I've been in love with stealth action games since I first discovered they were a thing. That was back on PS1, when I first played a demo of Tenchu 2. Then I discovered Metal Gear Solid, and since then I've been hooked. Unfortunately, these types of games are few and far between. Outside of Tenchu, there aren't many series that really encompass the genre. Even other ninja games tend to be simply beat-em-ups instead, for some reason. So you have the Thief series, critically acclaimed but hard to find (and there hasn't been a new one in ages); the Tenchu series, not so acclaimed but awesome and fun despite there also not having been one in a long time; the Metal Gear Solid series, which has moved away from being stealth action with the more recent games; Shinobido, which is fairly recent and the PS Vita game Shinobido 2 will be the 3rd game in the series, though only the second to be released in America; the rather brilliant pair of Arkham games, though they are only partially stealth action; and a small smattering of other individual games that should be noted for their effort if nothing else. The recent XBLA game Mark of the Ninja is a particularly notable effort, with its side-scrolling gameplay giving a new and unique take on the genre.

Beyond this, there isn't much to the genre. And when one considers the litany of bad first person shooters, endless stream of RPGs, and ubiquitous regular action games, one starts to feel more than a little bit left out.

It's not that I don't find any games in those genres entertaining. Obviously, at least some must have at least a little appeal or I wouldn't be interested in video games in the first place. It's not that I don't enjoy other types of games, it's that I really love stealth action games, and really want to see more of them. But before another game gets released, they do need to work on a few things.

More use of the environment. Most of these games have you wandering around on the same level as the villains, and by level I mean floor. Often there are no platforms or walkways or anything. Just a big, open room with maybe some walls for you to hide behind until an enemy gets close enough and turns to face the other direction. Which has worked okay so far, but come on. Levels should be designed for you to make maximum efficiency of your ninja-like abilities. And I don't just mean more walls to hide behind. I mean things like vents to crawl through, the ability to cling to walls and ceilings, tables to hide under, the works. For every enemy, there should be multiple ways to reach them, and multiple ways to take them out. That's what makes this fun.

More use of shadows. It's weird being a ninja who's always standing around in the the light. This is something the Tenchu game for the Wii actually sort of got right, in that it let you blow out candles (or take them out from afar with a well thrown shuriken) and use a container of water to spray out torches, creating shadows that allow you to hide. This goes into more use of the environment, really, because the more you can do to add to your stealthiness, the more ways open up to you to reach your objective.

More variety. Tenchu has been fairly good about this, as the games tend to have more than one character with different styles. Still, the difference between the characters tends to be fairly negligible, and in at least one case by the end of the game almost non-existent (once you'd unlocked all the moves for each character and discovered that most of them were the same, just received in a different order). Arkham City was particularly good about this. If you played as all the available characters through their stealth missions, you discovered that they all were fairly unique, and had differing strengths and weaknesses. Never underestimate the strength of this kind of variety.

More balance. That is to say, just because it's a stealth game doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to fight your way out of a jam. Tenchu has been widely smashed for its poor fighting system. It does have that poor fighting system to encourage you to make better use of stealth, which would be fine if they didn't force boss battles on you. Part of the opportunity of having a variety of characters is that one could be really strong stealth-wise and poor at battle, one could be a really good fighter and not so great at stealth, and one that has a good balance.

More upgrading. Actually, stealth action games are pretty good about this, but I think there could be more done. A leveling system could be added that increases base stats, while items and objects and other types of points could be obtained to allow for further customization including upgrading weapons, learning new stealth techniques, and maybe even learning new stealth kill moves.

To further expand these ideas, let's list some game ideas I have.

TMNT. As I've mention before, I would love to see a stealth action Ninja Turtles game. A game that actually remembers they're ninja? Crazy! The 4 characters with their very unique personalities lends for a great opportunity to really let the differences between playable characters shine, with Leo being steady and stealthy, Raph not being so stealthy but great for battle, Don making use of lots of weird gizmos, and Mikey maybe not being particularly good at anything but perhaps the only character who uses objects in the environment to take out his opponents. Then think of the potential for unlockable characters: a slow moving but very skilled in all areas Splinter, a fast, lethal Shredder, a reckless Casey Jones...I could go on for hours.

X-Force. I feel the game should be based on the Kyle, Yost, and Crain run from 2008, but include good ol' throwbacks in unlockable characters such as Cable, Domino, and Shatterstar, etc. If nothing else, the addition of guns could lead to a very different style of stealth action game from what is normally dealt with.

Tenchu. It's the classic, and still my favorite. But it's time for it to perform a major overhaul, do some serious rebuilding and adding to the series, take some of these ideas and implement them. It'd be nice to get a new Tenchu, a real Tenchu. It's been a very long time.