Part 8

Sapphire, finishers, JP US differences and true ending

Please watch the video first then come back to do some reading. I'll cover the different rewards you get upon completing Rising Zan, the additional character Sapphire (or Hatsune in the JP version), and the differences between the JP and US version of the game.

Let's have a look at the main menu, the options and rewards screen.
Left is JP version, right is US version.



On the main menu of the JP version, it says SHUGYO instead of TRAINING. That's the tutorial level. I didn't show it because nothing interesting happens in there. Shugyo means just that, "training", "practice" or "the study of x" (generally a martial art, or art in general.)

There is an EASY MODE in the JP version, but not in the US version.

You change Difficulty levels in OPTIONS in the JP version, and in REWARDS in the US version.

BEST PLAY = The time it took you to beat a level, the highest score for the boss finisher score, and the total sum of all finisher scores.



Note that REWARDS is nowhere to be found in the JP version. In the US version, REWARDS unlocks right after you beat the game the first time... which is confusing since I've already beaten the JP version both on normal and hard already and I still can't find this menu. Maybe it unlocks after you beat Expert difficulty though that really wouldn't make any sense. I'm not playing on Expert anyway, killing enemies takes too long so screw that. Maybe there just isn't any REWARDS screen at all for the JP version. Anyway, here's how to unlock every rewards:

REWARD #1: If you complete the game in Normal Mode, you will unlock Hard Mode and you will also unlock Sapphire/Hatsune as a playable character.

REWARD #2: If you complete the game in Hard Mode, you will unlock Expert Mode and you will be able to unlock a mode called Serious Mode. Once this mode is turned on, one hit from an enemy will kill you. This is the exact same equivalent of the Heaven and Hell/Hell And Hell gimmick difficulty in Devil May Cry 3 and 4 (in the case of Rising Zan though, only the player dies when hit.)

REWARD #3: If you complete the game in Expert Mode, you will be able to unlock Hustle Time Mode. Once this mode turned on, you will be able to run through the whole game with unlimited Hustle Time. Like I said earlier, I don't plan on beating Expert mode, so I've seemingly photoshopped Hustle Mode in the REWARDS screenshot instead as if I actually did conquer Expert difficulty.

REWARD #4: If you are a Hero enough to earn 15 Hero Star Badges, you will unlock the Ultimate Sexy Reward. Once this mode is turned on, you will be able to play as Johnny and Sapphire in their underwear. In case you didn't get it by now, this explains the Final Impact level and why Johnny was naked.

Hard and Expert are pretty much gimmick difficulties where enemies have more health and deal more damage. Button mashing events seem harder, it feels like you have to button mash even faster, other than that there's nothing interesting about these two difficulties.



Sapphire/Hatsune:

Let's talk about Sapphire. She is called Hatsune in the JP version.

Sapphire uses knives, so you don't find bullets power-ups like Johnny in the environment.
As for health items, you find soda cans, burgers, green tea, sushi and shrimp tempura.



Sapphire's Japanese Finishers
G Meoto (married couple)
F Kantsubaki (Camellia, the flower)
E Usugesho (light-makeup)
D Mangekyo (Kaleidoscope)
C Kazaguruma (Windmill)
B Yozakura (night cherry blossom)
A Abaredaiko (furious drumming)

"Abara Daiko" is considered to be a hard drumming in the Gion Festival in Kokura City, Fukuoka, Japan. One of such furious drummings is further considered to have been performed by a legendary person called Matsugorou Tomishima （富島松五郎）. He is known by his nickname "Muhoumatsu."

Vergil from DMC3 flips his hair just like Sapphire, after she beats a boss.





Here are the dialogues variations you get playing as Sapphire. Top text is Johnny's version, bottom is Sapphire's.



They've misspelled Gondola, for some reason.





Here's something I missed in stage 3, a different dialogue you get when failing the Push-Push button mashing event:





And that pretty much covers everything. Thank you for reading and watching the videos, I hope you enjoyed Rising Zan.