Ninja Shinobi Heroes Shadow

Unlike the rest of the games in the Ninja Shinobi Heroes Shadow series, this game is comprised of different plotlines detailing various events that affect the characters and Utakata as a whole.

While there is a main conflict that circles most of the game, it sometimes takes a backseat for an amount of missions.

After the events of the previous game, the Asuka Ninja successfully rebuilt the Asuka Village.

The story starts when Goh receives a letter from Sadame stating that Akame hires Kabuto to steal her documents, and she said that she was surprised that Kabuto is still alive.

Goh heads to Akame Residence to retrieve it. Diving deeper to the game,

Ichijo plans to marry the daughter of the neighboring fedual lord, Princess Azami,

but the lord will only accept, if Goh eliminates the Kenobi Ninja that's scaring the townfolks.

The lord will accept Ichijo's proposal, when Goh finish the given task.

On the wedding day, mysterious bandits attack Ichijo, but ware stopped by Goh, so Ichijo sends Goh to investigate.

Goh soon found at that the three samurai generals have been betraying Ichijo, he captures one of the generals,

and he finds out that Miroku, Sadame's priestess, was responsible on the wedding incident,

and the documents he retrieves from Akame, was Sadame's diaries stating that the Amuritha Faith is just her creation.

Goh heads to Miroku's convent, and defeats her, then Goh suddenly vanishes.

In the morning, Zaji and Kinu search for Goh at the convent, but they find nothing but dead bodies of Miroku and her followers.

Kinu, in a sad voice, says that 'he left us again', Zaji turns back and searches the convent once more.

The best missions are where your Ninja Fighting is tasked with wiping out everyone in town in the sneakiest way possible.

This is where leaping between buildings, using your grappling hook to scale higher walls and pouncing on unsuspecting enemies comes into play and it's a genuinely thrilling system that works really well.

Sadly, these sneaky tactics fall to the wayside as soon as you're spotted by a bad guy,

and you're forced to resort to some old-fashioned swordplay.

By old-fashioned I mean PSone level, where the camera (which is totally out of your control) swings wildly, enemies disappear through walls and taking on more than one opponent is tantamount to suicide.

In fact, in an unintentional nod to the Python and the Holy Grail, the Ninja Shinobi Heroes Shadow sagely advises you: "When surrounded by enemies, run away."