Karmic Transformers are, in other words, costumes/alternate skins. Nothing special besides a different look on Amaterasu. =\

The 100 beads reward is still the best.

But it's the hardest you have to do in order to advance the story.

Yeah, true enough. But even so, I actually got the Oni island Blockhead with one try. On the other hand, Blockhead Grande took me 20 tries, and I got him by pure luck :gonk:

Hey guys, looks like I'm a bit late on the Okami train. Anyways, I was wondering if at some point in the game I gain access to gold dust again, because after I finished upgrading the solar reflector and the sacred beads weapon, it went out of stock in Agata. Or do I have to advance to story for them to be available again.?

Oh, one last thing: I've already got the Lucky Cat and the resting mat items from the Demon Fang trader. The only thing left is that Peace Bell. Will more items become available via that or not? Same goes for the Dojo (he says he has no more to teach me).

If you traded fangs with the emperor, you must be in the city. You should be able to buy gold dust there. Also more items (and moves) become available as you progress in the game. There is another Dojo in the final area of the game, and you can get a tablet from the emperor that lets you walk on water.

Tell me, have you been collecting ALL of the stray beads? How are you enjoying the game so far? Awesome, isn't it?

Emperor? I'm only at the pass, which I'm still trying to finish/purfiy completely. I think the only thing I have left to do there before moving on to Kusa (that's where I have to go next, right?) is that fucking old lady who keeps attacking me. I detroyed the roof with a bomb but that's as far as it goes, and there's nothing in the surroundings that hints at what else to do.

I've been scouring older areas as I've received more Celestial Brushes, and I found the ones in Agata and Kamiki today. I don't remember where I found the others, but I have more than just those two.

The game is a blast, and is absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, if anyone's planning on making the leap to an HDTV, get one that does SD very well because it's worth it. I mentioned it to my sister time and again, that it's like I'm playing with a piece of art. The timecycle, battles, dialogue, character art, etc... Incredible, really.

Which also pisses me the fuck off, since I'm going into this knowing that Okami won't have any possibility of a sequel nor of a title with a similar approach/art style. If the game gets better from where I currently am (after 2nd Waka fight, have to go to Kusa) then I'll make sure to get a second copy for safe keeping/collector's purposes.

Sorry, I didn't read your post closely enough. I also forgot that there was more than one fang trader. Oh well. You'll find the second one soon enough, and more gold powder there as well.

As for the knife lady, wait until night time, when the moon is out, jump down the hole, and drag her into the light.


Damn right. It's like a living sumi-e painting.

The problem is, she's asleep, and the only interactive option it gives me is Listen. I knew that was all I had to do, but the game isn't letting me do it. Thanks for the info on the gold dust, I want to power up that reflector I got from that spider thing (that fight was confusing for a bit, and then it went by like nothing).

What really gets me is how well every thing is animated. The world is just unbelievably cohesive, it doesn't really take you out of it at any point (at least so far).

In that case, you should go ahead and go to Kusa village and fix the problem there. A certain quest needs to be activated before you can mess with the old lady again.

And just so you know, you have plenty more gold dusts that you will be able to get as you progress the game. Isn't there just enough gold dusts to max out every weapon in the game?

Ah, I figured as much. I think I got everything in Taka Pass, though I might have missed a demon gate or two, like I did in Shinshu field when I went back there exploring.

Nice, that's good to hear, since I didn't want to find out that I'd used some limited resource on two weapons (apparently, early ones going by the equipment menu).

I've acquired every single gold dust possible, and it's left me with two weapons I can't upgrade -- the Tundra Beads and the Solar Flare reflector, the most powerful weapons of their type.

....Whoa. So should I say 2 Gold Dust for those two and neglect some other weapons?

Those two weapons come pre-upgraded. Well, mine did anyway. I went to use Gold Dust on them, only to be told that they were already at maximum power.

I guess PN's right. I had no Gold Dust to try out on them anyway, so I wouldn't know. All I know is that when you use Gold Dust, it gives the weapon's icon a shiny background, and those two weapons don't have one in my inventory.

I looked in the strategy guide, and according to it, the weapons are upgradeable. The guide gives a chart of the damage points each weapon inflicts pre- and post-upgrade, and those numbers are included for every weapon.

I guess I was mistaken then. It's been more than a month since I last played.

So, to avoid missing out on upgrading my weapons, which two shops should I avoid buying them from until I have those two?

Oh, you can buy/acquire all the Gold Dusts you want to, by all means. Just don't upgrade two of your weapons until you get the final two. My advice is to not upgrade one of your swords and one of your reflectors. Reason being? Swords can be charged for uber-attacks, and reflectors are best kept as shields and not weapons, therefore their damage rating doesn't need to be considered. Soooo leave out one sword and one reflector. :D

You can buy Gold dust in the final dungeon, too, and you'll have all of the best weapons by then, so don't worry about it.

Hey. I'm going to pick this game up within the next few days, how long did it take you guys to beat this? and how long have the sidequests taken you to complete?

Thanks.

I spent about 88 hours on the game, though I completed almost all the sidequests.

I think most people (who are more experienced console gamers than me) are around the 35-40 hour mark for the main quest.

!!!!

I really wasn't expecting anything near that much, I was hoping for at least 10 hours. I'm really looking forward to getting into the game now. Thanks!

Damn it, I've already upgraded all the reflectors (and with the new Mirror tech, they do a ridiculous amount of damage, and quickly too) that I have (Sun, Beast and Infinity), the first beads and I think the second. I don't think I've upgraded any swords.

BTW, I think they're not all that good. The uber attack's damage can be outdone by that double shield equip, since I tried it on those new red scroll enemies that have been showing up.

Hopefully I haven't screwed up and left myself with 2 weapons left hanging.

Even if you did, you can upgrade them later when you start your new game +.

....Holy shit. This game just keeps giving and giving. I just passed the even where you earn Tsukuyomi. Man, I loved the music in that dungeon and the fight against that boss. But that was earlier yesterday, now (as I said before) I bought all the stuff I could in the Dojo aside from that ridiculously expensive technique at the bottom.

Thanks for the info though, Piccolo. Definitely lets me be at ease with the whole upgrading business. I'm split though, should I focus on getting more health or ink?