-- Onimusha Normal Sword Game challenge FAQ-- -- By Hyprophant, Acm2aa@yahoo.com -- Version 2.0, 10/02/02 Legal Disclaimer: This guide is for personal use only, copyrighted 2002 to me, Hyprophant. You CAN NOT put this FAQ on your websites, your magazines, or any other form of public media without contacting me and receiving MY permission. If the permission is granted, you are not allowed to change any single word in this FAQ, or you can forget about using it. I am THE ONLY ONE have the right to make any change or update new information of this FAQ. If you dare to violate this disclaimer and I spot your action, I will make you regret it. ****************** Version History ****************** Version 1.0, 8/17/02: This FAQ was posted on GameFaqs site. Version 2.0, 10/02/02: Changed section IV from "Boss strategies" to "Normal sword game Walkthrough; completed section V: Dark Realm, and other minor changes have been made. -- Table of Contents-- I. Preface II. General Tips III. Critical Hit/Issen Tips IV. Normal Sword game Walkthrough V. Dark Realm VI. Credits/Thanks **************************************************************************** WARNING!!! SPOILER AHEAD **************************************************************************** I. Preface This FAQ is not a general game walkthrough, it is a guide created to help players who want to improve their game skill by playing a normal sword game, which powerful magical attacks are not allowed to use. Yes, after you complete the entire game with normal sword only, your skill will be improved much and it will help you a lot in acquiring "S" rank in a regular game and completing Dark Realm. This FAQ is based on a normal mode game with normal sword only. Of course you have to use magic orbs to open the doors, but you can not use magic sword to attack. You can use bow or gun in your normal sword game, they will be your lifesaver, if you cannot control issen properly. Although it is possible to beat a normal sword game without any gun or bow. If you wish to contact me, you may use the e-mail address listed above. However, mail me only if you have any correction/suggestion you want to add in this FAQ or you want to use my FAQ on your websites. If you just have a game play question, do not e-mail me. Find help in other FAQs or GameFaqs' Onimusha message board. I am busy on updating my FFX Faqs and other games, I don't have much time to answer anyone's questions through e-mail. If you do ,I will delete your e-mail and you will not receive any reply. II. General Tips Since you are going to throw your magic swords away, you cannot abuse powerful magical attacks, your sword skill will be the only thing you can rely on. You have to try not to lose your vitality too much and save it for boss Fights, especially the last two bosses. When you are fighting weak monsters like Zombie warriors, spiky demons and three-eyes ninjas, block their attacks first, and find your chance to attack. Do not attack like crazy because you think they are weak and cannot deal much damage on you. Underestimating any enemy in a normal sword game could hurt you much and lead you to death in boss fight. You can also use upward swing attack (up bottom + square bottom) to flip them over and over. Kick your enemies down and stab them when they are lying on the floor WILL NOT be a useful combat method in a normal sword game, because it takes you too long to stab an enemy and you will be vulnerable. However it is good if you are only fighting ONE monster. Sometimes you will lock your sword with the enemies', this happens quite often when you are fighting Bullhead monsters or stealth warriors. In order to win, smash square bottom and you will be able to knock them down/push them back. Some people told me that you have to roulette your T-Pod as well, I don't know if that is necessary, but you could figure it out by trying it few times. When you fight Zombie Samurai, rush toward to him and slash them twice, then dash back. He will try to grab you and you won't be hurt. You can repeat slashing and dashing back over and over and he will be dead eventually. Hold L1 bottom to block his sword if you see him swings it. When you fight bullhead monsters (they are a pain >_<...) you cannot keep defending, because some of their attack hit you twice in a row and you will not be able to block their second wave attack (like sometimes they hold their axes above their head, they will try to knock you down first and then swing their axes around their bodies, if you block the first attack, you can not block the second attack again). Use R1 bottom to walk around them fast and confuse them a bit, when they swing their axes and miss you, it is your chance to attack. Block their axes only when is it necessary. When you fight Stealth warriors, you can keep blocking, all of their attacks can be blocked. Attack when you find a chance. You shall try your best to avoid Rayllados, many of their attacks are hard to block, or impossible to block, and they most likely show up in a large number of group. Unless you are good enough to issen them most of time, there is no need to fight them; you will just waste your vitality. Since you are not going to use magical sword, you can save your souls to enhance your orbs, herbs, arrows and bullets. Leave the herbs be the last one to be enhanced, try to upgrade your orbs first, then bullets, then arrows. You have to learn how to fight without herbs/medicine and save them for the last two bosses!!! III. Critical Hit/Issen Tips Issen is the spirit of the Normal sword game, and it is also the spirit of a real Japanese Samurai!!! In ancient Japan, people believed that when a person is in danger, his power and agility will be raised and by using that power properly, he can defeat any enemy that is much stronger than himself. Issen not only allows you to kill any enemy (besides bosses) with only one hit, it ALWAYS allows you to absorb yellow souls after you defeat enemies!!! That's why you won't need many herbs/medicines if you know how to do Issen. The biggest question is: How do you do it? I think many people (including me) have done Issen few times before and wonder how could I do it again??? It was just too cool!!! Basically, there are two ways to do Issen. The first way is pressing square bottom when your enemy is attacking and about to hit you, if you cought the timing correctly, you will kill your enemies in one hit. Another way is by using R1 + direction bottom. You will be able to move left and right quickly and you can dodge enemies' attacks, press the square right after you press R1 + direction bottom, and if that was a successful dodging, then you will be able to kill the enemies in one shot. Please note: Some enemies' attacks won't allow you to do issen trick. Here are general tactics about how to issen each kind of monster, of course you still need to practice a lot in order to control issen properly: --Zombie Warriors: Press square bottom when they hold their swords above their heads; or when they are running toward to you, press square as soon as they reach you. --Three eyes Ninjas: Press square bottom when they are dashing to you and about to hit you, but don't let them get too close. --Flying skulls: Using upward attack when they are trying to escape. --Zombie Samurais: Kick them, then smash square bottom, you will do critical hit within around 2~3 attempts. If you failed, dash back and kick them again. --Spiky demons: Press square bottom when they are using rolling attack and about to hit you. --Rayllado: You can press square bottom when they are attacking you with their arms and if you are close to them. NOTE: Rayllado is a very tough opponent! Especially when they come with a group. You many want to avoid fighting them in order to save your vitality. --Bull Head monsters: Geez, a tough one again... using R1 bottom to avoid the attack and press the square bottom as fast as you can. Another way is smashing square bottom when they are holding their axe above their head and ready to attack soon, you will slash them once, and your second slash will be the critical hit, however it is a risky way to kill them. If you see them holding their axes behind