Please make a new Tenchu game... would give 100 times the price it's worth for the new game, even more. Even Ghost of Tsushima doesn't come anywhere near this legendary Tenchu. These days now they have Tomb Raidere remake, Resident Evil remake... Please Tenchu-developers, can't believe you're all gone or retired, please make a new Tenchu.

I Once wrote a fan fic about my vision of what a reboot (It´s not very good but i wanted to share) Before i get started the story would borrow heavily from tenchu 2 so any similarities please remember is a just a fan version so Rikimaru story: His story would start as the original only with a few differences

1: The azuma clan doesn't serve house gohda

2: There is only 2 ninjas Rikimaru and onikage (Yeah you heard right)

3: Rikimaru would still be in his teens

His story would start at a test by his master a duel between rikimaru and onikage in order to decide who would be the wielder of izayoi (The clan´s ancestral sword) which rikimaru is defeated At the same time of his defeat are annouced the arrival of the gohda troupes who annouced the village now must swear loyalty to Motohide gohda but master shiunsai refuses saying that the azuma clan would never a man like motohide so the general of the troupe orders them to attack the ninjas (This part would serve as a tutorial for the combat) the ninjas easily defeat the troupes leaving no man alive Later they are gathered in the dojo where the master explain his old relations with the gohda family where he says he had a old parthernership with lord gohda but they parted ways in peace a long time but after death his tyrannical brother now has taken over because his son was too young to take over the house The master than explain that matohide is extremely hated and that there will be a rebellion but the azuma clan will take no part in it he than gives a mission to onikage and a assignment to rikimaru saying he must deliver a message to a women but is given no name only a description and is said that he can´t be seen otherwise the message would be pointless and tell him that she is located outside of a village but the village is under house gohda control (it would show the stealth gameplay) When rikimaru finally reaches the location he is surprised by a girl wearing a fox mask then the two engage in a fight until the fight is broken by lady kagami (Yeah you heard right) a women that matches the description that rikimaru received The girl with the fox mask then removes her mask and presents herself as ayame (Yes you heard right) Rikimaru delivers the letter written by his master (Kagami is impressed by how he was to get by the village without being seeing) Kagami then delivers a letter and instruct rikimaru to deliver to his master and ayame makes a comment about his sword skills and that she will like to battle him again Upon his return to the village rikimaru notices the smell of fire and hears screams coming from the village he then notices the gohda house soldiers executing the villagers Rikimaru then rushes throuth the temple where he see his master dueling motohide and easily defeating but while he is on the ground he pulls out a gun and shoots the master Rikimaru enraged by what he saw tries to attack motohide but is stopped by onikage Where rikimaru would discover that onikage actually sold the azuma clan in exchange of a position in motohide house Furious by the betrayal rikimaru tries to fight but is easily defeated by him but is saved by his dying master that throw a smoke bomb and gives him a chance to escape After he took shelter in a river the both are unsure of what to do rikimaru then opens the letter that lady kagami wrote to the master The Letter said that: she understand that the clan wouldn´t support the burning dawn and it would not take any part in the soon to be upcoming war Unsure of what to do next rikimaru decides to search for the lady kagami again in order to know more about this war Rikimaru than searches the same village he went the first time but noticed that the hideout was empty and that they left no long ago rikimaru than see a planning board saying that they planned to attack house toda during the break of a war between house toda and house gohda do to the death of lord gohda Rikimaru then rushes in order to catch up with them Rikimaru then manages to get into toda castle where is suffering a attack of gohda rikimaru then manages to enter the castle where he meets ayame once again where she is trying to assassinate lord toda´s son but is defeated do to his superior sword skills rikimaru then steps in and manages to defeat him Then is questioned by ayame what is he doing there he then tells her that he wants to join the burning dawn Ayame is somewhat surprise She then tells rikimaru that he would have to complete a trial first The trial is to kill lord toda and bring his sword to the burning dawn hideout Rikimaru accepts the trial and tell ayame he will see her back in the hideout While rikimaru leaves Ayame then says to herself "poor fool he actually thinks that he will get past lord toda's guards and kill him" Rikimaru then make his way into the mainhall where he hears some soldiers saying that lord toda is out of the city in a camp but their orders were only to take over the castle Rikimaru then makes his way into the camp The camp is high alert so Rikimaru cannot be seen otherwise lord toda will escape Rikimaru then makes his way into his tent where he his surprised by the twin sparrows (they are two identical twins wearing pirate like clothes one of them posses two blades while the other posses several pistols) the guards that ayame mentioned Then the twins than have a argument about their payment from lord toda while one wants a ship the other want money then they say whoever kills rikimaru first will decide the paynent Rikimaru then fights and defeats both twins and make his way into toda tent where he is shocked that rikimaru defeated the twins then he tells rikimaru to do what he got to do he won't fight because he was too old and it was time for his son to take over (the son that rikimaru killed early) Rikimaru then kills toda and takes his sword He then makes his way into the hideout as he told ayame And overhears the group's conversation

