Hungry Ghosts Companion

1The shape of the game

You wander a land of the dead, and nothing about it is explained. There are no levels and no experience points. What the game keeps count of is:

your Fate, which rises with what you do and choose;
three desires: Greed, Attachment and Destruction;
the bonds you form with the dead you meet.

At the end you are judged on those, and the judgment picks one of fifteen endings.

The world changes with your bonds. In the game's own words: "This is no ordinary 'surface' world. The Village ever shifts. Paths change with new bonds. The more you engage, the more await." Doors that were sealed can open, ghosts appear or don't, and a few choices close paths for the rest of the playthrough. The game itself is short if you hurry; most of it lies off the quick road.

At New Game you name your character. The name turns up in the game later.

2Controls

The original controls

These are the game's own controls, as its Options → Controls screen shows them. The four face buttons can be reassigned there.

button	in play
Left stick	walk and turn
Right stick	your arm: thrust, swing, throw, reach out or pull back
L1 + left stick	look around
R1	tap: recenter the view. Hold while moving: dash
L2 / R2	strafe left / right
○	show the commands for what's in front of you (section 4)
×	hold while moving: dash
△	the item menu (section 6)
□	switch arms: weapon → none → tool → none
Select	the menu screen (section 7)
Start	the pause menu: load a saved game, change the options

Fighting with the right stick:

Push the stick up to thrust with a spear. Push again quickly for a combo.
- The Steel and Alloy Shafts allow rapid combos: keep the stick held up.
Pull the stick all the way back to draw the spear back and charge it. In the game's words: "Draw the spear back; ki grows. Ki-charged blows hit harder."
Push the stick to throw what you're holding.
Crossbows: hold the stick back to nock a bolt, then push it forward to shoot, much like a charged spear attack. Shoot before the bolt is properly nocked and it misfires.

When something grabs you, waggle both sticks hard to break free. "Panic breeds mistakes. Act with a cool head."

The Modern Controls edition

Mord of Swoonlight's translation also comes in a Modern Controls edition, with a modern two-stick layout. Its in-game help text is written for these controls.

button	in play
Left stick	walk forward and back, strafe left and right
Right stick	look around and turn
R1	attack: tap to strike. Hold to charge or aim, release to strike, throw or fire
L1 + right stick	swing the arm by hand, as in the original controls
L3 (click)	dash on or off. × still dashes while held
R3 (click)	recenter the view
○ △ □ ×, Select, Start	as in the original controls

When you're using an item or picking something up, the right stick moves your arm as in the original controls.

3Spirit and Vitality

Two gauges sit at the top of the screen. The game describes them on its very first Information page:

gauge	where	drained by	in the game's words
Spirit	upper left, blue	mental harm	"Low Spirit leaves you defenseless against all harm"
Vitality	right, red	blows	"Low Vitality means death itself"

When Spirit runs out, the game tells you: "All Spirit lost… Cannot charge attacks, now weak to curses…" Blows to your Vitality also do a fifth more harm until you restore some Spirit. That's what "defenseless" amounts to: you don't die of it, but everything gets more dangerous. Spirit is also what keeps curses off you, the higher the better (the Dangers guide has the numbers).

When Vitality runs out, you die.

With a Reaper's Tooth in your items, it crumbles and you get back up instead, usually where you fell, sometimes back at the doorway. The Tooth also lifts every curse, ends a possession, and brings Spirit and Vitality back to at least half. Each Tooth saves you once. It can't save you from a death sentence whose time has run out (see the Dangers guide).
Without one, the game is over. A picture of your end, then the title screen, where Continue loads a saved game.

Restoring them:

Foods and salves restore Vitality or Spirit: most a little, a Beehive or a Fresh Salve fully.
Rotten fruits, the Black Fruit, the Rotten Beehive and the foul salves lower your gauges instead, but end a possession (their descriptions say they "lift an affliction"; see the Dangers guide). Spotted mushrooms and apples are just poison.
Soul Shards restore both gauges fully. They are orbs of light, and a short scene plays when you take one; they come from the bonds you forge with the dead. The journal calls them the "power to survive" sealed in the malice of the dead, and says stronger ones remain "where malice binds deepest". The menu screen counts them, up to 99.
Your maximum Spirit grows by 10 at a time, from 50 up to 100: the game says "Max Spirit increased…" and the blue gauge gains flames.

Protection: a LifeWard halves the harm to your Vitality and a SoulWard halves the harm to your Spirit, just by being carried. (Their descriptions: "Just holding it, Vitality takes less harm," and the same for Spirit.)

4Looking, touching, taking

Walk up to something and press ○. The commands for it appear: Look, Open, Take, Use and so on.

Hand commands such as Open or Take put your arm out. Push the right stick to reach, pull it back to withdraw.
Inspect everything. The game insists on it: "'Inspect' is a vital way to survive this world, for indifference is most deadly," and "All begins with 'knowing'." Writing on walls, bodies, objects and corners often holds what you need.
Dark places hide things. "Strain to search as you might, you discern little. The fix is obvious: make light, then search." Light a match, or carry the Dark Eye, which lets you see in the dark.
Hidden events. Carrying the Third Eye lets you see the hidden side of objects and tools. The Hell's Eye does the same in the graveyards: with it, a Hell's Eye choice joins Inspect on the command wheel. "Your 「Fate」 may be swayed…"

The text colors mean something.

Red words are key words: clues, item names, the names the dead give you.
Yellow text marks a conversation that the game files in your journal's Memories (section 8).

5Weapons, tools and liquids

You fight with what you have equipped. The item menu (section 6) sets one weapon and one tool, and □ switches between them and empty hands.

Weapons:

Spears are a shaft plus a tip.
- Shafts: Wood, Steel, Alloy. The shaft doesn't change how hard you hit; the tip and charging do. The Steel and Alloy Shafts let you follow a thrust with more (combos), and the Alloy Shaft charges in half the time (1 second instead of 2).
- Tips: Iron Tip; Blood Tip, which holds strong spirit power; Torch Tip, wrapped in oilcloth, which catches fire in flame.
- A charged blow does three to five times the damage of a plain one, but only while you have some Spirit. Aimed at the head, it can drop a graveyard ghoul in one hit.
Crossbows (Hunter, War and Knight) fire Arrows, Iron Arrows and Fire Arrows. The better ones load and fire faster.
The Grave Gun, won in the graveyards, never runs out of ammunition.

The game warns that "A weapon's efficacy is unclear": ghosts differ, and "effectiveness depends on type. Of fire, of blood, of dark…" (the Dangers guide covers each kind).

