Snake Hey, Drake, you want to do a collab?
Drake Eh, sure.
Snake Cool.
Welcome to A LINE THROUGH T⌛ME, where we take the time to look through your favourite
franchises and work out how it all lines up.
God, I miss Tenchu. It's an unfortunate victim of what I like to call "New Child Syndrome",
where a company finds success with a new franchise and all their attention goes towards that,
neglecting their older franchises until they die or get put into a new home. Unreal, Prince
of Persia, Legacy of Kain, Freedom Force, this happens way more often than you'd think
or hope. I'll explain more later.
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (whose Japanese name translates to Stereoscopic Ninja Theatrical
Drama: Divine Retribution... apparently) was developed by Acquire for the Playstation in
1998. While originally planned as a sci-fi ninja romp, the final product is set in feudal
times instead.
Drake The game was published by Sony in Japan, and
Activision outside of of Japan. The franchise was then purchased by Activision outright.
The story follows Rikimaru and Ayame, members of the Azuma Ninja Clan, serving under Lord
Gohda. They foil the schemes of the evil Lord Mei-Oh, but Rikimaru is lost in a cave-in
at the end of the game.
Snake Yeah, I can relate to being buried beneath
a ton of dense, valueless material. This plotline, however, would not be followed up on in the
next game, 2000's Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins, as this is a prequel. The story
focuses on the battle for succession between Lord Gohda and his uncle Motohide, as well
as a ninja uprising against the samurai.
Drake Along the way, we learn the origin of Rikimaru's
scar, as well as his eternal rival, Onikage. It was also the first entry to feature a third
playable character, Tatsumaru in this case, which would be the case in multiple future
titles.
Snake 2003's Tenchu 3 was developed by K2 LLC for
the PS2, who would continued to develop the series after Activision took it away from
Acquire. Tenchu 3 was titled Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven in the west. Tenchu already translates
to "divine punishment", so the game is effectively called "Tenchu Tenchu", as if it was named
by Kizuna Ai.
Ai-chan Fuck you, Fuck you!
Drake The game received an enhanced Xbox port in
2004, named Return from Darkness, a more fitting title, as the story sees Rikimaru return from
his supposed death in the first game. He has a brief excursion into the future where he
assassinates a cyborg CEO, which I can only assume is a nod to the original concept of
the franchise. As well as Rikimaru and Ayame, we can also play as the doctor and assassin,
Fujioka Tesshū.
Snake The game was published by FromSoftware in
Japan, which will be important shortly. There was also a two-part prequel manga released
in Monthly Shōnen Gangan's April and May 2003 issues, named Tenchu 3. We cannot find
a single page of this manga, so we have no idea what it's actually about, but it apparently
did exist.
Drake And there was a mobile game, Tenchu: Ayame's
Tale 3D, but it doesn't seem to have a story.
Snake The following year, Activision sold the franchise
to FromSoftware, who then turned to Sega to publish the games outside of Japan. The first
game under FromSoft was Tenchu Kurenai (Fatal Shadows in the west). It takes place during
Rikimaru's absence, presumably before the manga. We can't say for sure for previously
stated reasons. Ayame teams up with a young kunoichi named Rin to avenge the latter's
destroyed village.
Drake Tenchu: Shinobi Taizen released on the PSP
in Japan in 2005. It released in Europe as Tenchu: Time of the Assassins. However, Sega
refused to release it in North America at all. Pricks. And this title features a whopping
five playable characters, including Rin, Tesshū and Onikage. Tesshū's story precedes his
appearance in Wrath of Heaven; Rikimaru and Ayame's stories are stated to take place after
Wrath of Heaven; Rin knows Rikimaru in her story, placing it after his return in Wrath
of Heaven; and Onikage's takes place after some encounter with Rikimaru, either Wrath
of Heaven or Rikimaru's campaign in this game.
Snake Polygon Magic developed April 2006's Nintendo
DS release, Tenchu: Dark Shadow, renamed to Dark Secret in the west. It occurs two years
after Tenchu 2, but before Tenchu 1. The game overall wasn't received very well.
Drake Six months later, Tenchu Disturbance released
on the Xbox 360. Apparently, this one almost didn't make it outside Japan at all until
Microsoft stepped in to do it themselves as Tenchu Z.
Snake But honestly, are you really surprised the
owners of Yakuza were hesitant to localise a franchise for the west? This time, you play
as a custom character, who is an apprentice of Rikimaru. Beyond him and Lord Gohda, there
are no connections to previous entries. It does, however, feature what is objectively
the worst way to die in a video game: no enemies in the game can swim, not even the bosses.
