Shinobi (2002 video game)
Shinobi | |
---|---|
PAL: May 15, 2003 | |
Genre(s) | Action-adventure, hack and slash |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Shinobi is a
Shinobi was originally planned for the
Gameplay
Shinobi is a
Combat is
Hotsuma can also use shurikens to briefly paralyze his enemies. Three types of ninja magic are available to him: "Ka'en", an area-based fire attack; "Kamaitachi", a ranged shock wave attack; and "Raijin", which grants him invincibility for a short period of time.[8]
Plot
Backstory
Raised together within the Oboro Clan, Hotsuma and Moritsune were seldom apart during their youth. Being the younger of the two, Hotsuma looked up to Moritsune, and considered his older brother to be a superior warrior. Eventually, the Oboro Clan commandment was revealed to the two boys after they discovered Akujiki, the evil soul-stealing sword that would be used in the ritual to decide the clan's leader. The commandment deems that the next clan leader must be determined by a duel to the death between the eldest clan heirs—in this case, Moritsune and Hotsuma. Aware of their destiny, the brothers trained incessantly, instructed by their foster parent, Kobushi (previous leader of the Oboro Clan). 10 years passed as the brothers refined their techniques and honed their senses, preparing for the longtime duel and training their skills. The duel occurred beneath a full moon, with only Hotsuma's childhood friend, Ageha, and Kobushi as the witnesses and after a long exhausting fight, Hotsuma won and finally slew his brother, though he felt a great deal of guilt from it.
Four years after, a massive earthquake struck Tokyo, and a mysterious Golden Palace appeared in the center of the destroyed city. With the appearance of the palace came the return of the powerful sorcerer Hiruko, who was thought to have been defeated and sealed by the Oboro Clan long ago. He summoned hellspawn to wreak havoc upon the city, and all but destroyed the Oboro Clan. The city's residents became paralyzed with fear. With the Oboro Clan ravaged and Tokyo on the verge of collapse, Hotsuma placed himself at the heart of the chaos, determined to reach the mysterious Golden Palace and avenge the death of his clan. Along the way, Hotsuma is also forced to battle the slain Oboro ninja who had been reanimated to serve Hiruko.
Story
The game starts when Hotsuma arrives in Tokyo in a helicopter, and while in position to the Golden Palace, suddenly two hellspawns arrive and crash into the helicopter, and Hotsuma jumps from it. After running through the city alleyways and streets, defeating several tanks and ninjas, he encounters the helicopter, now possessed. Ageha arrives manages to distract it back into the air. Ageha is mad with Hotsuma exacting his revenge, but he tells her that he does not need her help, and then leaves her and goes through the city roofs, where he encounters mysterious ninja named Aomizuchi, whom he fights, and Akujiki awakens by tasting his blood. Aomizuchi escapes when the helicopter arrives again, and Hotsuma escapes the fire.
Hotsuma reaches the temples of the Oboro Clan, where Akujiki starts to eat his soul while trying to get rid of the sword. Ageha encounters him and tells him the story about the Akujiki; Akujiki is an evil sword which was longtime hidden during the Oboro Clan rule, and killed many fighters by consuming their souls. Akujiki needs to be fed, or it will eventually consume Hotsuma as well. She explains him that he will need to feed the sword by killing the possessed fighters, whose souls have been darkened, to still Akujiki and prevent it from consuming Hotsuma.
Hotsuma continues through the Oboro Clan's temple, where he encounters several dogs and encountering a twin siblings and his young students, Shirogane and Akagane, who are slowly being possessed and beg Hotsuma to kill them. He destroys them in a battle, and takes their souls. After a struggle with another wave of ninjas, he eventually reaches the main shrine of Oboro Clan. There, Ageha is trying to help Kobushi, who is injured from fighting. Helicopter arrives again, and Hotsuma slices the rocket that was fired on them. He eventually manages to destroy it, but Kobushi dies in Ageha's hands. Hotsuma continues, leaving the temple.
Midway into his journey, Hotsuma encounters a young shrine maiden named Kagari who believes that she is intended to be sacrificed by Hiruko to release a statue called Yatsurao. She asks Hotsuma to kill her, but feeling guilty over killing his brother and the similarity of the situation where the girl wants him to kill her, he is unable to do it. This leads to her capture by Hiruko's minions. Hotsuma confronts and destroys Yatsurao, but in doing so, allows Hiruko to absorb its power and restore his youth, which had apparently been his plan with Yatsurao the whole time. Hiruko returns to his palace with Hotsuma continuing his pursuit.
