Walkthrough: Bakumatsu Chapter

Ah, you so wish to follow the honorable path, to kill only when absolutely necessary. A noble cause, but a hard one. However, using this battle plan, and some mad Ninja skillz, you will be able to succeed. It goes without saying that your Cloak of Invisibility (Y button) is your best friend if you choose the stealthy way. Always remember - never kill any humans. Traps, undead and demons are okay to kill. [In fact, you have to kill *some* of these to level up.] If you mess up, and you do get into an unwanted battle, it's usually a simple matter of choosing to Run and quickly hide using the Cloak if necessary. When the threat is past, you can proceed as normal. Now, let us begin!

When you're dropped just outside the castle, go right up to the entrance of the building ahead, which I will refer to as "Building 1" from now on. The Guards will notice you and attack. To avoid killing them, simply choose to run, then proceed into the building. They won't follow you. Guess it only shows how hard it is to find good help these days.

Anyway, when you enter Building 1, you'll see a large gathering of Samurai, from whom you'll learn the password: The challenge phrase "Mountain" should be answered with "River". Remember that well. Also pay close attention to the bell, which rings periodically. When it does, the password will switch from River to Origin. When it rings again, it switches back to River, and so forth. Of course, you can also ignore the bell if you want to and save whenever you're about to be asked for the password, then just load the game if you get it wrong.

Once the Samurai leave, go into the room on the far right. Avoid the guard by hiding with the Y button and using the B button to run rather than walk. Make your way to the chest in the corner, grab the ChainMail, and equip it. Remember that you can just run away from the guard if you do get into a battle.

Leave the room, and head through the hallway on the left. Passing through a couple of doors, you will find a Ronin walking around there. Avoid him, and proceed through the northern door. You'll end up in the castle courtyard. Avoid the Ronin walking around there, and approach the entrance to the next building, which I'll call "Building 2". The Guards will ask you for the password. Answer correctly, and they'll let you pass.

Watch out for the Ronin wandering through the hallway, and make your way to the right-most door. You'll see a Ninja pass through a secret door hidden behind the wall. Follow him, and save the game before talking to him, since he'll be asking you for the password. Answer correctly, and he'll think you're a new recruit, and saddle you with his job of patrolling the attic. Of course that's fine with you, that's where you need to go anyway, so go up the rope ladder.

You'll see two thieves trying to steal some treasures, but their plans will be foiled. These two, a father and son, both called Watanabe, are part of a slightly morbid running gag that spans the different scenarios - the father always ends up killed somehow. Anyway, grab the treasure boxes they were going for, to find that they were pretty much wasting their time. All you'll find in there is a single Koban (coin). There's another chest in the attic that hold a Kasuteira (it's a kind of cake, which serves as a healing item), and there's another past a rope ladder. You get that one simply by going down the ladder, going back up, and then moving towards it. Equip the MerfolkSocks you find in there, then go back up to the attic.

Back in the attic, go for the exit on the left-hand side. A Ninja will come out and spot you. Quickly hit Y to use the cloak of invisibility and let him pass, then quickly head to the exit. Prepare for the classic "walk and jump over rooftops" bit you see in all the Ninja movies. Proceed over the rooftops, until you enter the building directly over the entrance to the castle. Do not go directly through the center of the room, or you'll fall through a pit and end up at the castle's entrance again. Exit the room at the other end, and keep going over the rooftops, automatically jumping to the next when you reach the edge of the one you're on. In the end, you'll end up on the top floor of one of the buildings you couldn't enter before. There's some chests in there. One's empty, one holds a Kasuteira, and the last contains the WarehouseKey. Don't go on, but make your way back to the building directly over the entrance of the castle, and do go through the center this time, letting yourself fall through the pit.

Pass through Building 1, but don't enter Building 2 just yet. The building in the lower-left corner of the castle has a hidden entrance at the north side. Find it, and use the WarehouseKey to unlock it. Save the game before going for the chest you find there. When you try to open the chest, a Ninja will drop down from the ceiling. Quickly use the Y button to hide, and when he's far enough away from you, grab the BasementKey from the chest. Hide some more in necessary, and make your way to the exit.

Pass through Building 2 by taking the door on the far left after entering, then going straight through the next couple of doors. In the hallway with the northern exit and three doors going south, take the one on the far right. There are two chests each containing a Kasuteira in that room. After getting them, exit the room and head through the north exit. When you get outside, avoid the wandering Ronin and enter the little building on the right using the WarehouseKey. Inside, kill the two Hitodama (disembodied souls) floating around, which shouldn't be too hard, since they don't do much of anything, and you'll reach level 3. Since they're undead, they don't count as kills. Next, open all the pots and chests in the room. You'll find 2 SteamedRice, a Koban, a SakabaSword, an IzanagiScrol, a Topknot and a GenjiSocks. Equip the latter two. Leave the woman in the corner alone for now.

