The reboot of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, reinventing a high-difficulty series from a 2D action game to a 3D one, is now over 17 years old. Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja see that as an opportunity, not just to introduce a new generation of gamers to Ninja Gaiden, but to bring the classic trilogy to new platforms including PC. However, bringing back such an old series new platforms isn't a simple task, and PC appears to be facing the brunt of those limitations. It has been confirmed that the new Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection won't support mouse and keyboard.
A interview from PC Gamer with Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection producer Fumihiko Yasuka confirmed the restriction. The PC port of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will only work with a controller. The decision marks Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection as a rarity in the gaming marketplace.
An explanation for the decision doesn't seem to be provided, but can probably be assumed. Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released in 2007 and has never been ported to the PC before. It's realistic that Ninja Gaiden Sigma and its sequels were never planned to be brought off consoles, so adding PC functionality is beyond the scope of a simple remaster. It could very well take redeveloping the game from the ground up to add the kind of functionality most PC gamers would want.
Further evidence of this is shown in other ways the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will be limited on PC. The trilogy isn't just limited to controllers, it's also limited to a strict 60 FPS. It's hardcoded to cap at 60 FPS, and will only diverge from that if the PC hardware running the game can't keep up.
In fact, the PC version of Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection doesn't have any advanced graphics options whatsoever. Even the resolution of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will be automatically detected. It'll default to 1080p, but will update to 4K resolution if the PC's hardware specifications meet a certain threshold.
The barebones PC port is likely to be disappointing to PC gamers hoping for a more robust Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection. However, it likely still outweighs the alternative, which is not having those classic Ninja Gaiden games available at all. For those who can't stomach using a controller or having a capped framerate, it's likely just a matter of time before modders add the features that PC players want.
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection releases June 10 on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: PC Gamer