Shinobi no Michi

Story
Intriguer City, North Carolina. This is a growing young city of friendly people and big dreams. It started off as a small collection of homes and strip malls outside Burlington and grew from there. It’s no wonder then, that many people wish to make this city their home. One of which is native Miyako Akiyama, who has made the city her home since she and her parents left Osaka to pursue the dream of restaurant ownership. That dream has since come true, as the Akiyama family’s restaurant, Kurama, is talk of the town. Miyako has found work as Special Officer for Toku Japan thanks to the Ninja training she received from her uncle and her status as a Diviner, someone who can communicate with Spirits. With her partner, Shizuka Mochizuki, Miyako is tasked with keeping an eye on the Seijyukenshi for Toku Sentai as a whole as well as assisting Toku America and local law enforcement in any way she can. Despite the secretive and oft dangerous nature, Miyako enjoys the job and, ironically, finds it easier than her old job as a waitress at Kurama.

But that happiness was shattered when Miyako went to check on Shizuka and found her apartment ransacked. With worry and determination in her heart, Miyako and her Spirit Guide, the fox Kyuki, set out on an odyssey to rescue her partner that will take her across three cities, test her skill as a Ninja and Toku Sentai Officer and reveal secrets about herself and Intriguer City.

Gameplay
Like its sister series, Shinobi no Michi will have 3D graphics and run on a 2.5D Unreal gameplay engine with the goal of emerging victorious from best-of-three battles. Also like Hyaku Seiken, Shinobi no Michi will play like an Arc Fighter. But it won’t be a simple clone of its sister series.

Characters will have a uniform set of buttons to attack: Strike (Punch/Slash), Kick (Kick), Guard (Guard) Hissatsu (Supers) and Spirit (Spirit Summon). Normals and Special Arts (Specials) are used via the Strike and Kick Buttons. What kind of normal or Special Arts Strike and Kick produce depends on the character. For instance, protagonist Miyako uses primarily a weapon-based style while her friend Arshad uses a traditional hand-to-hand style. Special Arts come in normal and EX Arts, which costs 10% of the Spirit Gauge at the bottom right corner. Of course, normal attacks and Special Arts can be comboed together and there will be Combo Breaker-type actions called Rave Breakers.

Guarding will be done via the third button, Guard, like Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur. In addition to Neutral Guard, there will be Crouching Guard (Down + Guard), which defends against low attacks, and Air Guard (Up + Guard in midair), which defends against air attacks. Unique to Shinobi no Michi is Repel (Forward + Guard timed with the opponent’s attack), which works like Soul Calibur’s Guard Impact in that you can deflect an attack and it leaves your opponent open. Beware, however! Like in real life, the window to counterattack is small and your opponent can easily return your Repel. Another new mechanic in Shinobi no Michi is the Kiryoku (Back + Guard), which covers you in a Ki force field when activated. It works like Guilty Gear’s Faultless Defense in that it can be activated freely and is used to negate guard damage. However, like Guilty Gear, it is not free. Using Kiryoku drains the Spirit Meter the longer you use it. There will be a Guard Gauge underneath the lifebar which will deplete the more you guard, making Repel and Kiryoku essential to avoid the dreaded Guard Break.

The fourth Button is Hissatsu, used for Hissatsu Waza (Super Moves). If you’re familiar with Japanese pop culture you know that when you hear a character shout “Hissatsu!” it’s basically their finishing move. Like Hyaku Seiken a short animation will follow the activation of a Hissatsu Waza. The Super Button controls two to four Hissatsu Wazas. Strike, Kick, Guard, and Super can be comboed together, of course, as can Special Arts be comboed into Hissatsu Wazas. The Spirit Gauge alluded to earlier is used for Hissatsu Wazas.

The fifth Button, Spirit, is another unique to Shinobi no Michi. It is used for Spirit Arts. If you’ve played Arcana Heart or Persona 4: Arena Spirit Arts will be second nature to you. Honorable mention goes to Dragon Kid's Beast Knights: the Feudal Tamers except for Shinobi no Michi there will be humanoid Spirits in addition to animals. Pressing Spirit summons your character’s Spirit Guide to attack for a brief period of time. Spirit Arts are free and can be comboed with Strike, Kick, and Super. While Spirit Arts will not have EX properties, they will have at least one Hissatsu Waza.

Throws are performed by pressing A and B together.

To get around you can Walk (Forward or Back) Dash (Double-tap Forward), Back Dash (double tap Back), Jump (Up), and Air Dash (Double-tap Forward in air).

