6 hours in, Ninja Gaiden 4 has pushed me to my limit while giving me the tools to push beyond them – we are so back

Ninja Gaiden 4 shifts the action from Ryu Hayabusa to Yakumo, a member of the even more shadowy raven clan, but after going hands-on with the first three chapters (plus the prologue) across several hours of play it feels instantly familiar. Perhaps that's one reason Koei Tecmo dropped the phenomenal Ninja Gaiden 2 Black re-release last year – forget the other ill-advised sequels and spin-offs, Ninja Gaiden 4 continues to carry the character action high bar forward as if 2008 just happened.

Loading Ninja Gaiden 4 up for the first time I forgo jumping straight into the story to simply mess around with the controls in training. Like extremely violent jazz, the familiar notes are all present and mine to play with. New protagonist Yakumo is just as competent as Ryu at weaving together combos across various weapons. Nab enough red orbs from felled foes, and I can still power up my devastating Ultimate Technique moves, helping to keep huge mobs at bay. Dish out enough damage, and Yakumo can lop off limbs, opening enemies up to gratifying instant finishing move kills (lest the limbless enemies grab you and blow themselves up to take off a massive chunk of health).

Even though development duties have shifted from Team Ninja to being headed up by PlatinumGames – itself responsible for some of the best character action games in the genre like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – it's fantastic just how at home I feel instantly after unsheathing my controller. I tap out a launcher move to flick one enemy into the air, leap up to join him and – without having to even look at a combo list – plunge him into the iconic izuma drop piledriver move. It's like I never missed a day of ninja training – I've still got the moves.

Dragon of Tokyo

Ninja Gaiden 4's storyline also feels like it has the '00s edge to stand alongside its predecessors – though at the same time it brings a new perspective to the world of ninja clans that we know. With the dark dragon defeated by Ryu Hayabusa, star of the previous games, its skeletal corpse still hangs suspended over Tokyo spewing a cursed blood rain. With the futuristic cyberpunk-like take on the city evacuated, it's now controlled by an elite military force and Ryu himself as they protect a series of shrines powered by imprisoned daemons who protect the seal ensuring the dark dragon at least somewhat dead.

Yakumo and the raven clan, however, have other plans. An ancient prophecy of the clan states that this extra shadowy clan will be responsible for ridding the world of the dark dragon once and for all. Encountering the dragon's priestess, however, she tells Yakumo that the only way to do so is to resurrect it and then cleanse it, and that she'll help him do it.

Sneaking through the quarantine zone to enter the locked down Tokyo it's up to Yakumo to slice through all the barriers in place, slay the daemons protecting the seals, and then deal with the dark dragon. Which, of course, puts him directly at odds with Ryu Hayabusa, even if on paper they have the same goals. Cast in an eternal night, lit by neon, and with the strange twisting skeleton of the dragon hanging overhead, this vision of Tokyo is incredible, and as Yakumo gets closer to each daemon seal, they additionally twist the reality of Tokyo with their own theming.

It means Ninja Gaiden 4 feels structurally familiar to past entries while also feeling fresh. Chapter-based (and very replayable because of it), Yakumo's ultimate goal to take down each powerful daemon is similar to Ninja Gaiden 2, for instance. But, for those who loved that game's futuristic Tokyo opening, it seems like much more of this entry will be based around exploring that location – which is great as far as I'm concerned. The prologue and three chapters I play set all this up, taking me right the way through to slaying that first daemon.

Which isn't to say there's nothing new in Ninja Gaiden 4. Far from it. It's simply that PlatinumGames' approach to building anew comes out of great respect for the solid foundations put into place by Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden 2 – Yakumo's familiar moveset and weapons are a springboard for him to leap into even more explosively stylish fights than the series has tackled before – pushing me even harder in turn.

Learning how it all works is moreish, seeing my initial fumbles transform into stylish victories incredibly rewarding. Though it only took me a little over two hours to comfortably get through this introduction the first time around, I've already played each chapter multiple times across the different characters, and simply to test my mettle as I grow more comfortable with Ninja Gaiden 4's new mechanics.

Yakumo's raven clan works from the shadows to achieve their goals, and they have some equally dark abilities to match. Most notable is Yakumo's Bloodbind ninjutsu, a sort of blood magic that allows him to transform both himself and his weapons into a powered up Bloodraven form. Crucially, this is a constantly available mode shift rather than a 'break in case of emergency' hail mary – hold the left trigger down and Yakumo will shift instantly, giving him access to a different moveset right away.

