Alright, time to get this bitch going again!
First off, last time i forgot to include a couple of shots i took before getting the Shelter Stone. I was so busy trying to finish up the last update which had been going longer than i expected that i forgot to include the bit where i go revisit the basket guy:
Now THIS is a FromSoft quest ending lol.
Anyway, time to continue. Check out the totally vanilla chapter title that's actually a reference to a past FromSoft title!
In reality i just couldn't think of anything better let's move on. Upon porting to the Ashina Castle from the only Idol open to me, it seems something is going on:
Whatever is happening, it must have not reached this side yet and is probably still ongoing. I step outside and it seems everything is indeed still quiet on this side, the big guy with the dogs is even resting on my right, unaware of any troubles within the Castle:
I sneak past them but as soon as i come into view of the bridge i see a guard running screaming and then cowering in fear:
I drop down, and i see why he was running away:
I thought he was coming for me but the first thing he does is charge that poor guard and smacks the shit out of him:
To the guard's credit, he does his best to fight off the ninja but the outcome was inevitable:
The ninja now comes for me, but he gets another thing coming:
I like his Santa Claus mask lol.
I assume all the action is in the Castle itself but it may not hurt to check on the Reservoir once i'm in.
I move towards the moat, and find another failed actor trying to trick people into thinking he his dying for sympathy. I'm sure if i were to port back here he'll be alive and well again to give me the same routine:
I don't see anything in the moat, but there is this knewl scaffolding:
So there's new loot in different spots from before, interesting. I drop down and pick up a Yashariku's Sugar, but as soon as i dive some carp literally materializes out of thin air and drops right in front of me. Scared the crap out of me too. I've already cleared that wierd jar guy's inventory and now i have three extra carp scales with me, so either there's a surplus or maybe he is gonna restock his inventory down the line:
It seems there's bamboo beams and scaffolding everywhere:
While up there taking shots some purple fucker was trying to gank me so i jumped back into the moat and came back to sneak up on him as i want to see what i'm facing before engaging. There's that fucker up there:
Just a purple ninja i know those guys now, he gets what is coming to him for scaring me while i'm taking panoramic pictures:
So those ninjas, under cover of the night presumably but not necessarily, build an entire series of scaffolds made of large bamboo beams, even leaving some of them scattered about the moat, and nobody noticed:
Then i remembered this are the famed Ashina guards, so course they didn't see shit.
Nice glitch there, btw:
Before going further, i decide to take a peek at the Ashina Reservoir. Nothing of consequence there other than the fact it seems they locked the entrance to the well:
But they didn't block this one lol:
I go all the way to the end but there wasn't anything new there:
Alright, time to get back to the Castle. I try to see if i can make my way back to the Idol next to the moat. On my way there, i see another guard that is about to get jumped by another of those Santa Claus ninja. Dude, watch out!
I rush towards the ninja to save the poor guard while he was being butchered:
But all i get as thanks is that the guy tries to kill me, so i had to finish him off:
Like, dude.
I now make it to the Idol, wonder what's waiting for me up there. Only one way to find out!
First all i see is dead or dying guards scattered everywhere:
When suddely there's a screaming guard coming down the stairs here:
I barely get the time to take a couple of shots that the Santa Claus ninja comes into frame right behind me:
But he doesn't even give a shit that i'm there and keeps going straight for the pussy guard:
I kill the ninja than kill the guard too since i already know those guys are ungrateful bitches. As i go back up, two more Santa Claus ninjas emerge and one of them start coming after my ass, fuck:
In a panic, i kill the guy in what must have been a world record:
Just in time too as the other one was basically on top of me. Things are going too fast to take screenshots but i prevail in the end. Good thing only one got alerted as i doubt i would have been able to take both at once.
I carefully make my way towards the main door. I keep hearing familiar noises until i see the guy:
A Chained Ogre. Door is locked so it seems i'm not meant to fight him yet.
I make my way on the right, where apparently i find a group of Ashina guards just dicking around while the entire Castle is under siege. This kind of stupidity should not be left unpunished:
I decide to jump in with that weapon art i got from the carp jar guy, not bad:
Not bad at all.
Up ahead i find another ninja ganking another stupid guard. Fuck everything:
Making my way up from the left, i come across some new goodies, and also a dead nightjar guy, which puts me on alert:
Yep, figures, rat guys lol:
A whole bunch of three just come out from the ledge and try to gank my ass. I jump above a roof and find two more, which i kill in what is likely another world record:
But to now avail, there's more up ahead and i'm basically swarmed from every side, so this is not gonna work. I turn tail and port to the idol, and see if i can come up with a way to get through this ambush in a clean and smart way. I had to come back here several times before i figured it out, it seems those rat guys are positioned every step of the way going all the way up:
Can't believe i miss those guys now lol:
I also managed to sneak up on the three, look at those cheeky bastards lol:
So, i figured the best way is to flank them all and start from the top:
That's the rope point, but as soon as i make the jump the guy spots me:
I still kill him, and i'm able to get a good view of the ambush below:
I also check behind me to see what's up ahead after i deal with those rat guys and their ambush:
Figures.
