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[Bulbasaur]

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 (ch&#363 meaning 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!

 

[Unicorn]

I love me some Tenchu. http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=472374

I'd live a new Tenchu. Shinobido was decent, but felt too loose. I even enjoyed the Wii/PSP Tenchu game.

 

[Bulbasaur]

I love me some Tenchu. http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=472374

I'd live a new Tenchu. Shinobido was decent, but felt too loose. I even enjoyed the Wii/PSP Tenchu game.

Shinobido was solid but just wasn't the same to me. I enjoyed the PSP Tenchu 4 far more than the Wii version due to the controls, but it lacked the traversal options that made the earlier games in my opinion.


Here's hoping From Software can pull themselves away from Dark Souls enough to do something meaningful with the franchise, it's definitely within their reach!

 

[Tizoc]

Should've put this thread in GD first because not everyone will notice it with it starting in Community XO

Non the less, of the PSOne games, I take it the JP versions are the best ones right?
Would be ace if these PSOne games could be re-released/HD remastered for current gens :/

 

[Bulbasaur]

Should've put this thread in GD first because not everyone will notice it with it starting in Community XO

Non the less, of the PSOne games, I take it the JP versions are the best ones right?
Would be ace if these PSOne games could be re-released/HD remastered for current gens :/

I think the original PSOne game had a second release in Japan with bonus levels but other than the original Japanese voice overs, I don't think there's any significant difference.

A remaster would be highly unlikely in my opinion, but a reboot is what I'm hoping for.

 

[Bulbasaur]

Mods, by chance could you move this to the general thread to garner more interest?