You're supposed to die to Genichiro at the start of the game But what if... you don't? That thought was teasing me for weeks after the game's release, and as I got good against him my mind began to race with ideas. Maybe he won't cut my arm off and maybe I'll go through the game without a prosthetic arm! What if I'm able to turn his bow into a prosthetic weapon? I thought maybe the credits will roll right here and now, game over! What if it's just... Oh! Oh. At least there's a little bit of lore here. The Ashina combat style is all about victory at any cost and Genichiro using the ancient samurai cutscene technique is definitely in keeping with that ethos. The divine heir is coming with me. As you head into the Ashina outskirts still thinking about how you totally beat Genichiro and it isn't fair... Remember to head upwards and to the left as soon as you arrive at the cannon section. There's a memorial mob merchant up here who sells firecrackers for 500 Sen and it is one of the strongest prosthetic tools in the game. And as soon as you clear the cannon section, double back here before you fight the ogre. There's a merchant tucked away and he's in a nook that you wouldn't really think to visit. Anayama, dressed in patches and tatters, will trade information for 150 Sen before he upgrades his wares. His prized possession is the Phantom Kunai. It's this shuriken upgrade that you can purchase for 3,000 Sen. And it takes a little while for you to work towards this and one shuriken now costs two spirit emblems, but it's the best method you have, really, to do damage to enemies at a distance... And this is kind of good against bosses that require a little bit more health damage before their posture begins to fall. And Anayama's ambitions have only just begun. The Ashina are low on salt, having used it all up during their constant warfare. You can get this information on the bridge by the lake at the back of Ashina castle. Next, he needs an assistant to help him loot the battlefield. The perfect companion for Anayama to manipulate is Kotaro, a gentle giant found early on in Senpou Temple. Give Kotaro the red-and-white pinwheel, and he'll come around to the idea. This unlocks a few more sugars and an infinite store of black gunpowder and scrap iron, but for the ending to their quest line, I'm gonna keep you around till the end of the video because it contains spoilers. To the right of the cannon bearer is a hidden drop down to a ledge containing a bunch of good items. More interesting though, is this bit of snakeskin hanging from a tree. It's a great little piece of environmental storytelling and it tells you that the snake really gets around this area. A couple of tips in these videos are going to be lifted from popular speedrunning strats. The most useful one I've found so far, is this way of dealing with the chained ogre. So you crush a Guchin sugar, walk up to this brazier, and then take a sharp left. This enables a backstab while he's still chained, and it's a good idea no matter how experienced you are, because let's be honest... We've all been hit by this grab attack. After you defeat the ogre You can actually take a fairly pointless shortcut to Headless if you like. This gap in the wall enables a wall jump to this ledge allowing you to open this door from behind and enabling you to die to Headless faster. If you didn't know all headless enemies drop spiritful consumables, which are infinite use versions of the sugar items that consume three spirit emblems. They don't last quite as long, but if you have two divine confetti handy, then you have a shot at beating this Headless which drops my favourite sugar, Ako. And while we're here, did you know that Sekiro actually has a passive ability called Night Eye? It's explained in one of the loading screens, and you can actually see it activate when you're in a dark place. And speaking of eyes... After this encounter, look to the right of the first idol you come across. You'll find a small Senpou assassin who dreams of marrying the great serpent. This is weird... So, kill him! (oh, ok?)
And you'll receive the herb catalogue scrap, which details where exactly to offer oneself. This explains the palanquin within the valley, as there are two examples in the game of these being used for marriage Them being used in this really formal ceremony might explain why the snake briefly stops its aggression towards us when it spots us going inside? In an earlier video we talked about what happens if you don't take the second death blow on main bosses So maybe something will happen to you if you don't take a second death blow on the snake later on? Hmm... Your first death blow on Gyoubu refills a resurrection, which you can use to get an extra line of dialogue out of him. Quite a few main bosses react in this way! Astonished that you're still able to stand, he says: A third resurrection is possible with a Jizo statue, and while Gyoubu says nothing here, this technique will be used in our next video, which is about Ashina castle, which reveals a fascinating little piece of lore about a character here, so subscribe and click the notification bell thing as well, so you don't miss it. After Gyoubu, go up the staircase and have a chat with the guy in the tengu mask. He gives you a task to kill rats, vermin that he says are creeping about Ashina's lands. Senpou assassins count as rats, and there's a group of them to the right of the castle gate. Go up there, kill them, then go back and you receive the Ashina skill tree which includes honestly probably the most powerful abilities in Sekiro. Uh You've got deflection enhancements, you've got enhancements to combat, and it also contains, at the end what is arguably the best combat art in the game: ichimonji double. But we'll talk about combat arts in another video. Above the tengu, accessible with a few ledge hangs, is a set of prayer beads which you might have missed. And I should also mention, there's a gourd seed around the corner at the memorial mob. Just remember, you have to scroll down! I appreciate how gimmicky and well presented the Blazing Bull fight is, right? But this fight probably is one of the less enjoyable fights in the game? Luckily if you want to skip it, you can! Only do this on New Game+, because you do miss out on a prayer bead. So: you hop up to this guard tower, you ledge jump at an angle off this wall, and you grapple onto the ledge. Go to the top of the roof, run off at this exact angle as late as you can and sort of curve your character around the tree. Take your second jump right here... and pray! You don't want, after doing this like for 20 minutes:
"I think I'll just fight the bull next time!" To reward your prayer and your devotion, you arrive at this old woman right after the skip actually. Show her how devoted you are by consuming all of your important items in front of her. As a reward for praying, you get other items of... equal value!
