Software:Tenchu: Dark Secret

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Short description: 2006 video game
Tenchu: Dark Secret
North American box art
Developer(s)Polygon Magic[1]
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Tatsumi Sugiura
Producer(s)Atsushi Taniguchi
Programmer(s)Junichi Kawai
Shigenao Kawai
Yuki Ōta
Tominobu Kaieda
Shintaro Minamino
Writer(s)Toshiyuki Kaziwara
Composer(s)Hideyuki Eto
Koichi Suenaga
SeriesTenchu
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: April 6, 2006
  • NA: August 21, 2006
  • AU: September 21, 2006
  • EU: November 24, 2006
Genre(s)Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Tenchu: Dark Secret[lower-alpha 1] (published in Japan as "Tenchu Dark Shadow") is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by Polygon Magic and published by FromSoftware in Japan and Nintendo worldwide for the Nintendo DS in 2006. It is also the first game in the Tenchu series to be released for the Nintendo system and not to have a Mature rating from the ESRB.

Gameplay

The game allows players to choose between Rikimaru and Ayame, two ninja assassins sent out to save a princess. There are more than 40 missions, as well as local wireless multiplayer combat and Wi-Fi capabilities which can be used to trade, buy and sell items around the world.

Plot

Two years after the Burning Dawn crisis, Azuma Clan ninja Rikimaru and Ayame arrive at the small frontier village of Saiga on the northern outskirts of Lord Matsunoshin Gohda’s domain, where they witness a noblewoman being wounded by an arrow during a bandit raid. After driving back the bandits, they confirm that the woman is Princess Shizu, wife of Lord Kagemasa of the Hakkaku province (formerly the Toda province, war-torn since the demise of its previous daimyo, Lord Toda). As it turns out, the marriage was a political one, intended to forge an alliance between Hakkaku and the neighboring Akama, ruled by Lord Tokiyori, an ally of Lord Gohda. However, a year after the wedding, Princess Shizu escaped Hakkaku and took refuge in Saiga. Seeking to help his ally, Lord Gohda sent Rikimaru and Ayame to safely escort Princess Shizu to Gohda Castle.

Upon regaining consciousness, Princess Shizu reveals that Lord Hakkaku would involve her in strange, occult rituals, eventually prompting her to run away; on the night of her escape, she stabbed him in the eye with a small dagger, and is now fearful for her life at the hands of her vengeful husband. Rikimaru informs Lord Gohda of the situation in Saiga, and a decision is made to falsely report the sudden demise of the princess, in hopes of tricking Lord Hakkaku into stopping – or at least delaying – his attacks on the village; meanwhile, Lord Gohda begins to make preparation for war just in case, intending to protect Princess Shizu at any cost.

While Princess Shizu recovers from her wound, Rikimaru and Ayame protect the village from relentless bandit attacks. Upon encountering the leader of the bandits, Rikimaru recognizes him as Akunosuke Murai, a former general of the late Lord Toda, wounded during a battle and missing ever since; the two clash swords in battle, and Rikimaru emerges the victor. Later, the bandits are joined by Lord Hakkaku’s samurai, sent to return Princess Shizu to her husband. Eventually, Lord Hakkaku’s attempts to retrieve his wife escalate to include sending ninja and even undead creatures, but are successfully rebuffed by Rikimaru and Ayame. Ultimately, Lord Hakkaku decides to ignore any and all attempts at diplomacy and marches his forces into Lord Gohda’s domain. In response, Lord Gohda marshals his own troops, reinforced by Lord Akama’s men, thus beginning a war with the villainous Lord Hakkaku. However, due to the advantage of having undead creatures under his command, Lord Hakkaku quickly forces the joint Gohda-Akama army into a slow retreat.