them, then you 'd better just move away from them if you have not mastered the R1 + direction bottom move. --Stealth Warriors: The best chance to issen them is when they are doing jump attack. Use R1 + direction bottom to dodge this attack and press square bottom as soon as you are dodging the attack, it will require a lot of practice. IV. Normal Sword Game Walkthrough NOTE: I am not going to input every detail of this game that is not directly related to a normal sword game, the major purposes of this section is to help players to pass a normal sword game with minimal effort, especially boss fights. This section starts at Nanamagari, the place Samanosuke and Kaede enter the castle at the beginning of the game. +------------+ + Nanamagari + +------------+ --Control Samanosuke and move forward, you will encounter two three-eyes ninjas, focus your attack on only one of them, after you deal enough damage on him, Ogre King will show up and kidnap Princess Yuki --You will have fight four Zombie Warriors twice. Simply slash them and block if it is necessary. Do not lose any life here. If you are damaged, pull away from them, wait 'till they charge you and issen them by pressing square bottom immediately when they reach you. --There will be two more three-eye ninja before you enter the Underground. +--------------------+ + Underground Temple + +--------------------+ --There will be three three-eye ninjas ahead, if is a bit hard if you fight all of them at the same time. The best way to save your vitality here is moving forward slowly and killing ninjas one by one. Rushing toward to the stair will make two or all three of them appear at the same time. --Four Zombie warriors are waiting for you inside the temple, slash them like crazy again. If you lose too much vitality here, use Issen to kill them and absorb yellow souls from them. --Pick up the Thunder Orb, you will only use it to unlock doors. --After you get out off the temple, there is a treasure box I the upper left corner and there is a magic jewel inside. It is a useless item in a normal sword game, so you don't have to pick it up. --Once you see the save point, DO NOT use any soul to strengthen Thunder Orb and save your game. --There is a box beside the save point that contains power jewel in there. Select the first, the third and the sixth answer and you will be able to unlock the box. Use power Jewel to extend your maximum vitality. +------------+ + South Area + +------------+ --Ignore the fighting on the bridge. --When you reach the Square, there are plenty room for you to fight, and if you have vitality lower than half of the maximum amount, you can issen some Spiky demons here to recover Samanosuke. Pull away from them, and issen them when they are using rolling attack and are very close to hit you. --There is a Bull Head Demon here, if you are not confident enough, you may want to bypass him. If you choose to fight, pull away every time you attack him twice. Block if it is necessary. If you can use R1 + Direction bottom + square bottom to issen him when he is using axe attack, it would be greater. --After you go through the door, you will see four Zombie Warriors attack a soldier, save him and get an herb from him. --Use the ladder and go down. There is another box besides save point. Select the sixth, the first and the fourth answer to unlock the box and get the power jewel inside. Use it now to extend your maximum vitality. Save your game here. ******************** a. Boss: Ogre King ******************** His weapon is a huge mace... actually it does not deal as much damage as you originally thought. Most of his attack can be blocked by Samanosuke except two attacks: one is his rush attack, which deals medium amount damage on Samanosuke; another one is his knocking attack-he hold his mace high and let it fall on Samanosuke's head. It deals medium amount damage on Samanosuke and will knock him down on the ground. To defeat him, you should learn how to run. After battle starts, run away from him every time after you slash him twice, block his attack if it is necessary and the attack can be blocked. He will inhale every time before he does his charge attack, when you see him inhales, side walk to left/right to avoid his attack, he will keep charging the wall and you will have chance to slash him about six times. Be careful after you slash him around five or six times: He will swing his mace and it can hit Samanosuke even if he is behind him. Dash back to avoid this attack and give him few more taste of your sword. This boss drops a lot of red/yellow souls every time you attack him, so you don't have to worry about your life if you fight carefully. He should not be that tough. --After you defeat Ogre King, go inside the tunnel and pick up the treasures on your way. --You have to fight one Rayllado in the room you receive Fire Orb. To defeat it easily, knock it down first and keep using upward slash and they will never have a chance to stand up. Don't worry about Rayllado's arm being regenerated, as long as you keep using upward slash, you can keep knocking them down on the floor and they won't harm you. Don't forget to get the Red Orb in that room. --Go back to the place you fought Ogre King. Ignore the spiky demons on your way if you have lost some vitality by fighting Rayllado, --Once you touch Ogre King's Dead body, a bunch of souls will come out from it and they will all be absorb by the suckers around this room. Using Upward slash to attack them if they are too high to strike with normal attack. Once you defeat all four suckers, you will be able to absorb those souls. DO NOT let them escape!!! --After you use the Red Orb to unlock the door, break the wooden box outside and acquire a medicine. --Save your game here and you should be able to level Fire Orb up to level two. You will need level two Fire Orb first. If you did a lot of fighting before you fought Ogre King, then you may be able to level Thunder Orb up to level two as well. --Go to the castle square, ignore three three-eye ninjas before you climb the ladder, fighting them here is a pain. There is a bullhead monster blocking you way to the castle square, you can lure him out to the wider area then ignore and bypass this enemy. --Use Fire Orb to unlock the Castle Keep. +-------------+ + Castle Keep + +-------------+ --You will see two Zombie warriors and one red Zombie Samurai, DO NOT move forward too quickly-move a little bit every time instead so the Zombie Samurai won't move with the two zombie warriors. Simply slash them, and block their attack if it is needed, if they inhale and rush to you, issen them when they get close. After finish them, use kick + smashing square bottom trick to issen Red Samurai quickly. Here is a very good chance to recover your vitality. --Turn left first and you will find a magic lamp, save your game. --Go inside the Keep, you will encounter three two three-eye ninjas, fight and kill them, they are pushovers. --After a cut scenes with Yumemaru, you will enter a small room, there are many Zombie warriors and on three-eye ninja here, kill all of them. There is a small room besides the ladder and you can find bow in that room, don't miss it!!! --Go upstairs and you will find many three-eye ninjas and one zombie samurai are waiting for you, unless you are very confident about your game skill, I don't recommend fighting them. Ignore them instead. --Turn left and you will see two soldiers are attacked my two zombie warriors, they are very hard to save, so don't waste your arrows here. Use Fire Orb to unlock the wooden door that is locked. --Turn left and fight six zombie warriors and one zombie samurai, you can kill those zombie warriors when they are climbing up to the floor you are, and use kick + smashing square bottom trick to issen the red zombie samurai. --Save your game and use souls to upgrade Thunder Orb to level two. Solve puzzles and go forward. You have to use Fire sword to light the candle, this is the only exception in your normal sword game. You will find a Holy Armor here, and you have to equip it in order to make it useful. --Find two crest pieces and unlock the door, there is a POWER JEWEL here, don't miss it!!! Use it