Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

The ai in this game is kind of dumb and uninteresting. The light mechanics are virtually non-existent and abusing verticality is way too easy. Still, the levels are intricate enough to be engaging and the game boasts a lot neat mechanics which makes playing around the dumb ai pretty satisfying, especially with how the reward system works. This game has a foundation that could have made it great, but from what I gathered, the sequels are blunders. Damn shame.

I'm going to give it a passing grade because it feels a little unfair to judge it by the standards of today. Having loved the early Tenchus (which I played at the time), I have no doubt that I would have loved this. But playing it now is rough. It has all that I liked about Tenchu (the stealth, the feeling of slicing someone, etc), but 20 years later, I can't say I really enjoyed it. Crappy camera, stilted animation, slow movement, grappling hook isn't satisfying. I badly want a NEW Tenchu.

Easily the pinnacle of the Tenchu franchise, though still rough around the edges. Shame it was all downhill from here.