Therefore, if you take them over to a cesspit, a hole in the ground filled with liquid shit...
Next time someone makes a list of the worst ways to die in games, you tell them to shut
their stupid face because they don't know true suffering.
Drake After Shadow Assault: Tenchu, the plot-less
puzzle spin-off, Tenchu: Shadow Assassins released in October 2008. Its original name
being Tenchu 4 in Japanese, meaning all those other games after Wrath of Heaven aren't as
important as this one, 'cause now they've decided to go back to numbered instalments.
Acquire returned to develop the Wii version, while FromSoft themselves worked on the PSP
port.
Snake This one narrows the scope to focus on Rikimaru
and Ayame, going up against a new villain, who turns out to be Onikage once again. Despite
the true ending's cliffhanger of Onikage possessing Ayame (which has yet to be followed up on),
we're going to place this one before Tenchu Z, since it continues the ongoing story, and
potentially explains why Ayame isn't around in Z, as depressing as that is.
And, aside from a 2014 stage play, that's it for the series, sadly. FromSoft released
Demon's Souls in 2009, and became a Soulsborne factory from that point on. Now, you see what
I was talking about earlier. Souls came out and everyone was so impressed by it that Tenchu
ended up neglected and forgotten.
Drake There may be hope, though. Many are speculating
that FromSoft's upcoming "Shadows Die Twice" project could be a revival of Tenchu. "Shadows
Die Twice" is a phrase used in Tenchu 3, and the text in the background is apparently iconic
quotes from the series. So, it's possible, but let's try to keep our expectations low,
just in case.
Snake But let's put that aside for now and discuss
other things we don't know for sure. As far as I can tell, there are no definitive dates
for the games, sadly. We've seen a few cited on wikis, but without sources. Tenchu 2 is
set seven years before 1, according to the ending text. Dark Secret is two years after
2. Wrath of Heaven is a year after 1. Aside from that, I've got nothing. All we can really
say is that the series seems to occur some time around the 1570's. Hopefully, any future
material will be a little more clear on that.
Drake So, without any further ado, the Tenchu timeline
goes a little something... like this.
Tenchu by The4thSnake
Snake During the battle for succession of the Gohda
Clan, Lady Kagami of the Nyogetsu ninja forms the Burning Dawn movement to overthrow the
ruling samurai. The group's leaders are dispatched by Rikimaru and Ayame of the Azuma ninja clan,
and Gohda Matsunoshin becomes the new clan head. Suzaku of the Burning Dawn returns from
the dead in the form of Onikage.
Rikimaru and Ayame travel to the village of Saiga, where they protect Princess Shizu from
her husband Kagemasa's attempts to revive the Lord of the Dead through their unborn
child. The two kill Kagemasa, saving Shizu and the child.
Onikage assists Lord Mei-Oh in his arrival on Earth and abducts Lord Gohda's daughter,
Kiku. Rikimaru and Ayame save Kiku and slay both villains. Ayame and Kiku escape the collapsing
caves, while Rikimaru is trapped inside.
Hagakure Village is destroyed by the Kuroya assassin group. The sole survivor, Rin, teams
up with Ayame to hunt down the Kuroya and their leader, Jyuzou.
Fujioka Tesshū comes into conflict with the Jinnai brothers.
Onikage returns in the service of the sorcerer, Tenrai. After an excursion into the 20th Century,
Rikimaru returns to join Ayame and Tesshu in defeating Onikage and Tenrai.
Rikimaru, Ayame and Rin have encounters with the still living Onikage.
Amid rumours of treason, Princess Kiku is abducted. Gohda Castle is set ablaze by Onikage,
whose defeat comes at the cost of Kiku's life. Onikage uses the darkness born in Ayame's
heart to take possession of her body.
As war with Ogawara looms, Rikimaru begins training new recruits for the Azuma, Kagemaru
and Shinobu. They repeatedly encounter a rival ninja named Shigi, who captures and tortures
one of the ninja to death, and assassinates his master, Ogawara Nagayori, before burning
the castle and disappearing into the flames.
That's two different cliffhangers set in burning castles they've left us with. What is with
this franchise? God, I hope Shadows Die Twice is related to Tenchu and not more bloody Souls.
Oh, well, thanks for helping out with this one, Drake.
Drake No problem. We should do this again sometime.
Snake Absolutely, yes. Even if the viewers didn't
like it, I don't care. Nothing is going to stop us from collaborating again.
Drake Hey, Snake, since this series was developed
by FromSoft, does that mean that Tenchu is the Dark Souls of stealth games? Eh? Eh?
Snake ...I'm never working with you again.
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