Chapters 1–4

1. The Ruckus at Rendaino

A tutorial chapter. It has five objectives — defeat Yoshioka Seijuro, defeat the Yoshioka students, defeat the Genma, seal the Rift, talk to Okuni — and the opponents along the way are either not a real fight or cannon fodder. It is the introduction to Miyamoto Musashi and to the mechanics. Not a single one of the game's 275 collectibles is in this chapter. What you take out of it is the Oni Gauntlet, the Spirit Mirror and the Hozuki Pouch.

• 1

  Defeat Yoshioka Seijuro — the basic combat tutorial

  The game's first named opponent, and the basic combat tutorial: it does not even count as a boss fight. He has no trophy on the list of 52, which is the check that settles it — every genuine boss in the game has a bronze trophy attached, and Seijuro has none. The same opening introduces Musashi's character and the attacking and defending inputs.

• 2

  Deflect and Reflex Dodge, against the Yoshioka students

  The students are the lesson for Deflect and Reflex Dodge, both fundamental techniques tied to Issen — the instant-kill attacks that are a core part of the Onimusha series. This is worth slowing down for rather than pushing through: the only silver trophy in the combat set, Brutalist, is simply landing 50 Issen attacks, and four more bronze trophies (Stop Motion for 50 Reflex Combos, Flow State for 50 Chain Issen kills, Pinch Hitter for deflecting 50 projectiles, Untouchable for 50 Grab Reversals) are cumulative counters on the same handful of inputs.

• 3

  The Oni Gauntlet

  Only one walkthrough covers this beat: between the opening duel and the rest of the chapter there is a sequence in hell, where a figure called the Man in White hands over the Oni Gauntlet. The gauntlet is what absorbs souls from defeated enemies, and soul absorption is one of the mechanics the chapter teaches. The other objective list jumps straight from the students to the Genma, so this rests on a single source, and it is on this page because everything that follows uses the gauntlet.

• 4

  Planks, carts and the things lying around

  The chapter teaches you to use environmental objects such as planks and carts to neutralise enemies; environmental combat is one of its tutorials. A bronze trophy is attached to it — Winning Is What Matters, execute 50 environmental attacks — and a second, Genma Griller, for setting three enemies alight at once, which needs the skill Firebird Flute: Charged Shot. Nothing says the trophies start counting in this chapter, so treat them as counters you should simply stop ignoring from here on.

• 5

  Defeat the Genma and seal the Rift

  The first fight against the game's actual enemies, at Rokudo-Chinnoji Temple — the same temple chapter 3 returns to, and a landmark the Genma Note list keeps using. For the fight: the Genma usually come at you one at a time, so attack, parry or dodge what comes back, drain the stamina bar and finish with Break Issen — X on Xbox — then absorb the souls that drop. Do not feel bad about failing the Issen timing the first time. Sealing the Rift is what stops more of them spawning, and it is the loop the whole game is built on: chapters 3 and 6 are both named for sealing Rifts.

• 6

  Talk to Okuni: the Spirit Mirror and the Hozuki Pouch

  The last objective. Okuni introduces the Spirit Mirror and gives you the Hozuki Pouch, the game's rechargeable healing item; you use it with up on the d-pad. Two more beats close the chapter — speaking with Takamura to learn what an Onimusha is, and then using the Spirit Mirror itself to advance to the next mission. One thing worth being clear about, because the tracker counts will not otherwise line up: this starting pouch is not one of the nine tracked Hozuki Pouches. All nine of those are free-roam finds or a Chance Encounter reward much later, and none of them is the one Okuni hands you here.

2. The Stage is Set at Kiyomizu

The longest and densest of the four by a wide margin, and the only one with bosses. Two of them — Sasaki Ganryu and Daidara — which is two bronze trophies. Two of the seven Oni Armaments, the first Power Stone, the first Charm, and the longest materials list in the early game. The objectives run: examine the Spirit Mirror, head for Kiyomizu-dera Temple, follow the threads with Oni Vision, head for the high platform at the temple, head for the area below the temple's stage, continue through the cave, use your bow to open the wall, continue onward, and then go after the giant Genma.