Eventually, Ageha meets him and reveals that she released Hiruko. She also reveals that the death match between him and Moritsune was not really to decide the Oboro's leader, but to provide a soul to keep Akujiki sated. Ageha secretly worked with Hiruko to get him to resurrect Moritsune, not knowing that the revived Moritsune would become one of Hiruko's henchmen with no memory of his past. Moritsune is actually Aomizuchi, the fourth hellspawn lord. Moritsune kills Ageha, then fights Hotsuma. Hotsuma defeats him again.
After the battle, Hotsuma breaks to Hiruko's Golden Palace, where Hiruko reveals that he had all along intended for Hotsuma to kill all of the hellspawn and the undead Oboro so that their souls would fuse inside Akujiki. He could then take the sword and use it to rule the world. Hotsuma vows to kill Hiruko and destroy Akujiki, as he blames the evil sword for everything that happened. Hotsuma fights and kills Hiruko after an intense battle, absorbing the sorcerer's soul into Akujiki. He thinks of his brother as the palace crumbles around him. As the military celebrates the collapse of the Golden Palace, Kagari looks on with sadness in her eyes.
Development
Shinobi marked the jump of the series to 3D. Past Shinobi games made consistent use of shuriken-based combat which would have been difficult to master in a 3D game. An auto-targeting system was added, and the gameplay emphasis shifted to swordplay rather than shurikens.[9] Due to the 3D rendering of Shinobi, Overworks decided to grant Hotsuma the ability to run on walls. His usage of ninja magic was a recurring feature in the series, implemented as part of a desire to mix older and newer gameplay elements, but his "stealth dash" move was a new addition consistent with the overall fast-paced nature of the game.[11]
The version you see this time is pure action, but in the background, there's a long story, and you have to look for maps and other things. It's still an action game, but you could call it action-adventure. Another is, the games on the market right now classified as 'action-adventure,' we don't feel attracted to those as far as the action goes. You have action [holds one hand to the side], and you have adventure [holds another hand the other way]. Usually, action is two and adventure is eight, as far as the ratio. We want to have that ratio, say, six to four, and bring action more to the forefront.
Although Overworks had worked mainly on
Shinobi was showcased at
Release
On September 25, 2003, Shinobi was re-released as part of Japan's
On March 7, 2012, an emulated version was released in Europe on the PlayStation 3 as part of the PlayStation 2 Classic line.[15] On August 13, 2012, the version came out in North America.[16]
Related media
A single-issue comic book adaptation of Shinobi was created by Scott Allie, published by Dark Horse Comics, and released in 2002. The plot follows Hotsuma and other characters from the game.[17]
Soundtrack
Shinobi Original Sound Track | |
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Sega Digital Studio | |
Released | December 21, 2002 |
Genre | Traditional Japanese music, techno, rock |
Label | Sten och Flod |
Shinobi Original Sound Track (Shinobi オリジナルサウンドトラック) is a
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Shinobi (忍)" | |
2. | "Fate (宿命)" | |
3. | "Ritual (儀式)" | |
4. | "Transfiguration (変貌)" | |
5. | "Moritsune (守恒)" | |
6. | "Cool Shrine (涼社)" | |
7. | "Shinobi Boss (忍領)" | |
8. | "Encounter (遭遇)" | |
9. | "Combustion (炎上)" | |
10. | "Imposter Deity (化神)" | |
11. | "Dirty Maelstrom (濁渦)" | |
12. | "Strange Machine (奇械)" | |
13. | "Yatsurao (八面王)" | |
14. | "Kan'ei Shrine (寛栄寺)" | |
15. | "Ageha (朱刃)" | |
16. | "Azure Dragon (蒼龍)" | |
17. | "Recall (回想)" | |
18. | "Golden Palace (黄金城)" | |
19. | "Hiruko (卑瑠呼)" | |
20. | "Shinobi ~Transient Ballad~ (忍~儚譚~)" | |
21. | "Quick Moves ~ Mercy Kill (疾手~介錯)" |
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
AllGame | [12] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.33/10[23] |
Eurogamer | 3/10[24] |
Famitsu | 32/40[25] |
Game Informer | 8/10[26] |
GamePro | [20] |
GameSpot | 7.6/10[27] |
GameSpy | [5] |
GameZone | 8/10[7] |
IGN | 7.8/10[4] |
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [28] |
Entertainment Weekly | B−[6] |
Shinobi's initial release fell on November 12, 2002 in North America; December 5 in Japan; and May 15, 2003 in Europe.[29] It was generally well received by critics, with respective scores of 71 out of 100 and 71.67% from review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings.[21][22]