immediately to extend your maximum vitality. --After the event, process to the next room. In the next room, there will be a three-eye ninja hiding behind the door and dash attacking you!!! Before you reach the door, be prepared to block your enemy's attack first, and then finish him. --Now you are at the top floor of the castle keep, fight three-eye ninjas there if you wish, do not lose too much vitality though. --Enter the room in the middle of the top floor, there is a red gantlet inside the room contains 200 souls, use circle bottom to absorb them. --Save your game. ******************** b. Boss: Marcellus ******************** He is going to be a tough opponent. His shield can block your sword, and he has good attack power will be able to deal much damage on Samanosuke, even he has equipped holy armor in this battle. Most of Marcellus's attacks can be blocked, the only thing you have to pay attention is his shield attack-it still can be blocked, however, Samanosuke will not be able to block his sword stab right after the shield tackle. Using R1+ Direction bottom is the key to win this battle. You will be able to avoid most of his attacks this way, including his shield tackle. You can slash him two or three times after you dodge his attack, his shield won't work in this case. You can not avoid his swing attack and wind magic, both of them cover a small area around him, but you can use L1 bottom to block them. Every time you see pull his sword back and ready to do a big swing, either dash back away from him or block if it is too late to run. Marcellus's shield can be broken, and after you break his shield, you are free to attack him whenever you want. He won't do shield attack anymore now because his shield is vanished in the thin air. You just have to block his attack and find chances to hit him hard. You will beat him within around 15 minutes. You will receive a Wind Orb after the victory. --After you defeat Marcellus, save your game and use souls to upgrade Wind Orb. --Unlock the door that is locked by a green energy ball and save Yumemaru there. --Go back to the first room in the Castle Keep, you will find a soldier is attacked by three zombie warriors and there is an archers on the second floor, you have to finish the three zombie warriors quickly then change your weapon to bow and arrow so you can shoot the archer down. You will be attacked at least twice by the archers, but you will receive an herb from the soldier if you save him, so it still worth your attempt. Save after the battle. --Enter another small room besides the one with Magic Lamp in it. +---------------------------+ + Castle Keep: Under Ground + +---------------------------+ --After you enter the first room, you will find there are many spiky demons there, avoid fighting them and quickly run to the next door and use your Thunder Orb to unlock it. --There are three three-eye ninjas in the next room, fight and kill them. --Use all three kinds of orbs to process further. --There are two paths in the next section, however, one is blocked, so you can only turn left and go to the path that is not locked. --Now be careful: you will encounter A LOT OF Rayllados after this point, there is only one word I recommend here: RUN!!! You may defeat the first one easily because he will fight you alone, other than that, they always come with a group and it is a pain to fight them. --Before the room with Purify Bell, there is a narrow path and there is a door in the middle of the path, open the door and get the Herb hidden inside. --Get the Purify Bell, DO NOT get hit by any axe. Each hit from those axes will reduce your vitality sharply!!! --Now go back to the locked path and use Purify Bell there, you will be able to unlock the door. Still, you must ignore Rayllados all the way unless you are very confident about your skill. --After you unlock the door there will be THREE RED ZOMBIE SAMURAIS waiting for you there!!! You have to use the Kick + Smashing Square bottom trick to issen them, if you are lucky, you could issen all three of them at once. If this trick is not working well and all three zombies samurais got too close to you, exit the room and renter again 'till you issen them. --Go straight and save. Use souls to upgrade your Wind Orb to level 2, you may be able to upgrade your Thunder Orb to level 3 as well. --Do not go to the door that is locked by green locks immediately, there is another path leads to a small room and there is herb in there. You will find that two Raylllados are on your way to prevent you approaching the door, in order to pass them, slash them quickly, after you knock them down, you will be able to get the door. --Get the herb inside and head to the room locked by green locks and use Wind Orb to unlock the door. There is a red zombie samurai warrior in there, use Kick+ Smashing square bottom to issen him and recover your Hp. You will find a Key there. --Go back to the place you fought three red zombie samurais, there are still three of them around here. If you feel you have lost too much vitality by fighting Rayllados, you can issen them to acquire some yellow souls and recover your vitality. --Unlock the locked door and he will be trapped. Be ready for the incoming Kaede's story. +-----------------------+ + Kaede's story: Part I + +-----------------------+ --You are controlling Kaede now. She cannot absorb souls, she cannot issen, so the best way of using her is to escape from almost every battle. You MUST NOT waste any herb on her, the herb you have right now will be the medicines in your inventory in the future. --You will receive a red key automatically, ignore all the enemies and unlock the entrance of the West Area. NOTE: EVERY TIME Kaede is attacked more than three times in a row or her vitality is reduced to less than half in this part warrant a reset of your game. +-----------+ + West Area + +-----------+ --Ignore three-eye ninjas all the way 'till you reach the next door, kick them down if they are on your way. --You will have to pass two zombie warriors and one RED ZOMBIE SAMURAI, with Kaede's current attack power, this is going to be a tough battle, the best way to defeat them is throwing Katais to them. You will need two katais to kill a Zombie warrior and six katais to kill the red zombie samurai. Don't forget to press R1 bottom when you are throwing your weapons or they will miss the targets all the time. --Next you will find a soldier is attacked by a zombie warrior and there are two archers on the second floor of the building. If you want to fight the zombie warrior directly, you will be attacked by archers' arrows and lose massive amount of vitality. The best way to save this soldier is to slash the zombie warrior once and draw his attention away form the soldier; climb up stairs to kill the two archers, then go down stairs again to finish the zombie warriors. You will receive a Soul Absorber from the saved soldier. --Turn LEFT and go inside, you will find two three-eye ninjas there, one of them will jump in front of you and block your way, it this three-eye ninja prevent Kaede form processing further, kick him down to the ground and run to the next door as soon as possible. --The solutions of the box besides the magic lamp are the fifth, seventh and second answer in order. There is a magic jewel inside, pretty useless of course. Save your game here. --Get a gear from the dead soldier. --Rush back to the place you saved the soldier and climb upstairs, go inside the building. Save your game. --After you enter the wooden door beside the magic lamp. You will face four zombie samurais, kick them down all the way and do not fight them. You will see a steel door on the path, enter the room and you will see a switch, three flame throwers and another steel door, you have to pass the flame throwers and enter the door in a set amount of time after you pull the switch, or you have to pull it again it takes you too long and the door is closed, DO NOT get hit even once here, keep trying and be patient, it is possible!!! --You will get a golden key after you pass flame throwers and the steel door, there are two wooden boxes inside, if you brake them down, you will find a HERB in the corner, don't