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Money to buy more amazing items of advanced ninjery! There's something like a primitive Ninja Shoppers Network where placing orders for caltrops or smoke bombs by carrier pigeon brings instant results. You can also collect items dropped by enemies during missions or things like wild herbs that grow on the roadside, while having eight items equipped and ready to be used at any time. Once you advance to a certain point in the game, you'll even be able to combine some common ingredients to make items of your own. Not just special bombs to heal your allies or sushi stuffed with gunpowder for a surprise treat, but things like invisibility potions and items that will permanently raise your stats. It's something worth experimenting with.
However, your success as shinobi won't go unnoticed. If it isn't bandits out to loot your quiet little shack, it's a horde of enemy ninja out for bloody revenge. That's why Shinobido allows you to do some deadly landscaping with a simplified version of the included mission editor. This allows you modify your surroundings in whatever way you see fit, but more importantly place traps and even patrolling guards once you've purchased them from the store. Sure, you can take on these invasions with your own trusty sword, but wouldn't you much rather watch in glee as your enemies rush towards you, only to be set on fire, hit with a spiked ball, and knocked into a bottomless pit?
Speaking of the mission editor, it's a more powerful and focused version of the same tool found in Tenchu 2, allowing you to create a wide variety of challenging scenarios based on nearly a dozen mission types, with the ability to have up to twenty characters and a wide assortment of buildings and props, which can be played by anyone with a copy of Shinobido, including the upcoming PSP version. The only real negative here is there are only six tile sets and two are more or less the same thing, but you still can create an impenetrable forest, the mansion of a rich merchant complete with interiors, darkened rooftops of a quiet town, and a maze of your own design. Or you can challenge your ninja skills with the forty included missions.
It's all fun and games until somebody glitches
I'm not going to lie to you. The visuals could have been better, and tend to take a frame rate hit when the action gets a little too intense. The AI can also run into the occasional glitch, like when it wants to pick up the body of its dead buddy it can't quite reach and ends up repeatedly walking in place. There's also the rare stealth kill that fails to connect for some reason, especially from above, which can ruin a mission that should have been a breeze. The 'killing everyone' mission type also completely dominates, making the far more interesting mission types, such as escorting and defending, not quite as common as I would have liked. Even with all these problems, Shinobido Imashime is a fantastic game that truly captures the feeling of hopping on rooftops and silently cutting down everyone in your path under the pale glow of moonlight.
While there's been no official announcement, strong rumors point to an upcoming release in both the US and Europe. Until then, you can head over to the official site and check out these movies, showing off some of the features and fun found in this absorbing stealth action extravaganza.
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