INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The turkey was cooking, the present unwrapped, and my brother and I had just popped Tenchu: Stealth Assassins into our original PlayStation
console.Then came the blood
Gallons and gallons of polygonal blood
The 18 certificate should have been a giveaway, but somehow the reality of ninja assassinations must have been lost on my Mum as she
their most-wanted of gifts.But when the ninjas leapt from the rooftops, splitting lowly guards in two like meaty Kit-Kats with their
katanas, Mum must have wondered if this was quite in the same spirit of Christmas as the wintry saccharine cards and carols surrounding
us.From blood spills to BloodborneThe Tenchu series, first developed by studio Acquire and later by Dark Souls and Bloodborne legends
FromSoftware turns twenty this year
extent, to the industry as a whole
Here was a 3D game that put the emphasis on sneaking and tactical planning (some months before the seminal Metal Gear Solid, it should be
noted), all wrapped up in that coolest and most mysterious of historical killers, the ninja.E3 2018: all the latest news and rumors from
this year's showSet in Feudal-era Japan, the series focussed around ninjas Rikimaru and Ayame, members of the Azuma Ninja clan and servants
head with a fallen ninja and demonic warriors.Rikimaru and Ayame had a wide array of moves and tools at their disposal
Rikimaru, the stockier, older, stoic ninja, would use his longer single blade to dice foes to pieces, while slight-but-speedy Ayame would
use twin blades to pepper baddies with holes
without being spotted and using only the gore-tastic stealth kills by receiving new items like poisoned rice balls, smoke bombs and caltrops
for its later Souls titles.Rushing into a battle was a sure-fire way to get turned into tooled-up kebab, and getting killed meant starting
each level from scratch, losing your limited provision of gadgets in the process
The focus then became on truly knowing enemy patrol routes and, in many cases, avoiding them altogether to reach your target.Striking from
string of so-so sequels and spin offs
with the original DualShock controller
And so it holds up poorly today, with relatively clunky movement and dire camera swings.But its influence can be felt anywhere that open
wagging.With hidden weapons, gallons of blood and a ye-olde feel to the trailer, some speculated that the trailer, with a tagline (or title)
really let FromSoftware reveal one of its crowning jewels away from one of its own PlayStation showcases Unlikely.Dig a little deeper, as
Giuseppe Nelva of DualShockers did, and the evidence of a Tenchu revival steps out of the shadows
spruced up 4K.PS5: what's the latest PlayStation 5 newszypexNeBb5YzQBKpJ4qqPo.jpg#