You should spend some time gaining levels here by exiting the room and re-entering, beating the two Hitodama over and over again. At level 4, you'll gain Hiton, which will get rid of them in one shot. You should keep going until you reach at least level 6, at which point you will get very little experience for beating more Hitodama, which makes leveling further here a lot more tedious. Of course, you can keep going for as long as you wish, but for the purpose of this walkthrough, I'll assume you stopped at level 6. [It'll only take you about seven or eight fights, so it's not as bad as it sounds.] Ignore Okyou, the girl in the corner, since if you should beat her, the Hitodama will stop respawning.

After that, head back to Building 2 and make your way up to the rooftops again. After passing through the building over the entrance to the castle (watching out for that hidden pit in the center again), keep going until you're back in the house at the end, where you got the WarehouseKey before. Proceed further ahead.

Well, this room looks almost like one big puzzle, doesn't it? That's because it is. Here's how to get past it. At the first intersection, go left. You'll pass a switch - flip it. Keep following the path, avoiding all the moving floors. At the end of the path, you should be able to go further north over the moving floor. Do so. Remember the exact spot where you end up- for convenience's sake, I will refer to this spot as "the checkpoint" from now on. Now go right, keep going past the moving floor, go up a little bit, then over another tiny moving floor going right. This leads to another switch, flip this one too.

Go up as far as you can go, then all the way right, then keep going straight down. You'll end up back at the first intersection. Go back to the checkpoint. Go only a little bit to right this time, taking a moving floor south at the earliest opportunity. Keep going south until you reach another switch. Flip it, then go south again, and again make your way back to the checkpoint. You're able to go past one of the moving floors to the north now. Go in that direction, flip the switch there, and get the GrappleHook from the chest.

Again, it's back to the checkpoint. From there, keep going right, take a moving floor heading right, then immediately go south with another. This leads to a spot where you can use the GrappleHook for a shortcut, but don't do so! Instead, flip the switch that's also around there. Go as far left as you can, and the northward-bound moving floors will bring you back near the checkpoint. Go a little bit to the right, then go north, and pass the moving floor. There's the rope ladder, your way out. Don't bother getting the chest up ahead, you really won't need the contents (a WindGodScrol). Just head out via the ladder.

You are now inside what I'll refer to as "Building 3". After going upstairs, first head south through a semi-hidden door, and follow the path east to a hallway with many doors. First go north, and in the next room, enter the small room on the right side. In this room you can grab a SakabaSword, Steamed Rice, and a Kanesada from the wall. Why the heck you would need another Kanesada is beyond me, but there's one here nonetheless. Don't bother with the pot next to the woman, you can't grab that one without killing her, and you don't want to do that. Now, exit the room and go back south, through all the doors in the hallway.

Avoid the Elite Samurai who patrols the next hallway and proceed to the one guarding the door at the end. Save before talking to him in case you mess up on the password. Follow the path ahead, being careful to avoid the Elite Samurai and Ronin walking around. Keep on going until a Geisha spots you. She'll summon a group of Elite Samurai to deal with you. However, before they can attack, they'll be interrupted by Han, a Ronin who's turned into a demon. Let him take care of the Samurai for you, and don't talk to him or go into the room he came out of. Instead go into the room next to the stairs to pick up a TokenOfAcala and a WindGodScrol.

When you come out of the room, Han will be gone. Go into the room directly left of the one you came out of. There's an Elder there, who will express surprise at the fact that you still haven't killed anybody (how the heck does he know that?). Thinking you maybe be able to save the castle from its demonic presence, he'll give you 10 Kasuteira, which should be enough to keep you alive in the tough fights ahead. After that, go through the secret passage in the upper-right corner of the room. Keep going until you see a rope ladder, and use it.

This room is swarming with traps. They won't get close to you if you just stay where you are, though. This is going to be tough, but you'll have to make your way to the bottom-left corner of the room to get the GenjiHelm from the chest. It will be very hard to survive the upcoming battle without it. Save the game before attempting to get past them. The best (and probably only) way to do this is to first hide yourself with the cloak of invisibility so they'll move around randomly instead of straight towards you. Keep an eye out for an opening, and when you see one, quickly run a little ways before hiding again, inching closer to the chest. After you grab the helm, make your way back to the rope ladder. Should one of the traps touch you, you'll end up in the dungeon. And although you can free yourself with the BasementKey, you'll have to get all the way back here anyway, so I recommend just loading your save game if that happens.

