Post-Game

1. The Point of No Return, and What Continue Gives Back

This is the single most important thing on the page, and it is also the easiest to miss. Read it before you get near chapter 22.

• 1

  What the prompt does

  When you try to start the mission "The Clash at Rendaino" — chapter 22 of 23 — the game shows a Point of No Return prompt, and from there you have no free roam any more. Nothing is missable up to that point and everything can still be accessed: you can free-roam and find all collectibles up until the Point of No Return, and after completing the final mission you are brought back to this point.

  Not every walkthrough mentions the prompt. The preparation list for chapter 22 — three Chance Encounters, the remaining Lion Dogs, the Horin-ji Temple glyph — is often presented as things to do, not as a deadline. Treat it as the deadline.

• 2

  Why chapter 22 and not chapter 23

  "The Clash at Rendaino" is often called the final mission, although the chapter list has 23 entries and that is the twenty-second (IGN, which counts The Light of Vengeance as a story mission, has 24 and makes it the twenty-third). The reason: beating Benkei at Rendaino leads by cutscene straight into chapter 23, with no menu and no free roam in between. So the two chapters are one block from the game's point of view, and the prompt in front of chapter 22 is the gate on both of them. If you are cross-referencing the guides and one seems to be a chapter short, that is why.

• 3

  What "Continue" gives back

  After completing the story, selecting "Continue" in the main menu returns you to this exact point — the beginning of The Clash at Rendaino — so that you can carry on exploring and reach 100% before starting New Game+.

  In other words the Point of No Return is a pause on free roam, not an amputation. Everything in Kyoto, Mount Oe and Arashiyama is still there when you come back, on the same save, with everything you had. That, combined with 0 missable trophies, is why nothing in this guide is ever described as lost.

• 4

  Save manually anyway

  Keep a manual save from before the point of no return so that the remaining collectibles can be finished from it. The game returns you there for free — but a manual save costs nothing and an assumption about someone else's checkpoint costs a playthrough.

• 5

  The one collectible that only exists after the credits

  Genma Note #23, the one about Yoshitsune, cannot be had before the story ends. Reload your save after defeating Minamoto no Yoshitsune and go to a well behind Rokudo-chinnoji Temple, in eastern Kyoto, where it appears as an additional Treasure. The consequence is that the bronze trophy Genma-ologist, for all 23 notes, is structurally a post-credits trophy no matter how thorough you were — and it is the only collectible trophy that is.

2. Cleaning Up the 275 Collectibles

Do the cleanup before the final mission rather than after: once the main story missions are done, do the remaining side quests and collectibles and sweep up any combat trophies still outstanding at the bottom of the list. Doing it there rather than after the credits changes nothing mechanically — Continue returns you to the same place — but it means you finish the game with the work behind you instead of in front of you.

• 1

  What the 275 actually are, and a counting note

  Eleven types with fixed counts, and they sum to exactly 275: 8 Mysteries of Kyoto, 18 Chance Encounters, 36 Lion Dogs, 7 Oni Armaments, 9 Hozuki Pouches, 15 Charms, 23 Genma Notes, 54 Power Stones, 55 Oni Stones, 25 Fine Silk Cloths and 25 Tamahagane.

  One thing that will look like a contradiction elsewhere. The 275 are sometimes described as spread across thirteen categories, not eleven. The two extra entries are Basic and Special Skill Upgrades and Equipment Enhancements, and neither has a fixed count attached to it — they are things you spend materials on, not things you pick up off the ground. The eleven counted types are what adds to 275. This guide keeps trackers for seven of the eleven and treats the four material types as upgrade currency rather than a checklist, because that is what they are.

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  Buy the three Oni Vision skills first

  The most useful advice for the whole platinum is worth acting on long before the cleanup: prioritise buying the three Special Skills Oni Vision: Treasures, Oni Vision: Treasures 2 and Oni Vision: Search Range. The three together make tracking down every collectible far easier; and get into the habit of holding L2 and repeatedly pressing R2 as you explore so that nothing of value slips past. If you are reading this page before you have finished the story, that is the one piece of advice to act on immediately.

• 3

  Which trophy each type is worth

  Seven types have a completion trophy of their own, and six of those have a "first one" bronze alongside it, so the early ones pay twice.

