Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998)

The game has a tense, tactical gameplay, unique grappling hook mechanics, which was later copied from other titles, and the sense of agency it gave players in approaching missions, however, it suffered from clunky controls and a rough camera, which were common issues in early 3D games. The soundtrack added to the dark, moody atmosphere, but the voice acting was terrible, laughable, even by the standards at the time, but I cannot complain since this is indeed entertaining and fun to experience, the only decent one being Rikimaru. Despite its flaws, Tenchu became a cult classic and helped define the stealth genre alongside Metal Gear Solid and Thief, it's remembered fondly for its originality and style, a must-play for fans of stealth and/or ninja titles.

The mission structure reinforces that feeling of tension by rewarding patience over aggression. Each stage feels like a carefully constructed sandbox where observation is just as important as execution. Studying enemy patrol routes, extinguishing torches to create pockets of darkness, and choosing whether to silently execute enemies or slip past them entirely gives the game a methodical rhythm that still feels satisfying today. When everything goes right and you clear an area without raising an alarm, the payoff is immense.

Visually, the game shows its age with blocky character models and simple environments, but there’s a distinct charm to its setting. Rooftop infiltration under a moonlit sky, bamboo forests shrouded in fog, and guarded estates filled with hidden dangers create a strong sense of place. The limitations of the hardware sometimes work in its favor, as the heavy fog and darkness enhance the atmosphere and complement the stealth mechanics rather than detract from them.

What truly sets the experience apart is how committed it is to the fantasy of being a ninja. From the variety of tools to the brutal and cinematic stealth kills, the game never forgets its theme. It may not have the polish of later stealth titles, but its ambition and identity are very present. Even decades later, this title remains a memorable and influential title that dared to do something different at a time when 3D gaming was just starting to become popular.

Beat on Normal as the girl. I started off doing the training as both characters and the girl seemed to kill faster in open combat, so I chose to play as her. It took a few tries to beat training and get used to the basic gameplay, and I didn't fully understand the controls until I looked them up. There were a lot of double and triple button presses to perform moves, which I did not like. Double tap left or right to dodge for example, when there could have been a dedicated block button that also dodged when a direction was pressed. I was getting wrecked in combat until I checked multiple walkthroughs to find out how to block. The Resident Evil style tank controls made getting around and combat more difficult than necessary, while stealth mode allowed strafing but not turning. Despite all this, the gameplay and level design were great. Though I wish there was a way to use stealth against bosses.

I did not do well on the first 3 missions and ended up having to replay them because it was not clear how to save. I did much better the next time around, though most missions took at least 2 tries to beat. Mission 1 to kill the merchant was only difficult because of being forced to fight the boss without stealth when I barely knew how to fight properly, and then finding where the merchant hid. I got Novice rank 1st time and Master Ninja the next. Mission 2 was easy sneaking along rooftops, and I abused the river to drown a few enemies. Got Ninja rank. Mission 3 was tough and was the time when I lamented the lack of compass on the map; it was very difficult to figure out which way I was facing and the early forest area was a bit of a mess. Eventually I learned to hug the edge of the map. Then the caves had some unnecessary side paths and it took some exploration to find the correct way. Lots of straightforward assassinations followed by a precarious jump from a narrow walkway. Then there was a bear, wtf I'm not fighting that. So I lured it back to the jump and ran past it to kill the boss. Blocking a massive club like that would not work in real life. Got Master Ninja. Mission 4 was a huge mess with a lot of enemies that spotted me and had to be killed in combat, so I only got Novice. I beat mission 5 on a single try but the minister was in the very last place I looked, so I killed almost every enemy. Got Ninja rank. Mission 6 took several attempts because of the 2 back to back boss fights. I did end up using a couple grenades on the 2nd guy. This mission highlighted how much I hate not being able to save during missions in a stealth game. All that time consuming patient stealth play ruined by a boss fight, so on subsequent attempts I did not want to spend the effort on stealth, instead rushing to the boss. Got Thug rating.