Don't forget to equip the GenjiHelm once you get back down from the rope ladder, then go back to the room of the Elder who gave you the 10 Kasuteira, and take the south exit. Back in the hallway, go upstairs, then take the door on the left. In this small hallway, go through the secret door in the top-left corner and keep going until you get to another rope ladder. Use it, and you'll end up in another trap room. You can't pass any of the statues without getting into a battle. Go ahead and pass the red statues on either side. In this battle, don't try to attack the FireTraps. Instead, just keep walking in the only direction you can, staying right next to all the FireTraps the whole time. They shouldn't get a chance to fire at all. When you get to the FirstTrap at the end, use Shinobikiri to destroy it, and the FireTraps will all be destroyed as well. Traps don't count as kills, so this won't spoil your zero-kill goal. Now walk past the other two red statues, and do the same again. [Note that if you want extra experience and a few TokenOfAcalas, once you've made your way to the top of the battlefield, you can use Shuriken from a safe distance to get rid of the FireTraps, picking them off one by one. They won't hit back if you're more than one space away from them, and Shuriken can reach the length of the entire field. Just watch out for FlameThrowers; they use it seldom, but it can chop off most of your HP when they do use it.]

After this, do not go past the blue statues. This trap is far more deadly, I don't recommend even attempting to pass it. [I do, though! ^_^ Here's what you do: Walk down, and use a Shuriken against a GasTrap, opening a spot for you. Your Shuriken should be able to beat it in one hit. Now just get out of the box of enemies. If you get hit with PoisonPollen, use a Kasuteira to get rid of the poison. Now you can pick off the traps using Shurikens; just stay more than two squares away from all of them. Then you can beat the FirstTrap. You can get WindGodScrols or TokenOfAcalas from this battle, and you can then pick up the GenjiArmor early! Er, sorry, back to Macc. You *can* skip these battles, as he says.] Instead, remember that GrappleHook you got? Now's the time to use it. There's a little pole sticking out of the floor right next to the pit in the center of the room. Press the A button next to it and you'll be prompted to use an item. Choose the GrappleHook, and you've made yourself a shortcut! Press the A button again to cross the pit. Yeah, I realise you could've done that right away, but the 4 experience you get for passing the red statue traps is just the little bit you need to gain another level later on.

Once on the other side, don't go down the rope ladder right away. Instead, pass the golden statues on either side. You'll end up in a battle with four FlameBuddhas. To beat them, go down one step and use Jimonjikiri. You'll hit all of them, and though one or more will probably survive and hit you with Hiton, you can follow up with another Jimonjikiri to finish them off. When you've destroyed them, pass the other pair of golden statues and destroy those FlameBuddhas too. Now pass the silver statues on either side to start a battle with a BattleBuddha and a group of WaterBuddhas. All you have to do is hit the BattleBuddha with Shinobikiri to defeat them all and gain some easy experience. Pass the other pair of silver statues and do the same again. Also grab the chest in the bottom-left corner for the GenjiArmor, and equip it.

Once you go down the rope ladder, you won't be able to go back up, as the ladder will be raised up if you try to grab it again. Save the game, then walk on ahead to the movable panel and try to pass through. You'll hear a voice from the other side, inviting you to sit down. Don't do it, just keep talking to the guy behind the panel, even when he claims to have turned off the trap. When he asks if you don't trust him, answer "Not at all", and he'll come out to try and force you to sit down the hard way.

This battle can be deadly if you don't follow my exact instructions. First, take one step right, then run all the way up, then take one step left. You shouldn't have gotten hit with anything just yet, but use a SteamedRice to heal yourself if you did. Now, start tossing Shuriken at the Electrode directly beneath you. Two should be enough to destroy it. Then take a step left, and use Shuriken to kill the next two in line. Finally, another step left to kill the last three Electrodes in the same way. You'll undoubtedly get hit by GennaiTrap's Discharge a few times. Whenever he hits you with that attack, use a SteamedRice to heal yourself. If you end up next to him, he'll use GomaTrap to push you away. Just walk right back to the spot you were in before and keep up the Shuriken-throwing.