After Rikimaru and Ayame defeat Kurokaze, leader of the Furai ninja clan in service of Lord Hakkaku, they learn that Princess Shizu is pregnant. Following another raid on Saiga, Princess Shizu becomes possessed by an evil entity and vanishes from the village. Rikimaru and Ayame find the princess atop a tall cliff, ready to kill herself in order to prevent the birth of her child. Lord Hakkaku appears, seemingly possessed by an evil entity himself, and explains that the occult rituals he performed on Princess Shizu were meant to resurrect the Lord of the Dead and successfully resulted in her becoming pregnant with a demonic spawn. Furthermore, he reveals his intentions of opening a gateway between the world of the living and the underworld, allowing countless demons to pass through and feast on the flesh and souls of helpless humans. Princess Shizu, struggling to resist the demonic possession, flings herself off the cliff, but is caught by Lord Hakkaku before she hits the ground; they both disappear into the night.

Soon after, an ominous castle emerges from the night fog; realizing it’s the gateway between the worlds Lord Hakkaku spoke of, Rikimaru and Ayame venture inside the castle and prevent the dark ritual’s completion. Lord Hakkaku, revealed to have been long possessed by the demon Kubira, is defeated and killed by the two ninja, and the evil entity possessing Princess Shizu is exorcised using Izayoi, the ancestral blade of the Azuma Clan. The three survivors of the ordeal escape the crumbling castle and return to Saiga. Princess Shizu remains in the village for a while to regain her strength before returning home to her father, while Rikimaru and Ayame, their mission finished, head back to Gohda Castle.

The Hakkaku province replaced their lost ruler with a relative of Kagemasa, but he lacked the skills befitting of a lord, and Hakkaku eventually vanished from history altogether. Meanwhile, unable to find peace at home, Princess Shizu left the Akama province one day, never to be seen again.

Development

Tenchu was developed by Polygon Magic—their first Nintendo DS game—and published by From Software and Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 6, 2006, and later that year in North America (August 21) and the United Kingdom (November 24). Tenchu was released exclusively for video game retailers EBGames and GameStop in North America.[2]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic37/100[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Famitsu29/40[4]
GameSpot4.3/10[5]
GamesRadar+StarStar[6]
IGN3.5/10[2]
Nintendo LifeStarStar[7]
Nintendo Power5/10[8]
ONM30%[9]

Tenchu: Dark Secret received "generally unfavorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one eight and three sevens, for a total of 29 out of 40.[4]

Craig Harris of IGN wrote that the game's exclusivity to specific retailers was a mark of a specialty product. He said the game's quality was much lower than expected for a game published by Nintendo. Harris added that the game did not use its 3D environments and that a port of the original Tenchu game for PlayStation would have fared much better. He found the music repetitive and unfitting, the gameplay "stiff", and the graphics and story poor.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Tenchu Dark Shadow (天誅 DARK SHADOW, lit. "Divine Retribution: Dark Shadow")

References

  1. ↑ Business & Works - PolgonMagic.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harris, Craig (August 28, 2006). "Tenchu: Dark Secret Review". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/08/28/tenchu-dark-secret-review. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Tenchu: Dark Secret for DS Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/tenchu-dark-secret/critic-reviews/?platform=ds. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gantayat, Anoop (April 10, 2006). "Now Playing in Japan". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/04/10/now-playing-in-japan-129. 
  5. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (August 25, 2006). "Tenchu: Dark Secret Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/tenchu-dark-secret-review/1900-6156605/. 
  6. ↑ Trueman, Douglas (August 30, 2006). "Tenchu: Dark Secret". GamesRadar. http://www.gamesradar.com/tenchu-dark-secret-review/. 
  7. ↑ Blundon, Matthew (April 22, 2009). "Tenchu: Dark Secret (DS) Review". Nintendo Life. http://ds.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/04/tenchu_dark_secret_ds. 
  8. ↑ "Tenchu: Dark Secret". Nintendo Power 208: 91. October 2006. 
  9. ↑ "DS Review: Tenchu: Dark Secret". Official Nintendo Magazine: 72. January 2007. 
  • Official website (in Japanese)
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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