Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is breaking from the modern Ninja Gaiden formula (preview)

Developers Comcept, Spark Unlimited, and Team Ninja are making a strong statement with Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. How people take this message may vary depending on their point of view, but from my perspective, this new Ninja Gaiden exudes a bold stance of series reclamation.

When the designer who lead the effort to pull the series into the modern age, Tomonobu Itagaki, left Team Ninja, fans worried that the series would suffer. With Ninja Gaiden 3, Team Ninja had a chance to grab the series and pull it out from under the shadows of the highly regarded Itagaki-designed titles. It really could have proved that Ninja Gaiden was still in very capable hands. This attempt, unfortunately, met a lukewarm reception from both critics and fans. Mediocre, some would say, would be kind.