The Retrospective 08.09.07: Tenchu (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by Sean McCabe on 08.09.2007

I return, when you least expect me, and from the shadows. I stand not before you but behind, you know not where I stand, and that is a shame. Blood is really hard to wash out of robes.

Well, I must ask you all to excuse me for my absence, as I got a caravan vacation sprung on me from out of approximately nowhere. Anyhow, I though now would maybe a good time to cut the SNK season short, there's still more than enough of SNK material to support another one say next summer. But for now, to celebrate the fact I got Tenchu Z, why not cover the most famous series of ninja stealth games?

The Introspective

Not a lot has happened gaming wise since I got back. Bioshock has been getting some majorly high reviews so it's release in two weeks should be seriously worth looking forward to. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl got it's PAL release and I resisted buying it, Persona 3 is out soon and is a must-buy/import for anybody into good RPGs, and Tenchu Z has actually been my most played game recently, Truly it was a pleasant surprise and I hope to put a review up, as it's been receiving far more negative press than it deserves.

I would write more, but I haven't had much time this week, and I apologise for the overall brevity of the column.

VG Babe of the Week: Hibiki



I thought I'd give out one more SNK gal to bring the SNK season to a neat close. Hibiki is a shy, compassionate individual from Last Blade 2, who breaks down in tears should she be forced to kill an opponent. Her No Fear Feint however is one of the fiercest and most devastating moves in fighting game history though, so do not think for a moment messing with her is a good idea.

The Breakdown

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins



Developer: Acquire
Format: PSX
Release: 1998
Notes: The first Tenchu game was in actual fact Dimensional Ninja Action Movie Tenchu, released in Japan only in early, this game is in a sense a remake of that one, and saw an upgraded release for the Japanese market the year following under the title Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen.

Although there had been a myriad of games before Tenchu that starred Ninjas as playable characters, Tenchu: Stealth Assassins would be the first game to see players actually controlling Ninjas doing what Ninjas actually do: Sneak around a lot, and strike from the shadows. After the success of Metal Gear Solid, the stealth genre, whilst not new per ce, had been given it's first real lease of life on consoles and several companies started getting into the act with games such as Syphon Filter and well, Tenchu. The original game allowed players to pick from one of two ninja servants of Lord Gohda: Rikimaru, a stoic, masked ninja and Ayame, a dual blade wielding Kunoichi. The game offered 10 levels all with different objective in which the player must complete, aiming to attain ranks based on how stealthily they achieved the objective. Being actively seen or engaged in battle would lose the player points and thus lessen their final rank. Various useful equipment was up for grabs for obtaining the top Grand Master rank on each level.

Tenchu as a series is known for having slightly above average graphics, excellent sound and atmosphere, and good, authentic presentation. All these bars were set by this game. The upgraded release of the Japanese version featured an added map editor, which later resulted in a competition in which a selection of player created levels, that were sold as a separate game.

In Retrospect: A decent first outing for the Tenchu series, and a game I quite enjoyed. I still find it quite surprising to this day that nobody had attempted a stealth ninja game before 1998, and the only other games since has been the Shinobido games, also developed by Acquire.

Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins



Developer: Acquire
Format: PSX
Release: 2000
Notes: As you might figure from the title, this game is a prequel to Stealth Assassins. A similar map edit competition was held, although no "map pack" game was produced. Like the previous game, it was published in Japan by Sony and in the west by Activision.

Tenchu 2 was a very robust improvement over its predecessor. For one, there are actual difference between the campaigns of Rikimaru and Ayame. In fact they were completely different, with the missions that occur in the same locations having different objectives. There was also a secret third character with his own campaign, Tatsumaru. The story is a lot more complex to, with the interesting concept that a group of Ninjas, tired of living in the shadows, attempt to carry out a revolution of sorts, leaving Rikimaru and Ayame as the only ones who can stop them. Voice-work featured a number of individuals who had previous worked on Metal Gear Solid so it was above average in that area.

Also included was a fully improved map editor, which was regarded as the game's best new feature. Considering the improvements in the campaign, gameplay and story, this is quite a big compliment.

In Retrospect: Tenchu 2 was a pretty damn good game, and although the gameplay hadn't changed a lot, there was definitely a lot more nice fluff and more purpose given to it in this iteration. Also has the series' best individual story by far.

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven/Return from Darkness



Developer: K2
Format: PS2/Xbox
Release: 2003/2004
Notes: Return from Darkness on the Xbox was an upgraded Wrath of Heaven, featuring a few new missions and the ability to play online.

Wrath of Heaven was a continuation of the story from Stealth Assassins, taking place a year after and with Rikimaru showing to have survived the last events of the original game. Once again the game featured a hidden secret character, a fighting doctor called Tesshu. The story was just really a recycling of previous ideas involving a new villain, Tenrai. The major additions Wrath of Heaven made to the series was the inclusion of canned stealth kill animations and proper multiplayer for the first time ever (the original game offered it through a debug cheat). Both versus and co-op modes were available. The stealth kill animations were a great addition and it made it easier to work out for the player when they can wipe out enemies in one attack.However, it was in this game that Tenchu's rather famous lack of good AI was apparent. The standards of AI in the PSX game were acceptable on that hardware, but considering this Tenchu was running on superior hardware one would have thought they'd improve the standards of the AI, and well, they did not. Now, this bothers some players, personally it doesn't bother me, but it should be mentioned.

In Retrospect: This was quite well received thanks to the co-op and versus modes and the improvements to the stealth gameplay, but it was also where one of the series most glaring flaws began to bloom.

And with that, I slit your throat and move on. Next week we shall look at perhaps where things went wrong for Tenchu, but also where things eventually started going right again. Keep things in perspective... and have eyes in the back of your head.