Characters
There will be eight default fighters, two unlockable Hidden Bosses and two Secret. Characters are listed by their fighting styles and Spirits.

The Cast (Default)

 * Miyako Akiyama (Akiyama-Ryu Ninjutsu/Kyuki)-Main Protagonist and a strangely laid-back and friendly Kunoichi in employ of Toku Japan. Her main job is to keep an eye on the Seijyukenshi and help out local law enforcement but now finds herself looking for her missing partner, Shizuka. While her relationship to Shizuka is merely one of friendship, Miyako is openly bisexual. She fights with Akiyama-Ryu Ninjutsu, which should sound familiar to you. Like the other practitioner she fights armed with her bladed Jutte. Her Spirit is Kyuki, a Youkai Kitsune that she raised from a pup.
 * Arshad (Hashashin Combat/Karkadann)-A pensive elderly Persian (Iranian) Assassin in the employ of Shah Pahlavi starting in the 1950’s but was forced to flee Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini came into power and brought fourth the Iranian Revolution in the 1970’s. He traces his heritage back to the legendary Hashashins (Assassins) of the Middle East but fights unarmed using martial arts and Hashashin assassination techniques. His Spirit is Karkadann, a mythical Rhinoceros-like beast in Iranian myth.
 * Teresa Diaz (Lucha Libre/Tezcatlipoca)-A tough Mexican Luchadora who fought on the show Lucha Underground for a time; However, she felt that she wasn’t growing as a fighter fighting only fellow Luchadores and left on a journey to challenge new fighters. After her journey she ended up in Intriguer City, where she now works as a bouncer at the popular Blue Light nightclub. As a Luchadora her style of Wrestling is more dynamic and Teresa herself mixes in hints of Muay Thai. Her Spirit is Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec Jaguar God.
 * Don Fernando Gouveia (Gouveia-Style/Coca)-A passionate Toku Europe Officer from Gouveia, Portugal moonlighting as the owner of a Dance Club in Intriguer City. He is a secret mission similar to that of Miyako except he is helping Toku America investigate H.U.M. activity in the city. He is proudly and openly gay and fights with a Rose Whip similar to Kurama from YuYu Hakusho. His Spirit is Coca, a dragoness popular in Iberian lore.
 * John Weston (Otaku no Ken/Uke Mochi)-An obese, White Japanophile and Toku America Officer originally from San Diego, California but moved to North Carolina with his parents, who were natives. He is a friend of Hyaku Seiken’s Jose Cortez and Claudia Vieira. He was sent by Reginald to assist Don Fernando in investigating the H.U.M. activity in the city. He fights with his own original style, Otaku no Ken, which will be a pop culture and Anime fan’s dream. His Spirit is Uke Mochi, Shinto Goddess of Food.
 * Yolanda Lewis (Spell Seal Blade/Cat Sidhe)-A sprightly fireball of an African-American Wiccan and member of the Witch’s Coven, an organization of modern-day Witches, Warlocks, and Mages. Unfortunately, due to H.U.M.’s persecution of the Coven for practicing “forbidden” (a.k.a. non-scientific) arts only Yolanda and two of her friends remain. She seeks to avenge her fellow Witches on behalf of the Coven’s new Grand Mage, Massachusetts native Elizabeth Hayden, with her partner, French Wiccan Seraphina Descartes. She is the first cousin of John’s best friend, Daisuke. She fights with a circular sword, the Spell Seal Blade and her Spirit is the Cat Sidhe, a Celtic cat monster.
 * Seraphina Descartes (Orb/Hydra)-A moody and snippy French Wiccan and the friend/partner and polar opposite of Yolanda. She lives with her older sister, Noelle, a successful restaurant owner in West Burlington that she hates—or actslike she does. She, too, seeks to avenge her brethren and destroy H.U.M. She fights with her magical orb similar to Amakusa Shiro Tokisada. Her Spirit is the Lernaean Hydra, a multi-headed serpent famous in Greek myth.
 * Steven Roberts (Roberts Gun Arts/Pegasus)-A Black Englishman and younger brother of Victoria Roberts that we met in her Arcade Ending. He is on a special mission from his big sister to investigate H.U.M. activity in the Piedmont-Triad Area. Fights using Gun Fu. His Spirit is the Pegasus.

