I am starting New Game+, the game will let me keep the techniques, gear and vanity items from the previous playthrough.
Jin names his horse Kaze (Wind) out of the two options.
Personally, the best thing about the game unlike RDR2 is that your horse can’t die.
Lord Shimura, Jin’s uncle and father figure, teaches Jin in flashback that only cowards strike from the shadows. He teaches Jin to face his enemies head on with courage and respect. Jin’s first kill as a teen was to a man who was going to kill Lord Shimura. Things make a lot more sense when you play a game a second tie through like watching a movie several times.
Use the touchpad to reveal red silhouettes (the enemies). Jin frees a straw hat ronin (masterless samurai). She and Jin find that Taka might be in Azamo Bay.
Khotun Khan, the antagonist, tries to convince Lord Shimura, to tell his people to stop fighting. Lord Shimura says Lord Sakai will fight until his last breath like he (Shimura) does as well.
Masako Tales:
End Masako Tales
Jin is on his way to this mission. There is never shortage of Mongols to kill. The combat is really great in this game with the four stances you unlock as you go along. The fifth Ghost Stance is the best since it makes you invincible and deadly for a short period of time, by pressing L3 and R3. You have to have 5-6 kills without being attacked though. Pretty tough.
Jin waits for Lord Jinroku, a fake samurai, who doesn’t even know the correct name of the beach they fought at (Komoda). Reminds you of the film Ugetsu by Kenji Mizoguchi about a character named Tobei who dreams of becoming a samurai. He buys the armor and fakes being one on the surface. But the façade is soon lifted. It’s a ghost story at heart and a great film not to be missed. Jin Sakai investigates the horse of Jinroku which has never seen battle and a saddle which belonged to another lord. He confronts Jinroku who wimps out of a fight and admits he is an imposter. The women at the farm when revealed the truth pretty much knew he was a faker. They will be fine with or without him.
Straw hat mercenaries leave dead Mongols. Jin meets up with Ryuzo his old friend. Jin tries to recruit Ryuzo and says Lord Shimura can pay him anything he wants if he is rescued. He says he’ll think about it after he talks to his men about it. He says his men the straw hats are starving. He wants food for his men and then they will have a deal. Jin squeezes into Fort Ohira through a crack in the wooden wall. He cuts off the warning shots on the top of the lighthouse. The straw hats come in once the lighthouse is lighted. After reading a Mongolian script, Jin discovers they are taking the food offshore. We recruit Ryuzo and the straw hat ronin successfully.
Tip: Press L1 to block and square to counterattack.
The Broken Blacksmith
Jin, Kenji and Yuna have to rescue her brother Taka. Kenji keeps the Mongols drunk regularly so he is a traitor. This is a hard mission but the game is forgiving having to tail the Mongol Warlord without being spotted. They rescue Taka and escape Azamo Bay. Kenji thankfully brings three extra horses.
The Mongols have been drinking all of the sake from Kii Sake Brewery in Azamo. They collect a daily tax. Jin plans to ambush them. One thing I noticed while fighting in the game that was cool is that you could see through the cart if it was onscreen providing a blind spot. Attention to detail like that is what makes this game a masterpiece.
Tip: If you see a fox den or fox symbol on the map go to it and honor the shrine to open up charm slots in your inventory.
Honor Buried Deep
Hyoe suspects his neighbor is secretly meeting with bandits in nearby cemetery. Hyoe wants them brought to justice, We investigate a campsite/home for clues. The Neighbor brings the bandits an Inari statue. They are hiding important things from their shrine from the Mongols. Always take out the archers first because they will drain your health.
Jin finds Yuna in Komatsu’s forge after disposing the Mongols. Jin needs a new tool to get into Castle Kaneda. Taka is a blacksmith who can make something (like a grappling hook). We find Yukio. He is reunited with his wife Mutsu. Try to stay hidden obviously and hug the rocks when avoiding Mongol Patrols. Also try always to use stealth when possible. This mission is difficult but doable as long as none of the villagers are killed.
Khotun Khan wants Lord Shimura to sellout. He won’t. He tells Shimura many of his men were stabbed in the back. Shimura doesn’t believe Jin Sakai would resort to such measures.
Shadow of the Samurai (reference to Shadow of the Colossus one of the greatest games of all time if not the greatest)
Jin must scale the cliffs to infiltrate Casle Kaneda. When he finds the gate he must go right and drop down, then go under the bridge, up the cliffs again and through a crack in the wall. Ryuzo says The Khan put a bounty on Jin. Jin Sakai says Lord Shimura will reward him if he rescues him even making him a samurai officially. He duels Ryuzo who sells him out to the Mongols. To defeat Ryuzo just hit L1 to block his (blue/white) shine sword thrusts or press O to roll to avoid the orange (unavoidable) sword thrusts. After the duel Khotun Khan we learn will invade Toyotama.