  • 8 Mysteries of Kyoto: Mystery Solved (bronze, the first) and Demystified (silver, all 8). Their starting locations are marked on the map by a butterfly.
  • 18 Chance Encounters: Life-Saver (bronze, the first) and No Job Too Small (silver, all 18).
  • 36 Lion Dogs: No Dog Left Behind (bronze, the first) and For the Love of Dog (silver, all 36). They unlock the ability to change your sword's appearance.
  • 23 Genma Notes: Genma-ologist (bronze, all 23). These are the only collectibles that never get marked on the map by themselves, which is why the Oni Glyphs throughout the walkthrough matter.
  • 7 Oni Armaments: Oni Armory (silver, all 7).
  • 9 Hozuki Pouches: Health Is Wealth (bronze, one at maximum) and Medical Marvel (silver, all 9 at maximum) — note these want them enhanced, not merely found.
  • 15 Charms: A Real Charmer (bronze, one at maximum) and Charmed Life (silver, all 15 at maximum). Same again: enhanced, not found.
• 4

  The four material types have no trophy of their own

  54 Power Stones, 55 Oni Stones, 25 Fine Silk Cloths and 25 Tamahagane are 159 of the 275, and none of them has a "collect them all" trophy. What they buy does: The Winding Way of the Sword (bronze, learn and upgrade all basic or special skills) and Well-Rounded (silver, all basic and special skills), plus Looking Sharp (bronze, enhance one piece of equipment) and Dressed to Kill (silver, enhance all equipment to maximum). Both enhancement paths run through the Spirit Mirror, which unlocks automatically during chapter 4, "The Oni's Apprentice".

  There is also an upgrade routine built on manual saves and reloading, to get the most out of Favor and Red Souls when buying enhancements. We could read that it exists and what it is for, but not the exact procedure, so this page does not reproduce a method it cannot state accurately. What is clear is to pick up any items you find along the way, because items can be traded for Favor.

• 5

  The Lion Dog gates, and the numbering trap

  Two rules catch people out. Lion Dogs do not unlock at all until you have completed chapter 11, "What Lurks in the Shadows" — so an early chapter you swept perfectly still owes you dogs. And the dogs on any given map require that map to be liberated and its final boss beaten before they are available. By area, the 36 are: Kiyomizu-dera Temple #1–3, Nijo-jo Castle #4–6, Mount Oe #7–12, Arashiyama #13–15 and Eastern Kyoto #16–36.

  Do not mix those numbers with per-chapter ones. Lion Dogs are also indexed by the chapter you are expected to collect them in — #12 to #16 around chapter 18 and #17 to #21 before chapter 22 — while the list above indexes by map. The same animal can have two different numbers, and there is no conversion between them. Count your total against 36 and ignore both indices.

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  The people: citizens, a merchant, and one specific Byakue

  Three bronzes that are not collectibles but belong in the same sweep, because they need the same free roam. Citizen Savior asks you to rescue 30 townspeople from marauding Genma; citizens are attacked at random all over Kyoto, so stop and help every time you pass one, rather than farming them later. Selfish Selflessness asks for one rescued merchant, and you will almost certainly come across one while working on the 30. Serves You Right is fixed rather than random: defeat the Byakue at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, behind the Oni Wall north of the Nio-mon Gate.

• 7

  The combat trophies at the bottom of the list

  Sixteen of them, all bronze except one, and this is when to look at whatever has not filled in by itself. Most are counters: Burning Blade (50 foes in the Blazing State), Stop Motion (50 Reflex Combos), Wielder of Oni Armaments (100 enemies with Oni Armaments), Oni's Oni (50 enemies in the Oni Awakened state), Brutalist (silver — land 50 Issen attacks), Flow State (50 enemies with Chain Issen), Silent Violence (assassinate 20), Deadeye (100 bow headshots), Winning Is What Matters (50 attacks with environmental objects), Untouchable (50 Grab Reversals), Coming Through! (break an enemy's guard 50 times, which is depleting the stamina gauge before the kill), Helm Splitter (break 100 shields or armour pieces, using Oni Power), Get This Thing Off Me (absorb 30 or more souls at once) and Berserker (3 enemies with continuous Break Issen attacks, which is available as early as the tutorial).

