As of lately, I have been playing Tenchu: Return from Darkness on my Xbox. When I first got it late last year, I started playing it, and hated it. But yesterday, I started playing it, and started to respect that it really seems to be like some old school ninja flick.

Quite fun.
Also played the demo for one of the newer Tenchu games.

So what do you all think of them?

I've not played Return From Darkness, admittedly.

I generally like Tenchu, though I think Wrath of Heaven was the last truly good one. The series does not adapt or change very well... in many cases, there's a feeling of unacknowledged sameness to it all. Content wise, the first Tenchu was great, but a lot of them since feel more like weaker spin offs than true blooded sequels.

I gotta agree with Chern on this one. I loved the original, because for its time it was graphically impressive and so was the gameplay. But while the rest of the gaming world grew up, Tenchu games didn't.

Lately the stories, gameplay and graphics all feel tired and dated, and the companies producing the games get respectively lower and lower production values. What I wouldn't give to have a Tenchu game made with the Unreal engine and featuring some truly clean controls instead of the clunky, oftentimes bad ones we've been forced to adapt to.