Onimusha 3: Demon Siege Oni Target Practice Mini Game FAQ By Forcena (Danny Smith or Forcena2236@hotmail.com) Version 1.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.) Introduction to the FAQ (IDN) 2.) The Basics of Oni Target Practice (BSC) 3.) The Guide (GDE) 4.) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 5.) Legal Stuff (LGS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction to the FAQ (IDN) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Onimusha 3 target practice mini game is the key to unlocking the Ultimate Mode for Samanosuke and Jacques. I'll tell you right off the bat that you should expect to spend around four hours sitting in front of your tv while playing the game. It's fairly short, but involving and difficult. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Basics of Oni Target Practice (BSC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- Choosing Your Character --------------------------------------- You can choose either Samanosuke or Jacques. While upfront it seems like it's a simple character preference, there's actually subtle differences to their shooting styles that may influence your gameplay. Take a look at the character chart and decide for yourself which play style you want. -------------- Samanosuke -------------- -Arrows are fatter than bullets, and can more easily graze and break eggs -Arrows move slower than bullets -A slight delay occurs before each shot, as he has to string the arrow -Doesn't slide left when aiming -Possesses a slower slide -Doesn't have a recoil, and can fire immediately after a shot Samanosuke requires less precision when aiming, but you have to lead somewhat with your arrows and account for the fraction of a second it takes for the arrow to reach the egg. His fire arrows can easily get you lucky shots by grazing eggs and breaking them. Choose Sam if you can easily estimate shot distances and like the ability to rapid fire. -------------- Jacques -------------- -Bullets are skinnier and require more precison -Bullets are faster and pretty much instantaneous upon firing -Fires instantly, no delay -A slight recoil occurs after each shot -Has a faster slide -Steps slightly to the left when aiming Jacques is a faster choice. He's a true sniper. You'll need accuracy with him and you'll need to take into account that you can't make frantic shots as there's a recoil time between shots. The left step shouldn't affect you much if you just keep your hand pressed down on the right shoulder button though. --------------------------------------- Egg Types --------------------------------------- Green eggs are most common. They drop one soul actually worth ten souls. These are the bread and butter eggs, and their slow rate of movement will allow you to build up combo points easily. Blue eggs are faster and more rare. They drop a moderate amount of souls. These should be aimed for every time they appear, as they're the best value egg and can easily save your mission. Red eggs are explosive and are used to detonate groups of eggs. Worth ten souls, these should be used when around groups of eggs to explode them all and reap you a large chain bonus. Steel eggs require two shots to break. They're worth the most souls. They appear in level six and are slow moving. Use red eggs to explode them in one shot whenever possible. Purple eggs transform you into an onimusha. During this time you have an unlimited amount of ammo and missing an egg won't penalize your combo score. You also suck up souls much faster in onimusha form. The best part though is that soul amounts rise drastically while in onimusha form. --------------------------------------- Combos and Chains --------------------------------------- By building up combos by striking eggs successively without missing you build up your score. If you miss just one shot, it resets to zero. As you accumulate shots, your score color will change. Eventually your egg count will multiply by the number of color changes that your score underwent. By lining up eggs or shooting eggs that are side by side, you chain egg explosions, which awards hefty bonuses. I'm pretty sure that it multiplies the base number of released souls by the number of chained eggs. It's not a precise science though as far as I know. The easiest way to gather chains is to explode red eggs when they're clumped together with other egg types. As you gain experience playing you can line up eggs and more easily gather chains. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Guide (GDE) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The point of the game is to reach the minimum amount of souls required to reach the next stage by destroying eggs and sucking the souls released. Ideally you'll gather hundreds of more souls than necessary so that you can take advantage of the scoring system. Always keep aiming for eggs after you've met the requirements so that you can improve your rank. If you perform perfectly, you get an S, worth a bonus of 60 arrows. If you do exceedingly well, you get an A, worth 50 arrows. If you do good you get a B, worth 40 arrows. If you barely make it you get a C, worth 30 arrows. Losing the stage will net you a D and obviously zero arrows. Arrows accumulate between stages, so don't waste them wantonly. You can get a maximum of 99 arrows, and any extra arrows will be discarded. There are a total of eight stages. ------------------------------------------------- Stage One - 500 Souls Required - Very Easy ------------------------------------------------- This stage is extremely simple. Shoot the slow moving green eggs as they scroll by, and be prepared for the occassional, faster moving blue eggs. If you can, slide left or right and anticipate when the eggs will line up. Shoot them at once to garner a nice soul bonus. Try to get over 800 souls and to net yourself an A ranking. If you perfectly line up everything you'll get an S. If so, pat yourself on the back. You'll need the extra arrows from the early stages to last the entire game, so stockpile them early and do well in the first four missions. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Two - 1000 Souls Required - Very Easy ------------------------------------------------- Stage two introduces red eggs. They're lined up conveniently with green eggs and will occasionally intersect the paths of other eggs. Take advantage of it and get some sweet chain bonuses for yourself. Note that even if the red eggs disappear behind green eggs, your arrows or bullets will pass right through and hit them both. Get yourself used to the red bomb eggs in this level and try to get yourself another A ranking to add to your arrow supply. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Three - 2300 Souls Required - Easy ------------------------------------------------- Stage three introduces one new aspect... the shield. It's stationary and takes up only a small portion of the gallery, so simply slide a step to the right to set yourself up for the entire stage. Never deviate from this position unless you feel the need to chase after a missed egg (which you shouldn't do as it'll just put you out of position for others). Eggs come more frequently and in a few confusing patterns, but keep your head and it shouldn't be much harder than the first two stages. Again, try to net an A rank, but a B is sufficient. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Four - 2400 Souls Required - Moderate ------------------------------------------------- More eggs than ever in this level, but no more shields. The amount of souls required is only a hundred more, so just concentrate on getting a good combo going. The main point of interest here are the oni eggs. It appears about half way through the stage. Take advantage of it and shoot the oni eggs as they appear to stay in onimusha mode. Try not to go out and then go back into onimusha mode, as your character takes a second to charge up, and that's missed eggs. When you revert to normal mode, you have the same amount of ammo as before. Onimusha mode is ideal for conserving arrows or bullets. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Five - 2500 Souls Required - Very Hard ------------------------------------------------- I can say without any uncertainty that this is the first stage where you truly will get stuck on. It's by far the hardest stage in the game, and you'll spend possibly an hour or more adjusting to it. Once you master stage five however, you're pretty much set for the rest of the mini game. The reason for the rise in difficulty is the speed in which the eggs move. They've pretty much doubled in speed, and it's hard to compensate for at first. Eggs move at different speeds, and will pile up occasionally when eggs of different speeds collide. Take advantage of the pileups to shoot the faster eggs, then pick off the slow eggs. The number one thing to remember in the stage is to stay calm. Freaking out only serves to throw off your timing. Eggs are not as numerous in this level, and you need to take advantage of every single blue and red egg that flies across the screen. When the first oni egg appears, nab it or else you've already lost. Get every red egg, and most of the blue eggs. After you revert, slowly pluck away at eggs and try to get a nice combo going. Don't go after eggs you know you can't get. Reckless shooting is the key to losing in this level. By the time the last oni egg rolls around, you'll need 1300 souls at least or else your chances of winning the stage are grim. Remember, while in onimusha form, grabbing red and blue eggs are absolutely vital. You cannot win if you miss more than a few of them. Concentrate on just surviving the stage and you may be fine. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Six - 3000 Souls Required - Moderate ------------------------------------------------- A welcome reprieve from the hectic last stage. Mostly in this stage you'll find steel eggs. They move quite slow, and it should be easy to pick them off. What you need to do is target and shoot, then quickly slide in its moving direction and pop off a second shot. When they arrive in a line, simply repeat in a timely manner. They'll usually float right into your path, so you can chain them easily. When red eggs appear, shoot them before they go behind the steel eggs. The resulting detonation should take out at least two eggs. When clumps of steel eggs block red eggs, fire rapidly into the group to make the red egg explode. It's vital to get most of the steel eggs, or else you can't advance. The final group of steel eggs comes in a group of eight. Fire and try to take them all out, sliding along to keep up with them as you go. If you still need a few more souls, be prepared for a blue egg that moves rapidly across the screen. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Seven - 3100 Souls Required - Hard ------------------------------------------------- Two shields block either side of the gallery, so you'll need to stay stationary in the exact middle of the stage, moving only slightly left and right as the situation arises. The egg speed has risen again to that of stage five. The same rules apply for that level, but this time you should try to concentrate on getting blue eggs and destroying steel eggs. Green eggs should be fired upon only if there's nothing else in the arena and you can get a clear shot. Red eggs are the most important commodity here, and you must get practically every single one to clear the stage. The stage is long, and you can recuperate though from egg losses. Eventually oni eggs will appear. You must get them, or else you can't win. Concentrate on getting red eggs to take out large numbers of green eggs, but fire at every clear target as you get soul bonuses and don't suffer arrow losses. Don't run out of arrows. Try to save around ten or so; preferably twenty if you can manage it. You'll need it for the last level of the mini game. ------------------------------------------------- Stage Eight - 4800 Souls Required - Moderate ------------------------------------------------- This stage is actually pretty easy. Just try not to get overwhelmed by the massive numbers of fast moving eggs. Hopefully you'll have around forty to sixty arrows and you can fire as much as you want. Take out groups of eggs and try to accumulate around 2000 to 2500 souls before the forty second mark, which is around the time that you'll get your first oni egg. When in onimusha form, concentrate on firing at green and blue eggs. When more oni eggs appear, they'll be bundled in groups with red eggs. Focus not on the oni eggs, but the red eggs. They'll detonate the entire group, blow up the oni egg (which will recharge your oni meter) and the resultant chain reaction will grant you a ridiculous amount of souls. That method is how you'll win the last stage with relative ease; aim for the red eggs and make them your number one priority. They set off every other egg in the area. Sometimes red eggs will be clumped in a cloud of green eggs. As usual, fire at the red one to destroy them all and suck up the bounty of souls. Should you still need more souls at the very end of the game, a huge amount of green eggs and two red eggs will zip across the screen. Aim carefully at the red eggs and the soul bonus should put you over the top. The key to the last level is to keep a cool demeanor and snipe down the targets that matter. Don't go for random green eggs while in onimusha mode, which only serve to distract you. Draw on past experience to win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q.) How many stages are there? A.) There are eight stages. Q.) How hard is Oni Target Practice? A.) Pretty hard, but somewhat addictive. You'll get frustrated though. Q.) How long should it take me to finish it? A.) Four hours on average. That's how long it took me. If you're really good (or lucky) then you can complete it in two-three hours. If you're poor at shooting games, then it'll probably take five-six hours. Q.) Is it worth it? A.) Hell yes! You unlock Ultimate Mode. Q.) What's Ultimate Mode? A.) Ultimate Mode can be used in the regular game. It gives Samanosuke the Bishamon Sword, 30 Full Secret Meds, 10 Wooden Charms, maxed out equipment and weapons (when you get them later) and infinite magic... all at the beginning of the game! For Jacques, it gives him the exact same benefits, but he gets the Ultimate Whip instead of the Bishamon Sword. Q.) Do I have to unlock Ultimate Mode for both Sam and Jacques? A.) No, you only have to complete Oni Target Practice with one character to get Ultimate Mode for the both of them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Legal Stuff (LGS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Onimusha series is the sole property of Capcom. This FAQ is the sole property of me, Danny Smith (Forcena). You may not take excerpts from this FAQ without my permission, nor use any part of it without first consulting me by e-mail. If you have further questions, contact me at Forcena2236@hotmail.com Thanks to CJayC for running GameFAQs and putting up my guide. Thanks to Capcom for making such a good game.