Shadow Warrior

Shadow Warrior is a single-player first-person shooter where players take control of the modern ninja mercenary Lo Wang from a first-person perspective as he fights through levels of demonic hordes. Levels themselves are divided into chapters, each with Wang progressing through smaller stages to large open battle arenas that have side and hidden areas, occasionally allowing another route.

Lo Wang is an assassin who works for the powerful Japanese industrial magnate, Orochi Zilla. He is sent to purchase an ancient katana from a collector named Mizayaki for 2 million dollars. Mizayaki refuses the offer and Wang tries to take the sword by force, killing his men in the process. Wang is captured when Mizayaki reveals his bond with a demon named Hoji, and is caged, but escapes when demons attack the compound. Mizayaki is killed in the attack and Wang allies himself with Hoji in hopes of retrieving the sword. Hoji explains that the Nobitsura Kage, as the sword is called, is capable of slaying immortals and is anathema to demons. He also mentions that the Nobitsura Kage is actually three swords, and so Wang seeks them out to merge them into one.

Through the course of the game, Wang comes across “Whisperers”: magical golems which contain a memory (in place of a heart) that one of the Ancients, the immortals that rule the demons, chose to sequester away. The Ancients cannot touch the Nobitsura Kage as just touching the weapon can kill them, but since Whisperers aren’t truly alive, they can touch the blade therefore acting as couriers. By slaying these golems, Wang absorbs their memories and learns of the game’s back-story.