Alright, i need to get rid of the rats first. I don't like that i messed up even killing the first unseen, so i figured i need a little help:
And sure enough i'm able to flank the guy without getting spotted, nice:
I kill him, after which i jump on the first guy below:
This alerts the one on the roof, who drops down and comes to investigate:
I wait for the AI to calm down, then i stalk the guy all the way around:
I get rid of him quickly, but i'm pretty sure there's another on the left around this corner as i remember seeing him the first time i tried to do this head on, so i make my way around and sure enough there he is:
I take him out and it's now time to figure out how to kill the three hanging from the ledge, except they aren't there?
I check around but apparenly they aren't anywhere. I port back to the Idol and redo this from the top again, with the same result. This time however while i'm looking for the three guys i finally figure it out:
Somehow, despite not coming anywhere near this part, the script that makes them climb out of the ledge got triggered but then it glitched and instead of climbing over the roof they all fell to their death, except for that little guy just hanging on for dear life lol.
Ok then, an unsatisfying conclusion to my attempt to circumvent the entire ambush but i guess there's not much i can do about it. Time to deal with those ninjas who apparently took the place of the nightjar guys. I kill the first without problem:
I know how they move now so they are not an issue one by one, but as expected there's a bunch positioned all over the place:
I make my away around, and see there's a couple of dogs there waiting for me too, ready to alert every ninja in the neighborhood:
I kill them with shurikens, but apparently they aren't regular dogs, as it takes two shurikens to put down once alerted, and they yield quite a bit more xp than regular dogs. Since i had to hit the second one twice the noise actually drew the two ninjas closest to them, but luckily my position wasn't made:
This actually helps as while the brown ninja makes his way up again i'm able to make it unseen to where the dogs were. I try to cycle through my inventory to get to the Gachiin's Spiritfall as i figured i need a little boost here when suddenly i see the second ninja was already making his way back:
He doesn't see me and turns around. I can't miss this opportunity, so it is time for bravery:
I nope out in a nano second and make it up the roof hoping to be able to flank the brown ninja before all hell breaks loose. Turns out i was fast enough the double patrol wasn't actually alerted so i land right behind him unseen, nice:
I kill the brown ninja and i now see those things aren't dogs, but wolves:
I try to kill them with shurikens again, this time they take two each or more. I just unload as many as i need and run back down as fast as i can just in time to see one of the ninjas got alerted:
I figure this scaffold might provide me with a means to get behind them:
But i take too long to make my dash so i miss my chance. I now see they are unsynchronized though:
This makes it easier however, as all i have to do is stealth kill one of them then deal the other in open combat. In fact this whole part was somehow easier than the nightjar guys, heh.
I go down but again all i find is some stupid lizards and some new loot:
At least the lizards provide some mild entertainment as i now know i can just stomp on them so they are at least fun to kill.
I make my way up, and no surprises around the corner like last time, so i manage to make it inside the dojo area without incident:
Now that i got the Sculptor's Idol from this side, i decided to go back and kill the brown ninja in open combat, fair and square:
Hey, honor demanded it.
So, back to the dojo. I kill the first samurai, and now i see something puzzling:
No fighting between the ninjas and the samurai? Are they actually in cahoots?
I sneak past the ninja, and make my way to the right, as i usually do when i'm farming those guys. There's no samurai guy next to the window, but as soon as i'm there something gets alerted, but i can't see anything anywhere:
I just stay still there to wait it out, but nothing happens. But then, while i'm doing that, i actually see it lol:
I make it to the left of those wall partitions to get a better look, and he is not there?
I make it back and forth a couple of times. I can see him on one side, but not the other. What is this fuckery.
Confused, i decide to try the other side first. I kill the ninja on my left without being seen:
Now it's time for those two:
A little bit of ninjutsu does the trick:
And i now lie in wait for the two samurai. No extra ninjas on this side:
I try the blood smoke trick again but somehow i can't get a deathblow on the second one, so i had to kill him in open combat:
I make my way back and see if i can get to that ninja by means of the breach in the ceiling:
Mmmmh, there's that bastard:
Ok, best way to do this is to just use the bloodcloud to take out the two samurai then just kill the ninja in combat. I need to get some Spirit Emblems first:
Then it's on:
They are all dead now, but i'm still aggroing something and i can't understand what it is:
I guess i can just move on.
You don't think...
Nope, nothing, shit is still empty lol:
Now i have several choices. I could go through this wall partition and go meet Isshin straight up and get some answers as to what is going on from him:
But i think that would just lead me to skip this boss:
I think for the time being i'm just going to go kill the Ogre on the lower floor, who kept screaming the whole time i was killing those samurai and ninjas: