Beyond that, I incorporated West Asian musical styles, such as the Arabic scale practiced in Turkey. Instead of limiting myself to Japanese traditions, I opened up the score to Chinese and Thai influences. Because that is frequently the norm, I looked instead to establish a novel vision of Asian music. Often, an ambient soundtrack styled after imperial court music is used. Noriyuki Asakura: I was interested in taking a different approach from what you find in most narratives set in a historical Japanese era. How did you go about finding a balance between traditional instruments and modern musical styles that would complement the gameplay? In English-language regions, players have commented on how the use of instruments on the original title matched the pace of the game and helped provide the stealth combat with an immersive quality. The discussion offers various insights into how the composer sought to differentiate the game's audio from mainstream renderings of traditional Japanese music, in favor of a fusion of Asian musical influences, so that game players could savor an otherworldy soundscape more reflective of the historical setting's distance from everyday reality. Taking place in a meeting with the composer during the production of Tenchu 4 Original Soundtrack, an album published by Aniplex Records in Japan, this interview centers on the intersection of audio techniques found in the original Stealth Assassins along with the recently localized Shadow Assassins. The latest installment in the series continues to apply progressive rock concepts in broadening the bounds of traditional Asian music. In the West, the influence of the first game is mirrored by the title Tenchu: Shadow Assassins.Īsakura, head of the sound studio Mega-Alpha and composer of Tenchu 1 through 3, also makes a return, this time introducing a broader palette of international musical conceits to Tenchu's world of ancient espionage. While infiltrating the castles of rival feudal lords by ducking through their shadows, protagonists Rikimaru and Ayame were accompanied by songs that maintained the steady rhythms and artful purpose of a trained assassin.ĭeveloper Acquire's production of Tenchu 4 for Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP intends a return to the stealth gameplay conventions of the original. The restrained intensity of Noriyuki Asakura's soundtrack to the 1998 Playstation title Tenchu: Stealth Assassins was one design feature that helped to underscore the memorably strategic gameplay.
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