Ninja Gaiden 4 Will Bring Back a Popular Ability

Ninja Gaiden 4 will see the return of the helpful Ultimate Guidance ability, according to a message to fans from co-director and producer Yuji Nakao. Ninja Gaiden 4 looks poised to provide players with the kind of fast-paced battles they've become accustomed to since the series' reboot in 2004, and Ultimate Guidance should help keep them moving forward quickly.

Originally launched in 2008, Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden 2 is still widely considered one of the hardest games released for Xbox 360. With a limited health pool, infrequent save points, and intuitive enemy AI that was highly advanced for its time, players were granted a boon with the debut of Ultimate Guidance, an ability that lets them easily absorb essence to quickly build chains of powerful attacks and allows for faster charging of their Ultimate Techniques.

Ninja Gaiden 4's Ultimate Guidance Could Be a Game Changer

In a new post on co-developer Platinum Games' Twitter account, Nakao was excited to announce that Ultimate Guidance will return in Ninja Gaiden 4. This is Nakao's first time directing a game for the Ninja Gaiden series, alongside series veteran Fumihiko Yasuda, with the last mainline entry coming out in 2012 and being co-directed by Yasuda and Yosuke Hayashi. When Nakao first played the Ninja Gaiden series, he singled out Ultimate Guidance for its elegance and the split-second decision-making opportunities it offers, indicating that he knew he wanted it to be a part of Ninja Gaiden 4 from the game's early phases of development. "This game system really stuck with me over the years, and I see it as an inspiration in my own game design, so I've made sure to preserve its strengths in this title as well," he noted.

It sounds as though Ultimate Guidance won't be the only game mechanic that players will see returning for the next entry in the series, which is slated for release on October 21. While Nakao didn't get into specifics, he noted that "numerous other techniques" from the Ninja Gaiden series will see a revival, noting that Ninja Gaiden 4 protagonist Yakumo's use of the Bloodraven Form mechanic will make techniques easier to use.

Although it was announced in January, search traffic for the upcoming action-adventure game has seen an increase since Ninja Gaiden 4's action-packed gameplay trailer was revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 19. The latest round of footage released for the game shows off its fast-paced combat and sets up the story of the tense relationship between the Hayabusa and Raven clans, showing that Yakumo will cross swords with series mainstay Ryu Hayabusa at least once.