• 1

  Oni Vision, and the Weavers

  The chapter's first real mechanic. Threads block the path; use Oni Vision to find the creature weaving them — a Weaver — and kill it to clear the way. The second Weaver is where an Oni Armament comes from. Oni Vision is the two triggers together on Xbox, and it reveals more than the Weavers: treasure chests and Oni Portals show up in it too, and the gauntlet glows when something hidden is nearby. That is the habit to build now, because every Genma Note in the game is a chest that is not marked on the map.

• 2

  Oni Armament #1 — The Two Celestials

  It comes off the second Weaver, and the sources disagree on where the chest is: PowerPyx puts it at the oni gate in Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Maxroll in the cave during the second encounter, and Vandal simply calls it the first treasure chest after the kill. It is #1 of 7: a pair of daggers that draw yellow souls. Oni Armaments are special attacks that spend the Oni Power Gauge, and this chapter's fights are where the game teaches them.

  • Oni Armament #1 of 7: The Two Celestials. The chest at the second Weaver — at the oni gate or in the cave, depending on the guide.
• 3

  Hitotsume Sho, the mini-boss

  A Hitotsume Sho — Cyclops Commander — stands between The Two Celestials and Sasaki Ganryu, and the answer has four parts: block or parry its weapon attacks, dodge the unarmed ones because a second strike usually follows, Issen the jumping attack, and pick up the blue souls to charge The Two Celestials, which heals you. Not every walkthrough names this fight. It is on the page anyway because it is the first thing the new weapon is for, and because Genma Note #10 is called Hitotsume Sho and sits in the Kiyomizu-dera Temple dojo, at the northmost part — a chest you come back for, not one you open now.

• 4

  Boss: Sasaki Ganryu — bronze, Onimusha Showdown

  The first boss with a trophy, at Kiyomizu-dera Temple. His attacks are fast enough to catch people off guard; treat him as a test of the fundamentals, defend, and use the slower attacks as Issen openings. In detail: play defensively once the opening exchange is over and let him move first, then dodge, block or Issen; parry the faster combos to make your own openings; at range, punish the charge and the jump with Issen; and below about half health, when he adds a jump kick, either dodge it and answer with a Grab Reversal (B on Xbox, pressed before the grab lands), move away, or interrupt him with The Two Celestials. Watch too for a thrust charge and a rush that is meant to read as something else. Structurally, the fight comes packaged with the tutorial for Oni Armament attacks.

  One counting note, so nothing looks wrong later. Sasaki Ganryu is fought three separate times, I, II and III, but there are only two Ganryu trophies — Onimusha Showdown here, and We Done Here? for defeating him at Arashiyama much later. One of the three fights therefore pops nothing, and which one is not documented.

  • Trophy: Onimusha Showdown (bronze). "Drive off Sasaki Ganryu."
• 5

  Oni Armament #2 — the Oni Bow

  The single most useful thing in the chapter, and it cannot be missed because the story needs it: it is a chest on the main path, in the Oni Refuge. What makes it different from the other Armaments: unlimited arrows, and it does not spend Oni Power. The rule for using it on the environment: shoot the circular target, on rocks and elsewhere, when it glows red. From here on the walkthrough solves problems by shooting something, including a locked gate in chapter 7 and explosive barrels in chapter 8.

  • Oni Armament #2 of 7: Oni Bow. A chest on the main path in the Oni Refuge; unmissable.
• 6

  The bridge puzzle, and Power Stone #1

  Use your bow to open the wall: shoot a block to raise it so you can cross, with Oni powers materialising the hidden sections of the bridge. The bow's mechanism gets you to a treasure chest in the Kiyomizu-dera Temple Oni Refuge holding Power Stone #1 of 54, reached by shooting an arrow bridge. Cotton Cloth sits behind a door the bow opens, and a Lesser Soul Crystal lies along the path. Power Stones are what buy and upgrade skills, so this one is not decoration.

