When Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice first came out, how gamers looked at FromSoftware changed forever. It was a fast-paced action title that was extremely difficult and yet somehow managed to stand out from the usual Souls formula the studio had been using for years up until that point.

Sekiro is one of the studio’s experimental titles | FromSoftware

But what many don’t realize is that Sekiro is, in many ways, a spiritual successor to an older franchise called Tenchu. It was a franchise that was co-developed by FromSoftware and Acquire Studios together and, in one way or another, established many mechanics that would later find their way into the Sekiro.

Tenchu and its core DNA that made its way into Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice The core DNA of Tenchu has made its way over to 2019’s Sekiro | FromSoftware

The first-ever installment in the Tenchu franchise, called Tenchu: Stealth Assassins,...