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TalecoreJin's JourneyModerateAct II — A Gathering Storm

Ghosts from the Past

The Act 2 mission that returns Jin to his family's history — and awards the Sakai Clan Armor, the set built around Standoffs.

RoleMain story
Importancecore
RewardSakai Clan Armor
  • TypeMain Tale
  • Act2 – Retake Castle Shimura
  • RegionToyotama
  • Quest giverSelf-initiated — return to Jin’s house
  • PrerequisiteComplete "A New Horizon"
  • RewardsMajor Legend Increase, Sakai Clan Armor, Sakai Mask
  • Steps16

OverviewSpoilers

The Sakai name has been a burden for most of the game. This is the mission where it becomes equipment.

Ghosts from the Past takes Jin back into his own family's history, and the reward is the Sakai Clan Armor — the set that most directly encodes the samurai half of his identity.

Its perks are built around the Standoff, the game's one purely samurai mechanic: it increases the Standoff streak by 1–2, and winning a Standoff has a 10–25% chance to terrify enemies, on top of moderate-to-major melee damage and health. Wearing it is the closest the game gets to letting you play as the man Lord Shimura wanted.

In the game’s own framing: Jin has not been home since the invasion. Omi Village, and his father’s armor, if the Mongols or the bandits have not taken it.

What to bring

The stances are a counter-table, not a preference: each one is the answer to a specific enemy, and this tale fields the ones below.

  • RequiredComplete "A New Horizon"This tale does not appear until then.
  • RecommendedStone StanceStone breaks swordsmen, who make up most of every Mongol group.
  • RecommendedBlowgunRequired by a step in this tale.

Objectives

  1. Travel to Jin’s ancestral home
  2. Follow Yuriko
  3. Go to your father’s grave
  4. Compose a haiku
  5. Return to the house entrance
  6. Fight three Straw Hat swordsmen
  7. Speak with Yuriko
  8. Follow Yuriko to the lake
  9. Travel southeast to Kishibe Village
  10. Collect the reeds
  11. Return to Yuriko
  12. Ride to Kubara Forest
  13. Gather three bunches of flowers
  14. Speak with Yuriko
  15. Poison a Straw Hat
  16. Return to Yuriko

Full walkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01
    Travel to Jin’s ancestral home

    Omi Village, which opens with a cutscene.

  2. 02
    Follow Yuriko

    Through the house and garden and up the steps toward the cemetery.

  3. 03
    Go to your father’s grave

    Down through the cemetery toward the large blossom tree.

  4. 04
    Compose a haiku

    At the graveside. The choices do not change anything, and it counts toward the nineteen haiku.

  5. 05
    Return to the house entrance

    A significant cutscene plays here.

  6. 06
    Fight three Straw Hat swordsmen

    Open with a standoff for the bonus your new armor grants. Stone Stance handles the swordsmen; its heavy attacks do extra stagger damage and break their guard. Open with the standoff. Hold until the enemy actually commits rather than pressing early, and each won standoff kills outright — against unarmoured ronin it can gut a group before the fight starts.

  7. 07
    Speak with Yuriko

    On the house steps.

  8. 08
    Follow Yuriko to the lake

    Another cutscene.

  9. 09
    Travel southeast to Kishibe Village

    It may be Mongol-held when you arrive.

  10. 10
    Collect the reeds

    Under the river bridge.

  11. 11
    Return to Yuriko

    And speak to her.

  12. 12
    Ride to Kubara Forest

    Follow Yuriko along the road to the campsite.

  13. 13
    Gather three bunches of flowers

    One uphill to the right of the fire, one at the far end of the campfire, one to the left of the entrance.

  14. 14
    Speak with Yuriko

    After the flowers are collected.

  15. 15
    Poison a Straw Hat

    With the blowgun, on the man below. It is not a clean death, and it is not meant to be.

  16. 16
    Return to Yuriko

    Speak to her to close the tale.

    Checkpoint

Enemies in this tale, and how to fight them

Strengths

  • Swordsmen — Stone Stance, whose heavy attacks do extra stagger damage to sword-wielders and break their guard. Swordsmen are the backbone of nearly every Mongol group, so Stone is the stance you will spend the most time in. Parry timing matters more here than anywhere else: blue attacks can be parried, red ones cannot and have to be dodged.
  • Straw Hats / ronin — Japanese swordsmen rather than Mongols, and they fight like it — faster and more technical than the invaders, with less armour. Stone Stance still applies. Standoffs work well against them, and against unarmoured ronin a won standoff often kills outright.

Rewards

  • Major Legend Increase
    A large step toward the next Legend rank. Legend gates your Ghost Weapon unlocks and your health and Resolve upgrades, so main and Mythic Tales are the fastest way to raise it.
  • Sakai Clan Armor
    A full armour set. Sets are builds rather than defence numbers — each one changes how you are meant to fight.
  • Sakai Mask
    A head item. Cosmetic unless the set states otherwise.

What this unlocks

Characters in this tale

Sources