Rikimaru sacrifices himself to allow Ayame and Kiku to escape. Lord Mei-Oh is defeated in his cavern lair, which starts to collapse around them.
Onikage is defeated, but revives and attacks a final time as the ninja go to confront Lord Mei-Oh and rescue Kiku. Onikage ultimately stages an attack on a town castle as a distraction so Kiku can be kidnapped and used as leverage against Lord Gohda. : 2 During several missions, the ninja are first accosted, then fought by the dark ninja Onikage, who is behind several of the disturbances with the goal of bringing his demonic master Lord Mei-Oh into the world. Tenchu is set in Japan's turbulent Sengoku period, and follows missions undertaken by the stoic ninja Rikimaru and spirited kunoichi Ayame of the Azuma ninja clan for their employer the benevolent Lord Gohda and his daughter Princess Kiku, who treats Ayame as an older sister. Grand Master rank for each level unlocks a new special ability that can be equipped for replays. Score is impacted by the number of undetected or detected kills, whether the character was spotted, and whether non-combatants were killed. : 7–9 Each mission is ranked from the lowest "Thug" to the highest "Grand Master". A number beside the Ki display shows an enemy's distance.
A question mark indicates no alert, a single exclamation mark shows enemies are alerted but do not clearly see the character, an exclamation and question mark indicates a high alert state caused by sounds or a body discovery, while double exclamation mark is a full alert state where enemies will attack. To monitor surroundings, each protagonist has the Ki meter, indicating the distance and alert status of nearby enemies. : 16–18 If the selected character dies, the level must be restarted all items aside from the grappling hook are lost. Sneaking up on an enemy undetected allows for an instant kill, with close-range kills triggering cinematic death animations. During navigation, the player can traverse rooftops and walls, run or crouch into a sneaking position, hang from ledges, and hug nearby walls to remain undetected. : 7–9 The goal is to complete levels with minimal detections and disturbances, with most levels ending in a boss encounter, and each having three level layouts which are randomly selected with each playthrough. Engaged enemies have health bars shown around the top left area of the screen. The selected character's health is shown in the bottom left, with the bottom right showing equipped or found items. A map of the level is provided for players. : 12–13 The only permanent item taken into all missions is a grappling hook when in use, the player enters a first person perspective, and the grapple can be fired at any solid surface to pull the player towards it. : 7–9 The items include health potions, trail markers, poisoned rice cakes, caltrops, shurikens ( throwing blades in Europe), smoke bombs, grenades and land mines. Each mission starts off with a skippable briefing, then players can equip a limited number of items at an equipment screen. While generally similar, Rikimaru has more health but is slower and has only one blade, while Ayame is weaker but uses two blades and has higher movement speed. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is a stealth video game where players take on the role of either Rikimaru or Ayame, ninja who complete a set of eleven sandbox levels. A sequel, Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins, released worldwide in 2000.Ī mission in Tenchu female protagonist Ayame hides from a guard's view. It was also a commercial success, selling over one million units worldwide by 2003, and having estimated sales of five million across all versions by 2019. It met with positive reception from game journalists, with praise focusing on its mission design and focus on stealth.
The team faced multiple technical challenges, and director Takuma Endo ended up taking on multiple roles within the production including scenario writer.
Production began in 1996 as Acquire's first project, with the aim being to create a then-uncommon game using only 3D graphics, in addition to focusing on stealth over action. Following Rikimaru and Ayame of the Azuma ninja clan as they complete missions for their employer Lord Gohda in Sengoku-era Japan, the gameplay involves the player guiding their chosen character through missions, the aim being to remain undetected while either avoiding or quietly killing enemies. The debut entry in the Tenchu series, it was published in Japan by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, and by Activision in the West. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is a 1998 stealth video game developed by Acquire for the PlayStation.