Tools are things you equip and throw:

tool	what it does
Match, Long Match	light one thing at a time, for a short or longer while
Twisted Match	lights, and senses curses in things
Canteen	water: puts out flames
Red Bag	blood: bloodies a puddle and rouses blood-drawn things
Sachet	a scent that evil beings hate, the more evil the more so
Threadball	slows evil things for a while
Daggers (three kinds)	hurt only the dead and ghosts
Skullstone	something with a "hand" may reach out for it
Shining Water	radiates power; puts out fires that plain water can't
the fruits and Dried Potato	thrown: blood, scent or a recoil effect, or something for the starving dead to chase

Liquids spread and react. "Oil burns; water kills red flame. Blood lures; step on it, dead rise." A pool changes when another liquid meets it. Blood is dangerous to walk through, and fire and water can open or close a way.

Throwing food distracts the starving dead, and "they loathe a foul stench": smell works on every ghost.

6The item menu (△)

The item menu has four tabs: Weapons, Equip Items (tools), Use Items and the Old Journal. Look at an item for its description, Equip it or Use it.

Some items work just by being carried:

item	while you carry it
Third Eye	see objects' hidden events
Dark Eye	see in the dark
Hell's Eye	see hidden events in the graveyards
Fate Wheel	your Fate shows on the menu screen
Desire Wheel	adds text pages on your desires to the menu screen
LifeWard / SoulWard	halve the harm to Vitality / Spirit
Reaper's Tooth	revive once when you die
colored effigies	ward off one kind of curse (Dangers guide)

Others you use: foods and salves (section 3); effigies, which lift curses; the Cracked Bell, whose ringing destroys a curse set in an object; and the Grave Handbell, which calls someone in the graveyard.

Everything you take has a price. "Here, many things can be had. Here, none will fault you for it. But it's a choice: how far to drown in desire, or how much you resist it." Picking things up raises your desires (section 10), and whatever you still carry at the end counts again. The game asks: "What do you carry? Is it something you need? Is it excessive?" You can drop things from the item menu.

Boxes:

A skull box opens with a Skull Key and offers several items, but you may take only one. The rest vanish with the box.
A jewelbox opens with a Jewelbox Key. Some let you take only one of two.

Keys are spent from the item menu at a lock. The Unknown Key opens a locked door, but "not every door seems to open". Each key used adds to your Fate.

7The menu screen (Select)

Select opens the menu screen. It shows your equipped weapon and tool, your Soul Shards and the time played, and has four choices:

Select Item: the item menu.
Show HUD: how much of the on-screen display to show: all of it, part of it, or nothing at all for a clean, cinematic screen.
Old Journal: section 8.
Mirror: look at yourself. It has three tabs:
- Possession: whether something has possessed you. "Not possessed for now…" means clean.
- Desire: your three desire tallies as numbers. The Desire Wheel adds a page of text for each.
- Curses: what curses you, if anything. "Not cursed for now…" means clean.

Your Fate shows here only while you carry a Fate Wheel. Without one, you first see it at the judgment.

8The Old Journal

The journal fills itself as you go. It has three sections:

Information: the pages you pick up, and the notices you read on walls. They hold the game's advice, its tutorials and many of its hints. When you're stuck, reread them; they often say exactly where to look.
Memories: a summary of each important conversation, filed when the text turns yellow.
Tales: purple parchments. In the game's words: "The purple parchment speaks: at times, a way forward; at times, what your choice closed; and at times, it can even bend what lies ahead."

Learning something changes the world. "Find and learn a Tale or memento: a change stirs 'somewhere'. If you never find them, the hidden bonds stay unknown." Some ghosts say more, or ask different things, once you know their Tale.

Picking up a page adds Fate and a little Attachment. Reading a notice on a wall records it but adds no Fate. Some pages, many of them in the graveyards, are read on the spot and not kept: "Not filed in 『Old Journal』." That's normal.

9Meeting the dead

Most of the game's story is in its meetings with ghosts, and most of its choices are there too.

Talk to them, more than once. What they say depends on what you know and what you carry.
Replies come up as a short list. Some answers can't be taken back.
When a ghost asks for something, a list of your items comes up. Give one, or give nothing. What you hand over, and to whom, is among the biggest choices in the game.
Keepsakes (letters, photos, rings, paintings) stir the memories of the dead, and "Relics emit feelings… What to do with them is yours to choose. And so the road ahead shifts with that karma."

Scenes pay Fate, the best ones by far the most of anything in the game. Some give a Soul Shard too.

10Fate and the desires

Fate is "power to open the future… Only by acts and choices that defy fate can this power grow." It only ever goes up. It rises with:

the ghosts' scenes and their outcomes;
keepsakes, pages and keys: picking them up, and using keys;
every room and area you enter, and every door you open, the first time;
defeated ghosts.

Two doors test your Fate. Leaving the first area needs 40,000 Fate, and leaving the prisons needs 140,000. Short of that, the door sends you back to First Land: go and do more first.

The three desires are running tallies that the game reads at the end:

Greed: taking things, food above all;
Attachment: reading and keeping pages, carrying protective items, and saving;
Destruction: fighting, smashing things, taking up weapons.

Ghosts work on them as well: "Facing a ghost, you shift your three desires." The Mirror shows the tallies. Only a few things in the game lower them; Fifteen Judgments lists them.

The Seven Lures from Hell are seven deeds the judgment holds against you. The game lists them on one of its Information pages. Fifteen Judgments names all seven; one is easy to fall into early: picking up a Purple Effigy.

11Doors and the way forward

Locked doors need a key; a few need something else, such as a lever arm or an offering. The first time you open each door adds a little Fate.
Fate Doors go one way. "Once through it, you cannot turn back at will." "Past one door, the Fate Door is set… Before you pass it, finish what you must…" Before stepping through, make sure you've done what you wanted in the area behind you.
The doors read your deeds. "Passing many of these you reach Judgment Gate. But your prior deeds change what's beyond." Which door appears, and where it leads, depends on the bonds you've formed.
- Leaving the first area without taking up any of its ghosts' stories skips most of the game. A keepsake from one of them is enough to stay on the long road. The game warns: "Seek hidden karma, or else few soul shards and little Fate Power come. But the path to Judgment Gate is still quick and easy."
A wall of fate blocks a way you haven't earned. "A wall of fate means no bond with what waits beyond. Did you miss bonding with someone? Did you not find a bound item?"
Some walls give way. A wall can hide a room, and the right liquid or fire can weaken it. The Information pages say which.