  Two have a prerequisite rather than just a count, so check you have the skill before you start counting: Pinch Hitter (deflect 50 projectiles) needs the basic skill Deflect unlocked, and Genma Griller (set three enemies ablaze at once) needs the skill Firebird Flute: Charged Shot — the Firebird Flute itself being one of the seven Oni Armaments.

3. New Game+: What Carries and What Does Not

New Game+ becomes available once you have finished the story, and it is where the second required playthrough happens. There are two carry-over lists, and they do not fully agree, and the disagreement is worth understanding before you decide how much to finish in run one. Both are printed below in full rather than merged.

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  PowerPyx's two lists

  Carries over: Awakened Oni Abilities; any enhanced basic and special Skills; Hozuki Pouches and Pouch Enhancements; Items, though not enhancement materials; Charms and Charm Enhancements; Genma Notes; Lion Dogs.

  Does not carry over: Mysteries of Kyoto; Chance Encounters; Clothing; Sword and Gauntlet Enhancements; Red Souls; Spirit Mirror unlock progress.

• 2

  Vandal's two lists

  Retained: all unlocked abilities, including awakened Oni abilities and the Oni Armaments, which are available early in the second playthrough; the Charms you collected; cosmetics — sword appearances, outfits, haori coats and Hozuki pouches.

  Lost: the enhancements you had made, with the materials for Clothing, Sword and Gauntlet to be gathered again; enhancement materials and accumulated Red Souls; progress in side missions and collectibles; and Spirit Mirrors, which need re-unlocking.

• 3

  Where they agree, and where they do not

  Agreed, carries: Oni abilities and awakened abilities, Hozuki Pouches, Charms. Agreed, does not carry: Mysteries of Kyoto, Chance Encounters, sword and gauntlet enhancements, Red Souls, enhancement materials, Spirit Mirror unlocks. Not agreed: PowerPyx says Pouch Enhancements, Charm Enhancements, Genma Notes and Lion Dogs carry over; Vandal says you keep none of your enhancements and none of your collectible progress.

  The real disagreement is clothing. PowerPyx lists Clothing under what does not carry over. Vandal lists outfits, haori coats and sword appearances under what is retained, as cosmetics. Those cannot both be right as stated. One possible reconciliation — that one list means the equipment slot called Clothing, which has a Proficiency Level and enhancements, and the other the cosmetic appearance of your outfit — would make both true at once, but no source says so, so this page will not assert it. Plan for the pessimistic reading and be pleasantly surprised.

  A second, smaller gap: one list says the Oni Armaments carry over and are available early in the new run; the other does not mention Oni Armaments in either column. That is an omission rather than a contradiction, but it means only one source supports it.

• 4

  What this means for how you spend run one

  Three practical consequences fall straight out of the agreed part of the lists.

  • Finish the Mysteries of Kyoto and the Chance Encounters in run one. Both reset, so the silver Demystified and the silver No Job Too Small are the two collectible trophies a second playthrough makes you redo from zero. They are also the two types with the most steps attached to them.
  • Genma Notes and Lion Dogs are permanent once done, by two of three lists. PowerPyx and Game Rant both carry them over, while Vandal says no collectible progress survives; if they carry, Genma-ologist and For the Love of Dog never need touching again — which is convenient given that the last Genma Note is only obtainable after the credits.
  • Hoard your consumables. Do not use items such as Revival Mirrors on the first playthrough, precisely because items carry over and are worth more on Carnage. Enhancement materials do not carry, so those are the opposite case: spend them.

  The expectation for the run itself: play through the story on Carnage, mop up anything left along the way, and by the end of it you should have only one trophy outstanding — the Boss Rematch gold.

4. Carnage Difficulty

The gold trophy True Onimusha is "Complete the game on difficulty level 'Carnage'", and it is the reason the platinum needs two playthroughs at all. The starting difficulties are Story (easy) and Action (medium); Carnage is not offered until you have finished once.

• 1

  How it unlocks, and where you can play it

  It unlocks after completing the game once, on Story or Action. Once unlocked it can be chosen for a fresh playthrough or for New Game+: Vandal and Game Rant both say so, which settles the one point where PowerPyx, presenting Carnage as a New Game+ setting that you must complete in New Game+, read differently.

