Game #960: Tenchu 2 - Birth of the Stealth Assassins

 Now THIS feels like a proper Ninja simulator.

  Tenchu was a'ight, a'ight? Y'see, I came to that game with a big 'thing' going on against it.... the only Tenchu game I had ever played before was 3, so in many ways it couldn't stand up to my memories of that game. Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins fares much better on the account that they improved much.

 The first thing that caught me off-guard was how much bigger the story element got. We've got fully voiced cutscenes between stages, and both Ayame and Rikimaru get their own unique scenes, although a few are shared. This is a prequel to the first Tenchu, Ayame and Rikimaru look really young, and it introduces an unlockable third playable character, Tatsumaru, the third Azuma Ninja disciple, who gets his own story mode too. Rikimaru and Ayame get 11 missions each while Tatsumaru gets 7. While some missions are shared, every character gets a different objective and enemy placement, as well as some unique bosses for each character, making playing as every character a very different ordeal!

 The graphics are much improved, it no longer feels like you're treading in absolute darkness, even if there's still quite a big of 'fog'. Characters and environments feature a ton more detail, and we get new assassination animations. The game still features tank controls, but combat is a bit smoother, and we even get new techniques, such as evasive steps, long jumps or hiding underwater. Of course, now there are even more Ninja tools you can take into your missions. Going back to the combat, the game features more impressive bosses, so the slightly tightened combat makes it more fun to fight them. It's still not perfect, and some hitboxes are a bit suspect, particularly Tatsumaru's, but you'll be slashing at thin air much less than you did in the first game.

 They tried to make the grappling hook better, so that now it only shoots towards edges, but... if you're not standing at a perfectly parallel angle with the edge you want to grab you WILL fall down, to the point that grappling hook-heavy stages could be a bit annoying. Thankfully there's no fall damage and there are very few bottomless pits. On the other hand, when you get your angles right and you zip around from platform to platform it can feel so cool.

 This game features a mission editor, which I'll admit I didn't care about to even try it, but from what I've read it was pretty well received.

 I had fun with Tenchu 2, much more than I thought I would. Inside my nostalgia-filled brain Tenchu 3 is still superior, but I'll guess we'll have to find out provided I have the time this year. In the mean time, this was a fun stealth/action game, and the stronger emphasis on the narrative made it more engaging than the first. It's still a bit rough around the edges, your movement speed is a bit too slow for my taste and I wish I could see further in front of me, but considering the hardware... I think they did the best they could.

 6.5