Live A Live

Twilight of Edo Japan (ninja!)

This chapter hates you. That's why I'm writing a guide for it, specifically. Due to the 0 and 100 kill achievements, you should save in two slots when given the chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lmrCJ6Zgg

This is a link to a 0 kills TAS. It does a few things differently, but it's still a good visual reference.

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https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39467 - Give Peace a Chance

After the intro, Oboro'll spawn behind two guards. Move north, inbetween the next pair of guards to trigger a battle. Run from it, and continue north. Another cutscene will play, explaining the password system. Every time the bell rings, the password will switch between "Mountain: River" and "Mountain: Origin." Oboro will point out each time the bell rings, so it's on you to remember or save before it's important. After the cutscene, travel northeast into a room with a guard and a chest. Inside the chest is a Chain Mail you equip to Oboro's body. Exit, go northwest, and evade the Ronin. Head through the north door, and you'll exit the building. Run down and left, evading all encounters, then go between the pair of guards in front of the door. By this point, the bell likely hasn't rung, so the password is River. Remember the building in the bottom left for later as you pass the guards into the building. Once inside, go through the rightmost door to witness a Ninja spin through a false wall. Follow him, and give the password. Should still be River. Go up the rope ladder, and head left to trigger a cutscene.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39450 - Poor Watanabe

Achievement will trigger after the cutscene. Go downwards and interact with the left chest to obtain a Money. You'll need four of these, and there are ten total, but half are locked behind something way later and one requires a kill. Stand over the peepholes in the floor to see some cutscenes, if you wish. Get the Castella from the chest in the bottom left of the room, and get the Suijin's Tabi from the one in the middle left. Equip the Suijin's Tabi to Oboro's feet, and head to the top left of the room to spawn a Ninja. Go invisible until he's to the right, then book it into the exit to the left. Head south on the roof, and do not enter the building. Continue east until you're in the room above the gate. Avoid stepping on the tile in the middle of the room, it's a pitfall. Continue along the wall until you enter another building. Open the two rightmost chests for the Storehouse Key and another Castella. Exit to the right.

Back on the wall, loop around or fall down the pitfall in the gate and get back to the two men who asked for the password from earlier. Interact with the bottom left building from the top middle, and use the Storehouse Key, then enter. Going toward the chest will spawn a Ninja right behind you. There's barely enough time to get the chest then go invisible, but it's easier to go invisible immediately. Inside the chest is a Basement Key. Go back past the guards, then enter the northwest hall and keep going north. Go through the southeast door to be in one of the peephole's rooms from earlier. There are two Castella in these chests. North exit twice, and you'll be outside. Northeast are two guards and another storehouse. Use the Storehouse Key on it, and enter. Do not interact with the woman in here. Two Tenmusu in the pots below her, and in the chests are an Ode Shuriken, Genji's Tabi, Izanagi's Scroll, Topknot, and Money. Equip the Topknot on Oboro's head, and the Genji's Tabi on Oboro's feet. Fight the two ghosts that were near the woman. These don't count as kills, since they aren't human, and you're gonna need the EXP for later. Use anything but Blazing Firefly, since the ghost will avoid the tile damage and your other moves deal more. Note that with the Genji's Tabi equipped, you will absorb health from fire tiles instead of taking damage. After the two ghosts, Oboro should be level 3. Exit and reenter if you think you want more EXP, but you'll be fine for now. The guards won't let you through, so return to atop the wall and where you got the Storehouse Key. Go to the top left exit, then save.

