Hello everyone, and welcome to the first guide on Steam – and my first guide! – to help you run through the game to acquire all achievements!

The game is quite lenient: you do not need to clear the game on Normal or Hard, nor do you need to score a specific set of grades to acquire the full list of achievements or unlock bits of the game, so feel free to steamroll through the game on Easy, with nothing but D grades, to clear the achievement checklist.

Maybe I got lucky, maybe my playstyle was just fine for this specific game, but I could acquire the achievements without much of a sweat on my first playthrugh. There might be a bit of grinding required at the end of the game to fulfill the remaining achievements (cough Yin and Yang Master cough), but I considered it neither tedious nor demotivating.

Now, sit down, take notes and listen to Ms. Crabbie as she shows you the path of the 100% achievement Shinobi!

Going through the entirety of the story mode will net you these achievements:


Hanzō:
For Justice’s Sake
Everyday Youth
Encounter
Good and Evil
New Power
Skirting Shadows

Hebijo:
To the Will of Evil
Daily Training
A Chance Meeting
Yin and Yang
The Power of Our Bond
Crimson Girls

Play through the Prologue and Chapters 1 to 5 of Hanzō and Hebijo, respectively, to get these achievements. The prologue is a cutscene fight you cannot lose, whereas each Chapter consist of a set of eight missions (seven for the final Chapter) to complete.


Crushed the Demon of Fists, Crushed the Demon Master

Complete the 41st and final mission of the Hanzō and Hebijo campaigns to acquire them.

You will have to fight Daidōji and Suzune/Rin, both rivaling Orochi with a health bar of four colours every time, in this order:
Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyū, Hibari, Asuka for Daidōji.
Yomi, Hikage, Mirai, Haruka, Homura for Suzune/Rin.

Hopefully, you are comfortable with every single character of the roster, because if you get wrecked, it's back to the first round. Use your Secret Medicine if you have some characters needing a few levels to ease the playthrough. I strongly recommend playing on Easy as well.


Free Missions Accomplished
Cleared all Free Missions.

Complete the full set of 29 Free Missions. You will need to complete both campaigns to acquire the entire list. Unlike the story mode, you are allowed to pick your waifu on the first attempt and plow through the entirety of the missions, so it is a nice opportunity to stack up on some levels and Yin/Yang experience – and believe me, you will need it to ease the grinding in the last bits of the playthrough.

Most of these achievements are quite straightforward and can be acquired without much effort through regular gameplay, though some might be actually time-consuming and tricky to get depending on your playstyle. Make sure to master every combat feature of the game to collect all the achievements in this section.


Yin Master
Maximized a character's Yin proficiency.

Grind through missions with Frantic mode enabled. In order to acquire the experience, you can either complete or fail the mission, though the latter is obviously much less rewarding. I suggest playing on Easy at first, then turning up the difficulty as you level up for more experience by mission and more health to have more room for mistakes.


Yang Master
Maximized a character's Yang proficiency.

Same hassle as its Yin counterpart, save that you must instead activate Shinobi Transformation (so no Frantic mode at start) to rack up the experience. Activate it as soon as possible to acquire the most you can out of a mission at once.


Flawless
Reached level 50 with any character.

This achievement is not impossible to acquire, but requires either a lot of grinding, or focusing on a single character during your playthrough of the story mode and Free Missions. I suggest leveling up either Asuka or Homura (obviously!), as they are the characters used for the final bosses of their schools’ respective campaigns in order to have a full return on your time and experience investment.


Valedictorian
Obtained 10 A ranks in the mission results.

Pretty self-explanatory. You can complete the same mission ten times to trigger this achievement, so find a mission you are very comfortable with if you usually struggle to get good grades during normal gameplay.


Unparalleled Grace
Cleared a mission without taking a single hit.

Probably the hardest to acquire of this section. Playing on Easy, selecting the first missions only populated with grunts and being extremely agressive so as to not being stuck turtling and circled by enemies should do it.


Godlike Combo
Successfully performed a 300 hit combo.

A bit technical, but not as tricky as the previous one. I recommend having a Burst mode ready and a fresh wave of healthy enemies ready in order to unleash the Burst on them. With a bit of practice, it should come off without a sweat.


Secret Ninja Art Enthusiast
Activated a total of 100 Secret Ninja Arts in real combat.


Parry Expert
Performed a total of 100 parries in real combat.


Burst
Activated Burst Mode a total of 10 times in real combat.


Bring It On!
Performed a total of 10 taunts in real combat.