  • Power Stone #1 of 54. The Oni Refuge chest across the arrow bridge.
  • Also here: Cotton Cloth behind the bow-opened door, a Lesser Soul Crystal on the bridge path.
• 7

  Boss: Daidara, Slavering Glutton — bronze, Get Stuffed

  The chapter ends by sending you after a giant Genma, and that is Daidara, the first Genma boss of the campaign. The shape of him: slow, easy-to-read strikes that hurt a great deal more than Ganryu's, unblockable attacks that have to be deflected rather than blocked, and the habit of eating your souls — the answer is patience, and aiming for the purple weak point with Break Issen to get the souls back. The fight has two phases. In the first, lure him to the side of the arena, work on his leg armour, and absorb every soul he knocks loose so he cannot spend them advancing the fight; parry the wide club swings and expect a follow-up; and when he stamps about excitedly, that is the tell for a charge you should parry. In the second, parry the shockwaves and counter the grab on the same button as the Grab Reversal. Two positioning notes worth having before you start: fight near walls, because his weapon can get stuck in them, and save at the Spirit Mirror first.

  • Trophy: Get Stuffed (bronze). "Defeat Daidara."
• 8

  Charm #1 — Charm of the Healer, and one disagreement about when

  The Charm of the Healer is #1 of 15. PowerPyx and Maxroll give it as the story reward for finishing this chapter; Vandal has you receive it one chapter later, under Kyoto, Corrupted. The practical difference is nil — you will have it when chapter 3 starts either way. Charms become enhanceable once this mission is done, at a shrine in the south-east corner of Enma's Hall, paying in two currencies: Red Souls from killing things, and Favor from floor items, chests, helping citizens and merchants. Do not expect to spend any yet. Even with every offering collected you will not have enough Favor to enhance the new charm, and the total for all fifteen is 135,000 Red Souls and 150,000 Favor.

  • Charm #1 of 15: Charm of the Healer. Story reward for the mission; one walkthrough puts it in chapter 3.
• 9

  Everything else you pick up on the way through

  Chapter 2 is full of small pickups, and none of them is one of the 275 tracked collectibles — they are consumables and crafting stock. Smash pots and boxes and open chests as you go and you will have most of them without detouring. The named ones, with their places: Mild Restorative (a box near the gatekeeper, and several other spots); Lesser Defense Talisman (the junction before you head north-west, and a building near the second barrier); Lesser Might Talisman (the northern side path of the western detour); Hozuki plants at the riverbed and elsewhere, which are what refill the pouch; Whetstone (the raised archer section on the northern side, and the north-eastern corner of the stage area); Hempen Cloth (the north-western corner of the western detour, and the south-eastern corner shelter); Millet (right side after the first barrier comes down); Watermelon (the south-eastern corner of the temple street, and the westernmost section by the burning houses); Unrefined Sake (the left corridor panels, an alley between buildings, and pots in the rear courtyard); Minor Miracle Cure (the right room off the corridor — it cures Burn); and Lesser Soul Crystal in five places, including the left room panel, the north-western courtyard door, the first side path and the raised archer area.

3. Kyoto, Corrupted

The chapter that opens Eastern Kyoto, and the first one with real exploration in it. Two Rifts to seal and a report back to Takamura. No boss. Its value for a completionist is the Oni Glyph treasures — go back to Kiyomizu-dera before setting off, and between the two areas they account for four of the game's 23 Genma Notes plus an Oni Stone, a Tamahagane and a Power Stone. The walkthroughs disagree about which Rift comes first, so that is flagged where it happens.

• 1

  Before you set off: three Oni Glyphs back at Kiyomizu-dera

  The most valuable thing on this page. Before heading for Eastern Kyoto, return to Kiyomizu-dera Temple and activate three Oni Glyphs; the treasures they reveal hold Genma Notes: #10 Hitotsume Sho in the Kiyomizu-dera Temple dojo at the northmost part, #17 Sasaki Ganryu in the Oni Refuge inside the Kiyomizu-dera Temple battle room, and #14 Daidara in the Oni Refuge courtyard north of the Shrine Grounds Spirit Mirror. Two rules apply to all 23: they are never marked on the map naturally, and every one is a chest you open with Oni Power.