When the Electrodes are gone, stand right next to GennaiTrap and start throwing Shuriken at him. As before, use SteamedRice if he hits you with Discharge, but as long as you stay next to him he'll mainly use GomaTrap. You should defeat him fairly quickly. He doesn't count as a kill either, I suppose because he's more machine than man. After this battle, all the traps in the mansion will be deactivated, making things a lot more easy for you to make your way back down. Because yes, that's what you're going to need to do now. But first, make sure you got an item called Zenmai (spring) after you defeated GennaiTrap. If you didn't, you're going to have to load your game and try again. (You will never get this item if you defeat GennaiTrap without destroying his Electrodes first.) Oh, and you'll also have gained just enough experience to reach level 7 at this point.

Now, go down, and go back up the rope ladder. You'll notice this place is quiet now, and the rest of the traps are gone. Now to use the easiest way to get all the way to the basement: Let yourself fall into the big pit in the center. You'll end up in a prison cell, but you can free yourself with the BasementKey. When you're out, go all the way right and open the secret door leading north. Follow the path to another section of the jail. This is where the Prisoner was locked up before, but it looks like he managed to escape on his own. Open the chest in his cell to get a Koban. You'll have the avoid the Samurai walking around here, of course.

After that, unlock the other cell here with the BasementKey and talk to the guy inside. It's Mystical Ninja Goemon! ...okay, so he's not the Goemon, just a Goemon. Choose to let him go, and he'll say he'll repay you someday before leaving. Follow him out (still watching out for that Samurai), then go right back down. You'll notice that the chest in the cell is closed again. Open it for another Koban. A message on the side of the chest will inform you that refilling the chest was Goemon's doing. Exit using the stairs again, and follow the path left to exit the jail. You'll end up in a room with a man and a treasure chest. Ignore the guy and take the Kotetsu from his chest. He doesn't seem to mind. ^_^ Equip your new weapon, and take the south exit.

In the next hallway, there's a semi-hidden door in the lower-right corner. Go through it, and get the IzanagiScrol from the chest. Exit the room and go back into the hallway, taking the other exit that leads south. You'll now be at the entrance of Building 3. The hallway is crawling with Samurai. Avoid them, and whatever you do, don't exit the building, because you won't be able to re-enter if you do; you'd have to go all the way around again. Anyway, proceed though the door on the far right. You'll end up in a hallway with three doors. A Ronin is guarding one. If you want, you can tell him the password and enter the door he was guarding, where you can open the chests to find another Koban and a Torimochi, both of which you don't really need.

If you chose to loot the room, exit, and this time take the right-most of the three doors leading north. When you enter this room, you'll see a trap making a quick exit. Guess it somehow escaped deactivation when GennaiTrap went down. The trap that used to be activated if you stepped on its cushion doesn't work anymore, though. Proceed to the room on the left, then go upstairs. This place should look familiar, you've been here before. Exit to the south, then in the hallway with the many doors, take the passage on the left. You'll end up in a room with stairs going down and a rope ladder going up. Take the rope ladder.

This place used to have annoying traps that opened and closed, but not anymore. You can now easily collect the treasure chests here, which contain a Tekkou, a TokenOfAcala, and a FuujinDart. Of course you should still be careful you don't fall into any of the pits that are still open. After getting the treasures, make your way to the rope ladder on the bottom-right corner and go down again.

Go up the regular stairs, they lead to another rope ladder. Take it, and you'll end up back in the place that used to be crawling with traps. They're all gone now too, making it easy for you to grab the chest in the bottom-left again. It's been refilled by Goemon, so you now you have a second GenjiHelm. You can also get another GrappleHook at the top right if you wish. Now go to the top-left part of the room, and go down the rope ladder there.

Once again, you have to go up the regular stairs, then take the rope ladder they lead to. You're back where the statue traps used to be. The chest in the bottom-left corner that held the GenjiArmor before has been refilled by Goemon; grab it again to get another one. Then take the rope ladder in the bottom-right corner, and make your way back to where you defeated GennaiTrap earlier.

Pass through the panel GennaiTrap used to be behind. In this small room, you'll notice a small slot in the top-right corner. If you press A in front of it, you'll be prompted for an item. Put a Koban in the slot. Nothing happens. Try again. Still nothing? Insert a third Koban. This time, you'll hear a noise, and the room will shake. The north exit will be sealed off now, and whatever you do, don't step on the cushion, or you'll fall into the dungeon again.

Instead, go back down south, and you'll end up in a secret room, with what looks like a puppet on the floor. Approach it from the front and talk to it. You'll notice there room for a missing part. Insert the Zenmai, and... the doll will turn into a copy of you! Your clone, CircleTrap, will attack you using your own abilities against you, but thankfully he only has low-level attacks. Just use whatever attacks you want and you'll defeat it quickly. After you defeat it, it will follow you around. Don't give it any equipment though, it won't be in the party for very long.

