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"The art of killing, the beauty of music, and a night cat drinking coke after midnight while playing Tenchu…"
Tenchu, or "punishment of the heaven," is the reason why gamers had bought a PSX, and what the so-called "next generation of gaming" is all about. It's not about graphical improvements, it's not about beautiful CG or FMV scenes that pop out once in a while, nor about super-ears poping sound affects (eventhough this game has it ALL) …it's about the art of gaming: Concept with innovation.
I would admit that Tenchu indeed leaves a lot of flaws and annoying elements that could easily turn short-temper people away. Anyone who is reading this review should know pretty well about the beautiful opening, as well as the angel-voice-like music. In fact, I agree with what a reviewer said earlier, the music in Tenchu is the best among any games of this genre (or anything else). Listen to the stage music of "The Princess's Sickness," you should understand what real game music should be… or more than what it should be…I believed that encountering such beautiful music is rarer than encounter an ET once of your life time.
The two main characters are: Rikimaru. Like his name suggests, he is a "Strengthen Ball." With his famous Ninja sword, "JyulokuYa," or "The Sixteenth Night," he is one unstoppable mean, yet warm heart, virtuous assassin. Another character, Ayame, (or Rainbow Lady), is a cool-temper, ice-like speedy bird who can slices enemies from the dark with her two blades made of Death's finger nails (J/K ^^;)
The two characters will have different dialogs at the end of stages, and slight differences in the ending. The downside of this game should be obvious after you played for a while: the awkward camera angle of this game sometimes are just too annoying. It follows too close to back of the characters, which often limiting how much action you can see taking place. For example, when you wanted to hide behind bushes, your characters are often blocked by those trees above him/her, and you will have a really hard time locating him/her and enemies. The most perfect kill should be done airborne, at least that is my idea of a fast kill. I really hope I can stay on the top of the roof, and right after a guard passes below me, I should jump and slice him to two pieces before I land. But once again the camera angle, it will not follow the view you wanted to look (looking downward), but it looks to the front, and I often miss my attacks (unless I'm 90% sure my attack will hit). I will have to stand up again, and luckily the guy has not yet turn around, so I can slice his throat. But if any thing like that (missed the airborne attack) should happen in a Ninja movie, it will no longer be an action movie but a comedy.
The overall performance of the characters is poor. The characters are not that agile as I had hoped from Ninjas. In fact, they are so clumsy, sometimes they can't even out run a samurai who spotted them. Even the dogs can run faster than they. Is this what they had been training for years for? My second ideal killing: stay on the other side of the corner, right after the guy turns around, I should run in fast, and brake every single joints of his (Rikimaru's preset kill). Yes I can kill from behind, but sometimes the slow speed is just a bit too annoying and frustrating.
The weaken characters really made the killing less fun, even displeasing for times. A very short temper friend of mine even said that this game is total garbage! ( But I think he was referring to himself…) But it is very true, and it would be a lie if I say that this game is perfect when these obvious flaws are present from the very first stage to the very last of it. There is literally no way one can fix this problem but to cope with it. I'm not asking for some godly speed, but I think they should do better than that after those years of training. (I think that )Due to the fact that the characters are weak, this game gives us one remedy, which is yet another flaw: once enemies spot you, they will NOT call reinforcement. They yell "Itta Zo(S/he's here)" And if you run away from them, they will forget about everything and try to go back to their duty: look out for intruders (now who hired them?). Sometimes this really makes the whole point of stealth and attack meaningless, but only serves as the way to get the special items when you get the rating of "Ninja's Inner Skill." The five levels of rating are: Door Opener, Low-Ninja, Mid-Ninja, Upper-Ninja, Ninja's inner Skill. (The reason this game is so movie-like is because the last two Kanji characters of the title mean "martial art movie" in Japanese).
One more thing about the slowness: when you do a one-hit-kill, it's done by preset polygon animation, and your character will stab the blade(s) handsomely into the unlucky prey, afterward s/he would play around with the sharp edge(s). But during the performance everything is stopped: the dogs will wait for you, the archers will stand and look, and that is enough time for them to spot you. The only way to cure this is to attack before you get too close, so you will simply kill the prey with a slash and not preset move(s). One more thing: your characters will never die out of falling to a ground, unless it's a cliff or dagger-filled grounds. Even if you are to jump off a tower and landed 20 below, you can still ran and walk and kill…so this is what they had trained themselves for…?
Okay, let's go to some not so obvious, BUT I believe that these will also get into the nerves of many Tenchu players. Let's start with the enemy AIs. This is what happens often: when I'm found by an enemy, and I make no attempt to run away. I charged but the awkward control leads me into missing the blow. Now my back is wide open. I turn around fast, hoping I can block the deadly blow…and what I found out was both funny and damnable: the guy has totally lost his mind and is charging against a stone wall/statue. Okay now I can do whatever I want to him since somehow the computer has totally lost where the target should be. Sometime the very same thing happens when you are found in a room and you exit the room, the enemy will charge against the wall. Even if I go back, he can no longer put me into his focus…sad, but truth. This might not happen often but could happen in any level, to any one (not the boss so far), NO ONE IS SAVED!!