Ryuzo burns innocent men at the stake after being promised food for his starving men by Khotun Khan. Castle Shimura lets him in.
Lord Shimura talks to Jin and forgives his brutal dishonorable way of fighting. Jin wants Yuna to get her reward of safe passage to the mainland as reward for saving Lord Shimura. He says he will help her if she helps him retake the castle.
On their horseback ride, Jin reveals Yuna saved his life despite being a thief. Lord Shimura says be careful who you trust. He trusted Ryuzo. Yuna speaks to Lord Shimura and says she wants passage to the mainland of Japan along with her brother Taka. Lord Shimura says he will need her to convince the people of Yarikawa to fight for him.
Act II: Retake Castle Shimura
A Message in Fire
Miraculously we find Umugi Cove in the Southwest corner of Umugi. Goro gives Jin Sakai an important map. The Hwacha part is difficult – just shoot in front of the ships to bring them down. Lord Shimura made an announcement to the Shogun to formally adopt Lord Sakai as his son, when the war ends.
The Tale of Yuna
Ichi works with the Mongols to survive. She is a traitor. Altan, a Mongol warlord, works with Japanese slavers. He terrorizes the Otsuna prefecture. Ichi suggests we target Altan’s allies to draw him out of hiding. Some of these allies are the Japanese slavers known as the Mamushi Brothers. In Silent Death Yuna cannot go back to the slave camp as she was a slave herself. You have to collect three brother’s heads - one is in a tent, the other in a field, one in a far tent. The Black Wolf brought in the slaves. Yuna kills The Black Wolf after confronting him. It doesn’t bring her the closure she thought it would. Use the water stance to fight Altan to break his stance.
One of the quotes from the mission is, “Sooner or later everyone has to return home and confront their past.” -Jin Sakai. It’s a great quote. We have to protect the Yarikawa stronghold. Ujimasa thinks he can outlast the Mongol Siege and doesn’t want Sakai’s help from Lord Shimura. We look for archers and do some light detective work looking for tracks guiding us to a house where a fire is still warm. They are close by. We join them. Daikoku is one of them. Don’t shoot the explosives too early or you’ll give away your position.
The Ghost of Yarikawa
After cutting down the Mongols, Jin goes up a cliff to destroy two catapults. General Temuge faces Sakai. Jin Sakai kills him luckily with the water stance since he is a shieldman.
Jin Sakai comes in contact with Yuriko. He comes for his father’s armor which he refused to wear at Komoda Beach. Jin feels guilt for not preventing his father’s death. He wants a way to poison his enemies. Yuriko reluctantly agrees to help.
Taking out some Mongol encampments gets you gold.
Kazumasa would probably disapprove of his son’s (Jin Sakai) methods of killing. It is strongly hinted that Kazumasa and Yuriko had a sexual relationship. She dies before Jin by the cliffside.
Ryuzo will strike with the Khan against Lord Shimura and Jin Sakai. Sakai asks Yuna for help but she declines wanting to start a new life in the mainland. Lord Shimura kept his word to Yuna. Jin goes to Fort Koyasan. Later Ryuzo betrays Jin Sakai again. Taka is shown to be captured. The Khan tries to divide and conquer. He kills Taka. Jin kills the straw hats. Yuna finds out about Taka’s decapitation and death. Yuna and Jin bury Taka.
The Fate of Tsushima
“Terror is not the weapon of a samurai.” -Lord Shimura
Go to Yuna after talking to your four allies. Lord Oga and Clan Oga will escort us to the top of the hill. The Shogun formally supports Lord Shimura in wanting to adopt Jin Sakai as his son. Ahead is an epic battle between samurai and Mongol forces. It’s really cool. They use a battering ram to break through the gate. Jin Sakai uses blow darts to poison some Mongols and he beheads a Mongol Warlord from the back. Lord Shimura says, “Terror is not the weapon of a samurai.” He always wants Jin and other samurai to face enemies head on.
Jin and Lord Shimura have a falling out after Jin suggests he poison the enemies which Lord Shimura considers terrorism (terror) for lack of a better word. Jin fights in dishonorable ways comparable to a ninja.
Go to the far right of the rocks and use the R2 to grappling hook from ledge to ledge. Once inside take out everyone out with stealth like Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid. Go down the pagoda and use the tightrope to walk past detection. Kill the Mongol on the guard tower. Then on the next tightrope on the ground and through the crack in the wall. Go on the tent and execute a Mongol patrolling then quickly poison the two barrels of drink for the Mongols. Ryuzo suggests fighting the Khan now that he is cornered and desperate. Jin won’t hear it. He duels and kills Ryuzo.