Kagami: It was a sucess the toda received a significant blow with the fall of their house and the death of their heir

Ayame: There is one more thing I didn't mentioned

Kagami: What is it ayame Ayame: that ninja who came here the otherday he was there

Kagami: the azuma ninja? What was he doing there?

Ayame: He said he wanted to join us so I. ....

Rikimaru then steps in and say

Rikimaru: She said I needed to complete a trial and I did Rikimaru throws toda's blade and everyone is shocked by it (especially ayame) Ayame then says "wait you actually did it I can't belived" Rikimaru then is confused by her answer and lady kagami even more confused demands a explanation from ayame Ayame then explains that she actually was trying to get rid of rikimaru because of lady kagami orders of not Letting anyone discover their intentions Lady kagami then forgives ayame because she actually did say that nobody could discover about the burning dawn Kagami then questions rikimaru asking if his master changed his mind about aiding her Rikimaru then gives her the news about his master death and how cowardly he was killed Lady kagami then infuriated by what she heard tells rikimaru that she is going to make sure that motohide pays for what he did Rikimaru then request to join the burning dawn which kagami glady accepts him saying that a azuma ninja will be a great addition to her cause She then explains what the burning dawn stands (is pretty much the same as the original just the difference is that fire demon wans´t build by slaves it was build by people who actually support kagami) she then presents rikimaru to the four lords

Shiryu,The Black Dragon (A Extremely skilled martial artist)

Kazādo, The Red giant (a giant Axe wielder)

Minase, The green eagle (A Archer who looks like a bum)

Ayame, The white fox (I don't need to tell who she is)

She then explains their plan to defeat house gohda The first step is to kidnap motohide daugther princess kiku (yes you heard right) who is hidden in mansion that is heavily guarded So kagami instruct Kazādo and rikimaru to the mission The both then go to the mansion when they got there they notice a giant group of soldiers Rikimaru then says he will sneak in but Kazādo ignores him and break throuth the front gate rikimaru then joins him and they fight their way in After they reached the entrance they are confronted by a fully armored samurai and Kazādo tells rikimaru to get the princess rikimaru gets to the princess chambers and finds the princess about to get killed by a man throwing knives at her Rikimaru then steps in and saves the princess and kills the men The princess than ask rikimaru who he is and what is he doing there? (Rikimaru see several marks and bruices on her) Rikimaru than tell her that he was there to kidnap her Princess kiko than stands up and agrees to go with hím (rikimaru is surprised by that) and the two make their way to entrance where Kazādo is uncontious The fully armored samurai presents hinself as Senjuro Akechi and tell princess kiku to not even think about leaving because her father paid them too well to let her leave (princess kiku hide behind rikimaru in fear) Rikimaru then questions what did they do to her where Akechi responds "don't worry she still a virgin we only played few games with her" Rikimaru infuriated draws his blade and prepares to battle The two engage in a battle where rikimaru needs to finds way to penetrate his armor After rikimaru manages to give him enough hits Kazādo wakes up infuriated he grab his Axe and hits Akechi breaking his armor entirely while he is on the ground Kazādo stands there grinding his teeth while he screams and begs while rikimaru and kiku leave Back to the hideout princess kiku tells lady kagami that rikimaru told her everything and that she can give her informations about her father's army Lady kagami is very surprised and satisfied with it Rikimaru then explains to her everything about what happend in the mansion and he hatred towards motohide increased She then tells rikimaru that they need to move to their new "home" in order to continue their plans Rikimaru then is presented to the fire demon a week passes by during their trip in this rikimaru gets close to all the members of the burning dawn (especially ayame) and princess kiku is getting really clingy towards hím During one night rikimaru see's kagami praticing her sword play and she ask him to duel her where rikimaru is defeated Kagami tell's rikimaru that he should not bury his fealings rikimaru ask what she means

