syltefar.com: Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (PlayStation)

2001-00-00

Completed the game.
Verified savegame 2010-12-26: Completed all 11 missions with Rikimaru. No precise date known.
Verified savegame 2010-12-26: Completed all 11 missions with Ayame. No precise date known.
Verified savegame 2010-12-26: Completed all 7 missions with Tatsumaru. No precise date known.

2016-11-08

I have not seen this game in 15 years, but having brought my PlayStation with me to Copenhagen, I wanted to try it out again. I completed 'Treason and Gohda Castle' at EXPERT NINJA level. Rikimaru (being slightly stupid) accidentally almost murders Lord Gohda, but escapes with his Lord, Shawshank Redemption-style, in a secret passage behind a scroll of paper.

2017-12-18

I just started this up after completing the first game, and man, the frame rate is so much better. I'm playing an NTSC version, which also helps. Normally, Japanese-produced games should be played in NTSC, either playing the original or the US version.

2017-12-20

I played and recorded the first couple of levels. The game feels better than the original game, but I think some graphical style was lost in the process.

2017-12-22

Completed the game with Rikimaru on Normal difficulty. It was cool to play through this game again. I still prefer the original for its unique style, music, and mystique, and the boss fights are not as interesting, they lack a bit more diversity. However, the ability to drag corpses was a cool addition, and the other little tweaks to the gameplay make it a more enjoyable experience. It's not perfect, though, the most annoying thing being the stealth kills sometimes not triggering, even though you're in range. Many times I had to draw my sword and just chop the enemies instead... The last level was hard, it's divided into two parts: a sea battle where you can ignore most enemies by swimming to the north-west, where there is a reasonably easy boss fight. The second part is a big confusing map, where you have to go to the southernmost corner of the ship-thing to the east to fight the ninja lady. A tricky fight, as she deals a lot of damage, but I managed to find a few health potions in boxes around the level. I haven't unlocked Tatsumaru, I guess I have to complete all the Ayame missions first. I'll save that for later.