12Saving and loading

The game offers a save when you go through a door into another room. There's no save command: say yes at that prompt, or carry on. No offer comes:
- in the first room after starting or loading;
- on the boat;
- at the judgment;
- when moving within a graveyard.
Every save adds 200 Attachment. Save when you need to, not by habit.
To load, use Continue on the title screen, or the pause menu (Start) during play.
A loaded game starts at the doorway you came into the room by, not where you stood.
Each save file is about 475 KB.

13What the world remembers

Rooms remember. Ghosts defeated, items taken, things broken and doors opened stay that way when you leave and come back.
But some ghosts come back. Some rooms refill their ghosts a while after you clear them: most after about 15 seconds, some after several minutes. Every kill adds Fate, and Destruction too.
The graveyards forget. They start fresh on each visit.
Choices stick. What you gave, took, kept or refused shapes later scenes. A few choices are final for the whole playthrough; Fifteen Judgments lists them as points of no return.

14When you're stuck

Reread the Old Journal. The Information pages and Tales are the game's hints, and they're often specific.
Inspect again, especially dark corners, bodies, wall writing and anything odd. Make light first.
Look at what you carry. A ghost may want one of your items. Talk to the ones you've met again.
Check your Fate if a door keeps sending you back to First Land.
Check the Mirror for a curse or a possession: either can stop you from using items, searching or moving freely.
Try the liquids: blood, water, oil and fire change things.
Remember the one-way doors. If an area is closed off behind you, what's left is ahead.

Names in this guide

The English names are the ones the translation shows in the game. Each had to fit the space the original Japanese takes in the game's data, so some are shorter or plainer than a free translation would make them. The romaji in brackets is the Japanese read aloud.

English	Japanese
Spirit / Vitality	生命力 / 体力 seimeiryoku / tairyoku
Fate	運命の力 unmei no chikara
Greed / Attachment / Destruction	物欲 / 依存 / 破壊 butsuyoku / izon / hakai
Soul Shards	魂のかけら tamashii no kakera
the Seven Lures from Hell	地獄からの７つの誘い jigoku kara no nanatsu no sasoi
Old Journal	古い帳面 furui chōmen
Information / Memories / Tales	情報 / 記憶 / 逸話 jōhō / kioku / itsuwa
Weapons / Equip Items / Use Items	武器 / 装備アイテム / 使用アイテム buki / sōbi aitemu / shiyō aitemu
Select Item / Show HUD / Mirror	アイテム選択 / 画面表示 / 鏡を見る aitemu sentaku / gamen hyōji / kagami o miru
Curses / Desire / Possession	呪い / 欲望 / 憑依 noroi / yokubō / hyōi
Fate Door	運命の扉 unmei no tobira
First Land	始まりの地 hajimari no chi
Wood / Steel / Alloy Shaft	木の槍の柄 / 黒金の槍の柄 / 合金の槍の柄 ki no yari no e / kurogane no yari no e / gōkin no yari no e
Grave Gun	墓場の武器 hakaba no buki
Match / Twisted Match	マッチ / ねじれたマッチ macchi / nejireta macchi
Canteen / Red Bag / Sachet	水袋 / 赤い袋 / 匂い袋 mizubukuro / akai fukuro / nioibukuro
Skullstone / Shining Water / Threadball	ドクロ石 / 輝く水 / 墓場の糸玉 dokuro-ishi / kagayaku mizu / hakaba no itodama
Beehive / Fresh Salve	ハチの巣 / 真新しいねり薬 hachi no su / maatarashii neriyaku
Third Eye / Dark Eye / Hell's Eye	第三の目 / 闇の目 / 地獄の目 daisan no me / yami no me / jigoku no me
Fate Wheel / Desire Wheel	運命の輪 / 欲望の輪 unmei no wa / yokubō no wa
LifeWard / SoulWard	命の守り / 魂の守り inochi no mamori / tamashii no mamori
Reaper's Tooth	死神の歯 shinigami no ha
Purple Effigy	身代わり紫人形 migawari murasaki ningyō
Cracked Bell / Grave Handbell	壊れかけのベル / 墓場のハンドベル kowarekake no beru / hakaba no handoberu
Unknown Key / Skull Key / Jewelbox Key	どこかの扉のカギ / ドクロのカギ / 宝飾箱のカギ dokoka no tobira no kagi / dokuro no kagi / hōshokubako no kagi

1The ghosts

Ghosts differ. "Effectiveness depends on type. Discern it to survive. Of fire, of blood, of dark, and…" The game's hints on their natures:

"Flame, blinding light, foul stench and red blood. Drawn by light or dark; hate odd smell; stirred by blood."
"Some hate fire, others hate water. Learn their natures, use wisely."
"Scented things and light sources are what the ghosts here loathe."
The starving dead chase thrown food, and "they loathe a foul stench. Smell especially works on every ghost."

What works on them:

Daggers hurt only the dead and ghosts.
A charged spear blow is "a rare way to repel evil beings": pull the spear back, then strike.
The Pale Fruit makes evil things recoil, a Sachet's scent drives them off, and a Threadball slows them for a while.

When one grabs you, waggle both sticks hard to break free.

Fighting has a cost. Each ghost you defeat adds Fate, and Destruction too. "Facing a ghost, you shift your three desires." You can often slip past instead.

Some come back.

Ghosts placed in a room stay dead once defeated.
Many rooms also draw ghosts from a hidden source that refills a while after you clear it: most after about 15 seconds, some after several minutes. A room you've cleared can fill up again while you stand in it.

Blood wakes the dead. "Tread on blood, and dead rise." Pools of blood bring ghosts up, and a Red Bag thrown into a puddle can do the same on purpose. "Mind where corpses fall… On blood, they stir. On fire, they recall agony."

Light and dark draw different things. "Dark summons, light summons. Flame illuminates the dark. Kill light to make dark."

The Iron Masks are "enforcers ruled by desire. They favor the darkness, and vanish in light." Lighting a place can clear them out.
Some other things only come out in the light.

Ambushes. "Something near… Just my imagination…?" or "Someone behind me…" is no idle thought: ghosts are about to appear around you, sometimes several at once. Turn and get ready.

Thieving hands. In some places hands reach out of a door and snatch an item from you ("「Apple」 was taken…"), and they keep grabbing. Strike them and they withdraw.

The skulls on pikes and ledges only mock you as you pass.

Hanged bodies. Some hanging corpses can be struck until they break. Leave them be: destroying one counts against you at the judgment (Fifteen Judgments, the Seven Lures).