Bosses (Unlockable)
Sub Boss Final Boss
 * Jade 9 (Kung Fu/Houyi)-A Chinese Cyborg and H.U.M. General sent by Deoxia to Intriguer City to investigate claims of a “great spiritual power” and destroy it. Her character trait is that she is almost always emotionless and logical like a usual robot despite being part human. To make things even more interesting, she was originally a Choujin with the power to absorb other Choujin’s power. Oddly enough, she is also a Diviner with Houyi, a famous Chinese archer, as her Spirit. This is a secret she’s been keeping from Deoxia…
 * Susano'o (Yamato no Ken/Himself)-The famed God of Storms arrives, furious at H.U.M.’s anti-religious activities and genocide of Choujin and Monsters. His goal is to wipe H.U.M. and its followers off the face of the earth with his powerful sword and hand-to-hand style known as Yamato no Ken. But all is not as it seems…

Secret Characters

 * Kurojishi (Miyoshi Ryu Ninjutsu/Nyeusi Simba)-A Ninja of the Miyoshi-Ryu sect, rivals to the Akiyama-Ryu sect He was originally a Warrior of the famous Maasai Tribe in Kenya but, after saving the life of a visiting Miyoshi-Ryu descendant from Japan was offered the chance to learn Miyoshi-Ryu Ninjutsu. Comes seeking his rival, Miyako. His Spirit is the Black Lion.
 * Noelle Descartes (Modified Fencing/Vercengetorix)-Seraphina's older sister and owner/head chef of Pluie Delicat, a popular French restaurant in West Burlington. Despite the way Seraphina behaves in general, Noelle loves her sister and desperately wants to close the divide between them. Her Spirit is Vercengetorix, a barbarian warlord from Gaul, modern-day France.

Stages
The story of Shinobi No Michi takes place in the fictional Intriguer City along with real-life locations in the Greater Piedmont-Triad.
 * 1) Kurama Restaurant: Lobby, Intriguer City (Miyako)
 * 2) Persia Cuisine: Live Entertainment Stage, South Durham (Arshad)
 * 3) Four Seasons Town Centre: Third Story, Urban Greensboro (Seraphina)
 * 4) Tranquil Creek, Rural Alamance County (Yolanda)
 * 5) Gouveia Dance Club: Interior, Downtown Intriguer City (Don Fernando)
 * 6) Blue Light Nightclub: Entrance, Downtown Intriguer City (Teresa)
 * 7) Anime Daisuki! Hobby Shop, Downtown Intriguer City (John)
 * 8) Historic Train Station, Downtown Burlington (Steven)
 * 9) Chinese Temple, Midtown Intriguer City (Jade 9)
 * 10) Yamato Gardens, MiNihon, Intriguer City (Susano’o)
 * 11) North Carolina Zoo: Safari, Asheboro (Kurojishi)
 * 12) Pluie Delicat: Entrance, West Burlington (Noelle)

Game Modes

 * Story Mode-Tells the story of the game through protagonist Miyako's eyes in an Arcade Mode-style layout. Can be replayed as many times as you wish.
 * Arcade Mode-Unlocked after beating Story Mode. It's your average ladder mode where you choose whoever you want and tackle all eight fighters, Jade 9, and Susano'o. However, meeting certain conditions will allow you to fight the secret character.
 * Versus Mode-Self-explanatory. You can play against CPU or Human here and Winquotes will be the same as Arcade Mode plus Mirror Match Winquotes for those who happen to like the same character.
 * Time Attack-Try to climb the ladder with the fastest time following a randomly generated ladder ending at the Sub Boss. Special conditions must be met for the Final Boss.
 * Survival-Try to survive an endless gauntlet of opponents for the highest score. Unlike Story and Time Attack there will be no set formula, you fight everybody all the time until you die. It will follow the Garou: MOTW survival where there will be health and time items. Like old-school survival, there is one difficulty that starts off easy and gets more complicated as you go.
 * Training-Where you select your fighter and hone your skills against your selected opponent in whatever stage you like. Training will be as detailed as most modern Training Modes.
 * Tutorial-A special tutorial set Miyako’s makeshift training camp out into the woods that you can play and review as many times as you like. Once the basic movements are learned the remainder of the tutorial (Spirits, Specials so on) turns into a flashback to Miyako’s days of training with her uncle, Takamaru.
 * Trails-These are character-specific trails concerning Specials, Spirit Drives, combos, and cancels.
 * Gallery-View character profiles, listen to music, and view Story Mode cutscenes.
 * Online-As I said before, I’m a Story/Casual Warrior but I know a LOT of people love Online so here it is. You find a match, join a lobby, or enter a tournament. Cross-play between all systems will be added. Broadband is required. Rage-Quitters will be served with an automatic loss, no exceptions. If your internet is bad you might be best not playing fighting games with it.
 * Options-Adjust settings like sound options, game options, and controls.