This is a puzzle that failing can make you waste a lot of time, and succeeding can get you some decent items. Go left and interact with the lever. Loop around left, and get on the gear turning north. Once you're off it, hold right until you get on a conveyor belt, then go up and right to hit another lever. Go up, right, then down and you'll be back where you started. Loop back around the left until you're back at the gear, then get on the conveyor belt going right, then down more gears. Lever, then exit left and go north again. Get on the gear going north and open the chest for a Grappling Hook, then hit the lever and go back down. Right until you're on the first belt, then go down the gear and go left to hit another lever. Go up, and you'll be next to a rope ladder. Ignore it and obtain the Fujin's Scroll from the chest. Fall down the big hole in the middle. You'll land in a cell in the dungeon. Use your Basement Key on the door, then save.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39468 - Kajo Waraku

Open the cell of the man in the bottom left, and speak with him. Give him three of your Castella or Tenmusu, then close the menu and speak with him again. Achievement will trigger. If you really want those items back, load your save and don't open his cell. If you wish, take note of the inmates of the cells here, but don't open any. There are more cells behind a fake wall to the right, but there's also a guard. Exit through the paper door to the left and go up the stairs and out a door. There will be a man next to you. Do not speak with him and open the chest for a Kotetsu. Equip it on Oboro's right hand, and exit south. There's a false wall to the southeast with a chest containing another Izanagi's Scroll. Ignore this woman, you can't fight her anyway. Exit and go south and you'll officially be on the first floor.

Evade all these guards and enter the top middle door to see a sleeping woman. Save, then speak with her. She will attempt to kick your ass. Defeating her won't count as a kill yet, so she'll be our source of EXP for the evening. Depending on where she spawns, move roughly 2 tiles away so Blazing Firefly will hit at it's furthest range. It'll do 0 damage, but the tile damage and self absorb will help immensely. She'll move in, so move away until she's two tiles away again. If you get cornered, let her hit you and move away before using an item. Hit her with Water Arts to hopefully keep her away and deal a little damage. If too many tiles get covered in water, use Blazing Firefly again. Betting on Cross Slice turning her away should be your last resort. Don't forget about your items. After you kill her, she'll run away and declare that this isn't over. You'll now find her in certain rooms chasing you down. Interacting with her will start another encounter. Do this as you move, or wait to do it until later.

Exit the room, and go through the northeast hallway. There's a Ronin to the left. Speak with him and give the password. It has no doubt changed several times. In the room he's guarding is a Shinobi's Birdlime and Money. Skip the middle room, and enter the right one. Stepping on the pillow will begin an encounter with a robot, which also doesn't count as a kill. This can also work for EXP, but the relentless woman gives out more. Left and up the stairs to the second floor, and a hall the woman will definitely block you in. Save, then defeat her repeatedly until you reach level 9. Respawn her by taking the stairs. Defeating her too much will make her Die For Real, locking you out of 0 kills. It will earn an achievement, though.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39458 - You Can't Deny My Love!

As you grind, feel free to experiment with new moves. Notably, Strength of Ninja will deal incredible damage but take a while to launch, so it's wise to use at the start of battle. Once you believe you have ground sufficiently, enter the southeast door to find a woman and some loot. The woman is blocking the middle pot, and will fight you if you speak to her, but the pot below contains a Tenmusu and the chest has an Ode Shuriken. There's also another Kanesada on the wall, if you want. In the paper door hall to the south, head through the false wall on the left and go up the rope ladder. Save right now, I'm not kidding.

This room is trapped to hell. It's best to just not deal with it, but there are a couple of chests you'll wanna open, including two tied to achievements. Go right, to the end of the room, and time going over the pitfall so there's floor beneath it and open the chest for a Fudo-Myoo's Fuda. You'll automatically rush to the other side of the pitfall after timing it right. Now, go back up across the pitfall, and go through the left corridor back through the pitfalls. Continue to another room with a chest, but be careful to once again time your crossing. After obtaining the Fuma Shuriken, go back the way you came. Back at the rope ladder, save again and go south. Evade the pitfalls until you reach a room with a checkerboard-pattern of pitfalls. Navigate them and open the chest containing a Shinobi Gauntlet.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39461 - Like the Wind

There's another achievement here, as well. Save, then fall down the hole directly north of the chest with the Shinobi Gauntlet. Go left, down, down, right, and open the chest for This's Awesum!