Lady kagami: your master always belived that passion was a weakness but he was wrong A warrior without passion is like a river without water You must use your passion if you ever hope to defeat your enemy

Rikimaru: but how

Lady kagami: come and let it flow like a river

Rikimaru and kagami pratice sword play (ayame watches the two praticing) The next day kagami gives a mission to rikimaru and ayame The mission is torch the gohda sacred temple which would create panic in the village Rikimaru and ayame wait into the night when there is no one presented in the temple The end up talking about their lifes Ayame tells hím that her family died when warring clans fought for the ownership of the small village where she lived she then was found by lady kagami who took care of her and trained her Rikimaru then tells her that he was a azuma ninja for as far as he can remember he always consideraded his master as a father and onikage a brother and he was heart broken when he lost his father and was betrayed by his brother but he is glad because he had a new family now The night had come and the temple was empty So ayame And rikimaru enter the temple and prepare to torch the place but rikimaru is surprised by a ninja the two engage in a fight but ayame há already started the fire so rikimaru has a time limit to defeat the ninja Rikimaru manages to hold his own against the ninja but colapses of exaution and the ninja escapes afterwords He wakes back in the fire demon and is embraced by kiku Kiku then tell him that ayame carried him back to the ship He then meets lady kagami that tells hím that the day of the downfall of house gohda has come Lady kagami then call everyone and tells them everything about the plan She then tells rikimaru to assassinate motohide once and for all The attack start by shotting at the gohda castle Rikimaru then makes his way into motohide throne where he cofronts motohide

The dialogue:

Motohide: (laughs) so you came avenge your master isn't?

Rikimaru: You're going to pay motohide, pay for my master, for kiku for everyone

Motohide: Pay? (Laughs) I paid my entire life boy,i paid when my only child was born a  women,i paid when my brother murdered my father,and i paid when your master murdered my brother,and now what i´m gonna get killed by my own nephew

Rikimaru: What?

Motohide: then you don't know? Ofcourse you don't,Shiunsai never had a reason to tell you

Rikimaru: TELL ME WHAT?

Motohide: My father had three sons Matsunoshin,Tenrai and me motohide then one day my father growed sick out of nowhere died in his sleep and the oldest brother matsunoshin becomes the lord of the house Then the middle brother Tenrai orders a ninja to kill hím but the ninja didn't just kill him he also killed his wife and his newborn son

Rikimaru: this ninja was my master but what does this have to do with me

Motohide: before your master died he told me he never killed the son, my bother and his wife were killed 16 years ago,how old are you boy

Rikimaru: No it can't be

Motohide: So i was right, is ironic my brother always had a deep hatred towards ninjas and his own son became one it´s hilarious

Rikimaru: no this can't be true

Motohide: you're master killed your parents, and took you to train like a dog

Rikimaru: shut up

Motohide: how does it feal nephew to destroy your own family

Rikimaru: SHUT UP

Motohide: Did you enjoy my daugther how does it feal to touch your own blood

Rikimaru infuriated draws his blade and attacks motohide the engage in duel After rikimaru beats motohide into a pulp he kills hím by chopping his head off

He them returns to the ship where he finds lady kagami in a pool of blood she then tells hím that onikage is waiting for him in the front deck and she then dies in his arms Rikimaru filled with hatred and sorrow goes to confront onikage but is stoped by ayama telling him she would not let him confront onikage because rikimaru has no chance of defeating him rikimaru then tells her to step aside which ayama refuse and say the she won´t allow it even if she has to fight him rikimaru then says "so be it" rikimaru than defeats ayama leaving her unable to stand rikimaru then persues to onikage but ayame grabs his leg and beg him not to go

The dialogue:

Ayame: Please don´t

Rikimaru: Ayame

Ayame: (Cries) first my mother and my father and now lady kagami you can´t die too rikimaru

Rikimaru: I´m sorry ayame but i can´t let this go not after everything he did i won´t be able to live with myself if i don´t confront him now

Ayame: Rikimaru look around you all this death and destruction it wasn´t motohide that caused it was us we are no different from the people we fight we only hide behind a dream that is not even ours i never belived lady kagami´s dream i just followed her because i owned her everything but now that she is gone i see everything we did is wrong and now you´re about to throw your life away because of revenge?

Rikimaru: It's not revenge it's...

