Kenzan! guide: Ultimate Challenge, all 10 Melee stages and five Showdowns

Kenzan! guide: Ultimate Challenge, all 10 Melee stages and five Showdowns Finishing Kenzan unlocks Ultimate Challenge on the title screen. There are 33 stages across five groups. Your character, equipment and stats are set for each challenge, so a powerful story save doesn't let you bulldoze through all of them with the gear you collected. Getting S on every stage earns the True Brawler God Amulet. After unlocking it, collect it at Musashi's home when starting a new main-story game or Kyoto Tour. Melee, Showdown and Trial stages open in order within their own groups. Clear all three groups to open the first Ultimate boss rush. Reincarnation stages have their own unlock conditions, covered separately. The targets below are for getting S, not merely surviving. A few published cutoff values disagree, so the stricter goals are marked as targets rather than presented as an exact minimum. Don't deliberately stop on the boundary of a timer or health percentage. Melee 1: ordinary enemies Clear the group with more than 2:30 left on the five-minute timer. You want quick, controlled damage. Avoid getting grabbed by the large enemies; being thrown costs time even if the damage itself doesn't affect the grade. Where style changes are allowed, two swords are useful for catching several opponents and defending from more than one direction. Don't chase a lone opponent to the edge while leaving the rest behind you. Melee 2: the officer and his men Again, finish with more than 2:30 remaining. Clear enough of the accompanying men to give yourself room, then concentrate on the officer rather than spending the whole attempt chasing replacements. Being surrounded makes both attacking and recovering slower. Melee 3: 100 swordsmen Finish with more than 2:30 remaining. This is the mass fight in Shibusawa's dojo. Use attacks that reach several enemies and move into the next group instead of standing over somebody you've already defeated. A greatsword's reach can help; watch whether your swings are actually catching a group rather than only its front man. Melee 4: wooden-sword fight Defeat the yakuza with Kongomaru and keep more than 2:30 on the clock. You don't have your normal weapon damage here. Commit to targets long enough to finish them, then move on. Repeatedly changing targets leaves a room full of weakened enemies still interrupting you. Melee 5: escape Rendai Field You have 30 seconds to reach the torii gate. Aim to finish in under 13 seconds, leaving more than 17 seconds. That clears the stricter published target and gives a little room against the other reported cutoff. Ignore the enemies completely. This is a route test. Follow the escape path from the Chapter 9 story section and practise its turns until you can keep moving through the transitions. Keep the movement stick held in the direction you need as the next section loads. Stopping to turn the camera or fighting even briefly can ruin the attempt. Melee 6: burning Tsuruya Clear the action stage in under six minutes using Senkimaru and Hyakkomaru in the two-sword style. This is the combat route, not the separate rescue challenge. Don't stop for optional fights or detours that the stage doesn't require. Deal with blocking enemies promptly and concentrate your attacks on the armoured opponents instead of letting them keep interrupting you. Melee 7: Yuuki Mansion Clear the mansion in under 5:30 with Kongomaru. Against the bodyguard, dodge to the side of his committed attacks and answer with a short combo. When his draw attack leaves him exposed, get behind him rather than swinging into his defence. Use the supplies available in the stage to build Heat for the difficult encounters. Melee 8: gunmen and an umbrella Defeat the gunmen in under two minutes. Keep moving into an attacking position rather than trading at range. Your umbrella's heavy attack is useful once you reach them. Watch the next shooter while finishing the current one; being repeatedly knocked out of your attacks eats the timer. Melee 9: two armoured warriors This grade is about health. Finish above 90% health rather than rushing to save seconds. You have Kongomaru. Bait an attack, step clear and punish the opening. Keep both warriors in view so the one you aren't attacking doesn't hit you from behind. Melee 10: unarmed group fight Finish in under a minute. Use kicks to interrupt, then grabs and throws when the opponent is vulnerable. Work from the outside of the group. Getting trapped in the middle or turning your back on several enemies makes a short challenge much harder. Showdown 1: Shishido Baiken You fight with Shinnou's Hoe. Finish above 80% health. This is not a speed grade, so let his attack finish before committing. Avoid the pillar attacks and use the recovery supplies in the cave before delivering the final blows if your health needs restoring. Showdown 2: Hozoin Inshun Use the supplied two swords and finish above 80% health. Guard his sequence, then attack during the opening. Don't keep adding swings after he has recovered. One greedy combo can cost more health than you can afford to lose. Showdown 3: Majima Gorohachi You have Kongomaru again. Aim to finish above 88% health. That is the stricter published S target. Short wooden-sword combinations are safer than long attacks that let him recover and answer. Square, Square, Triangle is a useful compact sequence; don't assume it makes you immune to retaliation. Showdown 4: Yoshioka Seijuro You are stuck with an umbrella. Aim to keep at least half your health. Published S cutoffs vary, so half is the conservative goal, not a claim that 50% is the exact threshold. The umbrella can defend against his attacks. Use that. When he holds his counter stance, kick with Circle rather than feeding an ordinary weapon attack into the counter. When he moves quickly around you, avoid his approach, wait for the sequence to finish and take a short opening. There is no reason to trade health for a faster clear. Showdown 5: Sasaki Kojiro Clear the fight to earn S. You begin at level one without your swords or armour. There is no health-percentage target to preserve here; you just need to survive. Pick up the oar on the right side of the shoreline. It behaves like a greatsword and deals useful damage, but it breaks quickly. Make the hits count rather than waving it into empty space. When the oar is gone, avoid attacking straight into Kojiro's front. Move away from his dangerous sequence, get behind him when it finishes and use a short unarmed combo. Break off before he recovers. His challenge health is lower than in the story, but your low-level character is also much less forgiving. Before moving on Check the displayed grade for each stage. Clearing a stage unlocks progress; it doesn't mean the result was S. Keep a separate note of any stage that still shows A, B or C so you don't reach the end and wonder why the amulet hasn't unlocked.