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[Bebpo]

After a certain forum member mentioned that Tenchu PSP was actually one of the better upcoming PSP games and after thinking that "hey, a little stealth killing here and there on the go should be fun", I picked up Tenchu PSP despite my believe that From Software is a terrible company filled with human beings who try their best to thwart good game making everywhere.

Well Tenchu PSP could've been good. The load times are ok but not horrible, the controls work decently well, the music is very very good, and the camera is mostly manageable (although during most stealth kills the camera turns somewhere else so you can't even see the kill for some reason). But then someone at From Software decided that the game was actually almost playable. So they sat around in a group and pondered how could they break Tenchu PSP and continue their bad game tradition?

After what probably took them many hours of consideration, someone in the group must have stood up and shouted to the top of his lungs, "I've got it!". And then continued to point out several things to his fellow employees. He would have mentioned that:
--Stealth games are about not being seen
--Stealth games without a radar are about seeing the enemy and thinking about how to get by them without being seen
--In order to do the above you must be able to SEE

Thus the perfect solution to ruining this new From Soft. game was to stop the players from BEING ABLE TO SEE. They accomplished this by putting the draw distance at about 4-5 feet from your character and then everything is just PURE BLACKNESS. This brings up many 'little' issues such as:

--If you're on a roof, everything below the roof is just a sea of blackness. So you have no clue if there is an enemy until you jump down and THE WORLD APPEARS.
--Long ranged weapons such a shurikens are now rendered useless because YOU CAN'T SEE ANYONE TO ATTACK.
--And just typically you can't even see halfway across a room you're entering so the only way to tell if enemies exist is by looking at your detection meter that shows if an enemy is near.

So yeah, the game is a fucking joke. How the hell do you think "hey, instead of say lowering polygon counts or making smaller areas. Let's just cut the draw distance to a 1/5th!" when you are making a non-radar STEALTH SNEAKING GAME!? The game is a huge waste of money like most From Soft. games these days, and especially as it forces 1.52 firmware I really hope no one with 1.50 PSPs or less actual think of buying this game.

I'm really looking forward to their X360 work now @_@

 

[demi]

Have you played any of the previous Tenchus?

 

[Red Blaster]

I am going to blow up From Software.

 

[Madame M]

Bebpo how much are famicom series games in Japan nowadays? Has the price gone down like it has in America?

 

[demi]

Fuck Tenchu, go play SHADOW HEARTS you sexy BISHONEN you.

 

[Andy787]

I hate you Bebpo. First you do this to me with Tenchi, and now with Tenchu.

I wish to urinate in your tea.

 

[Companion Cube]

What about the levels made by special guests such as Yuji Naka and the SMT dude!?

 

[Red Blaster]

Alright, so maybe Japan will take one for the team and the US release will have these issues fixed...please?


I knew it when I first saw the screenshots. "That's an awful lot of black"

 

[ourumov]

There is a fucking conspiracy to make the PSP lineup suck...otherwise I don't get how I can't pass the 3 games bound (RR, Lumines and Darkstalkers).

 

[MrAngryFace]

The draw distance DID look questionable but YOU SUCK!

 

[Basic-Zombie]

Alright, so maybe Japan will take one for the team and the US release will have these issues fixed...please?

And risk having a satisfied customer? You don't know From Software very well.

 

[Wario64]

poorpsp

 

[neptunes]

so it's just the draw distance?

 

[CoolTrick]

so it's just the draw distance?

One hell of a ginormous just.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Poor Bebpo. Play DQ8 instead!

 

[Basic-Zombie]

so it's just the draw distance?

So it's just full blown AIDS, doc? That's a relief.

 

[Red Blaster]

After a certain forum member mentioned that Tenchu PSP was actually one of the better upcoming PSP games

MASSIVEATTACK...you've got some 'splaining to do.

 

[neptunes]

Don't take my comment the wrong way. :lol

I was just a little confused, after reading the following you'd think the game had potential

Well Tenchu PSP could've been good. The load times are ok but not horrible, the controls work decently well, the music is very very good, and the camera is mostly manageable (although during most stealth kills the camera turns somewhere else so you can't even see the kill for some reason). But then someone at From Software decided that the game was actually almost playable. So they sat around in a group and pondered how could they break Tenchu PSP and continue their bad game tradition?

only to find out that the game's low draw disctance is the only thing that prevents it from being good, let alone playable.

Did they notice this at all throughout development?

