Lince WorksStealth games haven’t exactly disappeared, but they’re not quite what they used to be. The genre has changed a lot since its inception, with recent hits like Hitman: World of Assassination and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew taking a very different form from the stealth games of the 1990s and early 2000s. But a few more recent titles still call back to the good old days of stealth action in the vein of Tenchu, and one is now free to play with Amazon Prime.Sticking to the shadows is good advice in any stealth game, and Lince Works’ Aragami takes that maxim to its logical conclusion. You play as a vengeful spirit with shadow-powered magic who’s summoned to help a mysterious girl escape captivity. Aragami clearly divides its environments into segments of light and shadow, and while in the shadows, you’ll recharge the energy that powers your abilities and be virtually invisible if you stay still. But in the light, your magical energy will quickly drain, and enemies can spot you in a second if they look your way.Aragami’s shadow magic lets you take full advantage of its moonlit environments. | Lince WorksThat dynamic fuels Aragami’s brand of stealth, which rewards quick thinking, careful movement, and the full use of your many abilities. The first few skills you earn will form the backbone of your strategy: as long as you have energy, you can instantly teleport to any shadow on the map and even create new shadows to jump to. These two abilities alone greatly speed up the pace of Aragami, as the simplest, most powerful combination is to create a shadow behind a patrolling guard, leap to it, assassinate them, then teleport away before their comrades spot you. This also lets you make hasty escapes when you’re spotted, or intentionally get seen by guards to distract them, then teleport between them for the takedown.That makes Aragami extremely fast-paced and forgiving for a stealth game, while still demanding that you think strategically. Your magic pool drains quickly once you’re out of the shadows, so you can only rely on it by planning movements carefully. And if you let a guard get into combat range, they’ll end your run in a second if you don’t have an escape route ready.Aragami encourages you to use your powers as much as possible. | Lince WorksMore than most other stealth games in recent memory, Aragami is in conversation with Tenchu, the genre’s gold standard. While it’s possible to sneak your way through levels without harming a single enemy, Aragami rewards you for taking out guards, especially if you can clear everyone in a given level and get away without being spotted. Like Tenchu, Aragami ends each stage with a scorecard, tallying up your takedowns and other achievements, while subtracting points for being seen, having bodies discovered, and otherwise doing sloppy work.Also like Tenchu, Aragami puts a big spotlight on tools. In addition to your core skills, you can purchase new powers using scrolls you find around levels. Collect enough, and you can learn to turn invisible, throw knives for ranged assassinations, blind enemies who get too close, and even summon a shadowy beast to take down guards and dispose of their bodies in one swoop. Making full use of your abilities makes it much easier to get through Aragami’s toughest levels, and it’s a lot more fun than relying on your sword alone.The evolution of the stealth genre has mostly been for the better. Stealth games have a lot more breadth these days, with immersive sims, tactics games, and the occasional old-school stealth action game living side by side. But there’s still a lot of life in the type of game that birthed the genre, and Aragami shows that it’s possible to make a great game by just putting a new twist on a classic.Aragami is available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. It’s currently free for Amazon Prime subscribers through Amazon Luna.