THE MAKING OF: TENCHU: STEALTH ASSASSINS
LORD GOHDA
QA wise and generous leader of his domain, Lord Gohda
is nonetheless not someone you’d want to double-cross
thanks to his pair of lethal ninja enforcers, Rikimaru and
Ayame. A notable warrior in his own right, Gohda is an expert
swordsman who favours the traditional katana in combat, and
must ward off all threats to his countr y from those who env y
its peace and prosperity.LORD MEIOH
QTranslating loosely as ‘Pluto’, the god of the under world in
classic mythology, Lord Mei-oh is the sworn enemy of Lord
Gohda, and the ninja’s final opponent having dispatched his
henchman, Onikage. Boasting huge magical properties,
Mei-oh can teleport a short distance and also project
devastating fire attacks. Despite these powers, Tenchu proves
to be the end of the road for Mei-oh. Or does it?People’s jaws would drop seeing
Rikimaru and Ayame brutally take
down samurai
David GrijnsQContrary to the game, ninjas rarely
used weapons, although they oen
hid shuriken, makibishi (caltrops) and
swords under their clothes.
QAcquire’s plan was always to have
Rikimaru dramatically survive in order
to continue the series.
QAccording to David Grijns, Metal Gear
Solid publisher Konami tried hard to
publish Tenchu outside Japan, possibly
in order to avoid a direct competitor to
its own PlayStation stealth title.
QThe only adjustment for the UK release
was the requirement to replace
shurikens with razor-sharp darts.
Phew, much safer.
QTenchu 2 entered development
immediately following the success of
the first game. In David’s opinion, it is
the strongest game of the series from
a narrative standpoint.
QTenchu’s original sci-fi demo featured
motion-captured movie stars Sho
Kusagi and his son, Kane. The stealth
aspect was downplayed, although
certain key elements, such as lurking
around corners and taking down
oblivious enemies were present.
QThe final, authoritative pose for each
ninja aer performing one of the
takedown moves comes from sword-
fighting scenes in traditional Japanese
samurai drama.
QDue for imminent release,
FromSoware and Activision’s Sekiro:
Shadows Die Twice has been touted
as the spiritual update that the Tenchu
series finally deserves. We await it
with bated breath.» [PlayStation] At the star t of Cross The Checkpoint awaits this warrior.We stealthed our way behind guards to
unearth this forbidden knowledgeThis ‘Spidey sense’ became a core ingredient of
Tenchu along with its gory and exaggerated death
moves. “The stealth kills sold the game so there
was always a push to add more but I think the
enormous replayability of the game showed that
the game’s depth was surprising even without
more stealth kills,” David says. “It’s hard to believe
now but in 1998, sitting in conference rooms
at Activision, people’s jaws would drop seeing
Rikimaru and Ayame brutally take down samurai
in a variety of stealthy ways.”T
enchu was released in February 1998 in
Japan with the western versions following a
few months later. After briefly considering a
Nintendo 64 port, it was decided to keep the
game PlayStation exclusive, with the American/
European versions including an extra two levels
and multiple layouts for each mission. Activision’s
gamble paid off. “It was our best-selling game
in 1998 and a huge boost to company profits
at a time when we were still struggling to earn
market share,” remembers David, who estimates
the game shifted over 5 million copies including
re-releases. And strangely, 21 years later, Tenchu
stands almost alone in its unique genre. “Outside
of Thief, Splinter Cell, and Metal Gear, pure stealth
games are few and far between. And yet Tenchu
was somehow different than all these games.
It was very deliberate and unapologetic in its
depiction of 16th century Japan. It refused to
show ninja as anything other than what they were- shadows. Born in darkness and destined to die
in the darkness.”
Back in issue 127 of Retro Gamer, our readers,
to the surprise of many, voted Tenchu number
four in the Top 25 PlayStation Games feature.
What does Endo think makes the original game so
enduring? “I think the idea of Tenchu, to become
a ninja and wander around freely, was relatively
new at the time – you can see its influence today
in many games,” he muses. “To say the least, we
made this game with the greatest effort and all
our creativity. Sadly, Tenchu has been forgotten
in Japan, but I am very happy that it is highly
evaluated in the west.”
For David Grijns, at the start of his videogame
development career, his first game demonstrated
the sort of company he was working for, in
addition to influencing heavily his own career. “I
was young and somewhat naive, and pushed for
things that could have ended my career. To their
great credit, the management team at Activision
was a rare beast – they didn’t want to hear what
they already knew – they wanted people to
challenge them and defy the common wisdom.
It was in that spirit that Tenchu came to be, and it
has informed virtually everything I’ve done in this
business since.”
It’s hard to deny Tenchu’s appeal, both as a
pioneer of the stealth game, and as a unflinching
window into the way of the ninja. Today, the series
lives on in FromSoftware’s spiritual successor
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which like Tenchu
is published by Activision and actually started
development as a Tenchu game. We feel that’s
fitting, knowing the series is still there, behind the
scenes, operating from the shadows.Tenchu
Trivia
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