Post by TheBlackCrow on Feb 24, 2009 22:35:42 GMT -5
As some of you may know a game titled Tenchu Shadow Assassins was recently released in US and Europe(I think its called Tenchu: Art of the Ninja there). However you may not know that this is actually 8th game in series of stealth action games dating back to early 1998(not counting shinobi hyakusen and shinobi gaisen) and is also the latest sequel in the series.
[glow=green,2,300]Now its time for your Tenchu history lesson.[/glow]
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins first appeared from the shadows in early 1998 on the PSX(Playstation for you noobs) and was developed by Acquire. This game actually predates Metal Gear Solid as it came out near the end of 1998 but not the actual Metal Gear series as the 2-D ones had been released for about a decade. About two years later Acquire developed their second Tenchu game which was actually a prequel dubbed Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins. The game sold decently but the series seemed to slip back into the shadows.
Then in 2003 the series reamerged under a new license holder(From Software with K2 developing the game) The game was called Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven and was a sequel to the first Tenchu. A port of the game became available on Xbox the next year titled Tenchu: Return from Darkness and is in my opinion the best game in the series. A few years later From Software released Tenchu Fatal Shadows(A prequel to Tenchu: WoH but a sequel to Tenchu 1) which marked K2 ending their participation in the developing of the Tenchu series.
A two spin-offs were made soon after- Tenchu: Dark Shadow/Dark Secret for the DS and Tenchu: Shinobi Taizen/Time of the Assassins for the PSP. Unfortunately only the DS game made it to the US and the PSP Tenchu made it as far as Europe. However in my opinion the DS version is awful and should be bought only if you collect the games and the PSP version is a little dissapointing but is still worth the import and is not canon.
From Software then released Tenchu Z on the Xbox 360 in Japan in 06 and in the rest of the world in 07. It received bad reviews and is another spin off game where you actually don't play as one of the main characters in the series but rather make your own ninja(male or female) who serves as Rikimaru's(One of the main characters) apprentice. Also in my opinion a very fun game, however the stealth kills are lacking.
Then in June 2008 From Software annouced that it would work with Acquire to create an Tenchu trilogy for the Wii. The game was just named Tenchu 4 and was released October 23, 2008 in Japan and was recentley released in the US and Europe under different names.
[glow=blue,2,300]My thoughts on Tenchu 4[/glow]
Honestly the first weeked I played this game I thought it was shit. Everything about it was different from all the other Tenchu games and it disgusted me. As Cinder can tell you I just could not stop complaining about how much of a dissapointment the game was to me. However after playing it for a more extented period of time I started to really enjoy it and the new direction the series had taken. As of now I am very happy with the game and can't wait for the other two in the trilogy.
Also aside from the Wii version a PSP version will be available supossedly in March according to IGN.
Here is a trailer of the Wii version.
[glow=green,2,300]Now its time for your Tenchu history lesson.[/glow]
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins first appeared from the shadows in early 1998 on the PSX(Playstation for you noobs) and was developed by Acquire. This game actually predates Metal Gear Solid as it came out near the end of 1998 but not the actual Metal Gear series as the 2-D ones had been released for about a decade. About two years later Acquire developed their second Tenchu game which was actually a prequel dubbed Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins. The game sold decently but the series seemed to slip back into the shadows.
Then in 2003 the series reamerged under a new license holder(From Software with K2 developing the game) The game was called Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven and was a sequel to the first Tenchu. A port of the game became available on Xbox the next year titled Tenchu: Return from Darkness and is in my opinion the best game in the series. A few years later From Software released Tenchu Fatal Shadows(A prequel to Tenchu: WoH but a sequel to Tenchu 1) which marked K2 ending their participation in the developing of the Tenchu series.
A two spin-offs were made soon after- Tenchu: Dark Shadow/Dark Secret for the DS and Tenchu: Shinobi Taizen/Time of the Assassins for the PSP. Unfortunately only the DS game made it to the US and the PSP Tenchu made it as far as Europe. However in my opinion the DS version is awful and should be bought only if you collect the games and the PSP version is a little dissapointing but is still worth the import and is not canon.
From Software then released Tenchu Z on the Xbox 360 in Japan in 06 and in the rest of the world in 07. It received bad reviews and is another spin off game where you actually don't play as one of the main characters in the series but rather make your own ninja(male or female) who serves as Rikimaru's(One of the main characters) apprentice. Also in my opinion a very fun game, however the stealth kills are lacking.
Then in June 2008 From Software annouced that it would work with Acquire to create an Tenchu trilogy for the Wii. The game was just named Tenchu 4 and was released October 23, 2008 in Japan and was recentley released in the US and Europe under different names.
[glow=blue,2,300]My thoughts on Tenchu 4[/glow]
Honestly the first weeked I played this game I thought it was shit. Everything about it was different from all the other Tenchu games and it disgusted me. As Cinder can tell you I just could not stop complaining about how much of a dissapointment the game was to me. However after playing it for a more extented period of time I started to really enjoy it and the new direction the series had taken. As of now I am very happy with the game and can't wait for the other two in the trilogy.
Also aside from the Wii version a PSP version will be available supossedly in March according to IGN.
Here is a trailer of the Wii version.