2Curses

"Here, many things cast curses." A curse is the grudge of someone who died a certain death, and it hangs on you until it's lifted. The Mirror's Curses tab shows what curses you; when you're clean it says "Not cursed for now…".

Spirit is your defense

Whether a curse takes hold depends on your Spirit (the blue gauge):

at or below a low mark, the curse always takes;
at or above a high mark, it can't take;
in between, it's a chance, from 25% to 65%.

The marks depend on the curse and on how strong its source is:

curses	always take at Spirit	can't take at Spirit
Darkness, Jewelry Box, Burn at Stake, Slaughter	10 to 35 or less	40 to 70 or more
Buried Alive, Glutton, 1000 Needles, Skeleton	15 to 45 or less	40 to 80 or more
Paralysis, Hunger, Blood	20 to 60 or less	40 to 90 or more

Your maximum Spirit starts at 50. It grows by 10 at a time, up to 100, each time the game says "Max Spirit increased…" (the blue gauge gets more flames). So keep Spirit up, and most weak curses can't touch you; with a full gauge late in the game, almost none can. With Spirit at zero, every curse takes. A SoulWard halves the harm to Spirit, and a Beehive, a Fresh Salve or a Soul Shard refills it.

The eleven curses

As the Mirror describes them:

curse	what it does	warded by
Buried Alive	you move slowly and can't run	Red Effigy
Paralysis	you're rooted in place for a while	Red Effigy
Darkness	you can't see as far	Red Effigy
Hunger	items that restore Vitality drain it instead, and items that drain it restore it	Blue Effigy
Glutton	you eat your food by yourself every so often, and can't pick up food that restores Vitality. With Hunger as well, the reverse	Blue Effigy
Jewelry Box	you can't use or pick up Jewelbox Keys	Blue Effigy
Burn at Stake	you can't pick up or use anything of fire or flame	Green Effigy
1000 Needles	you can't use crossbows or pick up arrows	Green Effigy
Slaughter	your equipped spear can't be taken off, and every hit you land costs you the same Vitality	Green Effigy
Skeleton	your Vitality slowly drains	Yellow Effigy
Blood	touching blood saps your Vitality, and you can't pick up or use anything of blood	Yellow Effigy

A curse that stops you from taking or using something shows as "[curse] holds me; I cannot obtain it…" (or equip it, or use it).

Effigies

Carrying an effigy of the right color wards off its curses. When a curse comes for you, the effigy throws it back and is used up.
- Their descriptions name the kinds: red for curses on movement, blue on using items, yellow for deadly curses, green for curses on searching. The table above gives each curse's color.
Using an effigy while cursed lifts the curses of its color.

Lifting a curse

Curses don't wear off. A curse stays on you, through saves and loads, until something lifts it. Some keep working at you meanwhile: Skeleton drains Vitality every 5 seconds, Blood hurts every 8 seconds while you touch blood, and Glutton makes you eat a food every 10 seconds.

What lifts them:

what	lifts	the catch
an effigy of the curse's color, used	the curses of that color	—
the White Effigy, used	every curse, and refills your Spirit	none: the best cure in the game
the Purple Effigy, used	every curse	costs half your Vitality and half your Spirit, and taking one at all counts against you at the judgment
a Reaper's Tooth saving you from death	every curse	you had to die
dust from the graveyards' flowers	one kind of dust lifts every curse; another restores Vitality	graveyards only: "black pods shed curse-warding dust", "white blooms shed life-saving dust"

Paralysis is the exception: it only roots you during your fights with spirits, and lifts itself when the fight ends.

Other help:

A Twisted Match senses curses in things.
The Cracked Bell destroys a curse set in an object, before it can reach you.
The Blood curse can't take hold in the graveyards at all.

At the judgment, being cursed counts against you. Lift every curse before the end.

3Possession

"Possession is to lose your usual self." One of your three desires can take you over. The Mirror's Possession tab says which, or "Not possessed for now…".

possessed by	what happens
Greed	when you see a thing, you can't resist taking it, and your Greed rises faster than usual
Attachment	when you see Information or Tales, you can't resist taking them, and your Attachment rises faster than usual
Destruction	once you start to attack, the urge to smash makes you strike three times, and your Destruction rises faster than usual

Possession doesn't wear off either, and only one desire can possess you at a time.

The cure is scent. "To lift it, you must eat something pungent." Eat one of the foods below; whether it works is a roll, and a stronger possession is harder to drive out. "「Greed」 ghost was driven out…" means it worked; "…could not be cast out…" means try again. Each possession you drive out is worth 500 Fate.

food	against a weak possession			against a strong one
Black Fruit, Rotten Beehive	almost always	almost always	almost always	almost always
Dark Salve	almost always	almost always	4 in 5	1 in 2
Streaked Salve	almost always	4 in 5	2 in 5	rarely
Rotten Pale Fruit	almost always	3 in 5	1 in 4	rarely
Rotten Red Fruit	almost always	1 in 2	1 in 4	never

They all cost you some Spirit or Vitality: "expect some harm, and no guarantee." Spotted Mushrooms and Spotted Apples are only poison; they don't help.

"When a ghost tries to possess you, [scent] will likely work as a defense."
A Reaper's Tooth that saves you from death also ends a possession.

At the judgment, being possessed counts against you, as a curse does.

4The Oni

The Oni is a demon that bargains: a pink, spectral spirit with wiry tentacles that floats about as it attacks. "HUMAN… THIS IS NO PLACE FOR YOUR KIND…" Beat it down and it stops to make a demand. To be spared, meet it:

Do something: hit it, burn it.
Don't do something: don't eat, don't use blood, don't use fire, don't fire a crossbow.
Give it something: food, blood, effigies or anything at all, "all of one type", meaning your whole stock of one kind of item. Or one item it has seen you carry.

Meet the demand and it lets you go: "I'll spare you now; next time, too, keep that attitude!!" Doing what it asks raises your desires: Greed when you feed it, Destruction when you hit it. Fall short and it wants more. An angry Oni wants half as much again.

Oni are met mostly in the graveyards. One that asks for every Reaper's Tooth you carry will spare you for them, but think twice: a Tooth is worth more to you than to it.

5The Reapers and the death sentence

Four Reapers hunt you:

where	when it's there	driving it off pays	its sentence
Ooze Killing Yard	always	10,000 Fate	666 seconds
Swirling Desire	always	20,000 Fate	555 seconds
Cliff of the Fallen	once you've picked up a certain Tale there	30,000 Fate	444 seconds
Karma Grove	later on	40,000 Fate	333 seconds

Their scythes mark you. "The scythe foretells death: 3 blades. If you take the Sentence, no time to dither. Find your own grave in Hell…" Each time a Reaper's scythe connects, "Death's Scythe 1 struck me…" (then 2, then 3).