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39460 - That Guy's Amazing Geta!

This is the best footwear in the chapter. However, if you want to keep it, you'll have to fall down a pitfall on any other tile in the room and return from the dungeon. If you don't wanna do that, load your save after getting the achievement. If you know where you're going, it's pretty quick. Once you're back in the area with the Shinobi Gauntlet, evade pitfalls and head to the right, down the rope ladder.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39459 - Castellan

Go up the stairs to the third floor. Go through the false wall on the left, and speak with the man in the corner of the room. If you haven't killed anyone, he'll give you ten Castella and the achievement. Return to the room after the stairs, save, and go up the rope ladder. Go north, interact with the peg, and use your Grappling Hook. The robots in here will throw you down into the dungeon, so just ignore the chests. If you really want them, the bottom left contains a Genji's Helm, and the top right has another Grappling Hook, which is useless at this point.

Down the rope ladder, up the stairs to the fourth floor, up another rope ladder. This one has robots you can fight. Kill them all, or just go south. Bottom left chest has Genji Armor, which is way better than your Chain Mail. Before going down the rope ladder, ensure you have three Money and save. Through the door, do not step on either pillow, and check the false wall in the back a few times. Pick "Not at all!" and a battle will begin.

For 0 kills, you have to kill all of Gennai's minions before him. This can be done with strategically placed Shuriken Storms, or your Fudo-Myoo's Fuda. Once it's just you and Gennai, avoid standing beneath, beside, or diagonal to him. Pelt him with Shuriken Storms, and use an item if he tags you with Electric Discharge, and he'll fall quickly, dropping a Zenmai.

Go backwards, up the rope ladder, and throw yourself down the hole in the middle. Back in the dungeon, go through the false wall to the right and into the cell on the far left. This will be your fourth Money. Now, check the cell beside it, and use the Basement Key on it. Speak with the man inside, and let him go. He will refill certain chests containing money and armors, and even pop an achievement for you! What a nice guy.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39457 - Ganbare Goemon!

You don't need to collect any more Money, but going back for extra armors isn't a bad idea. Since Gennai's dead, every mechanical trap has been disabled, so the pitfall room of hell isn't so bad anymore. Goemon doesn't refill the Shinobi Gauntlet or This's Awesum!, though. Once you have at least 4 Money, get back to the room where you defeated Gennai and head through the false wall. Interact with the small hole in the top right corner, and use three Moneys on it. Not two, not four. Go back where you came and you'll be in a different room. Save, then use the Zenmai on the puppet in the middle. This thing meows at you? Kill it however you see fit. Afterwards, it will join your party.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39456 - O, Robot

O-robo isn't a bad party member, but for the secret bosses, it's better for you to have an extra turn, so skip it on 100 kills. Anyway, be so careful in here. The tile O-robo was on will now be a pitfall. If you step on it, you both will fall into the dungeon, and O-robo will shatter, making 0 kills impossible. Exit through the false wall, do not step on that pillow, and put your fourth Money in the hole. Go through the door on your left, and up the stairs.

Fifth floor. Stepping through the door will make O-robo fulfill his purpose. Afterwards, save in a third slot. Walk past it and into the room. After a cutscene, Ryoma will join the party. Give him some equipment, the man's struggling. Fight the ghost. Now that you have a second party member, battles are a lot easier, since running out of health doesn't mean dying. Remember that after an enemy's attack you have time to move three spaces, and you'll probably be fine. After the battle, enter the secret passage. Just before the stairs, another ghost will attack you. This one's a little tougher, but still manageable. Afterwards, go up the stairs.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39465 - You Wouldn't Hit a Woman, Would You?

