do give you i-frames so that’s nice – so there is always a window for a punish.