miss it!!! --Go to the studying room and use your gear there to open the secret path behind the wall, there is a herb in the studying room as well, do not miss it. --In the deepest part of them room you will acquire a silver key. --Now find your way run all the way through the place you got the gear, ignore as many fights as possible as usual. Save your game before you use both key to unlock the door next to the dead soldier. --After you enter the room, there is fire everywhere, be careful and don not step on the fire. --Do not go downstairs directly; go through the door that is closest to Kaede and climb upstairs, you will find a sacred knife there. REMEMBER: Sacred Knife is VERY USELESS unless you EQUIP it. --There is another room at the end of the path that has some books there, you can get it if you wish, beware of the three-eye ninja in that room. --Go Down stairs and you will see Princess Yuki being Kidnapped. ***************************** Semi-Boss: Stealth Warrior ***************************** All of this boss's attack can be blocked, so all you have to do is to keep defending and attack only once o twice if you have a change. Be careful about his jump attack, it deals almost 1/4 of Kaede's vitality. If you are hit more than twice in this battle, I recommend resetting the game. --Now you are controlling Samanosuke again, save your game. *************************** c. Boss: Fake Samanosuke *************************** He could be a very tough enemy in a normal sword game. He is just like Samanosuke with a regular body armor, he knows how to kick, he knows how to stab, he has magical attack and you don't, and he can BLOCK!!! Your only chance to attack him is when he is using magical attack, he is defenseless before he fires his magical wave, however, he is too smart to use magic attack in close range...he likes to do magical attack when he is away from you, and you are not likely to reach him before he fires his magic wave. In my first normal sword game, I had a lot trouble in this battle, he just knocked me out over and over without problems. Here is a cheap way to win this battle: After battle starts, dash back to the entrance you came from and keep defending. Of course he cannot move behind you with you are in this position, he will move close to you and try to slash you, after he swings his sword twice, he will dash back away from you and try to fire his magical wave, follow him and slash him twice when he is charging his magical attack, then dash back to the entrance, defend, wait for him slash you twice, then move forward again and slash him twice..repeat these steps you will be able to kill him without even being hit once. Cheap trick, huh??? But it is quite effective. --After this tough battle, save the game and use souls to upgrade your orbs. You should have maximum level for both Fire Orb and Thunder Orb. --Get all the treasure boxes around here and use the ladder to get yourself out of the underground area. --Of course you got an evil plate after you defeat Fake Samanosuke, but do not use it too quickly, there are many things you have to do before you use it. +------------------------+ + Castle Keep: Revisited + +------------------------+ --Remember the room Yumemaru was kidnapped in? There is a box that contains TEN BURST BULLETS inside, and you will need it!!! If you cannot remember the location of the room, it is located on the top of the Castle Keep. You will encounter two Bull Heads monsters, they are very strong and very tough to defeat. The only safe way is to press R1 + direction bottom to dodge their axes and issen them quickly. If you are not confident about your Issen skill, you MUST ignore the fights. Simply keep running and they should not be able to hit you. If they do attack, do the necessary block and don't let them knock Samanosuke on the floor. --You will encounter few Dark Ninjas on the top of the Castle Keep, they are not as tough as those Bull Head Monsters and they do drop many souls, so fight them if you wish. Remember their throwing needle attack can only be blocked if they are in front of you; the best scenario is to issen them when they are dashing to Samanosuke. --Get the burst bullets and save at the top of the Castle Keep. When you are trying to go down to the first floor, you will still encounter two Bull Head monsters whether you killed them before or not, ignore the fight if your vitality is too low. +------------------------+ + West Area: Revisited + +------------------------+ --Once you come from the top of the Castle Keep to the first floor, save the game and head toward the west area. There is a Bull Head Monster and some spiky demons guarding the entrance, try to ignore them and go through the entrance directly. If you are low on vitality, you can issen some spike monsters here. --There is a soldier attacked by two zombie warriors and two zombie archers, YOU MUST SAVE THIS SOLDIER. You will be rewarded ten BURST BULLETS if you do so. Kill the zombie warriors first then finish two archers by using bow and arrows. If you failed to rescue the soldier, reset your game. --Enemies here are most likely show up alone, and you can finish them one by one easily. Beware of the archers though, they are the ones could deal massive amount damage on Samanosuke, mastering your blocking skill is necessary. The Dark Ninjas should not process any threat, when you encounter one, do not go any further so other won't come out, finish him first then move forward. --There is a door locked by three blue energy balls, use Thunder Orb to unlock the door and get the Vision Stuff inside. --In the next section, there will be two archers on the second floor of the building and two black Zombie Samurais. Climb upstairs to finish the archers first, then go down stairs and use kick + smashing square bottom trick to issen two black samurais. Here is a good chance to recover your vitality. --Climb upstairs again and go inside the building, save your game. --At the place you just saved your game you can also see a door that is locked by three red energy balls, use Fire Orb to unlock the door, pick up the treasure on the way and finish the zombie warriors, you would see another wooden door. Go inside the door and you will find out some surprises there. **************************************************** Semi Boss: Bull Head King & Bull Head Monster x 3 **************************************************** Issen them??? You must be kidding. The Bull Head King cannot be killed by just one issen. And since there are three Bullhead monsters there, they can attack three different location at once, no matter how you press R1 + direction bottom, you cannot avoid three axes at once. If you cannot dodge the axes, you cannot issen. Another issen method that applies to this battle is to attack while one of the Bull Head monster is about to hit you, if you can catch the timing correctly, you can issen all three Bull Head Monsters at once and there will be only the Bull Head King left, however, if you really want to defeat them by using this method, you may have to rely on luck and you have to reset your game many times. REMEMBER: YOU SHOULD NOT USE ANY HERB/MEDICINE HERE. The best way to defeat them is to use Gun. It is cheap, but it is effective. The treasure box that is closest to the door contains s statue head inside, get it and go out quickly. Go all the way back to the room you got Vision Stuff. You will encounter some zombie warriors, Dark Ninjas and Dark Zombie Samurais; using normal attack against zombie warriors, upward slash to knock Dark Ninjas down and finish them when they are on the floor and beware of the archers, if they are about to attack, block the incoming arrows first; and use kick + smashing square bottom trick to issen Dark Samurais. Use the status head on the Status you will unlock the gate in the left path and you will get a gun there. Go back to the magic lamp and save your game before you challenge Bull Head King again. Once you enter the room that Bull Head King is located, equip gun with burst bullets, do not shoot them from afar, wait 'till they are a little close to you then shoot them like crazy, if you are about to be surrounded, run to