Shinobido 2: The Revenge of Zen - PlayStation Vita

Shinobi 2: Revenge of Zen: Mediocre Stealth Meets Sloppy Action

Kyle Hilliard — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Shinobido 2 is a sequel to a game that never actually released in America, but no real effort has been put forward to acclimate the player or catch them up on what they missed. You are Zen, a ninja who was left for dead by a girlfriend, or a sister, or a wife maybe? I’m not really sure, and ultimately, it’s not that important. There is a personal story driving Zen to the end of the game, but there are also three warring daimyos (a Japanese warlord) that you can do odd jobs for. That part of the story is easier to grasp, and ends up being more interesting for a few reasons.

You can do odd jobs for the three different daimyos, strengthening and weakening one against the other, or – and this is the best way to play the game – you can pick one daimyo and do jobs for them exclusively. This will garner the most rewards, and will create scenarios where the other warring daimyos will attempt to bribe or threaten you. To see this back and forth between the daimyos is the most interesting effect of your work, and gives you the feeling of creating tangible effects on the ongoing war.

The actual work involves completing missions offered to you by the daimyos for experience and monetary rewards. The missions are all drawn from a series of templates. Wipe out all the soldiers here, find this item, kidnap this woman, etc. They’re reasonably varied, but you will find yourself doing the same type of missions frequently, and often in the same areas.

Once you take on a mission, you are playing a third-person action game. Zen moves well, easily leaping to rooftops and over fences at a brisk pace. Sneaking up behind enemies brings up the option for a stealth kill, and this is how you will need to dispatch the majority of your enemies, because once the action starts it all falls apart.

Taking on more than one enemy is made incredibly difficult by a shoddy lock-on system and physics that will send your character rag-dolling high into the air after one hit. It’s incredibly frustrating and leads to frequent restarts in order to map out a route that avoids direct combat. There are plenty of occasions where avoiding multi-enemy combat is impossible, however, some of which are terrible boss fights. The best tactic I found to fight bosses and smaller enemies alike was to simply sprint away from them, run back to them, hitting them once, and then repeating the process until the battle is over. This is how I ended up beating the final boss.

Shinobido 2 has a grappling hook and tons of different usable items, all of which are useless. The grappling hook is unwieldy and rarely offers an easier route than simply climbing. The items are in place to help you offensively and defensively, but nothing is better than simply walking up behind an unsuspecting character and stabbing them in the back. There is also an incredibly confusing alchemy system for crafting new items that I never understood, despite reading all the in-game hints, training text, and experimenting with the assorted processes. In the end though, learning the alchemy system wouldn’t have been any help anyway because its main purpose is to create items, and I never found any items that offered real help.

As a stealth game, Shinobido 2 is successful and rewarding. I could even confidently recommend it to Metal Gear fans looking to scratch a sneaky itch in the beginning of the Vita’s life cycle. Outside of sneaking up behind people to perform kills however, the game feels unpolished and not entirely thought-out.

New Shinobido 2 Video Demonstrates An Assassin's Bag Of Tricks

Jeff Marchiafava — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:14:00 GMT

Check out this new gameplay video for Shinobido 2: The Revenge of Zen to see what kind of tools you'll be using to bring down your unsuspecting foes.

In Shinobido 2, players will step into the split-toed shoes of Zen the Spider Lily, a skilled assassin on the hunt for three warring clans in medieval Japan. The gameplay is a blend of stealth and action, which you can check out in Dan's recent hands-on preview. To get a better idea of what the game is about, however, check out the video below. It explains the myriad weapons, techniques, and ninj-tastic items you'll have to dispose of the game's dastardly Daimyo.

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Shinobido 2 will be available February 22 for the PlayStation Vita.

Vita Launch To Bring First U.S. Release Of Shinobido Series

Dan Ryckert — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:45:00 GMT

Previously unavailable in the west, the Shinobido series is coming to the United States for the launch of Playstation Vita. Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja will feature two playable ninja characters throughout its story mode, and gamers will have to utilize a variety of stealthy approaches to remain undetected.

It’s impossible to see footage of Shinobido 2 and not be instantly reminded of the Tenchu series, as the stealthy ninja-based gameplay looks remarkably similar. Players will control either the male ninja Zen or the female ninja San as they hop across rooftops, drop from bridges to break guards’ necks, and slice through paper walls to greet enemies with a bloody death.

As you’re sneaking around Shinobido 2’s various locations, an icon on the right of the screen will indicate whether an enemy has detected you. By pressing the icon with your finger, your character’s view will instantly turn around to face the suspicious foe. Many methods will be available for taking out guards, with one of the more wacky approaches involving an exploding sushi trap.

By utilizing the rear touch pad, players can enter first-person mode to survey surroundings and throw shurikens from the character’s perspective. A special attack was shown off in the demo, and it involves taking several enemies out at once. These Zankoku attacks freeze the action and cause the background to turn black-and-white. Once activated, your character will hop to the enemies’ location and kill them both with a quick-time event, before returning to his original hiding spot.

Three factions play a role in the game’s story, and players can have differing relationships with each of them. Depending on your standing with each, different missions may be available. It sounds similar to Grand Theft Auto 2, in which you could pick and choose which faction you want to help out.

Vita’s “Near” social networking feature will be supported by Shinobido 2, but the studio wasn’t ready to elaborate on how it’ll be integrated in the game. While Namco said Tales of the Ninja would be available during the “launch window,” the developers at Spike let me know that they expect the game to be on store shelves from day one. In the meantime, check out the debut trailer below.

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