Shinobi: Art of Vengeance All Boss Fights Walkthrough: A Ninja's Revenge Story Driven by Combos and Counters

The story begins as Musashi, on his way to see his disciples, is suddenly confronted by ENE Corp's forces. ENE Corp's ninjas have attacked the village, and the commentator uses this first battle as a chance to get used to the controls.

The game is stage-based, with a powerful boss waiting at the end of each stage. The boss's health bar appears in the upper right of the screen, and you win by reducing it to zero. According to the commentator, the main means of attack are light and heavy attacks. For example, there is a "light → light → heavy → heavy" combo, and the commentator fights mainly with this basic combo. There are also other options, such as a dodge that can be used between attacks, a "light → light → light" combo in the air, and counter techniques that use the Ninpo gauge. The commentator cites the wide range of available actions as one of the game's strengths. They also describe it as a real "treat" that battles look stylish even if you just swing your favorite moves around somewhat freely.

The first boss is Akazaruki, which the commentator defeated by fighting around the basic combo.

Next, Musashi discovers one of ENE Corp's bases and fights the Spider Tank. According to the commentator, this enemy has long attack wind-ups, so you can reliably time your counters against it. Counters require the Ninpo gauge, which the commentator explains seems to fill up each time you attack. However, they also point out that if you get careless, you may not have enough gauge when the enemy telegraphs an attack, leaving you unable to counter and likely to take a hit. When the enemy put up a barrier during the fight, the commentator broke it with a new technique, Kakunen Ate, learned earlier in the stage, then went on the offensive to whittle its health down to nothing.

Musashi then encounters a mythical being with a mandala motif in a mountainous region. The commentator notes that this game is part of the Shinobi series, which has been running for over 30 years, and that this "Mandara Master" appears to be an enemy that also showed up in the original game.

What the commentator found troublesome was its attacks that alter the terrain. Mandara Master covers the entire floor in electricity, so the commentator avoided it by staying airborne with aerial combos. For the finishing blow, they explain that when the character "滅" (destruction) appears above the enemy's head, it signals that you can perform a finishing move, and they defeat it with the finishing move "Shinobi Execution."

Returning to the village after finishing the infiltration mission, Musashi finds it burned to the ground. From here, the story turns toward revenge, and Musashi infiltrates an enemy base to fight the executive Kijima.

According to the commentator, Kijima seems to have been granted power by Lord Ruse at the moment of committing harakiri, and appears with a sword still stuck in his belly. When his health drops, attacks using this sword are added. The sword slowly chases after you, but if you maneuver well, it ends up just circling around the edges of the screen. As a result, the commentator says they were able to keep attacking without worrying about the sword. His attack patterns are also the same as in the previous phase, and the commentator describes him as "a fairly gentle boss for how scary he looks."

The next setting is ENE Corp's harbor, where the opponent is Octostar, a bio-creature clinging to a ship. According to the commentator, its attacks aren't especially intense, but it is a somewhat annoying enemy because it periodically goes into a defensive state.

Here, the commentator introduces the equipment system. Musashi can enhance one technique through equipment. This time, they equipped a talisman that enhances kunai, allowing them to throw five at once. However, since the number of kunai is limited, you need to think about when to throw them. When the enemy put some distance between them, the commentator used the kunai in combination with the technique "Fire Dragon," which they had been saving, and defeated Octostar.

Next, Musashi infiltrates the enemy's undersea base and fights the executive Chiyo. Chiyo darts around quickly, but according to the commentator, she is very fragile and flinches immediately when attacked. That's why landing kunai on her as she starts moving is effective, they say. Once you catch her, you land a "light → light → heavy → heavy → heavy" combo. The commentator notes that with more techniques unlocked, the combos available have changed from the early game.

In the story, Chiyo has been captured and brainwashed by Lord Ruse, but she was originally one of the ninjas belonging to the Resistance. The commentator says it seems like she might join you if the brainwashing is broken. At the end of the fight, Chiyo splits into four clones, but the commentator stacked the Ninpo "Kujin Hazan" to take out all the clones at once and deliver the finishing blow.

The next opponent is Beast Master, who has a history with Chiyo. As the name suggests, this enemy summons various beasts, and attacks don't get through while it's shielded by a barrier. Since the barrier can be stripped away after certain actions, the commentator treated those moments as openings and used "Kujin Hazan" to cut down its health in one go. They dodged the enemy's attacks by riding updrafts up into the air, then aimed to finish it off with "Fire Dragon" before the next attack came, defeating it.

Musashi then infiltrates an enemy research facility. The commentator described the bio-weapon "Jo & Ka" being created there as "pitiful" and dispatched it quickly.

After that, Musashi reaches the core of a giant monster, and the goal becomes destroying the "Heart of Tenval" to take down the monster. The commentator first broke the barrier with "Kakunen Ate." The heart itself doesn't attack directly, but summoned minor enemies target Musashi. The commentator made good use of the minor enemies' attacks, using counter techniques while stacking up attacks to defeat it.

Having finally reached Lord Ruse's castle, Musashi faces Kijima once again. This time, Kijima's entire body is glowing, and the commentator jokingly calls him "Gaming Kijima" and "G-Kijima."

As before, he draws his sword and attacks once his health drops. So the commentator's strategy was to finish him off in one go before he could draw the sword. They cast "Fire Dragon" to meet his charge, then cut him to pieces with "Kujin Hazan," defeating him as planned.

Having reached Limbo, Musashi takes on the final battle together with the souls of his comrades, and the final showdown with Lord Ruse begins.

The commentator explains tips for reading Lord Ruse's attack patterns. His melee attacks are opportunities to counter. Lord Ruse uses ranged attacks from the edges of the screen and mainly melee attacks from other positions. If you remember this, you can predict his attacks, and then you just need to respond according to the situation. During his ranged attacks his back is wide open, so the commentator says it's effective to close in quickly and attack from behind.

The final boss fight is split into a first half and a second half. The commentator wanted to use about three bars of the Ninpo gauge in the second half, so they fought the first half while conserving the gauge. At the end of the first half, they whittled away his remaining health with "Kujin Hazan." In the second half, they unleashed all the resources they had saved. They held off his melee attacks with counters, cast "Fire Dragon" as he wound up an attack, and combined it with "Kujin Hazan" to take him down in one go. With that, Lord Ruse is defeated, Musashi and his allies restore peace to the human world, and the story ends.

After finishing the game, the commentator praised it as a fun ninja action game, with satisfyingly exhilarating combat built around chaining combos and a thorough pursuit of great game feel. They also say the hand-drawn-style art had a sense of wabi-sabi that left a good impression. They add that the stages, crafted down to the smallest details, were enjoyable just to look at. They further mention that the hidden bosses, the various gimmicks along the way, and the techniques they didn't use this time were also interesting, and wrap up the video.