Lord Shimura when he finds out what happened says Jin is acting like the enemy. Jin says his (Shimura’s) way won’t save the people. Jin refutes his uncle saying he is not his son, he is The Ghost. Lord Shimura burns the royal decree. Jin defends and rescues Yuna’s life. Jin is imprisoned, escapes and his horse is shot with arrows and dies.
Act III: - Kill the Khan
Jin reaches the sacred tree and finds Yuna is not there. The Mongols find out how to use poison from the wolfsbane like Jin did. Yuna rescues Jin after he is poisoned. We are riding to Jogaku Temple.
Wolves at the Gates
Jin speaks with Takeshi to retake Fort Kaminodake. Jump on the old shack by the fire and grapple up the cliff to survey the fort. Use a hallucination dart to have the Mongols kill themselves. Jin Sakai cannot give them, his comrades, the fort officially since he broke with the Shogun. Mount the Hwacha and kill the Mongols.
I advise not fast traveling so much if not you will miss out on random encounters so to speak and NPCs will give you rumors to go on and some camps to free or quests to sort of do.
A Thief of Innocence
Jin must find Kuma last seen at the dojo. A ronin gives information that the girl is working at Numanaka Inn to get extra money. She is forced to act like a victim while bandits rob innocent civilians. She is rescued and reunited with her mother by Sakai.
A Gathering Storm
The Khan’s army are mainly located in Port Izumi. Yuna assists Jin. To distract the two guards in front of the lighthouse throw firecrackers to divert their attention then observe the barrels by the ladder. After the cutscene go up the ladder. We survey on top of the lighthouse. The Khan wants to go the mainland.
Heart of the Jito
Jin names his horse Nobu (trust). “Trusty companion,” says Jin. Jin must leave a letter/scroll to his uncle in his castle without being detected. There is a good cutscene about Jin’s backstory where Jin fears he will be replaced once Lord Shimura has a son of his own according to Ryuzo. Climb up the rocks then run along the ledge to the left side of the cliff and continue climbing. Run and jump and throw your iron hook on the branch beside the waterfall on the next ledge. Jin sneaks into the cart. Once outside the cart go to the castle’s left side (hug the walls). Go up the scaffold in the main keep of the castle. Now instead of going through the shoji door, go outside through the window and on the pagoda wing and go up the ladder and leave the note for Lord Shimura.
One of a villager’s sons destroyed a supply wagon of Mongols and he had to choose a son to die as punishment. They took the other son Chuta across the bridge. Jin follows tracks to the homestead. Genta was the unlucky son. The father drowns himself and commits suicide.
The Family Man
Jin speaks with Junshin. We must find Kajiwara. He must know something about the murders of Lady Masako’s family. Kajiwara’s wife and daughter are killed. We follow the footprints to Kajiwara who spews lies but Lady Masako kills him before anything useful comes out. She says something of a rival clan.
The Thief (Masako Tale 7 of 9)
Follow the ronin in the pampas grass. Take out one when he is distracted according to the game. Take out two other ronin when they investigate a dead horse and cart. Jin kills them and other ronin. Masako confronts Mai and asks about the stolen family heirlooms. We find the heirlooms.
Yuna rescued Jin in Komoda beach it is revealed. I messed up by going forward but the game let me by the frozen creek and Jin goes up a watch tower. In a cutscene it shows Lord Shimura joins the fight. “No mercy!” He screams. Use kunai after kunai on Khotun Khan to kill him. The Khan says, “We will be remembered forever.” Jin says, “No, you will be forgotten.” Jin’s uncle wants to meet him at Omi Lake.
The Tale of Lord Shimura
The Shogun has disbanded clan Sakai. Jin is no longer samurai according to Lord Shimura. Lord Shimura says new samurai will come to occupy Jin’s land and estate. Jin says he would do it again for his people. Lord Shimura is concerned after a peasant says he is sending supplies to The Ghost. Jin and Lord Shimura are now riding on horseback trying to figure things out together. Shimura says he is concerned, The Shogun is concerned. Shimura is concerned the samurai will not obey him or the Shogun or even Jin the Ghost when Jin openly defied him. Shimura is rigid in tradition and honor whereas Jin is flexible in his own way concerning stealth killing but Jin still has loads of honor. Lord Shimura says, “The Shogun has declared you a traitor.”
“You have no honor.” Lord Shimura
“And you are a slave to it.” Jin Sakai
Jin writes about loss in haiku form. Beat Lord Shimura (duel) by pressing L1 (block) when the white glow in the sword comes up and square to strike. When the glow is orange roll by pressing circle. After beating him Shimura says, “Find me in the next life.” Jin says, “I will.” I honor him with his last wish and give him a warriors death and so he wouldn’t live in humiliation.
At the end there are references to other games on the table like a guitar (The Last of Us), an Axe (God of War), a colossus (Shadow of the Colossus), a dinosaur (Horizon Zero Dawn), a face mask (Ratchet and Clank), a car (Gran Turismo?) and a motorcycle (Days Gone).