another side, wait 'till they get close to you and shoot them again. You should need 9 burst bullets to kill all of them, ten is the maximum number of burst bullets you are allowed to use here, anywhere more than there warrant a reset, keep trying, it is not that hard!!! You will be hit two or three times, guaranteed if this is your first normal sword game. Do not worry about it, after you defeat the Bull Head King, your vitality will be fully recovered by absorbing the souls from him. You will acquire a decorated sword and ten bullets. --Save your game and upgrade Wind orb to level 3. Use the rest of souls to upgrade bullets to burst bullets. --Now you can go back to keep and use the Evil Plate to unlock the entrance of Ganma No Segai. Use the same old trick to issen dark samurais on your way, and fight other enemies if you have extra vitality. --After the CG movie, Hecuba will escape and leave a little device to seal Ganma No Segai. +-----------+ + East Area + +-----------+ --Go to the Castle Square and you will see a soldier attacked by some hard shell insects, fight them and beware of their attacks, they are somewhat powerful, Block is necessary in this battle. --Use the Decorated Sword to unlock the entrance of the East Area. --You will encounter a three-eye Ninja and a Dark Ninja, they are not tough, so fight them and you will finish them quickly. --Use Wind Orb to unlock the door is that locked by two energy balls. --Go straight instead of turning left, your path will be blocked by a little pond. Use bow and arrow to hit the switch on the other side of the pond and the bridge will appear, across the bridge and pick up the bullets inside the box. There is a Talisman here and DO NOT PICK IT UP RIGHT NOW. Talisman works automatically when you are dead and if you pick it up here, you may waste it in the battle against Hecuba. --Turn left and you will encounter two dark zombie samurais, use the same old trick "kick + smashing square bottom" to issen them quickly. If you failed repeatedly, the second dark samurai will move behind the one in the front line and swing his sword to prevent you using the issen trick, since you can not get close to them anymore, in this case, exit the area and come back here fight the again 'till you issen both of them. --Go to the right path first and pick up the bullets there instead going in the room in the middle. --Now go in the room in the middle, pick up the treasure on the first floor and go up stairs, ignore the Zombie Samurai on the first floor. Kill the archers on your way and issen the Zombie Samurai in the middle of your way to the top. --There are three treasures on the top of the building, the most important one is a Power Jewel. Kick Dark Ninja off the roof for an instant death. --After collecting treasures, go back to the first floor and issen the black samurai then use Wind Orb to unlock the door. --Ignore the fighting 'till you reach the waterfall, Issen two Dark Zombie Samurais on your way and open the trick treasure box, you should find a Great Armor inside. --Save your game and pick up the treasure box in the room where the magic lamp is located, there is also a trick treasure box next to the magic lamp, it contains a Magic Jewel, if you really want it, the answer is the third, and the sixth. --Ride the boat and pick the Great Bow up in the temple. +------------------------+ + Kaede's Story: Part II + +------------------------+ --You are controlling Kaede the second time. She will encounter one hard shell insect, smash square bottom and kill it quickly. --Turn into the left path and unlock the door. --Turn right and you can acquire herb inside the room with big status. When you come out, two hard shell insects block the path; finish them quickly by throwing Katais. --Ignore ALL the fights 'till you reach the magic lamp, save your game. --Unlock the locked door, run straight and try to ignore the combats. Enter the door and turn right. There is another magic lamp in the next room. --In the next room, Kaede will encounter two zombie warriors and a DARK ZOMBIE SAMURAI!!! It is too dangerous to run through all of them, throwing Kaitai and kill the Dark Samurai in seven shots instead, remember: you have to use R1 bottom to target when you are throwing Katais, or they may miss. --Beware of the archers in this area!!!! Block the arrows if it is needed. Pick up the Decorated arrow o the second floor and then go down stairs to another room, solve a simple puzzle and you will receive a green key and a Great Arrow. There is a dark Ninja in the room you get decorated sword, but with Kaede's Sacred Knife, she should be fine. --Go back and save. After the magic lamp you save your game, go straight and use the green key to unlock the locked door, you will encounter a Dark Samurai on your way before you can reach the door, throw Katais seven times and kill him. --In the second part of Kaede's story, anytime you feel like that you need a herb warrant a reset of the game. ****************** d. Boss: Hecuba ****************** She is a flying boss, and it is very hard to slash her. She also summon a lot of hard shell creatures, they are not very strong, but when they come with a group, they become quite annoying. Hecuba has two attacks, one is her arm swing attack, it does medium amount of damage on Samanosuke, another one is her needle stabbing attack, she will scream loudly: "DIE!!" and then dash toward to Samanosuke with her big needle on her big butt. It deals massive amount of damage on Samanoske, even he is equipped the Great Armor. It is possible to beat her with just sword, but I don't recommend doing this unless you know how to critically hit those hard shell creatures well, or Those creatures will trap you and Queen Wasp will kill you easily. Before You fight Queen Wasp, use souls to upgrade your bullets to burst bullets. You will need around 25 of them, 30 for safe. After battle starts, switch your weapon to gun and load your burst bullets. Walk around to get rid of those annoying creatures, don't waste too many bullets on them. Only aim Queen Wasp and shoot her like crazy, especially you hear her screams "DIE!!!", shoot her!!! Or she will stab Samanosuke for good. You are allowed to use ONE medicine here, anywhere more than that warrants a reset of the game. +---------------------+ + The Final Show Down + +---------------------+ --After several cut senses, go outside the room and save at the magic lamp located in a small room besides the first room of Castle Keep. You should have around 25 burst bullets and 16 medicines (15 if you used one in the battle against Hecuba) --If you want to challenge Dark Realm, you can do it here. Please refer to the dark realm section for more detailed information about this optional challenge. --Head to Ganma No Segai. Ignore all the monsters on your way. --Bring your Great arrow and Great bow and use it on the gate that was sealed by Hecuba. You will break the seal. +----------------+ + Ganma No Segai + +----------------+ ************************ e. Boss: Aka Marcellus ************************ Aka Marcellus is the finest War creation of demons. He is almost just like Marcellus you have fought before, but he is back!!! He gains more strength, he has much more vitality, and he is faster. Before you fight Aka Marcellus, use souls to upgrade your herbs to medicines (I hope you didn't waste too many herbs/medicines in the early enemies...if you did, then you have to improve your skill), and get a Talisman besides the pond. Aka Marcellus is a tough cookie, I did manage to beat him with only one medicine before, but I was lucky I think. Aka Marcellus has two forms, in his first form, he uses sword swing, sword stab, double slash, heavy slash, shield tackle and ultimate tornado attack ( you know I made this name up ^_~). Most of his sword attacks covers the area around his body and are hard to avoid with R1 bottom, you have to use L1 bottom to defend his attack. If Aka Marcellus is about to use stab attack, this one can be avoid by using R1 + direction bottom, dodge this attack and slash him, he won't be able to defend with his shield. Also, this tactic works against his heavy slash ( his sword turns red and he