Mission 7 was another that I beat in a single attempt and it was pretty simple to beeline for the big ship. Got Ninja. I got Grand Master in mission 8 after awkwardly falling to my death a couple times due to the damn controls. I took it very slow and careful; not for the ranking but to not fall. Got Grand Master again in mission 9 somehow. Again I lost to the boss a couple times and tried to skip as much as possible to get back to him. Mission 10 was way too hard, long and grueling. It took several attempts to beat the 1st boss. I even tried using disguise to run past all enemies. One time the enemies followed me into the boss room and he kept getting shot by friendly fire. It was hilarious but I still died. Eventually I gave up on that and killed every enemy, especially luring them to the river for easy drownings. I used a couple grenades on the boss but the main trick was running outside his room to heal as needed. Occasionally he came out too but that was not a big deal. I didn't try to lure him to the water as I highly doubt that would work. It was important to keep up the pressure on him and interrupt his healing so I got that potion. The lava caves after were not too difficult but the final boss was a huge difficulty spike. I tried using the dog bone to summon a pet and melee him like any other boss, but his lightning did massive damage and easily stunlocked me for totally unfair deaths. At this point I was fed up with the game. There should have at least been a check point save after the 1st boss. I looked up online and found a cheat code to unlock all the grandmaster items, and went in with armor, protection amulet, healing potions and grenades. That didn't work, he still easily stunlocked me. Ok time for more cheating. I added a couple counts to every item and unlocked 99 carry capacity, so I went in with armor, 3 resurrection leaves, like 15 healing potions and similar number of grenades. I totally abused grenades to kill both bosses easily and never even died. It took 9 or 10 grenades to kill the final boss so I could have done it without that bit of cheating by making sure to bring that many and killing the 1st boss entirely with melee. Got Ninja rank. I do wish there was a way to buy and sell items, and that items brought did not vanish upon selecting retry. It was simple to save between each mission and reset upon dying though, so I never lost anything. I did not find items necessary, other than healing and grenades for bosses. This aspect, and especially the final boss, could have been better balanced.

Then I tried playing as the guy. He was noticeably slower, getting less distance on the back flip and having more trouble getting into range to hit after blocking. Regular enemies were easier to kill due to higher damage while bosses were more difficult to beat while turtling due to the slower speed. It encouraged more timed parries rather than keeping block held down. I also tried out Hard for missions 3 and 4, which made enemies detect me much easier and faster. It also seemed to make combat more difficult. I did missions 1 to 3 in the same way getting Master Ninja, Ninja and Master. Lured the bear again. Mission 4 was very difficult due to the bosses and was when I really learned how much the guy struggled vs bosses. I again could not find a good way through the level and got Novice. 5 was Ninja and 6 Master. I got into trouble by accidentally triggering the boss with 2 adds, but managed to come out on top by running away and using a smoke bomb. Then I wrecked Onikage with a couple mines. 7 was Ninja and I tried a faster way of swimming rather than going roof to roof. It was harder to not be seen in the water and I even seen a regular enemy pick up a healing potion I was going for. Bastard. 8 and 9 were also Ninja. Onikage fell off the top of the tower, and rather than jump off I tried going down the way I came in only there were new enemies. So I went back up and the boss was back where he started with low hp and I was able to knock him into the mine I had placed. I tried the final mission once without cheating to see how it would go. I took 12 grenades and 3 healing potions but died at Oni because his damn unblockable kick hit so hard and the camera clipped into the door so I missed disrupting his healing by a split second. Not the first time the lousy camera in this game caused trouble! I think I need the armor to have that extra cushion, and maybe a resurrection leaf.

This was a fun and engaging game with tactical stealth. Even though I did not use items as much as I could have, they would really help for Hard and getting Grand Master ranks. Replayability was pretty good with 2 characters, getting better ranks and dubiously for farming items. The main problems with the game were awkward controls and high difficulty. Though I did appreciate the high skill ceiling for added depth to the game.

8.0/10

I had been meaning to play it for a while (cause its a stealth game and its a PSX game and i'm trying to get more under my belt) it's pretty good but some of the things about it have aged badly. The controls are kinda awkward and don't have the precision of a proper PC game and the 3d world interaction is a bit fumbly like console games in this era (over the shoulder camera view and control). Stealth movement is very tricky because you move slow. These factors make it challenging to maintain stealth and achieve stealth kills (backstabs mostly) bodies can also be found by pats, and you cant drag or hide your dirty deeds.

The game has a pretty well woven together setting in which you are an assassin who carries out various tasks under the orders of your daimyo in feudal japan. The premises for the missions are reminiscent of (ironically enough) other stealth games in same era such as thief or hitman which have generally sensible plots and situations. the game has a pretty impressive soundtrack and levels that have nice little details which are atmospheric. The story is pretty good and I enjoyed the CG cutscenes between missions.

One nice little detail that got me thinking was how this game plays. In Tenchu you can fight enemies like any other beat em up. It plays a bit like Assassins creed actually. You can spar openly and even engage multiple opponents at once, or you can be sneaky and just go for those one hit stealth kills. But what is impressive is that compare to almost all stealth games i've played, you really can go either route. The main advantage to stealth route is score which unlocks items (it's also more tactical/easier) But you aren't given equipment or combat options you cant use (compared to later generation eidos games like hitman or deus ex) nor are you left with a feeling of guilt or narrative incontinuity from your actions (games like dishonored) I find it really interesting how Tenchu got this right, yet so many stealth games make you vie in ways that often feel like you carry this burden of sacrificial compromise.

Ultimately this is a pretty good game. It plays and feels slightly in manner similar to MGS. The ten missions have variety, varied approach, and often a boss fight. There are unlockable items and gear if you maintain stealth, but again you don't have to, But it does add an incentive to play the stealth route to unlock them all.

In spite of it's flaws magnified by age, it certainly would be one of the better PSX games and I found it worth playing.