Three marks in one fight bring the sentence. The count starts again at every new encounter, so driving the Reaper off, or leaving, wipes the marks.
Once you know the nine names of the Graveyard (Fifteen Judgments), the Reapers can't sentence you any more.

The sentence. At the third mark, the Reaper offers you a small chance.

Turn it down and you die on the spot. A Reaper's Tooth won't help.
Take it and the countdown starts, at that Reaper's time. You're sent to a graveyard, and a voice gives the rule: somewhere among the graves is a plate carved with your own name. Find it in time. A Reaper arrives right behind you and hunts you while the clock runs. This graveyard is laid out more simply than on other trips: no Gravekeeper and no rule notice; your plate is the only way out. The Hell's Eye shows which grave it is: "What?!… my grave…?"
- The clock only runs while you're playing, not during scenes or in the menus.
- The graves carry plates. Break them open to look.
- Found it: the countdown stops, you earn 8,000 Fate, and the doors to the Pit open. Go through the Pit's door from the graveyard where you found your plate. Going into another graveyard first loses your plate's effect. Walk into the Pit, and you're back where the sentence began.
- Time's up: the Reaper comes for you, and that's the end. No Tooth can save you.

The last Reaper

At the Gate of Judgment the last Reaper fights you, and it is the longest fight in the game.

Spoilerhow to beat it

There's no trick to it: it has several lives, and you wear them down.

Its lives depend on your Fate. Each time you empty one, it pulls back and comes again, whole: | your Fate | lives | total to wear down | |---|---|---| | under 700,000 | 1 | 250 | | 700,000 to 1,499,999 | 2 | 450 | | 1,500,000 to 2,199,999 | 3 | 650 | | 2,200,000 or more | 4 | 1,000 | A plain spear thrust does about 10, a charged one about 30, so a strong run needs around thirty charged blows. Keep your Spirit up: with no Spirit you can't charge.

Refuse its gifts. It holds out effigies and other things: "I'll give you this…" Anything you pick up in that room counts ten times toward your desires.
Dodge its great scythe. Being hit by it counts against you at the judgment.

6The graveyards

Under the land lie endless graveyards, "split by countless doors". No door leads there. You arrive by mishap:

A death sentence (section 5).
The hands. On some ground, when you crouch to pick something up or look at something, hands reach up out of the earth and grab you. They can't drag you in until about 15 minutes after you started or last came back from a graveyard, and they fail their first nine tries. After that each grab has a growing chance to drag you down. Being dragged in counts against you at the judgment. Once you know the nine names of the Graveyard (Fifteen Judgments), the hands can't take you.
A fall off the Cliff of the Fallen, until you know the nine names. After that, a fall only hurts.

What's different down there:

Which graveyard you land in is random, and they forget you: their graves, ghosts and items start fresh on every trip.
No save is offered while you move within a graveyard.
The Hell's Eye shows hidden things here, as the Third Eye does above.
The Grave Handbell calls someone who matters here.

Getting out

Every graveyard works the same way in outline:

A notice tells you its rule when you arrive, and the talking graves add hints.
Do what the rule asks. There are three kinds of rule, below. On a death sentence, the rule is your own plate (section 5).
Get a door open. The doors stay sealed until the Gravekeeper opens one. A dark-red plate or the desire lumps go through it to Hell's messenger first.
Reach the Pit: stairs down to a light in the floor. Step into it, and you're back above, where you left. After the question, the Keeper's door leads to a small graveyard whose two-eyed door opens onto the Pit.

Which rule you get is random, with two exceptions. Falls and drags from the late areas (Karma Grove, Land's End, the Gate of Judgment) always bring the desire lumps. And once you've delivered all nine dark-red plates, the plate rule doesn't come up again.

Rule 1: the grave's question

"Address the graves of those dwelling in them; one will question you. In reply, choose the true answer. It asks but once. If wrong, move on; try the next land."

Spoilerhow the question plays out

Strike graves until one asks you. A face comes out of a grave when you strike it. Most only talk; one in each graveyard asks the question.
Answer truthfully, "I think so…" or "I don't think so…". There are ten questions, all about the graveyards themselves.
A right answer doesn't let you off. "Think we'd let ya go…?" An Oni attacks: beat it, and meet its demand. That completes the rule, and pays 1,000 Fate.
A wrong answer ends it: that graveyard won't ask again. You'll have to try again in the next graveyard you reach.

Spoilerthe ten questions and their answers

the question	answer
"…his scythe hits 4 times, yeah…?"	I don't think so (it's three)
"Blood is our purest sensation, ya know…"	I think so
"Unless ya take some action… doors go on forever…"	I think so
"Stay clear of us all ya can… Don't ya agree…?"	I don't think so
"…them flowers can bear fruit…"	I think so
"…them buds bloom with blood…"	I don't think so
"The pits like wells… Down there… stuff to grab, but…"	I think so
"The blue flames… To snuff 'em out, douse 'em with water…"	I don't think so (it takes Shining Water)
"The pits like wells… Seen the swirl that forms there…? It craves sensation…"	I think so
"…rows of graves, where souls rest…"	I don't think so

Rule 2: the dark-red plate

"To leave this graveyard, you need a dark-red plate bearing a name. It is won by breaking a grave, but breaking it summons countless raging arms to bar you. If you win it, beyond the door give it to Hell's messenger." The name on it is one you'll know: one of nine, a different one each time.

Spoilerhow to get the plate out

Find its grave with the Hell's Eye. One grave in each graveyard holds it, and only the eye tells it apart ("Someone's name seems written…", table below).
Soften it with blood if it's hard: "Blood weakens the husk…"
Break it. A mass of raging arms bursts out, cursing and grabbing at you.
Drive the arms off with Shining Water. "Dark ones shun Shining Water…" Plain water does nothing. "When the arms of malice are gone, the dark-red plate shows."
Take the plate on through the door. "Got the dark-red plate? Then on to the next door…" It takes you to Hell's messenger, in another graveyard: "Hand over that plate…" Once he has it, the way to the Pit opens.

Rule 3: three desire lumps

"Overhead, an egg-like pod. From it come three things: choose but one. Three places hold them. When all three are won, past the door, give to Hell's messenger."