Ayame: You hate him because he betrayed you,he was you're friend and he tried to get you killed,please rikimaru this not worth it it's not worth your life,please don't leave me

Rikimaru then gently kiss ayame forehead and says "Don´t worry i won´t be leaving you so soon" ayame then let go of rikimaru,Rikimaru then climbs into the front back and meets onikage

The dialogue

Onikage: Rikimaru I was waiting for you

Rikimaru: Why onikage? Why did you do all of this?

Onikage: see for yourself

The two look to the village burning and the screams

Onikage: Chaos is the will of my lord

Rikimaru: Motohide is death

Onikage: I wasn't talking about your uncle rikimaru I only serve one lord

Rikimaru: I don't care who you serve onikage

Onikage: So be it.

Onikage: Prepare yourself rikimaru

The two start their battle until rikimaru gets the upperhand but is unable to kill onikage so onikage slice his eye with izayoi

Onikage: you're weak rikimaru that's why you will never beat me you allow your emotions to make you weak

Rikimaru stands up and and he remembers what lady kagami tauth him Rikimaru then fights onikage and manages to defeat him onikage then piece izayoi into his own chest and say

Onikage: Well done rikimaru I guess I was wrong when my lord finally comes you better be ready because this won't be enough to stop hím

Rikimaru: What are you talking about

Onikage: He told me to do all of this he made me betray the master he......

Mei-oh: That's enough onikage

Rikimaru: Huh

Mei-oh: You no longer usefull so is time for you to end

Mei-oh then makes onikage feal pain

Onikage: AHHHHHH

Rikimaru: Onikage

Onikage: Rikimaru you need to be prepared you're the only one who can stop hím now AAAAHHHHHH

Onikage dies

Rikimaru: ONIKAGE!!!!!! NOOO

Rikimaru then see onikage collapse unable to help hím He then mourne yet another death Afterwords rikimaru is preparing a grave to lady kagami putting her sword in the grave he then is surprised by ayame who as him how he is doing Rikimaru says he was fine but then ayame hugs him Rikimaru: Ayame Why? Ayame: Don't pretend you're not sad Rikimaru: I..... Ayame: You're not alone anymore rikimaru there is no reason to suffer in silence Rikimaru starts to cry and hugs ayame back

END

Post credit scene:

We see that same ninja that rikimaru fouth in the temple and is knneling before mei-oh

Mei-oh: Onikage has been defeated and that boy will pose a treat to me in the future

Ninja: My lord we can´t allow him to interfere

Mei-oh: Don´t be stupid the boy might be strong but he will never be able to defeat me in my full streath but i will need the izayoi to return

Ninja: The sword?

Mei-oh: That sword was used as a key to seal me in the portal and is the only thing that can open it now the boy has it

Ninja: I see i will recover the sword no matter the cost

Mei-oh: Exellent now go Tatsumaru

Tatsumaru: Yes my lord

I've become interested in the series again not long ago after reading some interesting news surrounding the Tenchu trademark and started playing Wrath of Heaven again. Can't say I've played the whole series, only the PS1 and PS2 games, but while the atmosphere of the games tends to be somewhat similar the narrative (so to say) can be quite different, from my opinion:

SPOILER ALERT, DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED TENCHU: SA, BOTSA, WoH, FS OR SHADOW ASSASSINS or read if you just simply don't care for spoilers

- Acquire's games are, essentially, the story of a tragedy. SA ends in tragedy, BOTSA is almost completely tragic, and not to mention Shadow Assassin's ending. Tragedies are kind of a staple in japanese media, specially traditional theatre and stories based in the feudal periods. Not to say Acquire's games don't have some comedy elements (ignoring inintentional humor caused by the graphic limitations of the first games, which there is A LOT, Genbu is comic relief in most of his appearances, Takehito Urano is the target of some old-man jokes, the idea of adorable animals like cats and Semimaru being ninja, and of course, Ayame's sharp tongue) but the story is almost completely centered in a story of loss, the merciless lifestyle of ninja and the cruelty of war.

I kind of like this kind of stories myself, but I've been wondering if Acquire is too focused in tragedy themselves. SA ends in the apparent death of Rikimaru and a rather somber ending cutscene, the next game is a prequel, but what if there hadn't been other sequel after that? Or what if Ayame remained the sole protagonist? BOTSA does an excellent job at building up the player's sympathy towards the protagonists, but I can't help but think that if Rikimaru had remained dead, more than being a cruel move, It would have wasted his potential as a character.

