Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

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Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven
Tenchu Wrath of Heaven.jpg
European box art
Developer(s) K2 [a]
TKO Software (Mobile)
Publisher(s)
Mobile
  • EU: Digital Bridges
  • NA: I-Play
Director(s) Mitsuo Kodama
Designer(s) Masanori Kuwasashi
Tomoyuki Hosokawa
Susumu Nakamoto
Programmer(s) Shinichi Shimizu
Tadao Tada
Artist(s) Koichi Iwasaki
Composer(s) Noriyuki Asakura
Series Tenchu
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mobile phone, PlayStation Portable
Release
March 4, 2003
  • PlayStation 2
  • Xbox
  • Mobile
  • PlayStation Portable
Genre(s) Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven [b] (published in Japan as "Tenchu 3") is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by K2 and published by Activision for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. FromSoftware published the game in Japan as Tenchu 3. It was later ported to the Xbox in 2004 under the title Tenchu: Return from Darkness [c] and to the PlayStation Portable in 2009 by FromSoftware under the title Tenchu 3 Portable. [d] A mobile version featuring 2D side-scrolling action gameplay was developed by TKO Software and released in 2005.

Contents

Plot

After Lord Mei-Oh was defeated in Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , Rikimaru was left in Lord Mei-Oh's fortress holding a giant boulder to provide an escape route for Ayame and Princess Kiku. He appears to be trapped and left for dead. Ayame stuck Rikimaru's sword, "Izayoi" (he is seen drawing this sword in the opening CG of Wrath of Heaven), in the snow as a monument for her fellow clan member, now considered dead. A year later, Rikimaru reports to Lord Gohda that he has survived this near-death experience; unbeknownst to them, the real Rikimaru is trapped in the 20th century, trying to find a way back to their time.

The game's plot plays differently depending on the character chosen but connects at specific points. The story revolves mainly around Rikimaru's return and the struggle for the Three Jewels, which are said to give power to those who possess them. These are the Jewels of Heaven, Earth, and Virtue. Tenrai, an evil wizard who wants to get his hands on them, commands a band of his men to take the Jewels from whoever possesses them. However, upon encountering Rikimaru, he seems interested in his power and attempts to convince him to join his men. Rikimaru refuses, and he and Ayame face each one of them. One of the men in Tenrai's arsenal is Onikage, who only serves him to pursue his plan of reviving Mei-Oh (his former master) and Tatsumaru (the former leader of the Azuma Ninja Clan whom Tenrai restored). Rikimaru and Ayame follow Tenrai into his fortress to stop him from destroying the world using the power gained from two of the Jewels. Peace will be returned to Gohda's land if he can be defeated.

Characters

Player characters:

Other characters:

Development and release

Tenchu: Return from Darkness

Return from Darkness was developed over an eleven month period, with approximately three to four of those months spent on designing new stages, and the rest on porting the rest of the game while incorporating Xbox Live features. Tenchu:Return from Darkness was supported until the termination of Xbox Live in April 2010. The game is now playable online on the replacement online servers for the original Xbox called Insignia. [11] Tench Design and direction was handled by the same team that worked on the original iteration of the game, while programming was done by Japan-based Prosoft Corporation. [12]

Changes in the Xbox port included graphical improvements, two new multiplayer characters, two new single player missions, extra special moves, and the ability to go online with the versus and co-op multiplayer modes.

Three new characters were also added:

Manga

A two-part prequel manga by Seishi Kishimoto was published in the April and May 2003 issues of Monthly Shōnen Gangan . The two chapters were titled Tenchu San, Zenpen (天誅 参(前編); "Tenchu three, Part One") and Tenchu San, Kōhen (天誅 参 (後編); "Tenchu three, Part Two") respectively; the first chapter also included a color poster. The manga was never collected in tankōbon format, and thus is quite rare. [13]

PSP version

In 2009, FromSoftware published a PlayStation Portable port of Tenchu 3. Designed by Kurogane Co. Ltd and programmed by Prosoft, this port included features from the Xbox port Tenchu: Return from Darkness with the exception of multiplayer. [14] [15]

Reception

Wrath of Heaven received "generally favorable" reviews, while Return from Darkness received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [16] [17]

Ryan Boyce of Maxim gave Wrath of Heaven a perfect ten score, stating that, "If you're the kind of guy who likes to chop his prey into Sizzlean before he gets a whiff of your bad man musk, then the ninjas of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven are right up your dojo." [38] A 2015 retrospective by Eurogamer described Wrath of Heaven as the apex of the series, featuring "a tangible sense of purpose and poetry". [39]

Notes

  1. Xbox port programmed by Prosoft Corporation.
    PlayStation Portable port designed by Kurogane Co. Ltd, and programmed by Prosoft.
  2. Tenchu 3 (天誅 参, Tenchū San, lit. "Divine Retribution 3")
  3. Tenchu 3 (天誅 参 〜回帰ノ章〜, Tenchū San Kaikinoshō, lit. "Divine Retribution 3: Chapter of Regression")
  4. Tenchu 3 Portable (忍者活劇 天誅 参 Portable, Ninja Katsugeki Tenchu San Portable, lit. "Ninja Theatrical Drama: Divine Retribution 3 Portable")

References

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