Spoilerhow to collect the lumps

Find the three pods hanging from the graveyard's trees: "Cocoons of the tree… inside a lump shaped like desire… in 3 spots… 3 in all…"
Take one lump from each. Each offers three, one for each desire: the Apple Ingot, the Arrow Ingot and the Effigy Ingot. "Desire… Ruin, Attachment, Greed… Just grab what you fancy…"
Carry all three through the next door to Hell's messenger. "Gather all 3 lumps… take the next door…" He reads your choice ("All show Greed…", "…all different…") and gives you something for it.

The Gravekeeper

"I am the Gravekeeper here… To open the next door, seek me… Strike the grave where I stand…"

Spoilerhow to find him and open the door

Ring the great bell first (pull its rope): "Its toll startles the keeper…"
Then find him. He has gone to ground in one of the big, hardened graves. Strike them until he comes out: "The keeper's in one of them… Strike the grave he's in… he comes…"
Do his task. He asks you to open every mottled bud: "unless all these mottled buds bloom, it won't open." These are the big wrapped flowers growing out of the ground, not the small pods in the trees. A plain blow won't open one. Use a charged blow: the spear sticks, so waggle it free, and the bud blooms and dies.
Pick a door. With every bud open, he offers to unseal one of two doors: "The right-eye door? The left-eye door?" Either will do.
The small graveyard beyond has a one-eyed door back, another way into the nine-headstone cave, and the two-eyed door. "A two-eyed door… his job's done… Freely… take the one-eyed door…"
The two-eyed door leads to the Pit. Step into the light.

The Grave Handbell in your items can be rung only in a graveyard, and only while the Keeper is about; otherwise it's greyed out. "Ring it to call the keeper…"

Which grave? Carry the Hell's Eye

With the eye in your items, Hell's Eye joins Inspect on the wheel when you look at a grave. Plain Inspect says the same of every grave ("Something's fixed to it… Like a plate, but…"). Hell's Eye tells you what each one holds:

Spoilerwhat each grave says

the grave says	what it holds
"Someone's name seems written… Taking it… binds me with some karma…"	the dark-red plate bearing a name: one in each Hell's Graves
"What?!… my grave…? If I take my own nameplate, my Death Sentence ends"	your own plate, on a death sentence
"It notes something useful, but… to learn it is to rely on it…", "Knowing… two-edged…", "A plate with notes on it…"	an Information plate
"It seems to bear evil intent…"	something best left alone

Some of the plates you read down here are not kept: "Not filed in 『Old Journal』." That's normal; read them carefully the first time.

Other things down there

A pit like a well, with blue fire, holds a reward, not the way out. Its flame needs Shining Water (plain water won't do); after that, "feed blood to the pit."

How the graves work. "Graves grow: small, immature ones; big-seeming ones, wrapped in a 'husk', soft inside; then fully hardened ones." A husked grave bleeds when you break it, and a grave in a hard husk softens once you quench its thirst. Many graves bear plates: "Want one? Crush the grave." Spotted grave flowers need a charged blow to open.

What you can find:

the Grave Gun, which never runs out of ammunition, but adds 10,000 Destruction just for picking it up;
Imp Bones and Moth Wings, which collectors in the graveyards want;
a Purple Effigy from a grave cocoon now and then. The game urges "Come, take it, quick!!" Don't: it counts against you at the judgment;
"White blooms shed life-saving dust."

The imps' bargain for Imp Bones, and the nine names on the Graveyard's ring of headstones, both change your desires a great deal. Fifteen Judgments explains them.

7When something goes wrong

what you see	what it is	what to do
you move slowly, freeze, or can't see far	a curse	check the Mirror; use the effigy of its color, or a White Effigy. Curses never wear off on their own
"… holds me; I cannot obtain it / equip it / use it"	a curse	the same
your Vitality drains by itself	the Skeleton curse	a Yellow Effigy
food hurts instead of healing	the Hunger curse	a Blue Effigy; heal with what normally hurts
you grab everything, or strike three times	possession	eat something pungent: the Black Fruit or a Rotten Beehive works best
"All Spirit lost…"	your Spirit is empty: no charged attacks, every curse takes, blows hurt more	restore Spirit at once
"Something near… Just my imagination…?"	an ambush	turn and fight, or run
an item "was taken…"	thieving hands at a door	strike the hands
a Reaper-like demon stops fighting and talks	the Oni	meet its demand to be spared
a number counting down	a death sentence	find the plate with your name, then the Pit
you're dragged underground	the graveyard hands	read the notices: they tell you the way out
a door sends you back to First Land	not enough Fate	see How the Game Works, section 10

Names in this guide

English	Japanese
Spirit / Vitality	生命力 / 体力 seimeiryoku / tairyoku
Curses / Possession	呪い / 憑依 noroi / hyōi
Buried Alive	生き埋めの呪い ikiume no noroi
Paralysis	金縛りの呪い kanashibari no noroi
Darkness	闇の呪い yami no noroi
Hunger	飢餓の呪い kiga no noroi
Glutton	餓鬼の呪い gaki no noroi
Jewelry Box	宝飾箱の呪い hōshokubako no noroi
Burn at Stake	火あぶりの呪い hiaburi no noroi
1000 Needles	千本針の呪い senbonbari no noroi
Slaughter	惨殺の呪い zansatsu no noroi
Skeleton	白骨の呪い hakkotsu no noroi
Blood	血の呪い chi no noroi
Red / Blue / Yellow / Green / White / Purple Effigy	身代わり赤 / 青 / 黄 / 緑 / 白 / 紫人形 migawari aka / ao / ki / midori / shiro / murasaki ningyō
Greed / Attachment / Destruction	物欲 / 依存 / 破壊 butsuyoku / izon / hakai
the Oni	鬼 oni
Reaper	死神 shinigami
Sentence	死の宣告 shi no senkoku
the Pit	墓場の穴 hakaba no ana
Keeper (the Gravekeeper)	墓守 hakamori
Hell's messenger	地獄ノ使者 jigoku no shisha
Ooze Killing Yard	ドロみを生む処刑場 doromi o umu shokeijō
Swirling Desire	渦巻く欲望の地 uzumaku yokubō no chi
Cliff of the Fallen	落ち行く者の断崖 ochiyuku mono no dangai
Karma Grove	因果の園 inga no sono
Karma Hall	因果の回廊 inga no kairō
Desire Scaffold	欲望の処刑台 yokubō no shokeidai
Fountain Plaza	噴水のある広場 funsui no aru hiroba
the Gate of Judgment	審判の門 shinpan no mon
First Land	始まりの地 hajimari no chi
Grave Gun / Imp Bone / Moth Wings	墓場の武器 / 悪魔の骨 / 吸血蛾の羽 hakaba no buki / akuma no hone / kyūketsuga no hane
Twisted Match / Cracked Bell / Grave Handbell	ねじれたマッチ / 壊れかけのベル / 墓場のハンドベル nejireta macchi / kowarekake no beru / hakaba no handoberu

