Video game special: Yakumo's Journal. 20XX: Ninja Dog carcass in alley this morning, obliteration kill on delimbed trash mob. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its SSS rank requirements. The streets are extended mandatory fights and the mandatory fights are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all the walking sections and rail grinding will foam up about their waists and all the fiends and DDO officers will look up and shout "Save us!"... ...and I'll look down, and whisper "X Y X X X Y." Ninja Gaiden 4’s release has been nothing short of divisive, and expectedly so. There’s not only a new protagonist on the scene with a new supporting cast, but co-development has been placed in the capable hands of none other than PlatinumGames, a team of talented individuals who have lost much of their upper leadership in recent years. So what is there to glean not only from PlatinumGames’ involvement, but also the direction they help to take this franchise with guidance from Team Ninja? What is to be learned from the legacy of Tomonobu Itagaki, and what he brought to the franchise? Is this title, at its core, worthy of being called a Ninja Gaiden game? To discuss these questions and more, Michael (young) is again joined by action game speedrunner and enthusiast DECosmic to discuss the latest entry in the Ninja Gaiden franchise.