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                     / /____  ____  _____/ /_  __  __   |__ \
                    / __/ _ \/ __ \/ ___/ __ \/ / / /   __/ /
                   / /_/  __/ / / / /__/ / / / /_/ /   / __/ 
                   \__/\___/_/ /_/\___/_/ /_/\____/   /____/ 
           
                           BIRTH OF THE NEW ASSASIN          
     



Tenchu2 faq v1.1              

This FAQ is copyright of Adam Insam and shall not be reproduced in
any way at all WITHOUT PERMISSION  

seiyru@hotmail.com

--------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------------

 - Introduction
 - Updates
 - New features
 - Characters
 - Enemies
 - Items
 - Moves
 - Ninja tactics
 - Boss guide
 - Walkthrough
 - Problems
 - Harsh deaths


INTRODUCTION
************************************************

Here is a brief introduction to the beginning of the game:

Lord Gohda Matsunoshin is a warlord with control over the Azuma ninja, 
a group of specially trained warriors that he calls upon in times of need.
The ninja clan is tought by Azuma Shiunsai, who has raised the ninjas 
since they were infants.  He steps down as head of the Azuma ninja and
gives the sword to Tatsumaru, one of the ninjas.
After an encounter with Kagami, the leader of the rebel ninja group called
Burning Dawn, he is converted and becomes a different person.  After 
murdering Azuma Shiunsai, the other two ninjas, Rikimaru and Ayame, must
defeat Tatsumaru who has breached the code of the ninja along with other 
opponents and outer threats.





UPDATES
************************************************

What have I put in since?
some boss guides, 1/2 finished walkthrough and some other
useful things.  Send me some problems for me to put on.




NEW FEATURES
************************************************

-   Underwater swimming!  You can now swim out of view, just beneath the
    surface of the water, waiting to jump out and execute ninjas.  You have
    to breath though, so hold down R1 to use a sneaky bamboo reed to breathe
    just like James Bond.  Oh and watch out for sharks that hunt you down, 
    they act very realistically, not that I would know how they act, my 
    research is from Jaws.

-   Search and move bodies!  The ninja can now pull dead bodies out of view
    and into abandoned mines and behind large stones.  Try pulling them into 
    the water for a laugh and watch them float.  You can also search them for
    items.  Put away the sword and crouch (R1) to look for ninja items.

-   Remove sword!  Not much point to this, but it allows you to do extra stuff
    like searching corpses and it looks nicer also.

-   New execution move!  Crouch behind someone and you can do a new silent 
    killing method.  Rikimaru goes for taking out the legs and then the steel
    blade between the ribs.  

-   New character!  Tatsumaru becomes unlocked once you complete the game with
    Rikimaru and Ayame, who both I must add have seperate levels and then you 
    have Tatsumarus, a total of 28 levels!

-   Level editor!!! Similar to the one included on the Japanese edition of Tenchu.  
    You can make quite advanced levels and save them to memory card.  Levels can 
    include enemy routes, different objectives, underwater bits, traps and everything.

-   Other extra stuff! 3d items, use caltrops and knives when running, spinning
    moves, poisoning, new items, bigger levels, other things.



Tenchu 2 was not as impressive as the first one in my opinion.  I remember playing a 
preview of the first Tenchu and loving it because of it's originality, gameplay and 
darkness.  I still play it more than any other of my PSX games because it is so 
difficult to master.  Each time you start off a mission, it is a challenge to finish
it without being seen at all and killing every single guard.  I loved the character
Rikimaru, the way he was all one dar colour who was slightly evil.  
When I played Tenchu 2 I was shocked a bit at how much nicer the game was.  The main
thing that I don't like about it  is the lack of darkness.  It makes the game less of
a ninja game, but more of an adventure game.  Then the levels were not as well 
structured as it's predessesor.  Most levels are purely a vast open space with lots 
of trees and boxes, as apposed to the solid and confined Tenchu1 levels.  
The sequel has no music as such and characters such as Rikimaru have become even more
westernised than before.  Rikimaru is no longer as silent and deadly as he was, but
is more immature and colorful.  I can understand that he is younger, but it makes the
game  more innocent which isn't as good.  
This doesn't mean that it is worse than Tenchu, only different.  The introduction of
swimming makes the game far more open in terms of how the mission can be approached.
Before water limited the character, now you can use it to your advantage, especially on
the boat missions.  The removal of bodies makes it more fun as well, and necassery due
to the increased proximity of the baddies.
Tenchu1 still had virtually no linked storyline between the levels, which was good.  I 
found that with the sequel the storyline was excellent, but it meant that the enemies
and levels were to similar which was dissapointing.  Still it is great fun to play 
around with.  But if I was to be trapped on a desert island with one of the games I'd
choose the first of course.


CHARACTERS
************************************************

Rikimaru:   Probably the best of the three ninjas due to his strength and power
            in attacks, he posseses easy to hit moves and has a long attack range.
            Although he is slow and cannot turn as fast, he remains the best for
            both beginners and masters.  He also has some cool silent killing
            moves, most noteably the sword through the chest and then throwing
            the enemy to the floor.