English	Japanese
Fate Begins	運命の始まり unmei no hajimari
Cave to Hell	地獄へ続く洞窟 jigoku e tsuzuku dōkutsu
First Land	始まりの地 hajimari no chi
Grudge-Desire Bog	恨みと欲望の沈む沼 urami to yokubō no shizumu numa
Bared Dark Hall	さらされし闇の通路 sarasareshi yami no tsūro
Altar of Hanging	首吊り処刑の祭壇 kubitsuri shokei no saidan
Warped Torture Cell	大渦にゆがむ拷問牢獄 ōuzu ni yugamu gōmon rōgoku
Dark Cellar	闇の床下牢獄 yami no yukashita rōgoku
Ooze Killing Yard	ドロみを生む処刑場 doromi o umu shokeijō
Beheading Plaza	斬首処刑の広場 zanshu shokei no hiroba
Fountain Plaza	噴水のある広場 funsui no aru hiroba
Swirling Desire	渦巻く欲望の地 uzumaku yokubō no chi
Karma Hall	因果の回廊 inga no kairō
Cliff of the Fallen	落ち行く者の断崖 ochiyuku mono no dangai
Desire Scaffold	欲望の処刑台 yokubō no shokeidai
Karma Grove	因果の園 inga no sono
Land's End	終わりの大地 owari no daichi
the Gate of Judgment ("The Gate")	審判の門 shinpan no mon
Hell's Graves	地獄への墓場 jigoku e no hakaba
the Graveyard	欲望の墓場 yokubō no hakaba
the Pit	墓場の穴 hakaba no ana
Fate Door	運命の扉 unmei no tobira
Skull Key / skull box	ドクロのカギ / ドクロ dokuro no kagi / dokuro
Lever Arm	解除レバー kaijo rebā
Iron Mask	鉄仮面 tekkamen
Rusty Stake	赤さびた杭 akasabita kui
Blue Winder	青いネジ巻き aoi nejimaki
Broken Necklace / Pearl Necklace	切れた首飾り / 真珠の首飾り kireta kubikazari / shinju no kubikazari
Linda's Letter / Linda's Photo	リンダの手紙 / リンダの写真 Rinda no tegami / Rinda no shashin
Alan's Letter / Alan's Photo	アランの手紙 / アランの写真 Aran no tegami / Aran no shashin
Gary's Red Painting / Giese's Blue Painting	ギャレイの赤い絵 / ギースの青い絵 Gyarei no akai e / Gīsu no aoi e
Red Landscape / Blue Portrait	赤色の風景画 / 青色の肖像画 akairo no fūkeiga / aoiro no shōzōga
To My Friend / To Father	親友への手紙 / 父への手紙 shin'yū e no tegami / chichi e no tegami
Costly Trinket	高価そうな置物 kōka-sō na okimono
Oozy Gun / Oozy Tooth / Oozy Beehive	ドロみの銃 / ドロみの歯 / ドロみのハチの巣 doromi no jū / doromi no ha / doromi no hachi no su
Dry Flower	枯れた花 kareta hana
Fate Wheel / Desire Wheel	運命の輪 / 欲望の輪 unmei no wa / yokubō no wa

item	what it does	where	pickup
Wood Shaft	the spear you start with; no combos; a full charge takes 2 seconds	you start with it	—
Steel Shaft	follow a thrust with more (combos); full charge 2 seconds	Cave to Hell, Grudge-Desire Bog, Bared Dark Hall, Altar of Hanging, Warped Torture Cell, Dark Cellar, Karma Hall, Land's End	Fate 2,000; D 1,000
Alloy Shaft	combos; a full charge takes only 1 second	graveyards	Fate 2,000; D 2,000
Hunter Crossbow	"Load an arrow to fire."	you start with it	—
War Crossbow	"Quick nock and fire."	Beheading Plaza, Cliff of the Fallen	Fate 2,000; D 1,000
Knight Crossbow	"A powerful special crossbow… Quick nock and fire."	graveyards	Fate 2,000; D 2,000
Grave Gun	"It thrums with spirit power." Never runs out of ammunition	graveyards	Fate 10,000; D 10,000; each shot D 20

item	what it does	where	pickup
Iron Tip	"Steel blade. It exudes a strange power."	you start with it	—
Blood Tip	"Strong spirit power. Red fluid seems to seep from its surface grooves."	Ooze Killing Yard, Swirling Desire	Fate 3,000; D 1,000
Torch Tip	"Wrapped in oilcloth. Catches fire in flame."	Ooze Killing Yard	Fate 3,000; D 1,000
Arrow	wooden	you start with some; nearly everywhere	Fate 10; D 10
Iron Arrow	steel	most areas, graveyards	Fate 50; D 50
Fire Arrow	"Soaked in special oil."	the prisons and lands of desire	Fate 20; D 50
Grave Gun Ammo	"Fires endlessly."	comes with the Grave Gun	—

tool	what it does	where	pickup	use
Match	lights one thing; burns briefly	Bared Dark Hall, Altar of Hanging, the prisons, Karma Hall	Fate 10; G 2	A 4
Long Match	lights one thing; burns long	Warped Torture Cell, Karma Hall, Karma Grove	Fate 20; G 4	A 8
Twisted Match	lights one thing; "senses 「curses」 in things"	the prisons, Karma Hall, Land's End	Fate 30; G 8	A 20
Canteen	water: puts out flames	most areas	Fate 50; G 20	—
Red Bag	blood: "it bloodies puddles and rouses blood-drawn things"; softens graves	Bared Dark Hall, the prisons, Karma Hall, Cliff of the Fallen, Land's End	Fate 100; G 30	—
Sachet	scent: "The more evil a being, the more it hates it."	First Land area, the prisons, Cliff of the Fallen, Land's End	Fate 100; G 50	—
Skullstone	"A 「hand」 may reach out, craving it."	the prisons, Swirling Desire, Karma Hall, Land's End	Fate 10; G 8	—
Imp Skullstone	a horned Skullstone	graveyards	Fate 10; G 8	—
Shining Water	"Power radiates from it." Puts out blue grudge-fire; the graveyard's raging arms shun it	the prisons, Karma Hall, Cliff of the Fallen, Karma Grove, Land's End, graveyards	Fate 500; G 100	—
Threadball	"it slows evil for a set time"	graveyards	Fate 50; G 50; A 20	A 100
Dagger	thrown; "works only on the dead and ghosts"	Grudge-Desire Bog and most areas after	Fate 10; D 20	—
Blaze Dagger	a dagger with an oil-film pattern	Dark Cellar, Ooze Killing Yard, Cliff of the Fallen, Land's End	Fate 10; D 50	—
Red Dagger	a dagger seeping red fluid	Dark Cellar, Ooze Killing Yard, Swirling Desire, Cliff of the Fallen, Land's End	Fate 10; D 50	—

