Tenchū (天誅?) is the title of a popular series of stealth games where the player assumes the role of a ninja. The title is a Japanese term whose English translation is heaven's punishment or well-deserved punishment; with 天 (ten) meaning heaven and 誅 (chūmeaning death penalty (it is notable that a localized translation of this phrase, "Wrath of Heaven" is the title of the first PlayStation 2 entry in the series).
Aside from its stealth gameplay, the series is known for it's setting of feudal Japan, which incorporates Japanese mythology and other fantasy elements. The first Tenchu game was the first 3D stealth video game. Likewise, the series was the first mainstream ninja game series to be based around stealth, a crucial aspect of ninjutsu, historic ninjas, and the ninja mythos.
There have been 8 unique titles across several home and portable game consoles, 2 for mobile phones, with 14 titles in total when including ports and re-releases. Tenchu games have been published for the Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and DS gamings systems.
I know there are many here on GAF who hold this series in high regard and hope that it will one day rise from the ashes. I figure there's no harm in creating a community thread to discuss the series and the increasingly rare news regarding it.
The last real news I'm aware of was last year (2015) when Activison lost the rights to the franchise after failing to provide evidence that the firm is actively continuing to use the trademark in a commercial setting, and I'm still not sure if that's really a bad thing!
Please feel free to share and discuss!
