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If you're looking to find out how long Ninja Gaiden 4 is, it can vary due to a number of factors. It's possible to mainline the game on the easiest difficulty with all of the assists turned on, or you could take on the hardest difficulty – which is only unlocked upon completing Ninja Gaiden 4 already – and find all the secret items and fights throughout the game. And that's not even getting into the additional Trials mode. I'm going to break down what I think the average time to beat Ninja Gaiden 4 is below.
If you're looking to improve your combat skills, then here's how to parry in Ninja Gaiden 4, how to Izuna Drop and Guillotine Throw in Ninja Gaiden 4, and the lowdown on all of the Ninja Gaiden 4 weapons.
How long to beat Ninja Gaiden 4?
First off, my initial playthrough of Ninja Gaiden 4 on Normal difficulty lasted around 16 hours to complete the 19 story missions. During this playthrough I tackled the game on Normal, actively went out of my way to find secret fights and purgatory trials, got too cocky and set the difficulty of those trials too high and died a ton of times, and tried my best to find items. But, I also wasn't so stringent that I couldn't move forward on a level without checking every inch.
However, what Ninja Gaiden 4 difficulty you play on will also have an effect on how long it takes to beat Ninja Gaiden 4. The easiest difficulty, Hero, tones down the general difficulty and also offers up some modifiers that will automatically perform actions like blocking, dodging, obliteration techniques, and healing. Naturally, playing on this mode with modifiers equipped won't take as long as hard mode, so I expect you'd be in the 10 to 13 hour mark for Hero difficulty depending on how much side content you go for. As for Hard mode I'd reckon you'll end up in the 15-20 hour mark, depending on how well you do in the combat and how much side content you seek out.
From there you can also extend your playtime by taking on some extra challenges. Completing the game opens up Master Ninja mode, which requires you to be on the absolute top of your game to even have a chance at surviving, and this could easily take you 20-plus hours. On top of that, you'll unlock a Trials mode that features 13 boss fight rematches (with beating all of these necessary to unlock the Dark Dragon Sword) and 18 combat trials. Depending on what difficulty you use to take these on you could get a good 3 to 5 hours extra out of the game – or even longer if you go for Master Ninja.
If you haven't picked up Ninja Gaiden 4 yet, then check out our Ninja Gaiden 4 review and find out why it's one of the highest-rated entries in the series.
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