In a recent interview with Famitsu, Team Ninja head Yousuke Hayashi made some pretty surprising reveals regarding one of the studio’s upcoming titles and two old projects. Ninja Gaiden 3 will be a franchise reboot and both Project Progressive and Dead or Alive Cronus have been cancelled.
Ninja Gaiden 3 was first revealed at the Tokyo Game Show with nothing but a single concept art image of protagonist Ryu Hayabusa. Although it is the third numbered title, it will not be a sequel.
"Ninja Gaiden 3 is a numbered title," said Hayashi. "We’re developing it with the idea of restarting at the beginning, saying ‘We’d like to make the action game that’s most interesting for the current era. With this meaning, it’s going to be a game that’s not bound by the past more than necessary. Of course, we will be valuing the past, but in a good meaning we’d like to make it into a game that’s not tied down by the past."
According to Hayashi, the game is in the early stages of development but is moving along nicely.
"Development is progressing well," he stated. "We’ve already completed an internal prototype. We held a sampling event for the prototype, and it was well received within the company. It will be a bit longer before we share info with everyone."
When pressed about the concept image of Ryu from TGS, Hayashi gave a few hints.
"[Ryu] seems to be doing something with right hand," he replied. "Also, there’s something not normal about this hand. It’s covered in blood, but there’s something unnatural regarding the blood."
Also during the interview, Hayashi discussed the cancellation of the other two projects. Both of which were announced before Tomonobu Itagaki had left Team Ninja.
Project Progressive had made it into what Hayashi called the "plot version", but was stopped five years ago and the studio currently has no intention of continuing it.
Regarding Dead or Alive Cronus, the game was ended before it even entered into the development stage.
"It was just at the framework level," said Hayashi. "[It is] officially cancelled."