 

[Lyte Edge]

I've seen mixed impressions with people split right down the middle. From what I can tell, the game play is like the recent Tenchu titles, but the game has the draw distance of the PSX Tenchu titles. That doesn't sound too bad to me; I'll have the game tomorrow and will see for myself how it turns out.

Bebpo, did you like the other Tenchu games, BTW?

 

[Silent Death]

Tenchu PSP sucks, I wanna kill From Soft.

I take it you haven't played Tenchu 2 onward.

 

[Bebpo]

I've seen mixed impressions with people split right down the middle. From what I can tell, the game play is like the recent Tenchu titles, but the game has the draw distance of the PSX Tenchu titles. That doesn't sound too bad to me; I'll have the game tomorrow and will see for myself how it turns out.

Bebpo, did you like the other Tenchu games, BTW?

Well I really only played Tenchu 1 from start to finish and I liked it. Over the years I've played 30mins/1-2hours of each Tenchu game since then and I've found them mostly enjoyable though not stellar titles.

My memory must be really hazy if Tenchu1 had draw distance like this because I don't see how I could possibly have played the game. I seriously think the draw distance is shorter than ANY Tenchu title to date.

 

[Madame M]

Bebpo how much are famicom series games in Japan nowadays? Has the price gone down like it has in America?

This man needs an answer.

 

[Bebpo]

I think they are the same price?

 

[demi]

Fuck Tenchu, go play SHADOW HEARTS you sexy BISHONEN you.

This man needs some impressions.

 

[Bebpo]

This man needs some impressions.

I'm at a hotel on vacation ^^; They have a shitty little 10" tv with mono sound so I'm sticking to handheld games for now

 

[flarkminator]

definetly the big FU

 

[bloke]

K2 is developing Tenchu games (From is publisher and licence owner), so you might kill them instead.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I've seen mixed impressions with people split right down the middle. From what I can tell, the game play is like the recent Tenchu titles, but the game has the draw distance of the PSX Tenchu titles. That doesn't sound too bad to me; I'll have the game tomorrow and will see for myself how it turns out.

Bebpo, did you like the other Tenchu games, BTW?

i dunno, in the PSX tenchus, i could see the ground from the roof, so thats not quite the same draw distance...

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

definetly the big FU

:lol

 

[Jonnyram]

Wow... From Software is hiring developers for Tenchu DS!!!
I'm sure it will be much better than the PSP version!

 

[shuri]

They should port the first tenchu and be done with it!

 

[DECK'ARD]

I gave up expecting another good Tenchu a *long* time ago ...

 

[dark10x]

The draw distance sounds pretty much like the PSX games. That certainly is no excuse, obviously, but that's what it seems like. The game had a constant wall of blackness. On the roof? You can't see anything on the ground. Based on what I've seen of this new game, it seems exactly the same in that regard.

 

[fresquito]

I remember playing the first Tenchu... how nice memories... when I could get through the fact to be playing a game with no horizon at all, with an everlasting blackness ahead then I discovered the total lack of any sign of AI. It was when I tried to set a trap, I left some poisined food on the ground, for a guard to see it, taste it and die. But he got trapped in a tree that was in his way and could never get to the poisoned food. I then thought it was time to switch games and try something else.

I still wonder how in the hell this franchise became so popular.

 

[Lyte Edge]

The draw distance sounds pretty much like the PSX games. That certainly is no excuse, obviously, but that's what it seems like. The game had a constant wall of blackness. On the roof? You can't see anything on the ground. Based on what I've seen of this new game, it seems exactly the same in that regard.

Yep, and people that played those games back then don't seem to be having a problem with the PSP game. I bet the game is sitting on my doorstep now; need to go check.

If anything, I'm expecting a decent game at best. A crap PSP game would be Shutokou Battle, and there's no way Tenchu can turn out as bad as that. Right? Right...? RIGHT???? :lol

 

[Lyte Edge]

Okay, so far, everything seems perfefctly fine to me. The game's presentation and feel is very similar to the PS2 Tenchu games. The draw distance reminds me very much of the PSX versions. I can see the ground from rooftops, so I'm not sure what people are talking about. And as always, you can see further into the distance if you crouch and go into first person view. Need to play more but this seems pretty enjoyable to me so far. I think Bebpo is overreacting.

 

[MrAngryFace]

PSX version was a lot of fun too. Whew.

 

[Bebpo]

I can see the ground from rooftops, so I'm not sure what people are talking about.