Now, what I didn't really like is how they used this approach in Shadow Assassins. So apparently, while unspoken, K2's continuity is considered canon. So Acquire makes the game, and what do we see in the ending? Kiku dies, Sekiya dies (offscreen to boot) and despite Kiku's effort Onikage lives after possessing Ayame (for added irony). Of the many things I've seen people complain about this game the ending is one of the most spoken of. Personally, I did find it rather unnecesary too, but wonder what impulsed Acquire to make it that way. Did they try to bridge Tenchu Z story (Ayame and Kiku and do not appear in that game)? Did they try to use Sekiya's unexplained recovery in Wrath of Heaven as foreshadowing? Do they simply not understand their fanbase (Kiku seems to be a fan favorite among the japanese, Ayame is rather popular and all three are amongs the most recurrent characters)? Or was it backlash against K2's storytelling?

And speaking of K2...

- I know it's generally agreed that K2's storytelling was not at the caliber of Acquire's. Their games have a more anime feel to them, the character's design is a bit more cartoony and there is less general seriousness to them. WoH is in itself a remake of SA with more emphasis on the supernatural, and while it uses the return and second death of Tatsumaru as plot point it's not explored enough to make an impression (worse, in Rikimaru's story, he appears and dies in the same mission, that's it).

FS I feel could have worked better than it did, it had less emphasis on the supernatural and a story about underground organizations could have worked for a more politically inclined storyline, Rin's youth could have been emphatized more for seriouness and less for jokes (as BOTSA did for the protagonists). Instead, the story lives and dies (literally) with Rin and Ayame killing the Kuroya for the Hagakure massacre and general evilness, nothing else.

Am I the only one who thinks that Kichigorou, who is both a member of Beniya and a Gohda spy, has very distinctive implications? I mean, how many other organizations work for the House of Gohda? Are they loyal or just in for the money? Do the enemies of Gohda use similar connections? Are they stationed in the Gohda country?

Kuroya could have been one such organization. Instead, they are evil for the sake of evil and selfishness. It doesn't help that the suppossed "parallels" between both kunoichi falls flat given that they spend most of the story doing their own thing or fighting. And Rin herself makes for a rather unlikable protagonist, who seems to belong more in a shonen anime (with her hotheadedness and stubborness), and lets be sincere, the "just a kid" jokes try too hard to be funny. Pity too, I liked her taijutsu focused combat style.

Tenchu Z, I'm more forgiving of the story than most, if just for the idea of roleplay. The bad thing is that Tenchu as a series had never really explored the idea of a more "roleplay" narrative. The protagonist is YOU, as in you decide how to make the protagonist, and thus has a more "wish fulfillment" intention towards the player. Also, the episodic, linear nature of the series' advancement works really bad when you put many unrelated missions together, let alone that out of a total of 50 missions, barely a third have anything to do with one another.

In general I feel K2 had some good ideas (I liked Tesshu's character concept, expy or not, and feel that the idea of assassin and criminal organizations could have been explored better) but didn't use them or didn't know how to use them. But yes, some ideas were just silly (Through the Portal, anyone?).

Side B of WoH was just hilarious though.

And yeah, end of rant. This is my general opinion, it doesn't mean to reflect the whole series but rather how I percieve it. If you have a different idea or something I didn't see in the story please share it here. This kinds of discussions are meaningless if there are no other opinions :P

1up.com will be closing due to the stupidity of the IGN owners. I assume it will remain up for archival purposes and so they continue draw money from ads, but you never know. James Mielke is one of few journalists that actually cares about the classic PS1 Tenchu games and Acquire in general. His questions are a lot more more interesting than pretty much every other other one I've ever seen. Here's his 2008 Tenchu 4 interview with Takuma Endo and Keisuke Kanayama. I hope Mielke will get to interview Takuma Endo again someday and grill him even more.

Ten years ago, a small development team named Acquire released an unassuming ninja stealth game that drew favorable comparisons to fare like Metal Gear Solid. One sequel later, Acquire moved on to other projects while the Tenchu series fell into the hands of other development teams, which ended up muddying the franchise's continuity and quality with too many sequels. A decade later, Acquire's back at the helm of the series it created, and a reinvigorated Tenchu once again looks as a series to watch with the release of Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (a.k.a. Tenchu 4) in January for Wii. We spoke with director Keisuke Kanayama and Acquire president Takuma Endo to sort out where the series has been -- and where it's going.