  • Genma Note: Hitotsume Sho. Kiyomizu-dera Temple — the dojo, northmost part.
  • Genma Note: Sasaki Ganryu. The Oni Refuge, in the Kiyomizu-dera battle room.
  • Genma Note: Daidara. The Oni Refuge courtyard north of the Shrine Grounds Spirit Mirror.
• 2

  The Johari Shard

  Takamura gives it to you. When a star-shaped indicator appears on screen, the shard shows you a route to the objective, and it works as the navigation aid across the whole of Kyoto from here on. On Xbox the input is the two triggers together — the same pair as Oni Vision — so expect one prompt to do both jobs.

• 3

  Charms, Enma's Hall and Favor

  The system is introduced properly here, with the distinction that matters: Charms are actual pieces of equipment, not the consumable talismans you have been picking up. You can enhance them at Enma's Hall, and you will not have the Favor to do it yet even if you have collected every offering. See the previous chapter for the two currencies and the full bill.

• 4

  Which Rift first? The two guides do not agree

  Vandal's objectives run "seal the northern Rift" then "seal the western Rift"; Maxroll's run "seal the first rift (western)" then "seal the second rift (eastern)" — two different pairs of compass points and two different orders. Nothing here is missable, so seal both and do not worry which your game calls which; if you are following one guide's directions and the landmarks stop matching, this is why.

• 5

  Togemaru, the new enemy worth learning properly

  Togemaru (Razor Back) is worth stopping for. At distance it rolls at you to ram you, and up close it spins like a top; parry it while it spins and it crashes into a wall, the terrain or other enemies, which leaves it open to an immediate Break Issen. It is also the name on Genma Note #3, which you collect in chapter 5.

• 6

  Kubi Akari and Hitotsume Gasa — two enemies that need a tool, not a sword

  A Kubi Akari (Flare Head) should be shot with the Oni Bow while it is glowing blue, which makes it explode; a Hitotsume Gasa (Cyclops Soldier) should be lured to the braziers, which you then ignite. The bronze Genma Griller, which asks you to set three enemies ablaze at once, is a different tool: the trophy needs the skill Firebird Flute: Charged Shot. Big-headed creatures that spit projectiles also turn up at the western Rift, unnamed, so this page does not claim they are the same enemy.

• 7

  The market, and the townspeople

  The western Rift stretch is a market area where you rescue NPCs from Genma attacks and collect sake bottles and cloth along the way. Two bronze trophies are for exactly that — Citizen Savior for rescuing 30 townspeople, and Selfish Selflessness for rescuing a merchant — and which mission they start in is not stated. This is the first rescuing the walkthrough describes, which is why it is worth knowing about now: a counter of 30 is not something to start noticing at chapter 20.

• 8

  The four Eastern Kyoto Oni Glyph treasures

  Three of the four are materials you will be short of later. Treasure #1 is an Oni Stone, north of Rokudo-chinnoji Temple. #3 is Tamahagane, in the north-western compound. A Mirror of Revival sits near the western bridge. #4 is a Power Stone, east-south-east of the western Rift. (Treasure #2 is the Hitotsume Gasa Genma Note.) On top of those, the area's Genma Note is Hitotsume Gasa, in the northern part of Eastern Kyoto, west of the Higashioji Street Spirit Mirror — #1 of 23, the first entry on the whole Genma Note list. The loose materials: Iron in two places (east of an enemy encounter, and a northern courtyard chest); Cotton Cloth in three (a northern shed, the northern courtyard chest, the north-western compound); Hempen Cloth in three (an intersection north-north-east, and two pieces north-west of the Higashioji Spirit Mirror); Whetstone twice in the north-western compound; and Leather in a western market building.

  • Genma Note: Hitotsume Gasa. West of the Higashioji Street Spirit Mirror (#1 of 23).
  • Oni Stone, Tamahagane, Power Stone, Mirror of Revival. The four Eastern Kyoto glyph treasures.
• 9

  Speak with Takamura

  Both Rifts sealed, report back at the temple, and the chapter ends. It triggers the next story segment directly, and chapter 4 begins with a conversation rather than a fight.