Taunt 10 times throughout your session to acquire this achievement. I suggest playing on Easy on the first missions so as to not be too annoyed by the enemies disrupting you.


Wow, 1000!
Defeated a total of 1,000 enemies in real combat.


Aerial Rave Enthusiast
Activated 5 consecutive Aerial Raves.

In order to acquire this achievement, you will need to activate either Frantic or Shinobi Transformation as you can only chain Aerial Raves in these modes. It is ironically smoother to acquire on harder difficulties as the enemies have more health to tank the hits. Alternatively, doing the mission against other playable Shinobi can net you the achievement if you can manage to chain Aerial Raves.


Everything on the Line
Activated Frantic Mode in real combat.

Select any mission and enter it in Frantic Mode (shoulder buttons instead of A button). Abort it as soon as you see the achievement appear.


Tireless Exploration, One Who Knows the Truth

Acquire 30 secret documents at first throughout your journey. For the latter, you will need all 98 of them. They are scattered across the Hanzō, Hebijo and Free Missions, you're in for a long trek. You can find the documents by breaking crates or pots, as loot from special Shinobi (further explained in Shinobi Hunting) or from finishing some missions. All missions have an indicator of scrolls to find (dark shade) and found (clear picture), so at least you have an idea of where to look should you miss a few in your collection by the end.


Peerless Ninja, Explosive Ninja, Top Ninja
Challenged a ★/★★/★★★ mission.

Select a mission on difficulty Easy, Normal and Hard, respectively. That’s it, no need to even clear them, so you can just abort the mission right as you enter it.



Daily Drills
Performed Self-Training at the Training Grounds.

Play once on any Training Grounds scenario (under the Chapters and Free Missions, regardless of the school chosen) to acquire this achievement.



Strange Medicine
Obtained a total of 300 secret growth remedies.

Now, it's time go to into the dressing room and grab a handful of achievements (and maybe something else?). The following achievements, save If It’s with You…, can be acquired by modifying the highlighted option on the screenshots shown under the description.

Let's start with the Change option.


Toasty!
Changed a character's skin tone in the Dressing Room.




Time to Change!
Changed a character's outfit in the Dressing Room.




Free Form!
Changed the size of an accessory in the Dressing Room.

Pick an item slot to add an item if the character has none, then press the Y button (O key) to access the advanced settings interface for the item.






Time for Diorama.


Hold That Pose
Made a character pose in Diorama Mode.




And now... Intimacy.




If It’s with You…
Kissed a character during Intimacy.

Pick any character and summon the hands by pressing the joysticks (X and Num Pad 2 keys) at first.


You know what's coming...

Then, fill out the currently invisible heart gauge. You have plenty of options available, but the fastest wayis to jiggle them jugs with the triggers (1 and 4 keys). Alternatively, every character has a secret sweet spot, highlighted by a circle of fading light when hovered with the hands, that fills out the gauge faster.


Oof, easy on my stomach!

Keep going until you fill out the heart gauge. A chibi icon will appear to notify you about it.



Now, reach for the hands and slap them using the joystick buttons (X/NP2). The character will display her hands. Grab them with the triggers (1/4) to reach the next screen.





Now for the kissing minigame. A lip icon will appear randomly on the screen and it's up to you to slide it on the character's face using the movement controls. Make it quick – you have limited time.





The achievement should pop up as you complete the minigame. Mission complete!

Finally, it's time for Shinobi bounty hunting!

Across the campaign are scattered ten special Shinobis. They are recognizable by the dark smoke in which they hide, the black aura as they are summoned, and, not too surprisingly, the difficulty.

They are more difficult than regular grunts, but less than playable Shinobis in duels, and they can rapidly knock you out shall you come unprepared. Compared to their vanilla counterparts, they have a boost in health and power and they can parry on Normal difficulty. I recommend using a Burst surge on them to quickly take them out and save your health points.

Under each achievement is listed the mission in which the Shinobi is encountered, the character on the first run – don't worry, you can always come back with your waifu after – and the path to take to find them.



You’ve Got No Strings
Defeated a Puppet.

Get Back the Purse (Hanzō 1-4), Asuka.

The first achievement that is expected to acquire in a vanilla playthrough, and a good idea of what’s to come. It might also be the hardest, considering the very likely low level at which you will encounter the Puppet.

Fight through the two rounds of enemies as you would do normally. Then, instead of going to the park for the last wave of enemies, move towards the pedestrian crosswalk and street lights.







Class Dismissed
Defeated a Lesser Shinobi.