[The End]
Journey into the Past (Director’s Cut)
Jin investigates a torture device where a woman bit her tongue off. Jin investigates the Mongol area and a shaman says, “The Eagle calls to you.” Kill the shamans first because their chants energize the other Mongols. Jin interrogates a Shaman from Iki Island. Jin says his father led a campaign to pacify the raiders on that island and died there. Jin couldn’t save his father.
Jin and Nobu (still alive!) take a boat to Iki Island. Search for your boat that crashed/got destroyed in the ocean. Follow the tracks of your horse (Nobu) to get it back. Rescue the man on the road and the mission is complete.
Jin goes to Fort Sakai and is captured by The Eagle, a woman shaman, who forces a hallucinogenic medicine to Jin. Yuna after he wakes up saves him yet again but it’s not her just a vision the Eagle uses to psychologically break Jin. She uses guilt and manipulation to break Jin in hallucinations about his father’s death and how he could have prevented it even though he was defenseless and didn’t have a weapon. Tenzo rescues him (for real). They agree to help each other bring The Eagle down.
A Raider’s Return
The secret entrance to the raiders area has been blocked off so Jin and Tenzo find another way to join the raiders against the Mongols and The Eagle. Jin and Tenzo meet Fune. He still hallucinates from time to time. Fune doesn’t like him or any samurai but puts up with him because she needs him as does Tenzo.
Jin From Yarikawa
In this mission Jin must destroy The Eagle’s warship. Kill the shamans and archers first, follow the paths and take out the cannon shooters. Get on the boat to start the next part of the story. Ignite the powder keg to destroy the ship. In flashback it is revealed Tenzo was married. His wife died in childbirth.
The Lightning in the Storm
Jin wants to infiltrate Fort Sakai. He will then have men to fight against The Eagle. Free Fune’s men. “May your death benefit all beings.” Is the quote Jin keeps hearing as he hallucinates hearing The Eagle’s voice. A shaman says that the sacred drink Jin has received is to become a shaman like the others. The shaman says the visions will get worse driving him to madness and death. Jin kills him.
Kenji pretends to be the Ghost to skim money from lowlifes and to buy himself a ticket to the mainland. Kenji tried to sneak on the boat of the Viper of Hakata Bay. Jin and Kenji have to deliver some charts to the Viper as payments for Kenji’s insolence. Try to defuse the conversation choices both times. Kenji does the right thing and gives his seat on board the ship to his apprentice, Fugu.
The Impact of Loss
A woman named Hotoko is limbless, without an arm. Her father cut it off because she fed a samurai. Doshun, a monk, healed her and she owes him her life. This mission you are faced with a difficult decision on who to save. Togo, her husband, and Doshun are on different sides of the beach. Both have Mongols. You can only save one life. Jin saves her husband successfully and will be reunited with her child. Use kunai after kunai and L1 and R1 to kill/strike fast.
Massacre at Kidafure Village
Fune’s men have returned and she got Fort Sakai back. She wants to ambush the Mongols at Kidafure Village. Kill the Mongols with the correct stances. Hallucinations plague Jin’s mind as he wrestles with guilt that his father slaughtered people here at the battlefield before. It is revealed that Tenzo killed Jin’s father. He is not happy about that. Tenzo says, “May your death benefit all beings.” To a Mongol which is the same line he said to Jin’s father before he killed him.
Jin and company want to lure The Eagle into Senjo Gorge and take her out. Jin sees visions of The Eagle. She uses his subconscious of guilt from his father’s death to wear him down. Jin arrives to the place where Tenzo killed his father.
After the duel with The Eagle, Jin confronts his demons and guilt and accepts his father’s death wasn’t his fault. Jin decides not to kill Tenzo and takes the honorable path
Epilogue: Last Words
Tenzo says he can help people face their fears of those who took The Eagle’s medicine. Jin says he overcame the visions by forgiving himself and his father.
Note:
Not all side missions were listed. That would have been redundant and boring. I hope this review wasn’t a chore to read.
Final Thoughts:
I thought this was a great game, actually a perfect game. No glitches or bugs that I noticed. Great and enticing story. Graphics are gorgeous. Meaningful characters that weren’t two dimensional. Even the dishonorable Kenji grows at the end! The Impact of Loss was my favorite mission even though it took me like 20x to beat the first playthrough. The fact you had a choice in who to save was interesting. The only samurai game that comes close to this is the Onimusha series but that’s about it. This is the best samurai game ever. The grappling hook was a cool tool in exploration and in the game I never felt bored. I hope single player games stay alive and well. Some people say the stealth mechanics could be more complex but I think it’s fine pretty much how it is. There’s plenty of things to do after you beat the game which is nice so there is plenty of replay value. Plus the DLC helps too.
Rating 10/10