Ayame :     Faster than Rikimaru and can turn faster.  Her combos are faster and 
            bigger than Rikimaru's and this makes it easier to kill bosses.  Ayame
            is a good choice for those who wish to be more stealthy or those who 
            have trouble fighting the harder bosses.  I prefer Rikimaru, but only
            because he looks like a ninja.

Tatsumaru : Because he turns to the Burning dawn at the beginning of the game, he 
            has some cool missions to do, especially the capturing of the villagers
            for slaves.  He is very strong and has a useful 5 hit combo for knocking
            down any enemies or bosses.  Silent killing moves are cool for Tatsmaru, 
            especially the one when he cuts the enemy extremely fast and then after
            a couple of seconds, they just die.





ENEMIES
************************************************

Katana guard  =   Most basic of enemies.  They are poor at offence at the beginning
                 of the game, but when they become stronger then they can be a pain.
                 Use rapid combos to kill them.  

Spear guard   =  Annoying guard that has a massive attacking range.  He also attacks
                 unexpectadly fast so remember to block.  They are dangerous when you
                 have to fight them along with katana guards.

Archer guard  =  Shoot arrows at you for some reason.  Sometimes they use burning arrows
                 which are harsh.  Try to manouever yourself behind other enemies so 
                 the archers will kill them for you.  Archers are cowards and run away
                 when challenged.

Sycthe guard  =  Mostly the ninja men use the two sythes to cut you up.  This is bad 
                 but the ninjas carry some cool ninja tools including the ninja blow
                 pipe.  These guys attack fast and can jump over things.

Rifle guard   =  Only found on the island level.  They are bad shots and will miss if
                 you are running or hiding behind a twig.  It also means that they take
                 a long time to reload so you can jump in and slot them.

Claw guard    =  Only the women ninjas use this harsh weapon and it is even more brutal
                 than the one used in Onikage's castle.  The ninja will attack with a 
                 long range and scratch your eyes out.  Use ninjitsu to roll forwards 
                 and cut their legs off.

Zombies guard =  They eat human flesh and can attack ninjas and turn them into zombies.  
                 Unfortunatly they don't exist, but it would be cool to slice them in
                 half with a razor sharp sword methinks. 





ITEMS
************************************************

Health Potion -  Completely restores character's health.  Difficult to use
                 when under attack as you can drop it.

Grenade       -  Thrown projectile that does 15 points of damage.  Sometimes
                 the fuse won't work and you can pick it up again.  Ninjas 
                 and bosses use them as well, be careful!      

Mine          -  Place them on the floor and wait in hiding until an enemy
                 steps on it and it will explode.  17 damage.

shuriken         -  Thrown projectile.  Does 7 damage points.
                 Throw it behind people to distract them as well.

Caltrops      -  Spiked objects used to prevent chase from enemy footsoldiers.
                 Useless as an offensive weapon, only use it when you are being
                 attacked by many guards.

Poison Antidote - Some ninjas use poison tipped shuirikens and blades which makes
                  playing the game a pain when trying to move.  Use the antidote
                  to clear your blood of the poison.

Air bottle     - Fairly useless item that replenishes your oxygen when underwater.
                 Good for the boat levels or being like James Bond.

Colored rice   - Rice in different colors to help you from getting lost.  Still
                 it remains a pointless and ineffective item however.

Ninja Camouflage - Excellent item that makes you invisible.  The character will
                   use some magic stealth that makes only your steel blade 
                   visible.  Lasts for 15 seconds, but if you push into an enemy
                   ninja then he will get suspisious.

Poison Rice    - Not as amazing as it was in the first Tenchu.  The idea is that 
                 you can throw the rice onto the floor and the ninjas will walk
                 towards it, eat it and get poisoned.  Unfortunatly, it is now
                 less effective.  You can't throw it as far and cannot retrieve 
                 it from the dying hands of an enemy.

Exploding arrow - Projectile that ignites enemy and sends them falling over.  Good
                  for use against boss characters.

Blow gun       - My favourite weapon, sit from afar and then use the blow gun to
                 shoot a poisoned dart into a ninja for an instant and silent kill!

Blinding dust  - Makes your ninja blow painful dust into the eyes and respiritory 
                 system of the enemy ninja for escaping.

Vaninshing tree - Hard to use item that makes your character throw leaves 
                  everywhere and then appear behind the enemy.  Takes to
                  long to activate and is not useful in a ruckus.

Dragon breath  - Awesome explosion type item that igintes the ground to the
                 left, the right and front of your character dealing 30 damage.

Ninja rebirth  - Item that brings your character back to life when they are killed.
                 The respawn point will be the beginning of the level or if you die
                 in the water then it will be by the shore.

Ninja armor    - Makes your character only recieve 1/2 damage from enemy ninja attacks.
                 Looks cool also, like a samuari for Rikimaru.

Sleeping gas   - Grenade item that sends sleeping gas everywhere, makes ninjas fall
                 over onto the floor for an easy kill.  