will hit your head and knock you down on the floor), but be careful!!! If you get are hit by this attack, you will be knocked down on the floor and you won't be able to move for a short amount of time, he can do another heavy slash on you whenever he wants. If you really are hit by this deadly attack, smash T-pod all four bottoms to rolling away from Aka Marcellus's sword. His shield attack and Ultimate tornado attack can not be blocked, you can avoid them by dashing back away from him. Those attacks won't give you any chance to attack his body, but you can hit his shield. After you inflict certain amount damage on his shield (or his body), his shield will be broken and he will transform to his second form. His second form is much faster than his first form, but he loses his protection as well. The only attack can't be blocked is his jump slash + Sword stab, if you successfully block the first attack, you won't be able to block the second one. Sounds like a bit easier than his first form, however, without proper strategy, you will still lose this battle since his attack is much more powerful after the transformation. Every time you slash Aka Marcellus, he will be stunned and he will use his illusion move-move quickly back forward a bit then move back to the same place he was standing. It makes Samanosuke miss his target. In order to prevent slashing air and giving him chance to attack, DO NOT smash square bottom and press it slowly instead, each time you attack him, wait after his illusion move finished, then slash him again, it may require some practice to exactly control the timing, but once you learned it, you will be able to stun him forever and he won't be able to touch you. When Aka Marcellus' vitality is at critical stage, here comes the toughest part of this battle! Your sword will NOT be able to stun him anymore, and he will launch an all-out offense, the best thing you could do now is to keep defending and stay away from him; you have to look for the chance to attack carefully. Most likely, you will lose much vitality here. Also, DO NOT waste your Talisman here-every time your vitality is low, use medicine to recover your vitality and never let Talisman save you here, It is better to have a Talisman in the inventory when you are fighting Fortinbras. --Absorb all his souls and pick up a medicine in this area. I hope you still have at least seven medicines in your inventory right now. --Save your game. If you have Bishaman Flute, you can use it here and acquire the Bishaman sword, it is useless in a normal sword game of course; it is just the proof that you are good enough to complete Dark Realm in a normal sword game. --Ignore the fights in Gamma No Segai. If Rallados are blocking your way, knock them down quickly and pass through them. --Don't forget pick up two medicines before you fight Fortinbras *************************************** f. Boss: Fortinbras: The Demon King *************************************** Finally!!! You have made your way here with your normal sword, and you are ready to face the final boss. With normal sword, Fortinbras is not a pushover. Because of your weak attack power, his vitality will be much more than you could ever imagine, and this battle will take you a long time. Before you face Fortinbras, be sure use all your souls to upgrade herbs to medicines, as well as arrows and bullets if you have them. Also, having a Talisman in your inventory will help you in this battle. Fortinbras has many deadly attacks, he can blow flame that deal medium amount of damage on Samanosuke; his lighting attack can hit Samanosuke three times in a row, if he is trapped in the lightings; his claw attack deals massive amount damage on Samanosuke and knock him on the ground; the worst is his death grab, which inflicts instant death. Using R1 plus direction bottom will be the key of winning this tedious, evil battle, it allows you move quickly and keep facing Fortinbras. Here are tips of how to dodge Fortinbra's attacks: 1. Lighting Strike: Use Ri+ directional bottom and get out of the pink shadows, and be careful, sometimes Fortinba use lighting strike in conjunction with eye beams or claw attack. 2. Eye beam: Fortinbras normally shoot 5 or 7 eye beams in a row (rarely 8 times) use R1+direction bottom and keep moving left and right, don't stop moving until you are sure that he stops shooting. 3. Flame blow: You cannot just pull back and stand still, it will still burn you. When Fortinbras is about to blow flame, pull away from him and stand in the middle of the down side of the screen, then move to the left or right corner. 4. Claw attack/Wind attack: L1 bottom will be able to block them. 5. Death grab: This is Fortinbra's most deadly skill, and you will be grabbed only if you are too close to him. Fortinbras only uses his right hand to garb you, so every time you see his right hand is moving, pull away from him. If you are not cautious enough and let him grab you, hit all four bottom constantly as fast as you can, you will be able to flee before he blows fire and tosses you. You can attack if you have a chance, but don't stay close to him too long, pull back after you slash him three or four times. Every time you deal certain amount damage on Fortinbras, he will inhale and struggle, that's your best chance to attack (around 12 slashes would be safe). Use all the fire arrows and burst bullets you have, and heal when your vitality is critical. An alternative way to defeat him Fortinbras is by using his fixed attack pattern-sometimes when Samanosuke is too close to Fortinbeas, he will use the wind attack to blow Samanosuke away, of course you have to block this attack. And after this attack, he will use claw attack and attempt to knock Samanosuke down, if samanosuke is in a certain range, pull back A LITTLE and then run toward to Fortinbras and attack, a strange thing is that if you do so, Fortinbra will use claw attack again and hit exactly the same spot as his last claw attack, and since you have already moved close to Fortinbras, he can not harm you. You are free to slash him three or four times and he will do another wind attack, then just repeat the steps listed above and you will be able to attack him easily without being hit once until he inhales and struggles. Abuse your sword when he is struggling, and try to let him use another wind attack. I used this tactic and somehow I did beat him without using any medicine several times. It requires some practice, too. --After this epic battle, enjoy the ending movie and happy game playing, best luck of your normal sword game!!! V. Dark Realm (Optional) This is part is solely for acquiring Bishaman Sword in a Normal Sword game and prove your game skill is top to none. You DO NOT have to complete this quest in order to beat this game. There are twenty levels in Dark Realm, each level contains certain numbers /types of monsters, and you have to defeat all the monsters in one level before you could process further. After you reach the twentieth floor, you will acquire a Bishaman Flute there. Monsters in Dark Realm appears CLOSER than where they look to be, so if you really want to rely on issen, you will have a lot of trouble of fighting them because you can not predict their location correctly, you have to learn how to block, and not to be surrendered. The only time I recommend entering Dark Realm in a normal sword game is after you fight Hecuba. Also remember that you have to spend some medicines here, so if you don't think you can beat Aka/Marcellus and Fortrinbas with only tem medicines or less and without any bullets, DO NO enter Dark Realm, you will screw your game up by the time you come out. You have to upgrade all medicines to herbs, all bullets to burst bullets, and all arrows to fire arrows (the arrow part is optional). If you did not use a medicine when you were fighting Hecuba and any other bosses and followed the entire FAQ so far, you should have: --16 Medicines --25~27 burst bullets. --At least 20 fire arrows 
These items will be good enough to carry you through Dark Realm, but 
remember: you should not use all the medicines here because you still have 
to fight Aka Marcellues and Fortinbras later on.

You must enter Dark Realm with vitality full or at least above two-third. If 
not, go to the Castle Square and issen some spiky demons there to gain some 
easy yellow souls.

*************************
  Dark Realm Walkthrough
*************************

NOTE: In each level, the monsters won't all appear at the same time, they 
appear one after another instead.

 

Try to stay away from them, when they inhale and run toward to you, press 
square bottom and ieesn them. If you are surrendered, simply press L1 to 
block their attacks and attack them if you find a chance.

Target Item Expense: 

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullet Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero

Treasure box: None.



Stay in the corner and defend, they cannot harm you. When there is only one 
or two of them are around you, slash them twice and defend immediately. You 
will kill all of them slowly this way, but it is also safe  

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None.

*** LEVEL THREE: Zombie Warriors/Two Red Zombie Samurais ***

Kick + Smashing square bottom trick won't work well against the zombie 
Samurais here because those Zombie Warriors will draw your attention and you 
won't be able to kick the ones you want. You have to stay away from Zombie 
Samurais and kill those Zombie Warrior first, then use the same old trick to 
issen Zombie Samurais

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrows: Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None.



Using the Kick + smashing square bottom trick to issen them quickly. Stay 
away from them if they are coming from two different directions. This level 
is a good chance to recover your vitality. 

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrow Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None.

*** LEVEL FIVE: Three-Eye Ninjas and two red Zombie Samurais ***

Use similar tactic you passed level three and you would be fine, but you 
have to block more often, and do not let those red Zombie Samurais grab you. 
After you killed all the Three-Eye Ninjas, issen zombie samurais.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrow Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None.

*** LEVEL SIX: Spiky Demons ***

Slash, slash, and slash them. Block when necessary. If you want to issen 
them when they are using rolling attack, you will probably hurt yourself 
because as I said before, they appear closer than where they look to be. The 
only exception that you could issen them easily is when they are appearing, 
if you attack them before the smoke is gone, you will issen them.

Target Item Expense

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero.

Treasure Box: Fluorite x 1.

*** LEVEL SEVEN: Hard Shell Insects ***

Stay in the corner and keep defending, and attack them once or twice when 
you feel it is safe to attack, be calm and patient, or you will have a hard 
time here.

Target Item Expense

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullets Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None.

*** LEVEL EIGHT: Spiky Demons/Soul Sucker x 4

The strategy here is exactly the same as the sixth level, the only 
difference is that you have to destroy soul suckers first when they are too 
close to you, they draw your attention and make you miss your target.

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullet Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero.

Treasure Box: None.

*** LEVEL NINE: Bullhead Monster x 4 + Spiky Demons ***

The Bullhead monsters in this level is the easy type, all of their attacks 
can be blocked. Try to kill the Spiky Demons first and concentrate your 
attack on Bullhead monsters, block when it is needed. If you lock sword with 
them, smash square bottom and you will be able to win and knock them down on 
the floor.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: Zero
Burst Bullet Use: Zero
Fire Arrows Use: Zero

Treasure Box: Medicine x 1

*** LEVEL TEN: Bullhead Monsters x 4 + Soul Suckers ***

Here is the first tough level. The Bullhead monsters are way much stronger 
than the ones in the ninth level. You will have a hard time to fight them 
with your sword, and due to the small combat area in Dark Realm, there is 
not too much space you could avoid their attacks and iseen.