1UP: Knowing how the series has transformed over the years, since Acquire and then K2 were doing it, what were the key elements you wanted to bring back in Tenchu 4?

Keisuke Kanayama: Looking at Tenchu 1 and 2, you had a certain amount of freedom. The environments allowed you to perform missions in certain ways, but as the series went on, that there was less freedom to finish missions or accomplish your objectives in different ways. So, with Tenchu 4, we really wanted to give the player options in how they completed their objectives. Being able to go through cities in different ways using different tools, and to explore at their own pace, depending on their play style -- that was one of the things we really wanted to put back into the series that may have been neglected.

1UP: What did you learn from the original Tenchus that you definitely wanted to change?

KK: One of the major things that we really wanted to do was to make the game accessible -- something that anyone could pick up, get the basics down, and start to play immediately. The older Tenchus or Shinobi get more and more fun as you keep playing, as you figure out how the game works, but because the controls are so complex, it becomes too hard for people who aren't really crazy about the game to get the most out of it.

So with Tenchu 4, we really tried to make it so someone could pick it up and understand it quickly, and be able to play and enjoy it. While that's not to say we tried to eliminate the depth from the game -- there's a lot of different modes and options for people who want to speed run or be really hardcore about it -- but we looked at this game as a way, with the Wii and its motion control, to allow someone to really feel like a ninja playing the game -- really attacking and blocking and hiding. The motion controls allow someone who's not super-crazy game maniac to actually enjoy the game. But we have elements for the hardcore as well, so we're trying to keep both camps happy.

1UP: How do you feel about how the mythology of the storylines changed when Acquire wasn't working on Tenchu?

KK: The Tenchu story has always had a little bit of a fantastical element, but with Tenchu 1 and 2, it was more grounded in reality. As other developers worked on the title, it became more unreal, which definitely wasn't a bad thing, but it's prompted us to give Tenchu 4 more of a grounding in reality, more of a classic Japanese story.

Also, with the other Tenchu games, a lot of characters are coming in and out, a lot of different new stories. But with 4, we looked at Rikimaru and Ayame and their relationship as ninja and we asked ourselves, "Why are these two characters ninjas? Why do they make their living killing people? What do they kill for?" With that theme in mind, we created this new story, focusing on these two characters. Of course, there are other characters that come in and out -- there are new characters too. But the story is about Rikmaru and Ayame and their experience, their journey.

1UP: The most recent Tenchu before 4, which was made by another development team, was interesting because the character was completely player created, and it was all about customizing the character as you saw fit. I think that's something that Western gamers really appreciate, the customization, as opposed to Japanese gamers who don't mind if their character's wearing the same lederhosen throughout an entire RPG. How do you feel about that trend, and does that interest you on any level?

KK: With regards to customization, I feel it's a great thing to give players the freedom to make the game the way they want it to be, including being able to identify the character more, things like that. With Tenchu 4, instead of focusing on customizing the character, we tried to give players more freedom in how they want to approach missions and how they want to go through stages so that players are able to say, "I'd like to play this way, so I'm going to go up on the rooftops." We put more emphasis on that portion of the game, rather than the customization. Maybe something will happen with that kind of customization in the future -- we'll just have to see what happens.

1UP: At the end of Tenchu 1, main character Rikimaru gets buried in an avalanche. Since Tenchu 2 was actually a prequel, and you guys stopped working on the series after Tenchu 2, you didn't really get a chance to reveal what you intended to happen him since another development team took over the series. Where does Tenchu 4's story take place in regards to those events?

Takuma Endo: Because we didn't work on Tenchu 3, the direction of the series, in terms of storyline, departed dramatically from the direction that we, Acquire, originally conceived of. We wanted to go down a different path, but we're not discounting the events that have happened in other Tenchu games. Story-wise, the game will continue one year after Tenchu 3, but we have a clear, separate direction we want to take the story into. We're not going to try and tie up all the loose ends from the Tenchu series. Instead, we're focused on crafting a solid story that that we envision as a three part series with, hopefully, Tenchu 5 and 6 to continue the story. But our overarching goal is to create a stronger, more focused theme.

1UP: So basically, Rikimaru survives at the end of Tenchu 1?

TE: It was our intention to explain that in Tenchu 3, but obviously that was out of our control. As I said earlier, we had our own ideas of where the story would go, but since it's already done, we will follow the already established Tenchu story where Rikimaru inexplicably survived.