4. The Oni’s Apprentice

This chapter has exactly two objectives: talk to Shizuka, and talk to Takamura — short enough to be folded into the back of chapter 3. There is no route, no boss and no fight worth the name. What there is instead is the whole progression system opening at once: skill trees, equipment enhancement, the Practice Ground and the third Oni Armament. It is also the one chapter where the walkthroughs give three different answers to the same question, so that gets a step to itself.

• 1

  Talk to Shizuka — enhancement and the skill trees

  Speaking to Shizuka by the Spirit Mirror is what unlocks access to equipment enhancements and to the basic and special ability trees. Several specific unlocks are tied to this mission — Issen and Chain Issen both become available here at 2 Power Stones each, and Blazing State likewise at 2 Power Stones — and Deflect is part of the Break Issen Combo branch, unlocked during the story. The bronze Looking Sharp, for enhancing equipment for the first time, is the first thing any of this makes possible.

• 2

  What to buy first: three different answers

  This is a genuine disagreement, not a difference in wording, and the page gives all three rather than picking a winner, because each optimises for something different. For clearing rooms: unlock Chain Issen from Basic Abilities under the Issen branch, because it finishes groups of regular enemies almost instantly. For surviving the next boss: spend Power Stones on Deflect, Reflex Combo and Blazing State, and Oni Stones on Oni Vision: Destructibles and Handle Bigger Objects. For a 100% run: hold off on spending Oni Stones at all until you can afford three specific Special Skills — Oni Vision: Treasures, Oni Vision: Treasures 2 and Oni Vision: Search Range — because they make tracking down every collectible far easier, from enhancement materials to the chests holding Power and Oni Stones. Only the last two actually compete, since they both spend Oni Stones; Chain Issen is bought with Power Stones and does not conflict with either.

• 3

  Talk to Takamura — the bell, and the Practice Ground

  Examine a bell, speak with Takamura, and complete the first Practice Ground tutorial to continue. The Practice Ground is reached from Spirit Mirrors, and it holds two things: drills, which are the basic and advanced combat tutorials for abilities as you unlock them, and Boss Rematch. There are 21 drills, among them Attacking, Blocking, Evading Attacks, Issen, Blade Locks, Deflect, Blazing State, Chain Issen, Wind-Whipper and Still Water, and they pay out in talismans, crystals, rice balls and restoratives. The Boss Rematch side lists 18 opponents, lets you replay them at different difficulties using the Hozuki Pouches you have unlocked, and gives the Warlord's Armor Outfit for beating every boss on Story or Action. The bronze Second Helping is for a single rematch win and the gold Glutton for Punishment to beating all of them on all difficulties.

• 4

  Oni Armament #3 — Wind-Whipper, and which drill actually hands it over

  Everyone agrees you get it here and nobody agrees on the exact trigger: completing the first tutorial (Vandal), completing the first Practice Ground drills, plural (Maxroll), or automatically during the mission, in the skills practice grounds area (PowerPyx). The drill list does not quite fit the first answer: it gives the Attacking drill — the first one — as paying out Lesser Might Talisman x2, and has a separate drill called Wind-Whipper further down, which is normally how the game handles a drill for an ability you already own. The safe reading is that you will have the Wind-Whipper, #3 of 7, by the time the Practice Ground tutorials are done, whichever drill is the one that gives it. Chapter 8 is where it first earns its keep: save it for the second wave of the courtyard ambush.

  • Oni Armament #3 of 7: Wind-Whipper. From the Practice Ground in this mission; automatic.
• 5

  Only one way out, whatever the menu suggests

  A small warning that saves a few minutes of poking about: once the Practice Ground tutorials are done, "Careful What You Wish For" is the only mission you can actually continue into, even though the game looks like it is offering you several options. Free roam and the side content that fills these menus come much later — not a single Mystery of Kyoto or Lion Dog is available before the end of chapter 11.

Chapters 1–4 Completion

✅ Before Moving On to Chapters 5–8...