You know, Naoe and Yasuke have been killing a whole lot of people lately. Maybe this time, given this mission’s all about two diametrically opposed political factions trying to come to an agreement, they really should dial back down on the violent rhetoric, reach across the aisle, and let diplomacy take its course.
—yes, of course by diplomacy we mean “neckshanking with extreme prejudice,” you have been playing the same game we have, right?
Preparation
Nothing too fancy here, although the latter portion of this mission can turn into a royal clusterfuck in a hurry. The mission is doable without, but if you can goose Yasuke up to Knowledge Level three so you can upgrade his Bull Rush, and/or grab Impenetrable Defense—which allows him to immediately counter the next five hits he takes—things will go a lot smoother.
The mission: ‘Darkness Falls’
When you meet up at Kojufuji Temple, you’ll have the ability to pick your character. This mission benefits from Yasuke all the way, so pick him every time you get the chance.
After the cutscene, you’ll head inside for Joken to kick things off. The opening statement portion doesn’t go great. When you get control, talk to Ayako and Junkei to get their take on things. The verdict: Ayako’s on the defensive, and Junkei is still a paranoid, wide-diameter dickhole. Same as it ever was.
When you’re done, though, Kojiro will show up like the goddamn Joker to throw a wrench into the works. He’ll point out the sharpshooter that Naoe will take out immediately, but the damage is done, both sides are ready for blood, and now you have a choice to accuse someone of being The Wise Onryo. All three choices lead to the same place, but the correct answer will avoid Kojiro calling you a big dumb dumbass who makes dumb decisions (paraphrasing).
The correct answer, of course, is Joken. Yasuke will throw a blade at him, Joken will pull an Eric Draven with it, and before you can say “Victims, aren’t we all”, a brawl breaks out. The enemies here are relative lightweights, but you still want to avoid being surrounded—they’re prone to spam cheap hits that can whittle your life bar down a little too easily. After they’re dead, again, stick with Yasuke when given the choice, and take off after Joken. You’ll end up going straight through a narrow courtyard. You can either kill the first enemy hiding behind the pillars, or use Bull Rush to blow right past him; but when you come across the second group running towards you, stop in your tracks, pull your bow or teppo, wait till the group of them are together, then shoot the exploding barrel in front of you. That’ll thin the herd nicely, and keep you from getting swarmed when you’re dealing with what’s ahead.
What’s ahead is another fight, as well as a dude with a spear named the Messenger, who ties into the Kurai Eikyou circle of assholes on your Objective Board. Ironically, he’s tougher than Joken, with an absurdly long combo string. Take out the fighter that approaches you alongside him, but you’re gonna want to fight this dude defensively. If you have Impenetrable Defense, that’ll keep him constantly off-kilter when he tries to barrage you. Otherwise, keep parrying till he’s vulnerable, and take maximum advantage of every little opening you get, because there aren’t many.
Once the Messenger’s dead, you can go through the entranceway and deal with Joken. he’s not nearly as difficult as the Messenger, but he does have a weirdly staggered timing on his blue combo and likes to counter with a quick red if you get too button-mashy. His katana is also poisonous, which doesn’t help. On the flipside, he also has zero armor, meaning this fight doesn’t last terribly long at all once you’ve got the rhythm down, just don’t get lax out there.
Your rewards for putting the old guy to bed are a shiny new kusarigama, 4000 XP and a lovely tea set. Not bad for a hard day’s work.
Oh, but what about Kojiro, you ask? Well, fun fact: Take that tea set you just got to Sen no Rikyu, and he’ll tell you Kojiro’s actually been dead for years. Meaning, a ghost has been helping you solve mysteries this whole time. Joel Hale Osteen would be very proud.
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