Two Masters DLC makes Ninja Gaiden 4 a contender for best modern hack n slash

Ninja Gaiden 4 has finally received its first(?) DLC pack in the form of an expansion called The Two Masters. The Two Masters introduces an additional Abyssal Road survival mode (a la Devil May Cry's Bloody Palace) as well as new Trials to be unlocked after completing a new campaign, which gives both playable characters an additional weapon and touts new bosses, enemies, and areas. Like the game itself, the expansion content isn't very long for a just-passing-through playthrough below Hard difficulty, but the additional content plus the expansion on Hard or Master Ninja can add 20s of hours to the Ninja Gaiden 4 experience. 

The update also included a number of bug fixes and polish tweaks on the base game, which improve on clunky enemy targeting and overly weak moves. With the new DLC content included, though, a marked transformation comes to both Ryu and Yakumo. While Yakumo's new toy is largely just characteristic of his existing stacked roster of up to 5 weapons, Ryu at launch only came with the True Dragon Sword (which Yakumo can also unlock the moveset of, if not Gleam cancel tech). Ryu getting a new weapon that doesn't utilize Bloodbind or Gleam to transform not only opts him into the weapon switching combos that Yakumo has enjoyed since launch, but adds an additional dimension on his base of added Ninpo magic spells and astounding fundamentals play.

While The Two Masters' included campaign only adds three new chapters, there is a lot of depth to be had here. With the addition of the new modes and improvements upon the base game included with The Two Masters, Ninja Gaiden 4 becomes a truly polished modern stylish action game with great production values, the likes of which hasn't genuinely been seen since Devil May Cry 5 launched in 2019. 

Even then, Devil May Cry 5 was compromised in some ways to be simpler and easier for the wider public and the neglected hack 'n slash/stylish action game market. Ninja Gaiden 4, however, carries Ninja Gaiden's notoriously unapologetic difficulty and gore to current-generation systems fairly well. While Devil May Cry 5 may still ultimately have a wider range of combo expression (particularly with mods), Ninja Gaiden 4 finally provides an unapologetically tough AAA hack 'n slash in a market dominated mostly by more deliberate Soulslike games. Even Ninja Gaiden's own studio, Team Ninja, spends more time with Soulslike Nioh these days, though Nioh does also have combo expression in its own right.

The core of the real-time weapon switching mechanic added by Ninja Gaiden 4 is the ability to restart or "store (via Guard Offset)" string placement at will. To clarify the difference between a "string" and a true "combo", a "string" refers to any set of pre-ordained actions tied to a specific set of button presses, motion inputs, or both. Most games don't make this distinguishment. A true "combo" is at minimum a string that is safe to complete upon its first hit (without the enemy armoring through, etc), but more broadly any extended sequence of individual attacks or strings that incapacitate the opponent for the entire duration. 

Being able to properly move between strings, between weapons, without allowing the enemy to escape is the true staple of a "combo", and is essential to mastering extended juggle combos in fighting games, beat 'em ups, and hack 'n slash games alike. Weapon switching in air combos in Ninja Gaiden 4 allows you to repeatedly loop the first few hits of any given air string by simply weapon switching with proper timing, dramatically extending juggles at will. The addition of Guard Offset (done in this game by holding guard after dodging out of a combo string) allows you to "store" your position in a given string and carry over that position to another weapon—ie, immediately going from the fourth hit of a katana air string to the fifth hit of a scythe air string instead of being forced to restart the string. Add in environmental interactions, various enemy types in huge mob fights, and fast shurikens available on both Ryu and Yakumo, and you have an expansive combo system at your fingertips, made even more potent by The Two Masters.

But even for players who aren't ready for the most deeply technical aspects of Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry combo theory, there's a lot of fun to be had here in a fast-paced, discipline-focused action game like Ninja Gaiden 4. Additional content to extend replay value, especially for just $15, is a godsend for a game like this. Fans would be quite lucky if Team Ninja and Platinum Games continued to support Ninja Gaiden 4 with more content updates like these, but at time of writing no future DLCs have been announced and Team Ninja is more likely to focus on Nioh 3 or, in the worst case, re-release an expanded version of Ninja Gaiden 4 some years down the line.

To celebrate the launch of Two Masters, Ninja Gaiden 4 is currently enjoying a generous 35% discount on both Steam (PC) and the Microsoft Store (Xbox and Xbox-on-PC). There's also a 25% discount on the Deluxe Edition upgrade, which bundles a few extra goodies on top of the Two Masters DLC pack for the same $15 USD price.

For PC players specifically, I must also recommend the Ninja Gaiden 4 Blue mod. While the game is great as it is, there are some tweaks available in the mod that players may find highly favorable, including the ability to disable the heavy blue-tinted post processing filter present throughout most of the game. In my opinion, that feature alone makes Ninja Gaiden 4 look a lot more realistic and even vibrant compared to Devil May Cry 5 when other colors enter the mix, though I can't fault those who favor the original filtered visuals for its strengths in the neon-soaked Neo Tokyo areas of the game. At time of writing, NG4 Blue has an update in development to support the new Two Masters DLC, though it's currently only available via the mod developer's Discord server and has yet to be posted to Nexus Mods.