This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(December 2014)
Nightshade, released in Japan as Kunoichi (くのいち, lit. "female ninja") and stylized in all regions with the kanji 忍 behind the title, is an actionvideo game for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), developed by Overworks[3] and published by Sega in 2003. It is the 11th game in the Shinobi series and follows the exploits of a female ninja named Hibana. The game is a sequel to the 2002 PS2 game Shinobi.
In Nightshade, the player plays as Hibana, a female counterpart to Shinobi's Hotsuma. She is a government-employed ninja tasked with the elimination of members of the Nakatomi Corporation, which has unwittingly unleashed hellspawn upon futuristic Tokyo. She is also ordered to recover the shards of "Akujiki", the legendary cursed sword that Hotsuma used to seal the hellspawn the last time.
The main character, Hibana was born to a branch family of the Oboro lineage, but due to being a girl, she was not allowed to vie for leadership of the clan, and was put up for adoption at an early age to a branch of the Oboro. She is a jaded ninja who was abandoned by Jimushi and now works for the government. The government modeled her sword and outfit after Hotsuma's, the main character of the previous game. Hibana also appears in the 3DS crossover role-playing game Project X Zone 2.
Jimushi (地蟲)
Voiced by: Sawaki Ikuya (Japanese); Allan Chriest (English)
The Shinobi of Earth and Hibana's former master. One of the Oboro Clan elders, until he seceded and became a government agent. He would become disenchanted with the government and leave, becoming a Nakatomi Mercenary Ninja.
The Shinobi of Water and the third Shinobi who confronts Hibana. She is Jimushi's new apprentice and is essentially Hibana's replacement. However, she despises Hibana because Jimushi prefers her.
The antagonist, a robotic ninja created by the Nakatomi group ordered to work with Jimushi and retrieve pieces of Akujiki. Although a soulless robot, he begins to have his own agenda with each piece of Akujiki he absorbs.
Gameplay
Nightshade's missions are linear, and each one culminates in a battle against a challenging boss opponent. The core of Nightshade's gameplay is hack and slash, with accumulating combos on spawning enemies about the level. Using Hibana's arsenal of a katana (the primary weapon), short daggers (achieve less damage, but score a higher combo multiplier), shuriken (long range projectiles), and various ninjutsu spells, the game challenges the player to achieve as high a score as possible while eliminating the opposing threat.[4]
Nightshade also includes aspects of platforming. With Hibana's ability to dash in mid-air, the game requires the player to use this ability to bypass holes and hazards. Game mechanics restrict Hibana to only a double-jump and an air-dash before she falls, requiring the player to strike enemies in mid-flight to stay in the air. By doing this, the player combines accuracy and timing to stay in the air continuously, or fall to their death.
If the player has a completed save file from Shinobi then Hotsuma, the protagonist of the previous game, is available as an optional playable character. He differs from Hibana in that he does not use daggers like her and is only able to use Akujiki, the sword he used in the previous game. Hotsuma plays exactly as before with the same arsenal of moves and operates under the same mechanics as he did in the previous game. He must always be finding and defeating enemies to feed their souls to Akujiki, or the cursed sword will devour his soul instead and kill him.
Development
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2017)
Soundtrack
The Nightshade soundtrack is based upon the Japanese techno of the previous iteration, Shinobi. All tracks were produced by Fumie Kumatani, Tomonori Sawada, Keiichi Sugiyama, Yutaka Minobe, Teruhiko Nakagawa, and Masaru Setsumaru of Sega Digital Studio. Nightshade did not see an official soundtrack release until July 2014, where it was released digitally on Amazon Music and iTunes.
Nightshade received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one nine and three eights for a total of 33 out of 40.[9]
References
^Colayco, Bob (February 10, 2004). "Nightshade slips into stores". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
^"Nightshade Release Information for PlayStation 2". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
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For the 8 bit home computer game see Nightshade 1985 video game For the Nintendo Entertainment System game see Nightshade 1992 video game This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article December 2014 Nightshade released in Japan as Kunoichi くのいち lit female ninja and stylized in all regions with the kanji 忍 behind the title is an action video game for the PlayStation 2 PS2 developed by Overworks 3 and published by Sega in 2003 It is the 11th game in the Shinobi series and follows the exploits of a female ninja named Hibana The game is a sequel to the 2002 PS2 game Shinobi NightshadeNorth American cover artDeveloper s Sega WowPublisher s SegaDirector s Masahide KobayashiArtist s Makoto TsuchibayashiComposer s Fumie KumataniTomonori SawadaKeiichi SugiyamaYutaka MinobeTeruhiko NakagawaMasaru SetsumaruSeriesShinobiPlatform s PlayStation 2ReleaseJP December 4 2003 2 NA February 10 2004 1 PAL March 5 2004Genre s Action adventure hack and slashMode s Single player Contents 1 Story 1 1 Characters 2 Gameplay 3 Development 3 1 Soundtrack 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksStory EditIn Nightshade the player plays as Hibana a female counterpart to Shinobi s Hotsuma She is a government employed ninja tasked with the elimination of members of the Nakatomi Corporation which has unwittingly unleashed hellspawn upon futuristic Tokyo She is also ordered to recover the shards of Akujiki the legendary cursed sword that Hotsuma used to seal the hellspawn the last time Characters Edit Hibana 緋花 Voiced by Atsuko Tanaka Japanese Karen Swenson English The main character