  Either way, New Game+ is obviously the easier route, because the agreed carry-over list keeps your awakened abilities, enhanced skills, Pouches and Charms while a fresh run would not.

• 2

  What actually changes

  Enemies and bosses are far more aggressive and deal significantly more damage. There is also a line that will matter to anyone who played the older games — this is explicitly not the classic Critical Mode where perfectly timed attacks were the only viable strategy.

  The mechanical change has a consequence for how you play run one: Carnage does not offer Action Prompts. So start on Action rather than Story, and practise without leaning on those prompts, so that their absence on Carnage is not a shock.

• 3

  What it pays out

  Beyond True Onimusha, completing missions and beating bosses on Carnage unlocks cosmetic rewards: new Haori Coat appearances, additional outfits and sword appearance variants. Finishing the game on Carnage also gives a concrete reward — a weapon that makes the Boss Rematch grind much easier. No source we read names the weapon, so neither does this page.

  One practical note for the fights themselves: some of the boss advice on the chapter pages of this walkthrough was written for Carnage specifically, so it is tuned for the harder run.

5. The Boss Rematch Arena

The last step before the platinum, and the only one that goes after Carnage rather than before it — because of that unnamed weapon the Carnage completion hands you. The arena itself has been available since chapter 4; it is the completion requirement that belongs to the end.

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  Where it is and how to get in

  The Practice Grounds unlock during chapter 4, "The Oni's Apprentice". Go to Emma's Hall and ring the Bell in the corner of the Hall to enter the Practice Grounds; once inside, speak to Takamura and select Boss Rematch. The same chapter is where the Spirit Mirror unlocks automatically, so chapter 4 is when both of the game's upgrade-and-practice systems come online at once.

• 2

  The two rules that shape the grind

  The first saves you an enormous amount of time and is easy to miss: completing a boss on the hardest difficulty available also completes every difficulty below it. So the gold is not a matter of fighting eighteen opponents three times each — it is eighteen fights at the top setting.

  The second costs you time: you cannot use items or consumables from the item wheel in Boss Rematch. Everything the chapter pages recommend carrying into a fight — the Sun-Dried Hozuki, the talismans, the Stimulant — is unavailable here. These fights are on your skills and your enhancements alone.

• 3

  The 18 opponents, in the order the menu lists them

  The list below follows the rematch sub-menu's own order. It is worth reading once before you start, because it is not the order you fought them in and it is longer than the thirteen boss trophies would suggest.

  • #1 Byakue · #2 Byakue (Enhanced) · #3 Dohatsu-ten · #4 Dohatsu-ten (Enhanced) · #5 Nue (Blue) and Nue (Red)
  • #6 Sasaki Ganryu · #7 Sasaki Ganryu (Altered) · #8 Daidara · #9 Rasho-gan · #10 Greater Nue
  • #11 Benkei · #12 Benkei (Fully Armed) · #13 Ifuu · #14 Burai · #15 Ifuu and Burai
  • #16 Shuten Doji · #17 Dokyo · #18 Minamoto no Yoshitsune

  Eighteen opponents against thirteen boss trophies, and the gap is worth understanding. Five of the entries are recurring enemies rather than story bosses — Byakue, Dohatsu-ten, their enhanced versions, and the Nue pair — which you meet repeatedly in Rifts throughout the campaign. Three more are second versions of a fight you have had before: Sasaki Ganryu (Altered), Benkei (Fully Armed), and Ifuu and Burai as a pair after their solo fights. And note that this list has two Sasaki Ganryu entries, while Vandal's walkthrough numbers three separate Ganryu fights across the story; this page does not pick a side.

• 4

  The two trophies, and the one after them

  Second Helping (bronze) is "Beat an opponent in a Boss Rematch" — one fight, any opponent, any difficulty, and it can be had the moment the Practice Grounds open in chapter 4. Glutton for Punishment (gold) is "Beat all Boss Rematch opponents on all difficulty levels", and it is the last trophy standing before Peerless, the platinum, which is all other trophies and needs no DLC.

Post-Game Completion

✅ Before You Call It Finished...