Ninja Gaiden 4 directors say a 'sense of fairness' is vital for difficult games: 'If the player gets killed unreasonably, it's hard for them to reflect and think about what they could've done'

Ninja Gaiden 4.

Ninja Gaiden 4 will be arriving this month—and while I'm not as experienced with the series as, say, fellow PCG writer Wes Fenlon, I am downright curious to give it a proper try. The earlier Gaiden games were a smidge before my time, but the older I get, the thirstier I am for a challenge—and I have heard many tales of Ninja Gaiden's brutality that have me thinking I might just arrive fashionably late.

I'm also enticed by the words of directors Yuji Nakao and Masakazu Hirayama in an interview with Automaton. Speaking to the publication, they've repeatedly emphasised that fairness is a key component to making difficult games a good time instead of a high blood pressure simulator.