Part 48: FINAL CHAPTER: Ganryuu Island - [Part I]

The beginning of the end.


Some notes:

I thought this would be a good place to show some images of a few of the swords we've collected/crafted but didn't use - either because there were better options or they came up too late in the game.



Sakurafubuki

I used this for a sidequest and bounty back in Chapter 11 and it's one of my favorites. Very fast, but not very strong. As I mentioned then the name actually means "Flurry of Cherry Blossoms", and it appears in the other PS3 Yakuza games as a unique, high-powered, limited-use weapon. Its HEAT action in those is the same as the ultimate Single Sword Style one in Kenzan.



Kachoufuugetsu

This too made an appearance in Chapter 11. The name translates to "Beauty of Nature" and is quite a bit more powerful than the Sakurafubuki. That said, there are better, if less flashy, options by the time we can get this.



Bat

It's a bat. There are a few versions, with some coming from crafting and some from Gyoutensai's inventions. They behave just like any bokutou, including sharing a HEAT action. If you want to see it in action, click the picture.



Masamune (set)

I used these for the final bounty. They're really not anything special, although if you lost all your money gambling and/or couldn't be bothered with the crafting system they're probably the best matching set you can get with little effort. Just finish Kouetsu's training and you'll be good to go. They're not terribly fast though. Click the image to see them again, along with a HEAT action I never used in the main updates.



Muramasa

Not as good as the Masamune tachi and it doesn't have a partner. Its damage output is slightly higher, but it has a POWER (guard break) stat of 1, so there's not much reason to use this. It just has a famous name.



Senkimaru

Looks pretty cool on the character model, and it's bright and shiny in battle, but it's ultimately too slow and not strong enough to compete with the end-game swords. Click the image to see it in action.



Kuji Kanesada

Itou's sword, which we received in this update. The smith Kanesada lived in the 15th century and created a large number of swords. "Kuji" literally means "9 characters" (kanji), and during the duel with Itou at the start of Chapter 7 those are visibly etched into the blade during the swordlock sequence. Nine is an important number in Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, etc. and there are a lot of chants that involve 9 symbols or prayers that use 9 gestures. The significance is just that the sword has a mantra of strength carved into it.

The weapon is quite good, and Kiryuu automatically receives it as part of the plot, so if you've sped through the game skipping everything at least you won't have to face the final sequence with the starting sword. The Masamune, Twin Dragon, Peerless Tachi and Gun Slicer Kanemitsu are all better though.



Gun Slicer Kanemitsu

This is the sword you receive for defeating Amon. Interestingly, it's not the one he actually uses in the fight - that's the next one. Its ATTACK (damage) rating is 110 (compare: 130 for the Twin Dragon, 150 for the Peerless Tachi and 90 for the Kuji Kanesada), but its POWER stat is 200, second only to the Oni Fang we used in Chapter 10's finale. With a fast speed it's definitely one of the best weapons in the game, except you have to have already received the actual best sword to even be allowed to fight Amon in the first place. No reason to use it except for variety's sake.



Chifubukimaru

AKA "Bloodstorm". This is the sword Amon uses in Single Sword Style and Dual Sword Style. It's an enchanted sword we received from the old smith at the end of the enchanted sword collecting sidequest. The stats aren't anything spectacular, with ATTACK at only 30 - no different from the Water God Tachi we made in our very first crafting session. Its special feature is Kiryuu's health replenishes when he uses zanshin. Amon doesn't use zanshin, so he didn't get that benefit. When Kiryuu uses it in battle it looks the same as any other enchanted sword - purple swirling mist surrounds him.


Now for some of the greatswords:



Great Cursed Club

This became available from Chapter 10, when we got the instructions from one of the last lockers. The club has an interesting design and is one of the more powerful weapons in the game. Unfortunately, it's slow even for a greatsword and has no special animations.



Ganryuu Bokutou

It's an oar. According to the Yoshikawa novel, Miyamoto Musashi killed Sasaki Kojirou on Ganryuu Island with one strike from a bokutou carved from an oar he picked up on the boat that brought him there, hence the name. It has good POWER and ATTACK stats, although there are several better. The real benefit to this weapon is its high speed, coupled with the fact that the greatsword HEAT actions all use the flat of the blade anyway and so can still be used with blunt weapons like this one. You'll see it in action in the final update.



Thunder God Baton

This one comes from Gyoutensai as an invention. It has pathetic ATTACK/POWER stats at 18/1, but it shocks some enemies and drops them straight to the ground. You'll just need to switch to another weapon to finish them off once they're down, because its weak damage will make it take forever to beat them. Click the image to see it in action.



The Propeller

Another Gyoutensai invention, this one is slightly stronger but still far too weak to defeat enemies by itself. What it can do is kick up a whirlwind that flattens almost any opponent, leaving them wide open for ground finishers. Click the image to see it in action.



Maneater

Way back in Chapter 6 we ran into a monk in Kawaramachi who gave Kiryuu a forging book and said he never had the chance to build the sword it described. Well, this is it. It's quite strong, but it takes an ingredient we couldn't actually get until now. The graphical effect is the same purple swirling mist you get on any enchanted sword, so you've seen it before.


And that's it. While there are over 200 weapons on the completion list, each tempering level of a sword counts as a separate entry, so there are considerably fewer truly unique weapons. In addition, most of them don't have any special effects, either graphically or practically, so there's no point in showing them off. This should pretty much cover those that we haven't seen in previous updates.