Burst Bullets are your best friends here. You will encounter two Bullhead 
monsters and one soul suckers, use five burst bullets to kill them all (you 
will only need four burst bullets to kill two Bullhead monsters, however, 
the soul sucker will change your target and you have to waste one burst 
bullet on it). When another two Bullhead monsters appear, shoot them with 
fire arrows from afar, and fight them when they are getting close, try your 
best to lose as few vitality as you could.

Target Item Expense

Medicine Use: Two
Burst bullets Use: Five
Fire Arrow Use: Five

Treasure Box: Soul Absorber x 1

*** LEVEL ELEVEN: Rayllado x 6 ***

Use one burst bullet to finish the first wave of monsters' attack. Kill the 
rest if there is any; and use another burst bullets when there are more 
monsters come out. You may lose some vitality in this level, but as long as 
you have burst bullets, you should not be harmed too much here. If your 
burst bullets do not work very well (means you couldn't kill more than one 
monster per bullet), then fire arrows will help you a bit.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullets Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: Two

Treasure Box: None

*** LEVEL TWELVE: Rayllados/suckers ***

Try to kill suckers as soon as possible and shoot Rayllados with burst 
bullets. Each bullet should kill two rayllados, if they are gathered around 
together in one place, you can kill three in one shot, but that is not going 
to happen often. There are two waves of attacks, use one bullet for each, 
and kill the rest, your sword skill will determine the amount of vitality 
you will lose in this level, prepare for a tough fight!!!

Target Item Expense: 

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: Zero

Treasure Box: Flourite x 1

*** LEVEL THIRTEEN: Rayllados/Hard Shell Insects *** 

Use one burst bullet first go get rid of the hard shell insects in front of 
Samanosuke, then fight the Rayllados behind them. You may want to use 
another bullet after other monsters come out. After two bullets, use your 
word to take care of the rest, don't let Rayllado's arm trap you. Tough 
fight here, too!!!

Target Item Expense: 

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: Zero

Treasure Box: None

*** LEVEL FOURTEEN: Stealth Warrior x 3 ***

You will only fight two of them at once, and the third one will appear after 
you kill at least one of them first. All of their attack can be blocked, so 
defend often and attack carefully only when you can find a good chance. If 
you are skillful enough, you can use R1 + direction bottom to avoid their 
jumping attack and issen them.

Target Item Expense 

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: None
Fire Arrow Use: None

Treasure Box: Herb x 1

*** LEVEL FIFTEEN: Rayllados + Stealth Warriors

This level is insanely tough, don't tell me that anyone could issen them all 
at once, it is not impossible, but the chance is too low.

You will still need burst bullets to pass here, use one first and it should 
be able to kill the first two rayllados and damage the stealth warriors 
heavily. Fight him with your sword and be careful, when you think that there 
are too many monsters in this level, use another burst bullet. After that, 
you have to try to kill all of the rest of monsters as quick as possible 
before they could deal massive amount damage on Samanosuke.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: None.

*** LEVEL SIXTEEN: Dark Ninjas ***

All their attacks can be blocked if they are in front of Samanosuke, the 
best way to pass this level is to pick a corner and defend so they can not 
back attack Samanosuke. Attack only if you have a good chance, try not to 
use a medicine in this level because you have a great opportunity to recover 
vitality in the next level, and it will be a long fight.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: None
Burst Bullet Use: None
Fire Arrow Use: None

Treasure Box: Herb x 1

*** LEVEL SEVENTEEN: Dark Samurai x 2/Red Zombie Samurai x 4 ***

Same old issen trick will kill them quickly, don't let them get too close or 
surrender Samanosuke though. You should be able to recover Samanosuke's 
vitality here. 

Target Item Expense: 

Medicine Use: None
Burst Bullet Use: None
Fire Arrow Use: None

Treasure Box: Fluorite x 1

*** LEVEL EIGHTEEN: Stealth Warriors/Dark Ninjas ***

Use two burst bullets to get rid of as many Dark Ninjas as possible then 
fight stealth warriors. You will have a very tough fight here.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: Two

Treasure Box: Herb x 1

*** LEVEL NINETEEN: Dark Samurai x 2/Dark Ninjas ***

You have to get rid of Dark Ninjas quickly before you could issen Dark 
Samurais safely. Walk around the area and wait 'till those Dark Ninjas are 
gathering at a small area, then shoot them with burst bullets to kill two or 
three in one shot, if you are surrendered, you may have to shoot them as 
well. Another solution is to walk around and try to let Dark Ninjas be away 
from Dark Samurais and use the Kick + smashing Square bottom on the Dark 
Samurai ONCE and see if you are lucky enough to get it work in one try, if 
not, pull back immediately.

Target Item Expense: 

Medicine Use: One
Burst Bullet Use: Two
Fire Arrow Use: None

Treasure Box: None

*** LEVEL TWENTY: Bull Head Monsters x 4/Stealth Warrior x 3 ***

Use burst bullets ALL THE WAY on ALL Bullhead monsters and hopefully you 
will be able to kill all of them in eight shots, if not, let them taste some 
fire arrows. You can fight stealth warriors after clearing all Bullhead 
monsters in this level and remember to block often.

Target Item Expense:

Medicine Use: One or two.
Burst Bullet Use: Eight
Fire Arrow Use: Two.

Treasure Box: BISHAMAN FLUTE!

--Now you can leave Dark Realm. Save your game and upgrade all herbs to 
medicines, you should have seven or eight medicines in your inventory. If 
you could have more than that, then that's even greater.

--Refer to Section Four and follow the strategy listed above to defeat Aka 
Marcellus. After defeat him, pick up a medicine inside the treasure box and 
process to the next room then use the Bishaman Flute there, the sealed door 
will be opened, go inside and check the skeleton, after a cut scene, you 
will acquire the item that we are all looking for, the BISHAMAN SWORD, 
Congratulations!!! Are you ready for another normal sword challenge in 
Onimusha II?

VI. Credit/Thanks

Thanks to CjayC first, for creating this wonderful website and posting this 
FAQ.

Thanks to Hyprophant, of course. This person is the writer of this FAQ.

Thanks to Bludsprint on GameFaqs' Onimusha board, for helping me beating my 
first normal sword game.