Hibana was born to a branch family of the Oboro lineage but due to being a girl she was not allowed to vie for leadership of the clan and was put up for adoption at an early age to a branch of the Oboro She is a jaded ninja who was abandoned by Jimushi and now works for the government The government modeled her sword and outfit after Hotsuma s the main character of the previous game Hibana also appears in the 3DS crossover role playing game Project X Zone 2 Jimushi 地蟲 Voiced by Sawaki Ikuya Japanese Allan Chriest English The Shinobi of Earth and Hibana s former master One of the Oboro Clan elders until he seceded and became a government agent He would become disenchanted with the government and leave becoming a Nakatomi Mercenary Ninja Kazaguruma 風車 Voiced by Unshō Ishizuka Japanese Timothy Enos English The Shinobi of Wind and the first Shinobi who confronts Hibana in Jimushi s gang An honorable warrior who claims that Hibana is his 1 000th opponent Onibi 鬼火 Voiced by Wataru Takagi Japanese Kevin Miller English The Shinobi of Fire and the second Shinobi who confronts Hibana He is attracted to Hibana and wants her to kill him Hisui 翡水 Voiced by Chiwa Saito Japanese Erin Beers English The Shinobi of Water and the third Shinobi who confronts Hibana She is Jimushi s new apprentice and is essentially Hibana s replacement However she despises Hibana because Jimushi prefers her Kurohagane 黒鋼 Voiced by Toshitsugu Takashina Alpha Japanese Masao Harada Beta Japanese Hiroshi Iida Final Japanese Casey Robertson English The antagonist a robotic ninja created by the Nakatomi group ordered to work with Jimushi and retrieve pieces of Akujiki Although a soulless robot he begins to have his own agenda with each piece of Akujiki he absorbs Gameplay EditNightshade s missions are linear and each one culminates in a battle against a challenging boss opponent The core of Nightshade s gameplay is hack and slash with accumulating combos on spawning enemies about the level Using Hibana s arsenal of a katana the primary weapon short daggers achieve less damage but score a higher combo multiplier shuriken long range projectiles and various ninjutsu spells the game challenges the player to achieve as high a score as possible while eliminating the opposing threat 4 Nightshade also includes aspects of platforming With Hibana s ability to dash in mid air the game requires the player to use this ability to bypass holes and hazards Game mechanics restrict Hibana to only a double jump and an air dash before she falls requiring the player to strike enemies in mid flight to stay in the air By doing this the player combines accuracy and timing to stay in the air continuously or fall to their death If the player has a completed save file from Shinobi then Hotsuma the protagonist of the previous game is available as an optional playable character He differs from Hibana in that he does not use daggers like her and is only able to use Akujiki the sword he used in the previous game Hotsuma plays exactly as before with the same arsenal of moves and operates under the same mechanics as he did in the previous game He must always be finding and defeating enemies to feed their souls to Akujiki or the cursed sword will devour his soul instead and kill him Development EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it April 2017 Soundtrack Edit The Nightshade soundtrack is based upon the Japanese techno of the previous iteration Shinobi All tracks were produced by Fumie Kumatani Tomonori Sawada Keiichi Sugiyama Yutaka Minobe Teruhiko Nakagawa and Masaru Setsumaru of Sega Digital Studio Nightshade did not see an official soundtrack release until July 2014 where it was released digitally on Amazon Music and iTunes Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic68 100 5 Review scoresPublicationScoreEdge6 10 6 Electronic Gaming Monthly5 5 10 7 Eurogamer4 10 8 Famitsu33 40 9 Game Informer6 5 10 10 GamePro 11 GameRevolutionB 12 GameSpot7 9 10 13 GameSpy 14 GameZone7 5 10 15 IGN7 10 4 Official U S PlayStation Magazine 16 Nightshade received average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic 5 In Japan Famitsu gave it a score of one nine and three eights for a total of 33 out of 40 9 References Edit Colayco Bob February 10 2004 Nightshade slips into stores GameSpot CBS Interactive Retrieved April 2 2014 Nightshade Release Information for PlayStation 2 GameFAQs Retrieved 2014 04 02 Torres Ricardo 2003 11 25 Nightshade Preview GameSpot Retrieved 2014 04 02 a b Perry Douglass C 2004 02 06 Nightshade PS2 IGN Retrieved 2014 04 02 a b Nightshade Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2 Metacritic Retrieved 2014 04 02 Edge Staff March 2004 Nightshade Edge No 135 p 103 Archived from the original on 2004 07 04 Retrieved 2014 04 02 EGM Staff April 2004 Nightshade PS2 Electronic Gaming Monthly 177 121 Archived from the original on 2004 04 05 Retrieved 2014 04 02 Fahey Rob 2004 03 19 Nightshade Review Eurogamer Retrieved 2014 04 02 a b Famitsu review scores for Baten Kaitos Gundam Z etc The Magic Box 2003 11 26 Retrieved 2016 05 21 Juba Joe March 2004 Nightshade PS2 Game Informer No 131 p 106 Archived from the original on 2008 03 18 Retrieved 2014 04 02 Star Dingo 2004 02 12 Nightshade Review for PS2 on GamePro com GamePro Archived from the original on 2005 02 12 Retrieved 2014 04 02 Dodson Joe 2004 02 20 Nightshade Review Game Revolution Retrieved 2014 04 02 Kasavin Greg 2004 02 10 Nightshade Review PS2 GameSpot Retrieved 2014 04 02 Turner Benjamin 2004 02 10 GameSpy Nightshade PS2 GameSpy Retrieved 2014 04 02 Bedigian Louis 2004 02 10 Nightshade PS2 Review GameZone Archived from the original on 2008 09 20 Retrieved 2014 04 02 Varanini Giancarlo April 2004 Nightshade Official U S PlayStation Magazine 100 Archived from the original on 2004 03 31 Retrieved 2014 04 02 External links EditOfficial website in Japanese Official page at Sega in Japanese Nightshade at MobyGames Hardcore Gaming 101 Shinobi Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nightshade 2003 video game amp oldid 1121549915, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
