Shinobido 2 impressions after four+ hours of play time:
I never played the original Shinobido, although I did spend some time with Shinobido Takumi on PS2 and Shinobido Homura on PSP, both of which were more straight-forward, linear titles. Like the original game, Shinobido 2 is a stealth-action game from Acquire, developers of Tenchu 1, 2, 4, and Way Of The Samurai among other titles.
What sets Shinobido apart from other games in its genre is that the game has the main character, Zen, and his companions working both for and against three feuding lords. You can undertake a variety of missions, including assassination (kill a specific target), obliteration (kill everyone), kidnapping, stealing items, delivering items, escort, and more. On the downside, however, there are only 13 maps in the game, and I spent the majority of the first few hours replaying the same two maps over and over again.
Completing missions will earn you points to use towards increasing abilities and money. In-between missions, you will also earn new skills and can then practice them in the game's various training missions. You also receive letters offering advice, status updates, and also praise or disdain from the three lords, depending on you are currently favoring. If you keep supporting a particular lord, you will also receive gifts from him/her. An item shop is available to purchase weapons, items, and ingredients for use in the alchemy lab ( which allows you to create your own items). You can also find lying around in all of the game's levels.
Shinobido's game play is the standard Tenchu-style fare, although the game play feels more responsive and plays more smoothly in comparison. You can sneak, sprint, run on walls, use you grappling hook, and glide using a cape, in addition to using an assortment of weapons such as shuriken, caltrops, poisoned food, mines, smoke bombs, and more. When sneaking around, you also have a meter available to perform a potential multiple-enemy stealth kill. Doing this gives you the option to appear in the spot the enemy died, or return instantly to your original position. Combat is the standard Tenchu-style one-button combo, but you will also receive a parry skill later on and can attempt to grab enemies' weapons.
Shinobido 2 isn't going to be winning any awards for its visuals, but they get the job done. The game's draw distance allows you to see far into the background and the framerate is generally very stable. The music and sound effects are nothing memorable, but fit the aesthetic perfectly. The voice acting, on the other hand, which is English dubbed-only, is mediocre at best. A Japanese language option should have been made available.
Completing the game will unlock New Game+, allowing you to keep your status. There's also 47 different skins/costumes to unlock upon clearing the game, including ones for Goh and Kinu from the original Shinobido.
Although there are a small number of maps available, I have been thoroughly enjoying this game and would recommend it to fans of the stealth-action genre.