Ummm, unless we have diffent games then...no In the first level, shoot your grappling hook and climb onto the rooftop of the main building. Now when standing on the rooftop look around you and you should see only blackness for anything past the rooftop.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Ummm, unless we have diffent games then...no In the first level, shoot your grappling hook and climb onto the rooftop of the main building. Now when standing on the rooftop look around you and you should see only blackness for anything past the rooftop.

Must depend on the building then. Try looking in first person view, too. But if you mean far in front of you, then no, you can't see, nor do you need to on top of a roof. The draw distance is like the PSX Tenchu games; it's fine. In fact it might be a little bit better; I need to load up Tenchu and Tenchu 2 and see.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone that likes the Tenchu series. Not sure if this game is on Fatal Shadow's level, although the map editor alone is going to take up a ton of my time with this game.

Unless something drastically changes, this game rocks. Everything I expected it to be so far.

 

[FiRez]

I'm really looking forward to their X360 work now @_@

I really liked the 3 games that FS released for the current xbox.

 

[dark10x]

BTW, Tenchu on PSX...

 

[Lyte Edge]

BTW, Tenchu on PSX...

Heh, I'd say it's about like that, maybe a little bit better. Rin's first stage is in a forest, so it's a good comparison. The visuals are like the PS2 versions, just with muddier/simpler textures, but it doesn't look like the PSX games did, which is a good thing.

The only issue I'm having so far is that sometimes the camera makes your character disappear when doing stealth kills, so you miss the animation. Controls are similar to the Xbox Tenchu; you move with the analog, use the d-pad to select items, lock onto enemies with L, crouch/go against walls with R, look with L and R together (duck then look), block with circle, jump with x, attack with square, and use items with triangle. Doesn't feel like anything's missing.

 

[Flo_Evans]

can we get some draw-distance comparo screens? I really like d the tenchu series and was looking forward to this ; ;

ok so is this screen total bullshit??

the draw distance looks fine here?

 

[.hacked]

BTW, Tenchu on PSX...

I was about to say, Tenchu PSP dose not sound far off from the PSone version.

US release when or how import friendly is it?

 

[Lyte Edge]

can we get some draw-distance comparo screens? I really like d the tenchu series and was looking forward to this ; ;

ok so is this screen total bullshit??

the draw distance looks fine here?

I could be wrong, but that doesn't even look like the PSP version. Looks like a screenshot from Wrath of Heaven.

Any tips for taking pics of the PSP screen? I can't seem to get anything of good quality when I try.

 

[Lyte Edge]

We really need some better pics, but for comparison:

PSX

PSP

Remember that you can see further than this in first person, and that this is a forest stage; I guess I should take a pic of a castle stage too.

 

[.hacked]

Lyte Edge is it text heavy?

 

[Lyte Edge]

Lyte Edge is it text heavy?

LOADS of Kanji all over the menu screens, but I'd say the game is still import-friendly. Tenchu has always been this way, and even before I took Japanese, I had no problems getting through the games. I got the Asian version which comes with a little mini English manual, too.

The only thing you'll really miss out on is what's going on in the cinemas if you care about that sort of thing. There's already a full menu translation being worked on at Gamefaqs; once you get started in a mission, there's no text to worry about anyway.

With the level editor, you can use English text, so naming everything won't be a problem either.

Here's some brief impressions on the level editor from Matix at Gamefaqs. Sounds DEEP:

"Well even though its heavily in Japanese, I can tell that its deep as hell. You can create basically play in the game, in the Level/Mission Creation Mode. Outside, Indoors, Water, Traps, Items, etc.. Can be edit, and placed all over your level. Also Goals, Action Points, Scenarios/Cut-Scenes, etc.. can be added as well. You can effect the experssion on the characters faces in the level/cut-scenes, and also customize their actions. This is trully a huge advancement since the Tenchu 2: Level Editior. Like I've said before, this is almost worth the price of the game alone. Also you can add English Text in your Created Mission/Levels. Can't wait to play/share some Fan created Tenchu Levels/Missions."

 

[.hacked]

Thanks.

 

[Mrbob]

Yeah I was gonna say I remember being able to see the ground in the PSX Tenchu as well. The PSP version looks close to the same, but I hope some optimization is done before North American release. I'd like to see that blackness pushed back a little more. I'm looking forward to the created levels and level editior. Should be cool because we can transfer levels online. Bebpo I hope your hate for From Software didn't blind you on this title.