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Action games like Ninja Gaiden 4 can be a lot of fun to play on any platform, especially when the combat is fast-paced and easy to get into. Now that the fourth mainline entry of the Ninja Gaiden series is finally out, players who love following the legend of Ryu Hayabusa can enjoy some more ninja action. But what's interesting about this new Ninja Gaiden game is how it wasn't just Team Ninja who worked on it. Instead, they collaborated with another development team in the action genre, PlatinumGames. And the result was a game that was every bit as chaotic and hyped as previous Ninja Gaiden titles, which is all anyone could have ever asked for. But after you finish playing through Ninja Gaiden 4, there are plenty of great games to dive into that were made by the same team. The high-octane action doesn't have to stop when the credits finally roll on Ninja Gaiden 4. And luckily for players, there are interesting titles to explore that offer a similar experience to the latest adventure with Ryu Hayabusa. Here are some games that you have to play if you love Ninja Gaiden 4, because they're just as action-packed and fun. Astral Chain Detective combat adventure In 2019, PlatinumGames released Astral Chain on the Nintendo Switch. The game was created by some of the same people at the studio who worked on action hits like Nier Automata and the Devil May Cry series. Astral Chain has a plot that focuses on a police task force that protects people from hostile invading forces in the future of 2078. Two new recruits to the task force work together to take down enemies utilizing the titular Astral Chain, which allows them to fight the invading forces and investigate them for further study. While there's a sinister force at work that becomes clearer as the plot unfolds, the action of the game is at the forefront of what makes it so appealing. Critics loved the game on its initial release, praising how deep the combat could get during gameplay and how much fun it was to battle bigger enemies. The gameplay is a blend of hack and slash, adventure, and role-playing elements. While much of the story can progress through times when characters interact during investigations, battles are often fought on the Astral Plane, where encounters with enemies take place. Summoning a Legion can help players in combat with a variety of attacks and abilities, but also has some usefulness when solving different puzzles as the game goes on. Battles can get hectic as more enemies appear and your Legion grows stronger, with combos that can be devastating against enemies that block your path. As an added bonus, sync attacks can be done when you do well enough in combat with the Legion, allowing you to take down enemies even faster and with better attacks that are synchronized. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence Raiden draws his sword The Metal Gear Solid series is known for how crazy things can get with it's overarching plot, despite how beloved it's stealth gameplay is by many fans. But just when you think the series couldn't get any crazier, you have a game like Metal Gear Rising: Revengence, which released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While Solid Snake was the main character of the core Metal Gear Solid games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence shifts the focus to series protagonist Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. However, things have changed with Raiden since the events of that game, with the story of this game taking place about four years following the end of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Instead of stealth espionage action being the focal point, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence makes everything about chopping down enemies and slicing your way through any obstacle. While the majority of the action plays out like most other action games made by PlatinumGames, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence also has a few neat gimmicks that make it stand out. While in a fight, Raiden can use his katana to precisely slice up enemies and objects in Blade Mode, which can help take out limbs and specific areas that can be sliced through. Almost any object within the game can be cut down, including multiple times with Blade Mode. But alongside this, the battles themselves can get very outlandish, with Raiden and other characters executing incredible maneuvers in combat that definitely wouldn't be in previous Metal Gear Solid titles. Blocking and parrying incoming attacks are key to fighting tougher enemies and groups of baddies that attack, but it can also be a necessary tool when faced with some of the over-the-top boss battles that Raiden encounters. Originally, the game was going to be developed by Kojima Projuctions under the name Metal Gear Solid: Rising and was going to be very different. At one point, Raiden wasn't going to be the main character, but the Cobra Unit and The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater were going to be the central focus. However, shifts in development heavily changed the project before it was scrapped and redone with the game we have now. After experiencing more trouble developing the game, Kojima Productions eventually brought in PlatinumGames to finish its development. Bayonetta 3 She's got style, flair, and fast attacks If there's one series that PlatinumGames is famous for, it would definitely be the Bayonetta series. The first two Bayonetta games became highly beloved action titles that pushed the genre forward in big ways. Bayonetta herself became both a sex symbol and a symbol of female empowerment for fans and other people within the industry. This eventually led to the release of a third game in the series in 2022 for the original Nintendo Switch. For many fans, Bayonetta 3 was the culmination of everything that was done by its predecessors, making for one of the best combat systems in the action genre. Much like the first two games, Bayonetta 3 is fast-paced combat with a multitude of actions and abilities that the titular character can use against enemies. Returning are the Climax attacks, which are devastating attacks against enemies, as well as Witch Time that happens when successfully dodging an incoming attack. However, the game introduced a few new elements to the combat, including Demon Slave and Demon Masquerade abilities that grant Bayonetta the chance to utilize the power of demons to boost her attacks. She can fuse together with demons for a massive boost in strength, or control one of the demons directly for a limited time. Regardless, the fights in Bayonetta 3 look incredible and are vicious when more enemies eventually show up on screen. The game also has its sections where Bayonetta can explore new areas and solve mild puzzles to open up new locations. This can lead to more battles against groups of enemies, hidden secrets to boost her power, or big boss fights that progress the main story. Some people were quick to criticize the plot of Bayonetta 3, saying it wasn't as good or as interesting as its predecessors. However, the events of the game are still massive enough to impact the franchise going forward, hinting at what could be next for Bayonetta if another game was ever developed. NieR: Automata A grim future and robots Anybody that wants to experience some of the best combat in the action genre should play NieR: Automata. Set in a dystopian future where humans have been involved in a proxy war with alien invaders. The two factions create their own focuses of robots to fight the other, with humans making the YoRHa androids and the aliens making hostile machines to battle them. The plot focuses on an android named 2B and her ally, 9S, as they traverse the planet and fight the machines. Most of the androids in the YoRHa look like beautiful women that continuously fight for humanity, utilizing all sorts of advanced weaponry and technology to use against the machines. However, a series of events introduce new characters that influence a shift in the war and pit 2B against legions of machines as she gets closer to uncovering the truth about everything. While the story of NieR: Automata can get very complex and deeply layered, it's the combat that makes the game worth exploring. There are multiple playable characters, each with their own collection of attacks, weapons, and abilities to use during gameplay. Whether you're fighting groups of smaller enemies, or clashing swords in a massive boss encounter, NieR: Automata is action-packed. Chaining together combos with different weapons and unique abilities is a spectacle of violent combat. 2B herself can explore vast locations on the planet, where she can discover new upgrades for her attacks and other unique things that will aid her throughout the story. The same goes for 9S through his perspective, which varies on some of the main events that occur during the plot. At the same time, some of the gameplay for NieR: Automata is broken up with shooter sections that resemble a shmup-style game. Some encounters with 2B and 9S will have them facing down enemies that fire a barrage of bullets that must be dodged and turned against enemies. It's a fun way of changing up the pace to the main combat of the game, but still within the spirit of an action-packed adventure. To many gamers, NieR: Automata is one of the best games that PlatinumGames ever released, and is often seen as a gold standard for other action games to be compared to. Never stopping the battles