One more little annoying thing: one the stage, "The Attacks of the Southern Barbaric Pirates." This stage is fun and tough due to the massive number of pirates equipped with foreigner's gun. There were a few guys guarding the river, and one time I lost my temper and charge up and kill. I gave him a few slashes, and since he was too close to the river, he lost balance, and fell to the river. And this "pirate" of ours who had sailed the 7 seas, found himself DROWN TO DEATH!! Can you imagine that? Okay, that was only a small chick who didn't bother learning swimming. Let's go to the boss. He was one big, yet better looking than other bosses. I'm not saying he is handsome, but the other bosses were just too ugly (uglier than the first boss, the merchant). I "kick and punch," and "block and jump." I forced him to fight on the plank, and AHA! He missed me and I did a turn and slash. The blow knocked him off the plank, and…good-looking boss who was notorious for his piracy, found himself drown to death, much like his subjects. Well since there were dialogs after every boss battle, so he was "jumped" back to the ship just to show the dialog. But he was still killed by the drowning. If there should be one explanation, and it would be the fact that the programmers are not pirate, and had no idea what they are, so they just put into some guys on some ship…sad but true, "believe it, or not."
One more thing, one item, the paralyzing-riceball,, should be taken away. Any one who had taken any Ninja class of any sort should know better than picking up a rice ball from the ground which was not there the first time they walked pass by that area.
The most innovative part of this game is the not-so-perfect stealth element. With all those flaws in mind, I want to say that, Tenchu is still the most innovative game ever existed. I believe that making a non-realistic is MUCH easier than making a realistic game of any sort (anyone disagrees? Since all the "dreams" of ours are based upon the "reality" we have, therefore our dreams are beautiful in our reality). Tenchu is one of those games (there were others…) that draw me into the mood and the world. Sure the stealth-and-kill is not perfect, but waiting with patient and then kill is much easier and more fun than go in and do a Bushido Blade style fight. Sometimes it's feel SO GREAT running on the top of people's roof and locating targets.
There are great varieties of missions, ranging from killing dishonest merchants, fetching the rare plant to cure Princess Kiku's sickness from a high mountain (great music here), and to attacking a castle occupied by "ghosts." Usually you will find out what the missions' objectives are. But if you know some Japanese then you can understand the storyline. Don't worry if you don't, because much will be explain by action and what you will encounter. 99% of the options and items are in Kanji, non-Kanji readers will have to get translations, or figure out by your self. But if you can find out the meanings of those (there are great number of FAQs), Japanese will not be a problem. Once you pass a level, you can save it and always go back to the level to get the highest rating. You can do a quick escape from the level by hitting select to bring up the map, while holding select, hit start to go to the main menu.
To make my point about the innovation and stealth clearer, I'll give you a typical day of a Ninja with a mission: There is archer with a bow. I can tell from my sense that there is another guy behind the corner. And there is no way I can jump to the top of the roof without them spotting me. It happens that the archer is not willing to turn around to stare the other side, I'll have to use some dirty tricks. He is behind one wall, and the wall is tall enough for my hook…hm…I aim the wall a few feet above him, launch the hook. I'm pulling towards the wall, I'm too close and the guy notices me, he wants to aim and shoot his arrows. Too late, because I have reached the wall and I'm falling once I hit it. I slash the sword to the below, and before my feet touch the ground, they are wet with the archer's blood. It happens that my sense was right! There is another guy over the corner, and he is walking this way. Too late to run away, I charge toward him. It is too surprising, and I stab my blade into his throat before he could pull his katana out, or even saying a word. Yet there is another guy on the very same side. He is about to turn, and it's impossible to reach him before he turns. I make a 90 degree turn to the left, and use the hook to pull myself to the roof on the side of this alley. I'm successful! And that guy is thinking that he must have heard voices. Yet he is rejoicing due to the fact that he found a rice ball on the ground when he turns back again. Poor guy his master must be too cheap to feed the guards. He eats it with pleasure, and it is little too late to spit the rice out as he feels the numbness sending to his mouth from the stomach. And now he knows only one thing for sure: the sharpest blade in Edo, "JyulokuYa," is now the closest thing next to his throat other than the rice…he sees the Shadow of the Night runs pass by the body of his. He can now only feel his eyes are getting heavier. And the last word he heard is "Itta Zo!!"
I think that it's not the trade off in this game that makes us buy this game; it's the concept and the innovation along that is worth every single buck spent. Not many developers today are willing to risk their salary to try something new. So new it might revolutionized the whole gaming experience. They rather stick with the same formulas, which the flaws are not easily seen, so does the innovation. But Tenchu is the most successful next-generation game. Sure there are criticisms, but that is done out of caring and loving this game, not to bring it down in anyway.
It's hard to comment much on the gameplay. If you like the concept, this game is a must-buy. But if you rather stick with games that changed nothing a thing but their names from the companys' previous "efforts," then this might not be for you.
Music: 9.5/10
+ Beautiful world-music opening.
+ Best overall mood built.
+ Art of killing, art of listen.
- Tasteless players might not like the beautiful composition.
Gameplay: -/-
+ Like or not like.
Story/Characters: 8/10
+ It really gives me an anime-sense: cool characters bring justice to the world. + VERY GOOD ENDING!!!! Best I have seen in any game of this style (aka 3-D action) - Yet not much character interactions.
Overall: -/-
I'll not give a score for this section. If you feel like this game is for you, then it's. But I can tell you that, this is a very satisfying purchase (I can feel the programmers' hard works).
This is the only more action oriented game that kept me playing ALL night(s). I had my three-days weekend but not a minute was spent else where (other games, I still drink and eat). It kept me going back simply trying to get the ratings of "Ninja's Inner Skill" for all the levels. DON'T use the cheats; they will destroy the purpose. Besides, why do you want to cheat your $60+ game away? Don't be fooled by its flaws; this is the most spectacular game ever created by beings of any sort.
Any comments, if friendly, are welcome! ^ ^;