If you are looking for the best Feudal Japan game with ninjas then there's no better choice than Shinobido: Imashime for
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 10/10
reviewer's tilt: 10/10
Believe or not but in my opinion Shinobido: Imashime also knows as Shinobido: Way of the Ninja in Europe is whole lot better than Tenchu: Return from Darkness or Wrath of Heaven. There are a lot of better things in this game that doesn't have Tenchu series but first of all let me start from the beginning.
So, the storyline in Shinobido is interesting I can say. There is late 16th century. We play as Goh "The Crow", a ninja from the Asuka Ninja Clan. This clan has been guarded the whole province of Utakata until it has been destroyed. Because of who the clan has been destroyed? Because of Goh. He has been manipulated by the evil wizard Gamuran. The evil wizard dominated Crow and he became his servant. Gamuran was being captured in the Asuka Village. He was doomed but unfortunately Goh free him. Crow didn't want to do it but it happened. He went to the forbidden shrine and that was wrong. Kinu "The Canary" - also an Asuka Ninja was there with him. Kinu is a mysterious, young kunoichi, we will meet her during the missions. Crow told Gamuran all the facts about Asuka Ninja Clan and the village. The village has been destroyed by the other clans of Utakata. The Master of the Asuka Ninja Clan also has been killed. The only people who survive were Goh, Kinu and Zaji "The Hawk" - a one-eyed ninja, he's fighting with the sword and using Asuka-style martial arts technics.
Gamuran dominated Goh because he wanted the special note. There were magical spells in this note. With those spells he could control all humans minds, it's not good I know. Fortunately Crow burnt the notes but he remembered the words and when the wizard wanted to reach his mind the whole castle exploded. Crow fell down to the river and that's why he lost his memories. The last important thing is this that all his soul fragments has been crushed all around.
That's the story, I hope you like it.
Now Goh has amnesia and we have to help him to find these soul fragments before Gamuran will do that. It will not be simple. There are other ninja clans who wants us dead. A lot of people say that Crow is similar to Rikimaru. Well...he's not. Rikimaru is more serious, Goh more funny, Rikimaru works only for Lord Gohda, Goh is more like mercenary who not only for one lord. Rikimaru has always wear his mask, Goh often pull down his mask, it's not the end of the differences between Crow and Rikimaru but the rest of them you will surely see by the time playing the game.
Now let me tell you something about the other clans and etc. of Utakata province:
The Taraba Ninja Clan with Kabuto as their leader - they are heavily armoured and using cannons. Kabuto is using also a zwëihander-styled sword.
The Mosu Ninja with Ageha and Usuba (twin sisters, Goh killed the third sister, so the two of them hates him) as their leaders - mostly kunoichis belong to this clan, they are very deadly and fast.
The Mercenaries - there are only two of them Hebitonbo and Uzumushi. Hebitonbo is smart but Uzumushi is so stupid.
The Savages (they are not ninjas) - they live in the forest and using an axe. They could be very dangerous in group.
Jojimbo - they are ronins and fantastic bodyguards. Jojimbos are absolutely great with using a sword (when they kill somebody they say "What a waste of time").
Samurai Generals - they are extremely dangerous and they are guarding their lords.
Bear - yeah, bears are also in the game.
By the time playing the game we will work for three lords of Utakata - The House of Ichijo, The House of Akame and The Amurita Faith.
We can work for all of them and only for one of the lords if we want. Actually there are four endings, one endind with one lord and the best ending is only if we will work for all of them.
The world of Shinobido is open-ended and the whole game is unlinear. How we end the mission is only up to us. As Goh we live in his old house. We have a garden that we can customize it because we are able to buy some traps and etc. It's very good cuz Savages are likely to attack our stronghold and if we don't stop them then they will steal some equipment from our house.
The Goh's stronghold is important cuz from there we will choose the missions, buy and get equipment and read the letters. Goh has a cat, that lives with him in his house, you will find who it is.
The missions include assassination, escort duty, protection, kidnap, theft and more. They are really awesome, I'm telling you.
The places that we are visit are forest, lords strongholds, mountains, villages.
The equipment will surely help us to complete the missions. Crow has mines, bombs, shurikens, explosive, confusive, amnesia rice, health, strenght, speed potions and a lot more. We will also collect variety of herbs and then we will be able to boil, bake them in order to find some interesting item. Chemistry guys, oh chemistry, hehe.
I'm almost forgot that we can pick any weapon from our enemy and throw it to the enemies direction. Goh has also a map, that is very useful. There are two more uniforms in the game that we can have and they look really great. There are a lot of stealth kills that Crow can perform - in the front, from the back, behind the door, from the air, in the water, yeah, they are superb.
The environment is destroyable so this is a huge plus.
The enemy A.I. is good, they will search for us, alarm others (they will also scream for help!), guards are very determined if they want to catch us.
The character animations is very realistic and the voice-acting is cool.
The graphics in Shinobido is good but that's all. The lighting and shadow effects are good, the character textures also, but the textures are not as good as we want. Overall the graphics are not great, it's not bed, but it's not great.
The music is a masterpiece! All Feudal Japan music is simply awesome! I love this kind of music, it's very atmospheric in my opinion. The other game's sound are also really great.
Overall: Shinobido: Way of the Ninja / Imashime for Ps2 is an amazing game! Graphics is not everything but I didn't say it's bad in the game, it's good. The gameplay is awesome and the main character Goh "The Crow" is superb. The music, sound are very cool. This game is the best Feudal japan ninja game and it's better than Tenchu series for me! A must have!