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is an
action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...
stealth
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
series, originally developed by Japanese developer
Acquire ''Acquire'' is a multi-player mergers and acquisitions themed board game. It is played with tiles representing hotels that are arranged on the board, play money and stock certificates. The object of the game is to earn the most money by developi ...
, where the player assumes the role of a
ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
in 16th-century Japan. The title in Japanese literally translates in English as "Divine Retribution", with 天 (ten) meaning heaven and 誅 (chū) meaning death penalty (another translation of this phrase, ''Wrath of Heaven'', is the title of the first
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
entry in the series).


Plot

The series takes place in 16th-century
feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...
. The original story (''Stealth Assassins'') revolves around two ninjas,
Rikimaru Rikimaru (力丸) is a fictional character in the ''Tenchu'' video game series. He is featured in every game in the series, including as a player character in most of them. The character's critical reception was mostly positive as one of the m ...
and Ayame, who have both been members of the Azuma Ninja Clan since childhood. The two ninjas serve the benevolent Lord Gohda and work for him as his secret spies to root out corruption and gather intelligence in his province. However, the evil demonic sorcerer Lord Mei-Oh sought to destroy Lord Gohda, and using his demon warrior Onikage, wreaked havoc throughout Lord Gohda's province. Although Lord Mei-Oh was killed in the first game, Onikage appeared in all subsequent games (except ''Fatal Shadows'' and ''Tenchu Z'') as the archenemy of the two ninja, especially Rikimaru. Another major character who shows up frequently is Princess Kiku, Lord Gohda's daughter who often needs to be saved.


Gameplay

The game perspective is third-person. There are numerous items to help the ninja on his/her mission, but unlockable items can be acquired if the player gets a "Grand Master" rating at the end of the
level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...
by being as stealthy as possible. Items and controls vary from game to game, but the gameplay is essentially the same throughout except ''Tenchu: Shadow Assassins''. Stealth is a very important element in the game, where players have to duck, crouch, and hide behind walls to avoid detection. Enemies can be killed with one maneuver by using Stealth Kills, and a player can avoid detection by using the Ki meter. The larger the number, the closer the player's position to an enemy. If a player is spotted, the Ki meter will turn red, the enemy will alert everyone in the area, and the player is forced to fight hand-to-hand or hide somewhere until the enemies give up their search and resume their patrol routes.


Characters

The main characters of the ''Tenchu'' series are Rikimaru, Ayame, Tesshu and Rin. Rikimaru is a tall, white-haired
shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21 ...
with a single
ninjatō The , , or , are the preferred weapon that the ''shinobi'' of feudal Japan carried, usually carried on the persons back, specifically horizontally at a height of around that of the person's waist. It is portrayed by modern ninjutsu practitioner ...
named "Izayoi" and a scar over his right eye. He is physically stronger than Ayame and Rin, but relatively slower. Ayame is a
kunoichi is a Japanese cant term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female shinobi or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Yamada Futaro in his novel ''Ninpō Hakkenden'' (忍法八犬伝) in 1964 ...
(female ninja) who wears standard ninja clothes with her midriff exposed and carries a pair of
kodachi A , literally translating into "small or short ''tachi'' (sword)", is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (''nihontō'') used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Kodachi are from the early Kamakura period (1185–1333) and are in the ...
. She is faster and can perform more
combos Combos, officially called Combos Stuffed Snacks, are cylindrical tubes of cracker, pretzel, or tortilla, available with various fillings. History Combos Snacks, created in the early 1980s, are a snack food distributed by Mars, Incorporated, and ...
than Rikimaru and Tesshu, but is weaker than them. Tesshu is a vigilante who wears blue doctor's clothes and fights bare-handed with acupuncture needles; he is strong like Rikimaru, but slower than Ayame and Rin. His appearance is heavily based on the character "Baian Fujieda". Rin is a young kunoichi who carries a large katana called Natsume. Despite wielding a sword, she prefers to use hand-to-hand combat, relying on fast combos like Ayame.


Games

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
purchased the rights to this game from
Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
, who originally published the game in Japan. However, Activision sold the rights to the Japanese game publisher
FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company based in Tokyo. Founded by Naotoshi Zin in November 1986, the company developed business software before releasing their first video game, ''King's Field (video game) ...
in 2004. FromSoftware's rights agreement does not include games previously published by Activision. FromSoftware licensed distribution of ''Fatal Shadows'' to
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
. There is an additional Japan-exclusive release for ''Tenchu'' on the PlayStation. One hundred of the best competing levels designed with the level editor of ''Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen'' (an expanded version of ''Tenchu'' re-released in Japan) were put together to form a stand-alone, non-story based expansion set called ''Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen''. The engine and game fundamentals remained unchanged. ''Shinobi Hyakusen'' is famous for the hardest level settings among ''Tenchu'' fans, especially because of the tight time limits and the overall lack of the items, excluding the caltrops and the throwing stars. No North American or European versions were released however. Several games were also ported to mobile phones with graphic changes. These include ''Tenchu: Ayame's Tale 3D'' which was released for the Sony Ericsson mobile phone series and ''Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven'' by TKO-Software and Digital Bridges which was released for mobile phones in 2005, although it used two-dimensional graphics. A stage play adaptation ''Tenchu Butai'' was performed in 2014. It's estimated that the whole series sales are at 10 million games sold worldwide as of 2018.


See also

*
List of ninja video games The following is an incomplete list of video games which feature ninja, mostly in action and role-playing games, from the early 1980s to the present. It is organized in alphabetical order. Game series Visual novel series Standalone games Game ...
*'' Shinobido: Way of the Ninja'' – a 2006 PS2 game with similar gameplay and stealth/action principals, also developed by Acquire. *'' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'' – a 2019 title developed by
FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company based in Tokyo. Founded by Naotoshi Zin in November 1986, the company developed business software before releasing their first video game, ''King's Field (video game) ...
and published by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
which was initially conceived as a new ''Tenchu'' game.


References


External links

* * {{FromSoftware games Activision Blizzard franchises Kadokawa Dwango franchises Video game franchises Video games set in feudal Japan Sengoku period in fiction Sengoku video games Video game franchises introduced in 1998