Shinobi's basic gameplay was largely praised. GamePro's Mike Weigand highlighted the TATE attack as "cool" and "hyper-violent", and praised the game's overall emphasis on "head-on deception" rather than stealth.[20] GameZone staff writer Steven Hopper stated that "[w]hile some would want a bit more depth from a ninja game, I think the arcade-style gameplay keeps the game close to its roots".[7] IGN's David Smith and GameSpy's Benjamin Turner criticized the poor artificial intelligence and repetitiveness of the basic enemies while praising the bosses.[4][5]
Critics consistently mentioned the game's high difficulty. The game was described as "hellaciously hard" by
Level design was received generally poorly. 1UP.com highlighted repetitive environmental textures as contributing to the difficulty of finding one's way through the levels, comparing them to textures that might be found in PlayStation games.[30] Smith echoed this opinion, additionally noting occasionally problematic default camera angles.[4] Hopper stated that "[m]ost of the environments look very nice and detailed, while some are a little plain".[7] Turner called the environments overall "samey" and "uninspired".[5]
The newly introduced Hotsuma was singled out for strong praise. Smith called Hotsuma "a great design, a sort of post-modern evolution of the ninja in comparison to the thoroughly traditional
Sequel
Nightshade, a sequel to Shinobi, was later developed by
References
- ^ "'Shinobi : The Movie' Coming To a Screen Near You In 2001". WorthPlaying. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
- ^ "Shinobi [2002]". IGN. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
- ^ a b c d e IGN Staff (May 23, 2002). "E3 2002: Shinobi Interview". IGN. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, David (November 12, 2002). "Shinobi (PS2)". IGN. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Turner, Benjamin (November 8, 2002). "GameSpy: Shinobi (PS2)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^ a b Walk, Gary Eng (January 10, 2003). "Shinobi Review". Entertainment Weekly. No. 690. p. 77. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Hopper, Steven (November 21, 2002). "Shinobi - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Roper, Chris. "Basics". Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
- ^ a b c Fox, Fennec (May 24, 2002). "Interview With Shinobi Developers". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c Staff. "Shinobi Q&A". GameSpot. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Torres, Ricardo. "E2 2002: New Shinobi details". GameSpot. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Allgame. Archived from the originalon November 14, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^ IGN Staff (October 18, 2002). "Top 10 PS2 Most Wanted". IGN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (June 23, 2003). "Kunoichi trailer to be included in Shinobi rerelease". GameSpot. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ Ashraf, Jawad (7 March 2012). "'Heads-Up' Game Store Update 7th March 2012". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ Ashraf, Jawad (12 August 2012). "The Drop: Week of August 13th 2012 New Releases". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ Shinobi #1. Dark Horse Comics. January 2002. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ IGN Staff (November 12, 2002). "Shinobi OST Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Weigand, Mike (November 12, 2002). "Shinobi Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ a b "Shinobi for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ a b "Shinobi Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ a b EGM Staff (December 2002). "Shinobi (PS2)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 162. p. 220. Archived from the original on January 23, 2004. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
- ^ Fahey, Rob (May 13, 2003). "Shinobi Review (PS2)". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
- ^ "プレイステーション2 - Shinobi (シノビ)". Famitsu. Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 83.
- ^ Leeper, Justin (December 2002). "Shinobi (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 116. p. 117. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Kasavin, Greg (November 7, 2002). "Shinobi Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Kennedy, Sam (December 2002). "Shinobi". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. p. 152. Archived from the original on January 22, 2004. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
- ^ "Related Games". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 30, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ 1UP.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2014.)
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ Kasavin, Greg (February 10, 2004). "Nightshade Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
External links
- Shinobi at MobyGames
- Shinobi at GiantBomb
- Hardcore Gaming 101: Shinobi