Unfortunatly the animal horn was not included, probably because it made the game to easy
once you had the special weapon on the last level.  The poison rice is not as good either, 
but it was too easy to complete the game just using rice and not even letting the enemy
eat it, just keep on using it continually.





NEW FEATURES
************************************************

The moves remain the same for each of the characters, but I have included them for people
wanting to know Tatsumaru's moves.  

Rikimaru's moves:

Square                  = Cutting blade
Square, square, square  = 3 hit combo that can dispatch weak enemies
Up, Up, square          = Forward thrust 
Back, square            = Rolling reverse attack
Left, square            = Left blade cut
Right, square           = Right blade cut
Left, right, square     = 2 hit combo
Right, left, square     = 2 hit combo, more powerful
X, square               = overhead cut
R1, square              = rising blade

Tatsumaru's moves:

Square                  = Punch
Square x5               = Two punches, spinning heel kick, body punch and axel kick
Up, Up, square          = double blade slice
Back, square            = spinngin heel kick
Left, square            = Blade but
Right, square           = Forearm smash
X, square               = sword slice
R1, square              = dragon uppercut




NINJA TACTICS
************************************************

To master the skilled art of the ninja required to progress in this game, one must learn
the movements of the enemy.  Each enemy will be one of two types.  The first will stand
in the same position throughout the game unless he spots an enemy ninja or a dead body.
He will wait for several seconds before turning 90 degrees in a random direction, either
left or right.  This may confuse Tenchu1 veteran ninjas where the enemy will turn only 45
degrees every so often.
The second enemy will have a set path that he will not stray from unless he is disturbed.
However, the path cannot purely be examined in preperation for an ambush, the enemy will 
stop at set intervals to survey the area.  Tenchu1 had the enemy turning only at set times
and not at set positioning.  This makes sneaking up on a guard difficult as they are prone
to instantly turning around and spotting the ninja.
To cope with the confusing tactics of the enemy, you must learn to be patient.  The best
way to remove an enemy is to find a hiding place, preferably on a roof, or behind a stone.
>From here, observe the movements of the enemy.  If he/she is stationary, wait for them to
turn 180 degree from yourself and then leap out and slice the enemy head off.  If the enemy
is moving then follow if you are too far away, moving from tree to tree for concealment.
When the enemy turns and begins to walk, move out silently and execute the guard silently.

Sometimes it is best not to use the silent killing moves to remove enemies.  This is 
especially true in situations where there are more enemies around you.  Most of the silent
kill or holding moves take a few seconds and the more complex can take several.  If an 
enemy is nearby then he can easily see the crime being commiteted and will enter for the 
attack.  To save yourself the embarresment and the pain, remove grouped ninja with blade
slices from afar.  Do not attack from such a close range that you will grab hold of them.







BOSS GUIDE
************************************************

I found some of the bosses to be damn hard to beat, especially as they now use low tactics 
such as smoke grenades and shurikens.  This guide should help you fight with less honor 
which is the key tactic to winning.  Cheese always wins.


Rikimaru's bosses:

BANDIT LEADER          -   He is one of the harder bosses to beat, especially as he is
                           on the first level.  He uses his pipe as a weapon which he 
                           also uses to fire out clouds of annoying smoke.  Don't let 
                           this mess up your respiritory system or he'll hack you into 
                           pieces.  Another problem is letting him get behind you as it
                           is hard to execute a reverse attack when he is slicing you up
                           so quickly.  Use skillful expertese to overcome him and then 
                           go in for the kill and decapitate him with a swift slice of the
                           katana.

GENBU (fat ass ninja)  -  not finished yet sorry


WALKTHROUGH
************************************************

As the possibilities in Tenchu 2 to complete each missions are endless it would be 
impossible to write out a definite walkthrough.  I just wrote the main objectives of
each mission and how to do them quickly.  Oh no I haven't finished writing it yet.






PROBLEMS
************************************************

If anyone has any problems with the game or harsh questions then email me at 
seiyru@hotmail.com.  I was going to get onikage@hotmail.com, but someone has 
already taken it.  Be warned onikage, I will get you and your email adress.

The first of the problems that I would love to know of is the decapitation.  
This problem bugged me everysingle day that I played Tenchu, watching the demos
that showed the ninjas cutting the heads off the enemy.  I practised from different
angles and with different button combinations, but never found out.  The 
best way to do it was a jumping attack, but I really never knew.  If anyone
finds out then please let me know.




HARSH DEATHS
************************************************

Here are some of the most honorable and most painful deaths that I have encountered 
during the game.  Many of the ninjas that died during them were subject to extreme
pain and suffering.  We salute their courage and misfortune.

1. Shuiriken thrown high into the sky and then plummets into the unsespecting sentry's
   neck.  He screams and falls from a high wall and into a deep moat of freezing cold water.

2. Pursuing guard follows ninja across a custom made death trap.  Guard stands on mine
   and is thrown into air and onto a trap door.  As he struggles to his feet, the
   floor gives way and he falls onto a bed of razor sharp spikes.







Email me with any other problems, comments, additions to the harsh deaths or anything at
      seiyru@hotmail.com
