Shinobi non Grata (PlayStation 4)

Ninjas fighting demons in feudal Japan. That's it. That's the pitch, and it's all you need. The Shinobi non Grata Limited Edition on PlayStation 4 delivers a brutally difficult 2D action game through Strictly Limited Games, capped at just 1,200 individually numbered copies worldwide. This is the disc-era PS4 catalog at its most niche and rewarding.

The game drops you into 1838, the Tenpō era, where a lone shinobi named Kaina takes on an entire demon-allied clan with nothing but a sword called Murasame and seven ninja weapons. Shuriken, Kusarigama, Elekiter, the works. There are no level-ups. No upgrades to soften the blow. You learn the patterns or you die. It's that beautifully simple philosophy that made classics of the genre so addictive, now channeled through peak 8-bit pixel art that could have come straight off a PC Engine.

What makes this Limited Edition worth hunting is the full package. You get the game with a colorful manual, individually numbered and part of a tiny worldwide run. For collectors who grew up getting destroyed by side-scrollers and loved every second of it, this is a time capsule built for your shelf. The chiptune-meets-traditional-Japanese soundtrack by hydden seals the deal, giving every boss encounter a cinematic weight that belies the retro visuals.

At 1,200 copies, this won't sit around. It's the kind of physical release that quietly disappears, then shows up years later as one of those "wish I'd grabbed it" titles. If you collect PS4 limited runs, particularly from Strictly Limited Games, Shinobi non Grata belongs in your library. Demons aren't going to slay themselves.