1UP: In my mind, the events of what has happened in the Tenchu series, between Tenchu 3 and the most recent one on Xbox 360, don't qualify as canon. Like Snake's Revenge, the Metal Gear game that Kojima didn't do -- that one doesn't count. That's not part of the mythology.

TE: That's a little difficult to get into. We respect From Software, and we consider them our equals. They had their own great ideas. Ours are just different.

1UP: How did From Software approach you about coming back and renewing your participation in the Tenchu games?

TE: It actually wasn't a one-on-one meeting. Ever since Tenchu 1, Mr. [Noriyuki] Asakura has worked on the music for the entire series and he also composed the music for Way of the Samurai. He was the one who started talking with From about having us do Tenchu again... Up until then, it wasn't something we hadn't talked about. But once the conversation started, we thought it would be a really great idea.

1UP: How would you differentiate between Tenchu -- the series as you originally envisioned it -- and your Tenchu-like game Shinobido Imashime?

TE: I don't know. [Laughs] Well, we won't be making any new Shinobido games. That's one difference.

1UP: Why is that?

TE: The publisher, Spike, considers the series a failure. When we talked to them about making another Shinobido game, they gave us a definitive, "No." Instead, they wanted us to make The Way of the Samurai.

1UP: Regarding Shinobido, was that something you did because, after you stopped making Tenchu and started the Way of the Samurai, you felt you really wanted to make a Tenchu-like game? So you could get it out of your system?

TE: Actually it was. At the time, From Software was pretty upset that we were making a ninja game.

1UP: Because it was similar?

TE: Do you think they look similar?

1UP: Well, it's like Rikimaru with black hair. But I like that.

TE: [Laughs]

1UP: Shinobido fans are going to be disappointed when they find out there aren't going to be any more games.

TE: Send Spike lots of emails and petitions and let them know that!

1UP: I will.

TE: If the fans can show Spike how much desire there is out there, maybe they'll change their minds. But, of course, while we're making the Tenchu series, we want to focus on Tenchu.

1UP: Tenchu came out before the original Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation, which led a lot of people to compare the two as stealth games. How did you feel about being categorized in the same breath as Metal Gear Solid at the time?

TE: We were very honored. Metal Gear had been around since the NES days, and the graphics always had a 3D look, but a 2D feel. It was always based around 2D gameplay, whereas with Tenchu, we added the element of height and looking at things from different angles. It was very experimental, but these were things we had to learn from. We made mistakes, but I think one of the reasons we were received well is because we were trying something completely new. But in terms of budget, there's no way we could compete with Metal Gear.

1UP: My last question is: in the original Tenchu, Rikimaru's hair had kind of a Cesar cut going on. All the hair was pushing forward. But now it's all slicked back. What happened?

TE: [Laughs] Just following the popular trends.

I played this game and I loved Tesshu's stealth kill animations and I later found a short seriel called "Baien the Assassan" the main character is a doctor who when paid will deal out justice against those the law cannot reach. His weapon of choice? A large accupunture needle, he's also bald just like Tesshu. I heard somewhere once that Tesshu is infact based on this character and I am inclinded to agree and would reccomend anyone who likes Tenchu and Tesshu speciffically to look into this short four disc DVD set. Sorry if I got the forum area wong as I'm not sure what this would be under.

Anyone remembers if are the names "Muzen" (the so called Zennosuke's group name) and "Otou" (the so called Zennosuke's first or last name) mentioned in any Tenchu game? I have not played the Japanese version of Wrath of Heaven nor the Return from Darkness one, but neither I have found these names in any Japanese website I have searched; instead of that I have found the name Ikoma-ya (生駒屋) as the name of the group led by Zennosuke and as the "surname" of Zennosuke itself (websites like http://www.geocities.jp/shinobi_moving_picture/tenchr.html#4 or http://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E8%97%A4%E5%B2%A1%E9%89%84%E8%88%9F).

Hello. I just want to note that it is maybe incorrect to classify a great part of the swords in this wiki with the name "tachi". I'm little experienced about Japanese swords but according to Wikipedia, tachi sword is the forefather of the katana, being the former more curved and worn with the cutting edge down -while in the katana style it is facing upwards-. This contradicts the way several swords in this wiki are (Gohda's sword and Mifuyu's one are clear examples taking into account the info above). Considering that "katana" is also used in Japanese language to describe swords in general, I think it is the better name to use in ambiguous cases.