A stealth action masterpiece that lets you complete missions in a variety of ways, good storyline with multiple endings.
Yes the graphics are dated now, and the storyline is a little clichéd but the execution and game mechanics gave this title a flair that kept in my PS2 for months on end. The combat was deep and rewarding, easy to learn but difficult to master. You can go through each level picking off your foes silently in a variety of finishing moves, or engage opponents in open battle.
During missions you can collect various ingredients to concoct health potions and a variety of useful tools. A favourite of mine was crafting exploding sushi and leaving it for guards to eat: Om nom nom BOOOOOM! It's also possible to perform stealth inverted neck breaks when jumping off a mountain onto an enemies head a couple of hundred metres below. Ridiculous yes but incredibly rewarding.
It's possible to go through entire levels and only assassinate your designated target, the most rewarding method in my opinion. There are a variety of mission types which keeps things interesting, and battles against rival ninja can be quite difficult. Expert samurai also offer an extra challenge.
Your ninja hut can also be subject to attacks from a number of different factions and needs to be defended by setting up traps and designing your garden before you are attacked. Many hours can be lost in trying out different variations and once you have a solid design it is oh so sweet to watch swarms of enemies get massacred by your devious traps.
There are 4 different endings to the storyline depending on your actions taken in the game. I found myself play through this game numerous times to see them all and because you get to keep your items from previous play throughs had ended up with ridiculously powerful potions and equipment, yet somehow this just made it more enjoyable.
I could go on and on, suffice it to say I cannot recommend this strongly enough to those who enjoy stealth action, especially with a ninja flair.