Go back through the north exit, being careful NOT to step on the floor where CircleTrap used to be. If you do, you'll fall into the dungeon again, and what's worse, this will cause CircleTrap to break, ruining any chance you have to finish the scenario with zero kills. For the same reason, avoid the cushion in the next room again. Instead, put another Koban in the slot, and the room will return to its original position, allowing you to proceed through the north exit.

You'll end up in a hallway with two flights of stairs, one going up and one going down. Take the stairs going up, and walk through the door ahead. A mouse will pop out, and the sight of it somehow causes CircleTrap to go berzerk! After running around randomly for a while, it will run into the Monks guarding a door up ahead and explode, killing them all. But hey, you didn't do it, so your kill count is still zero.

Proceed through the door the Monks were guarding, and... There he is, Lord Ode himself! ...and his 8 Samurai guards. You'll be surrounded, and Ode intends to shoot you himself. But before he can, the Prisoner will enter, disarm Ode, and scare off the guards. As Ode himself says, way to show him how worthless his guards really are. The Prisoner will now join your party. Ode will promptly flee, but not before releasing the undead spirit of the legendary swordman Miyamoto Musashi to take care of you. Before battling him, equip the Prisoner with your spare equipment: A GenjiHelm, GenjiArmor, Tekkou and MerfolkSocks.

Musashi can be a little hard to beat, so save before taking him on. I find it easiest to stand back and use Mugenchou while having the prisoner slash away with Okushinishi. The Prisoner may need a SteamedRice or two to survive, but you should wear Musashi down quickly enough. You may want to consider loading the game if you blow too many healing items on him. You really shouldn't need to use more than two SteamedRice for this battle.

After beating the legendary swordman, open up the secret passage Ode fled through using the A button and continue on. When you try to go up the stairs to the sixth and final floor, a demoness called Yodo-kun will confront you. I use the same method as the one I use for Musashi to kill her. Step back a bit and use Mugenchou while having the Prisoner use Okushinishi over and over. I usually beat her without even needing a single healing item. When she's defeated, you'll reach level 8, just in time for the fight with the final boss!

With Yodo-Kun out of the way, proceed upstairs. When you're about to enter the door to the north, a Geisha will approach you, who thanks you for "rescuing her". I personally think this is a mistranslation. Since she doesn't show up if you've killed any female humans up to this point, I believe she's actually thanking you for sparing the women. Anyway, she says she has a gift for you. Choose to accept it, and you'll get a Maid'sObi. As you'll see when you equip it, it doesn't do you a heck of a lot of good. But if you stand still and don't move for ten seconds after the Geisha leaves, she'll come back with what she really wanted to give you, an Inrou (medicine case). Equipping it boosts your IQ by 30, nearby doubling the effectiveness of your magical skills!

Now you're as ready as you're going to get, so enter the final room. Ode Iou (aka Gennai) will be there waiting for you. This is a pretty pathetic fight, no problem at all. Ode will escape to the rooftop after you beat him, and invites you to join him. Accept his invitation by exiting the room and taking the south door, which leads to the balcony. You'll automatically climb up to the rooftop, which is where you'll find Ode. He'll assume the form of a demon, and the final battle begins.

You'd think it would be pretty much impossible to beat Gamahebi when you're at such a low level, but with the Prisoner equipped with some Genji items as well, and your magic power boosted by the Inrou, it's doable. When the battle starts, immediately start preparing a Mugenchou spell. Have the Prisoner walk two steps up, and use Okushinishi repeatedly. Gamahebi will undoubtedly retaliate whenever you hit him, but he shouldn't be able to deal a whole lot of damage to the Prisoner. The only attack you need to watch out for is BloodSuck, which will deal quite a lot of damage and heal Gamahebi, to boot. It should deal about 130 damage to the Prisoner, so be sure to heal using Kasuteira whenever you get in danger of getting killed by a BloodSuck. Use an IzanagiScrol instead if both characters are close to dying. But since Gamahebi doesn't use BloodSuck very often, as long as you keep blasting him with Mugenchou while the Prisoner keeps him occupied, you should eventually defeat him. Even if the Prisoner goes down, you should be able to do the rest on your own.

[Tactic 2: Have the Prisoner stay at least one square away from the boss, and have him continually use IkakuJageki to keep the boss from doing anything nasty.]

After the battle, the Prisoner will express his admiration for you not killing without a cause by giving you his weapon, the Yoshiyuki, which will carry over to the final scenario. Congratulations, you've finished the scenario the stealthy way!