*laughs* The third prayer does net you some divine confetti, which is a pretty rare item this early in the game, so it's worth it for that. On the bridge opposite this woman, are two really nondescript soldiers. It's easy to run past them, but don't, because one of them actually drops the Gatehouse Key which you can use in the reservoir to loot Gyoubu's broken horn So before some of you type
"I learned nothing new from this video!!1" Did you know that the horn itself is from Gyoubu's own helmet? It was snapped off during the rebellion. And that its description reveals that after he was defeated, Ishiin Ashina was so impressed by Gyoubu's strength that he awarded him with the spear of none other than Shuzen Tamura (?), The same general that we see Ishiin defeat in the opening cutscene. As we talked about in the Hirata Estates video, this is Inosuke, a man blinded and crippled during his fight with Lady Butterfly. Years later, his mother gives us the means to travel back to the Hirata Estates, talking about the divine Prince endlessly... But did you know that when you kill Lady Butterfly, both her and her son die? The events of the past have been resolved. The following four facts are really good! But they take place after acquiring the mortal blade. And, after completing the final sequence of the game as always. I have an escape route! You can go click the merch link down below and it'll evacuate you from this video to a safer place that's spoiler free! Because you shouldn't continue watching if you have not finished the game! During the siege of Ashina castle, You can take a shinobi kite to the Ashina outskirts, unlocking an invaluable section of the game. Herein, at the outskirts wall stairway, is probably the best farming location in the game! So from the statue, simply head backwards towards the bridge, backstabbing all the way, and you'll receive a boatload of XP, gold, and rare upgrade materials! 17: Maybe it's best if you did miss this one, honestly... When we left Anayama, he was overjoyed with the companion we brought him, but now during the siege of Ashina castle, he's bitten off more than he could chew The purpose of this quest line is to give you the Promissory Note. It only costs 1 Sen, but it discounts the cost of all items by 10%, which is a nice boost because you're going to want to clear out merchant stock before New Game+ And it carries over into the beyond. A Sen saved is a Sen earned. Unfortunately, this is the end of Anayama and Kotaro. After you acquire the mortal blade, don't forget to give a merciful death to Hanbei the Undying. And as he prepares for death, he reveals the name of a close friend... Sekijo is the sculptor! A man who Hanbei understandably would have become close to, after all of his immortal years... For, just as Sekiro translates roughly to "one-armed Wolf", Sekijo would translate roughly to "one-armed Orangutan". That's because "-ro" translates to "wolf", and there's something called a "shoujo" which is a sort of Japanese monkey spirit? It has a red face, red hair, and a fondness for alcohol, which are descriptions that fit the sculptor. *uuuh* Especially, as you'll see, in the next few facts. Later in the game, Emma leaves to tend to Kuro and Ishiin at the top of Ashina castle And while she's gone there, during the siege of Ashina, the sculptor, too, takes this opportunity to leave. If you talk to the merchant here around this time, he mentions that the sculptor left, muttering something about... the flames. And past the corpses of Anayama and Kotaro, past this squadron of government soldiers, and past some red-hot claw marks, there is the demon of hatred, terrorizing the landscape. This is Sekijo. It's the sculptor, engulfed by Shura's wrath. So Sekiro, himself recognized the sculptor when I fought him, which as I would come to realize is because I eavesdropped a lot and I shared a lot of sake which led to my character figuring out who the demon of hatred is. If you don't do these things throughout the game, Sekiro does not recognize the demon of hatred, but the demon of hatred always recognizes you at the end. I hope you're preparing to cry over the next few weeks This old woman always was foreshadowing a demon appearing, because back then she asks: "Where do you think all that hatred from the war? Where do you think it goes?" And now, her dialogue here, at the end, depends on whether you knew the demon's identity this whole time. And, of course, now you do. I know! You're all aching for a lore video, and while I do have them in the works, trust me, I enjoy talking about the gameplay more right now, as you all wrap up your own playthroughs :) It's actually been a difficult last few months. I have to balance the needs of my firstborn child who was born in January, and I also have to balance the needs of YouTube, and Twitch, and also Teespring as well! So, thank you for being patient. Big thank you to all of you who actually bought a t-shirt over the last few weeks! It's doing really well! I didn't think anyone wanted merch, but now I'm at the point where I think I should actually work with an artist every month and throw a ton of money at them so that they can make cool designs for you guys! Which, if you know me, you probably know that I dig that sort of stuff. I love it. And I'll see you next time. Remember to ring the bell if you want to be notified of new videos... And I'll see you then!