To the Job! (Hebijo 1-7), Yomi.

The first achievement if you play through the Burst campaign. It is roughly the same difficulty to find as the Puppet.

Defeat the inital round of puppets, then, again, go towards the path leading to the houses (that is, the one not leading to the park, again). You can already look around to spot the black smoke of the Shinobi from your starting position.





Fair Fight
Defeated a Acolyte Shinobi.

To Hide a Tree... (Free 2-2).

Walk ahead to engage the first wave of enemies, then go towards the square. You can already rush straight ahead and spot the Acolyte, but it is hiding behind a barrier. You will have to clear the second wave of enemies to reach it. From there, walk towards the closed gate, and turn right to circumvent the barrier and confront the Acolyte.







Uphill Battle
Defeated a Greater Shinobi.

Late for Class! (Free 4-3).

This one is fortunately not too much out of the way thanks to the level design. Defeat the first two rounds of enemies in classrooms, go back to the hallway and when you turn right, enter the third, optional classroom. You will find the Greater Shinobi smoke in the middle of it, with a rather obvious contrast.





We Don’t Need No Stinking Badgers
Defeated a Badger Shinobi.

Yin-Yang Scroll Trial (Hanzō 4-2), Asuka.

Defeat the first wave of enemies in the rice field. After that, run towards the gate and the nearest house. Take the path of stones leading behind the house. You will find the Badger shinobi in the yard. This is the only way to reach it despite the rather open-world aspect of the map.






Nope, can't make it through this way.


We're halfway through the list! See you on part 2!

Murder of Crows
Defeated a Crow Shinobi.

Hebijo Outside Exercize (Free 3-1).

The trickiest of the whole pack. Make sure to memorize the path before taking the mission because you have limited time to complete it. As you start the mission, you can already see the Crow Shinobi, but it is behind a barrier.


Pfffft, what a tease!

At first, run straight ahead as you blaze through the first three waves of enemies. When you are about to cross the bridge leading to the fourth wave, look to your right and you will notice an entrance from afar.



Jump in the trench, rush through it and double jump on the floor to your right when you reach the bridge.


This is the spot where you fought the third wave, from another perspective.

You should see the aforementioned door and, as you walk closer, the smoke of the Crow Shinobi. Walk a bit further to confront it.



Expect to fail the mission if you run short of time, but, fortunately, you get to keep your experience and scrolls. This time, you can focus on clearing the mission.



Stuffed and Mounted
Defeated a Bear Shinobi.

Path of the Shinobi (Hebijo 4-8), Mirai.

Get rid of the two waves of enemies at the start, then rush all the way down the path leading to the houses (it is the opposite of where you are supposed to go). You will find the Bear Shinobi on the right after hitting the street.







All the Way Down
Defeated a Turtle Shinobi.

Farewell to Yesterday (Hebijo 2-4), Mirai.

One of the most out of place Shinobi, despite the linearity of the level. As you start, you already face the path leading to it.



Defeat the initial crowd of puppets and head in the direction you were facing as you started. Alternatively, you can go the opposite way of where the kunai marker leads you to.



You will have to walk through a long, empty path before reaching the terrace where the Turtle Shinobi waits for you. You cannot miss it after reaching the path.





No Monkey Business
Defeated a Monkey Shinobi.

Crash the Encirclement (Free 3-4).

Complete the first half of the level as you normally would. As you clear the second fight, you can already spot the terrace where the Monkey Shinobi stands. Take care of the third wave of enemies. When you are at the spot where the roof branches off, go left to encounter it.







Run, Rabbit, Run
Defeated a Rabbit Shinobi.

Thirst for Victory (Hanzō 2-5), Katsuragi.

Engage and clear the first wave of enemies. After it, do not move forward as you will trigger Hikage’s fight sequence.


If you see Snek at this point, it's time to restart. Oops.

Look at the right from the starting position – you should see a black car and two yellow panels (on the left, there are three) – walk towards the panels and turn left. You will find the Rabbit Shinobi.





Having to undertake both the Rabbit Shinobi and Hikage can be a bit difficult at first. Be sure to pick the Secret Scroll when the Rabbit Shinobi falls so you can at least skip this fight should you fail the mission.


Alright, we made it through the whole list!

Mission complete!



Thank you for reading my guide! I hope you found the help you were looking for and you enjoyed using it as much as I did writing and editing! Feel free to comment or ask questions if some instructions are not clear or need screenshots.

Finally, make sure to thumbs up or favorite as well as share with your fellow Shinobis on the Path to 100% achievements!