From crushing skulls with a devastating Izuna drop, to slicing enemies clean in half, Ninja Gaiden 4 doesn’t pull punches when it comes to gore. Being my first foray into the series, the amount of blood and body parts flying around surprised me — in a good way.
After losing count of how many limbs I chopped off and heads I sent rolling, I asked myself ‘Is this the goriest game of the year?’.
Whether you’re stealthily assassinating an enemy with a sword through the back, or turning your foes to sashimi with an ‘obliteration’ finisher, odds are you’ll be dripping red from head to toe at the end of each combat encounter.
When you go full berserk mode, things can get really messy. ‘Bloodbath’ kills have you slow-mo slicing enemies in half, the pieces falling to the floor in a pool of blood. ‘Bloodbath Slaughter’ does this on a larger scale, all enemies within reach getting brutally halved by a single bloody swing.
Yakumo even has a ‘Bloodraven Form’ where he summons a giant sword… Made out of blood! Carnage.
Ninja Gaiden 4 surely earns its R18+ rating, Team Ninja and Platinum Games not shying away from the gore in chase of a wider audience.
The Bloodiest Titles of 2025
Sticking with the theme of Japanese killers, Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows certainly don’t shy away from spilling blood either. In Yotei, Atsu amputates a few arms and heads here and there, but they’re not exactly a regular occurrence. Even with the ‘Takashi Miike’ mode turned on, the level of blood isn’t TOO over the top.
READ MORE: Review | Ghost of Yōtei: ‘A Feast For The Senses’ (PS5)
In Shadows, Yasuke is a beast with his katana and naginata, slicing off limbs and heads effortlessly… His Kanabo club is especially crushing! But, like with Yotei, the open-world design of the game makes combat — and the brutal finishers — too spaced out. Gameplay in Shadows is also shared between Yasuke and the stealthy assassin Naoe, who isn’t nearly as brutal as her counterpart.
The more realistic settings of Yotei and Shadows give each kill more weight, but the ferocity, speed — and gore factor — can’t match Ninja Gaiden 4.
Gorn 2, it’s right there in the name; Gore + Porn = Gorn. There’s plenty of limb hacking, head crushing, flesh stabbing, and body impaling going on here… All accompanied with a healthy dose of haemoglobin! Plus, copping a spray of blood to the face in VR has gotta be pretty gnarly!
Gorn 2 might have one over Ninja Gaiden 4 on the amount of blood spilled, but the hilarity of the silly faces and slow, cartoonish attacks undercuts its brutality… which is probably for the best in VR!
READ MORE: Review | Assassin’s Creed Shadows (PS5)
The speed and brutality of its combat, pacing of the carnage throughout the game, and the amount of gore on display, all make Ninja Gaiden 4 the winner of ‘Gore-fest 2025’… In my eyes anyway.
No matter what your pick would be, (honourable mentions to Borderlands 4, Killing Floor 3 and DOOM: The Dark Ages) I’m sure we can all agree that a gory game that doesn’t pull its punches is a bloody beautiful thing that we need more of.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
A copy of the game was provided to Quest Daily by the publisher.