It's a new layer of action that slides right above the standard stuff. Using Bloodbind attacks expends the meter, but just about every regular option will accumulate it as well, from landing normal strikes to nifty perfect dodges. These transform your weapon as well, Yakumo's dual swords fusing together into one extra long, gnarly glowing red one, or his polearm getting a big ol' spinning drill head.

It's not just that Yakumo can shift to Bloodraven by just holding down a trigger, but that weaving in and out of it mid-combo is necessary to keep tussles in your favor. Enemies can block your attacks (and even hit you back with counterattacks and the like if you're not careful), but your stronger Bloodraven-powered attacks can break through their guards to keep the damage flowing and the limbs flying. These attacks can be charged as well, boosting their de-limbing potential, and even used as a follow-up to counters and perfect dodges to strike many enemies at once.

Stronger enemies and bosses can use special moves of their own, denoted by a red exclamation mark above their head and a red marker on the ground where they're about to hit. While you can still dodge these, you can't block them – unless you transform into Bloodraven before blocking, that is. Catch an enemy with Bloodraven attacks while they charge up these moves and you can knock them out of performing them as well.

While playing defensively is an option, Ninja Gaiden 4 really rewards you for leaning into offense, and using Bloodbind skills to push through enemy assaults by extending your own attacks even further. A new grapple hook even allows Yakumo to stay on the move, bouncing around each arena quickly so you don't need to deal with downtime. It doesn't completely solve the still present annoyance of being sniped from off-screen, but it does empower you to descend upon enemies using ranged attacks with ease to strike them from the battle record sharpish.

But it doesn't stop there, stay on the offense and Yakumo's berserk mode meter accumulates, waiting for you to click in both sticks. If you thought injecting Ultimate Techniques into fights was powerful you haven't seen anything yet. As well as enhancing Yakumo's abilities, berserk charged Bloodraven strikes can one-hit kill a lot of enemies, punctuating the action with a red-tinted skill screen as you do.

Old tricks

Ryu Hayabusa returns as a playable character too, feeling even closer to the old games to play as. Yet, he still has similar controls to Yakumo, with his own awakened form replacing Bloodraven. He feels more like a bonus mode in what I've played, simply allowing me to run back through a mission I played as Yakumo but with Ryu instead and no story content. I've yet to see if playing as him will become more involved further into the game. It's nice to have the option to control him, but I'm more interested in how he'll fare as a potential threat to Yakumo in the story.

Even though I've played the first two Ninja Gaiden games to death (less so the third game, otherwise it'd be me that'd be dying), my instant familiarity with the core of Ninja Gaiden 4 doesn't stop me running into some roadblocks. Ninja Gaiden 4 can be hard, especially as it really does expect you to get the most out of Yakumo's Bloodraven abilities.

As usual, though, in encounters where I'd fail a few times I had to remember to actually slow down. As with most character action games – be they Bayonetta or Devil May Cry – Ninja Gaiden 4 shares a lot of DNA with fighting games. Button mashing will only get you so far. You need to play with intentionality – each combo has a purpose. You don't have to memorize every possible combo in the skill list, but it's about finding a mid-point in that knowledge in which to improvise reactions to the attacks from hordes of enemies, and understanding why you might want to respond one way and not another and not panicking because you're overwhelmed.

Once I slow things down, I can fold in ideas about Bloodbind ninjutsu more clearly – oh, dodge here, respond with a Bloodbind launcher to keep him suspended then flow into this bigger guy, and push through with Bloodbind if he blocks, then use Ultimate Technique to regroup.

That's a feeling I'm more than familiar with from the older Ninja Gaiden games, and as I splash buckets of blood all over Tokyo – both my own and my enemies' – I'm shocked that even after all these years they've finally gone back to basics to give us a new one of these. It's a feeling I've not had since Devil May Cry 5, and didn't expect to have again. Now, time to transform into a big drill and carve through goons, quoth the raven.

The series isn't just returning to 3D, but its retro 2D roots as well! In our Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review we said that it "absolutely proves Ninja Gaiden deserved to be revived – I've never been happier to be right"