Sixth floor. Stand in front of the door, and a cutscene will play because you didn't kill any women. Don't kill her, obviously. After the cutscene, don't move for a few seconds. You'll get the real reward, and the achievement. Equip both the Maid's Obi and Medicine Box to yourself. Now's your best chance to grind a little. It'd be faster to kill guards for EXP, and thus battle the superbosses while going for 100 kills, but I think the equipment the bosses drop is worth it. If you don't want the equipment, you can just do it during 100 kills.

Fall back down to the dungeon and exit the building southways. You'll pass the guards who didn't let you pass earlier. Enter the building to the right and fight some ghosts. This will take a while, so put on a podcast or something and take full advantage of fast forward. By a while, I mean 4 EXP per battle a while. Your goal is for Oboro to hit level 14. At level 10, you'll learn Blade of Wind, making this a little faster. At level 14, you'll learn Shadow Mirror. It can do great damage.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39451 - Guardian of the Lake

Lord Iwama can be encountered in the moat. You can get there either through the dungeon, or by going down the tree on the way to where you got the Storehouse Key. It's the shadow in the moat that isn't breathing through a reed. Using Shadow Mirror on it while it faces away may deal around 200 damage. What I did was separate Oboro and Ryoma to the top and bottom rows so Iwama's Water call couldn't hit both, then had Oboro mash Shadow Mirror while Ryoma used Quickdraw Wolf Fang while diagonal to make its stats lower, or use an Izanagi's Scroll to heal Oboro. If the fish goes to the bottom half of the screen, have Oboro instead use Wind Blade. Heal before someone dies, since being on opposite sides of the map makes it a little hard to get over in time. Alternatively, if you zone it out hard enough with Quickdraw and Wind Blade, it might start wasting its turns moving. The Suijin Scale didn't drop for me, so you may have to load your save a few times.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39455 - You Cannot Have This Blade...

Go to the passage between the tree and the moat. On the way there is a diamond in the top corner of a corner. Stand so that it is touching the bottom of the screen, then move two tiles up, and move downward. Ignore the pot, it's useless now. Go back up and through the fake wall. Save. Interacting with the sword on the wall, and then with the man that appears after will trigger a battle with Majin Ryunosuke. Do not stand directly next to him, since his Road to Ruin can instant kill you. Have Oboro use Top Spin to make him waste turns turning, and have Ryoma shoot rapidly. You won't deal much damage like this, but you won't take any damage, either. Shuriken Storm and Bronze Leaf, if you have it, will deal more damage but are riskier. After defeating him, collect the sword on the wall for your achievement. To leave the pot hall, walk in front of it, ten tiles up, and hold down until you're out.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39466 - Secret Orders

Head back to the sixth floor. Enter the door you go the Medicine Box at before, and save. The enemy inside is a total pushover. Leave the room south, then head south again to battle the final boss. If you beat the secret bosses, he will be too easy. If you haven't killed a single human, Ryoma will give you his Yoshiyuki and earn you the 0 kills achievement.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39469 - The Honorable Restoration

During the cutscene following the final boss, Ryoma will ask if you want to join him. Pick "Interesting." and the achievement will follow.

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https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39453 - You Have Brought Shame Upon Your Family

Load your save just before Ryoma joins the party and start killing guards. You'll want to be at least level 10, though going higher isn't a bad idea. The Outcast Ending is only obtainable while Oboro is by himself. I don't know if it's possible with O-robo, but Ryoma will stop you. Once you're ready, head back to the entrance where you ran away from those guards, and kill them to leave the castle. After multiple confirmation text boxes, a gauntlet of battles will begin. At the start of the normal enemy battles, move behind an enemy, kill it with Wind Blade, and take out the rest of them while moving as little as possible. Eventually, a boss fight will start, which is a lot harder. It's 3AM right now, and I don't have a save ready, so I'll work on this part later. Just win.

https://retroachievements.org/achievement/39464 - The Deadly Arts

Replay the chapter, but kill 100 guys. When I finish this guide, I won't go as in detail since the castle is pretty much free reign, but I will go over the missable kills.