Prologue and Yōtei Grasslands

1. Prologue: The Snake

The game opens straight into the hunt. Before anything else, Atsu writes the names of the six people she has come back to kill on the sash she carries, traced stroke by stroke on the touchpad: the Snake, the Oni, the Kitsune, the Spider, the Dragon and Lord Saito. The first of them is close by.

• 1

  The town and the outlaws

  You take control in a town in the Yōtei Grasslands. Walk down the street until you reach a group of outlaws abusing a horse; this is the first fight, and the on-screen prompts teach the basic attacks as it goes. Then carry on to the house where the Snake is drinking with his men.

• 2

  Boss: the Snake

  His men come out first; once they are dead, the Snake fights you himself. It is a duel built to teach defence: block his combos, hit back in the gaps, and use heavy attacks to break his guard.

  • Trophy: The Snake. "Cross the first name off your sash." Automatic story trophy, the first one of the game.
• 3

  Return home

  The second half of the Prologue sends Atsu back to her family home, where she grew up with her brother Jubei. The home is where the story keeps returning: you will be back here between chapters.

2. The Old Inn

Unlocked when the Prologue ends, alongside The Way of Dual Katana; you can do the two in either order. Doing this one first is the practical choice, because it opens the shops.

• 1

  Yōtei's Shadow Inn

  Ride northwest from the family home to Yōtei's Shadow Inn and go inside. Saito's men are not pleased to see you, and the fight moves outside.

• 2

  Your first Standoff, and the Onryō's Howl

  The battle opens with the game's first Standoff: hold the button and release it as your opponent commits to his attack, and he dies in one blow. Waves of Saito's men follow. Partway through, the game teaches the Onryō's Howl, activated by pressing both sticks together, which terrifies the enemy in front of you so you can cut him down. Kill the last soldier to finish the tale.

• 3

  What it unlocks

  Afterwards the inn works as a hub: the bowyer inside sells bows, and a bounty board outside starts the bounty hunts.

3. The Way of Dual Katana

A dual katana master is said to be hiding on Mount Yōtei, west of the inn. The tale is part climb, part training, and it ends with the second weapon of the game.

• 1

  The mountain trail

  Saito's outlaws are camped at the foot of the trail. Deal with them, squeeze through the gap in the rock and climb until you reach Hanbei's house. Inside, examine the katana on display to meet him.

• 2

  Training with Hanbei

  Follow Hanbei to his training ground. He throws burning coals for you to cut out of the air, then has you slice bamboo with one hand. Between the sessions comes a playable flashback to Atsu's childhood. After it, you cut the last bamboo stack and take up two blades.

• 3

  Saito's men at the house

  Walking Hanbei home, you find his house overrun. The fight is a lesson in switching weapons: the dual katana is the answer to spear users. Clear every wave to finish the tale.

  • Reward: the Dual Katana. A permanent second weapon.

4. Saito

The fourth main tale, which opens once The Old Inn and The Way of Dual Katana are done. PowerPyx and Game8 list it as Saito; IGN's mission list calls the same mission Shogun of the North.

• 1

  The training fortress

  Saito is at his training fortress, the Clan Saito Training Fortress. At the gate you give the password and are let in.

• 2

  Infiltration

  The fortress is crowded, and sneaking is the easier route: stay in the tall grass, squeeze through the gaps in the fences and climb the cliffs to the keep. You enter Saito's building through a window high up and get the chance to strike from above.

• 3

  Boss: Lord Saito

  The assassination fails, and Saito answers it with a duel. He fights with a yari, so equip the dual katana you have just earned: it is the weapon that counters spears. Parry his attacks and punish him in the gaps. This is not where Saito dies: he is the last name on the sash.

  • Reward: PowerPyx and IGN both give an Onryō Armor upgrade to its second level for this tale; Game8 lists no reward for it.

5. The Yōtei Six

This tale starts when Saito ends, and it is the one that confuses people: it has no marker on the map. What you are looking for is a person, not a place.

• 1

  Find someone with a lead

  Ride around and fight the groups of ronin and bounty hunters you run into. Sooner or later the last survivor of one group will talk, and you get to ask him about one of three targets. Each answer opens one main tale and one new region.

• 2

  The three leads

  • The Oni — in the Ishikari Plain, where a yari master can be found. The Oni.
  • The Kitsune — in Teshio Ridge, where a kusarigama master can be found. The Kitsune.
  • The Saito Brothers — the Spider and the Dragon count as one target; the lead points to an odachi master in the Tokachi Range. The Saito Brothers.

  You can only ask about one target per informant, so repeat the search for the other two. The order is yours.

6. Before You Choose a Target

✅ Leaving the Grasslands...