item	eaten	where	pickup	at the Gate
Red Fruit	restores some Vitality or Spirit	most areas, graveyards	Fate 10; G 20	G 1; A 2
Rotten Red Fruit	lowers Vitality a bit; lifts an affliction	the prisons, Karma Hall, Karma Grove, graveyards	Fate 20; G 20	G 1; A 2
Pale Fruit	restores some Vitality or Spirit	many areas	Fate 100; G 40	G 1; A 2
Rotten Pale Fruit	lowers Vitality a bit; lifts an affliction	many areas	Fate 200; G 40	G 1; A 2
Black Fruit	greatly lowers both; lifts an affliction	most areas	Fate 300; G 200	G 1; A 2
Dried Potato	restores some Vitality or Spirit	First Land area, the prisons	Fate 10; G 10	G 1; A 2
Mushroom	restores a little	everywhere	Fate 100; G 50	G 500; A 50
Spotted Mushroom	may lower Vitality / Spirit	many areas	Fate 100; G 50	G 500; A 50
Apple	restores a little	everywhere	Fate 50; G 30	G 300; A 30
Spotted Apple	poisonous; may lower	many areas	Fate 50; G 30	G 300; A 30
Beehive	fully restores	First Land, Warped Torture Cell, Dark Cellar, Cliff of the Fallen, Karma Grove	Fate 1,000; G 500	G 1,000; A 500
Rotten Beehive	lowers both; lifts an affliction	Dark Cellar, Beheading Plaza, Swirling Desire, Karma Hall, Karma Grove	Fate 500; G 500	G 1,000; A 500
Dried Salve	restores a little	many areas	Fate 50; G 30	G 300; A 30
Half-dry Salve	restores a little	Warped Torture Cell, Ooze Killing Yard, Land's End	Fate 100; G 100	G 500; A 100
Fresh Salve	fully restores	Warped Torture Cell, Dark Cellar	Fate 1,000; G 500	G 1,000; A 500
Streaked Salve	lowers both; lifts an affliction	Swirling Desire, Cliff of the Fallen	Fate 50; G 100	G 500; A 100
Dark Salve	lowers both; lifts an affliction	Beheading Plaza, Land's End	Fate 500; G 500	G 1,000; A 500

item	wards off	where	pickup	use	at the Gate
Red Effigy	Buried Alive, Paralysis, Darkness	most areas	Fate 250; G 50; A 400	A 800	G 50; A 400
Blue Effigy	Hunger, Glutton, Jewelry Box	most areas	the same	A 800	the same
Green Effigy	Burn at Stake, 1000 Needles, Slaughter	most areas	the same	A 800	the same
Yellow Effigy	Skeleton, Blood	most areas	the same	A 800	the same
White Effigy	nothing, but used while cursed it lifts every curse and refills your Spirit	most areas	Fate 1,000; G 200; A 1,000	A 2,000	G 400; A 1,000
Purple Effigy	lifts every curse, but costs half your Vitality and half your Spirit	everywhere, graveyards	Fate 1,000; G 50; A 400	—	—

item	what it does	where	pickup	use	at the Gate
Third Eye	see objects' hidden events	Land's End; the Pit's collector (below)	Fate 3,000; G 20; A 1,000	A 200	G 100; A 1,000
Dark Eye	"your eyes work even in the dark"	Land's End; the Pit's collector	the same	A 100	G 100; A 2,000
Hell's Eye	the Third Eye's power in the graveyards: a Hell's Eye choice on the Inspect wheel	Land's End; the Pit's collector	the same	A 400	G 100; A 1,000
Fate Wheel	your Fate shows in the Mirror	Dark Cellar (skull box), Karma Hall, Land's End	Fate 5,000; G 200; A 2,500	—	G 100; A 1,000
Desire Wheel	text pages on your desires in the Mirror	Warped Torture Cell, Cliff of the Fallen, Land's End	the same	—	the same
LifeWard	"Vitality takes less harm": halves it	Beheading Plaza (skull box), Swirling Desire, Land's End	Fate 4,000; G 10; A 1,500	A 150	G 100; A 2,500
SoulWard	"Spirit takes less harm": halves it	Beheading Plaza (skull box), Swirling Desire, Land's End	the same	A 150	the same
Reaper's Tooth	revives you once when you die	Cave to Hell (skull box), Karma Grove, graveyards	Fate 2,000; G 2; A 200	A 1,000	G 10; A 1,500
Cracked Bell	"it can destroy the 「curse」 set in an object"; above ground only	Bared Dark Hall, the prisons, Karma Hall, Cliff of the Fallen, graveyards	Fate 500; G 2; A 400	A 800	G 5; A 200
Grave Handbell	"it can call someone, if rung in the graveyard"; only while the Gravekeeper is about	graveyards	Fate 100; G 2; A 400	A 800	G 5; A 200

item	what it does	where	pickup
Skull Key	"Used to open a skull-adorned box." One per box	Cave to Hell, First Land, Altar of Hanging, Dark Cellar, Beheading Plaza, Karma Grove, Land's End	Fate 500; G 200
Jewelbox Key	"Used to open a closed jewelbox."	nearly every room above ground	Fate 100; G 20
Unknown Key	"not every door seems to open"	Warped Torture Cell	Fate 200
Window Key	"Used on a locked window"	Ooze Killing Yard	Fate 300
Hall Key	opens a door	Swirling Desire, Karma Hall	Fate 5,000
Cauldron Key	opens a door	Karma Hall, Cliff of the Fallen	Fate 500
Bog Door Key	opens a door in the bog	given in a scene	—
Handle	"Used before the slot, it can work the mechanism. One use consumes one."	Grudge-Desire Bog	Fate 500; G 100
Gear Handle	"At the slot near the gear, use it to make the mechanism work."	Ooze Killing Yard	Fate 1,000
Lever Arm	opens the iron boxes of the torture cell	the prisons	Fate 1,000
Oozy Orb	"Looks caked in ooze, an orb."	Cliff of the Fallen	Fate 1,000; D 500

where	the choices
Cave to Hell	Apple, Reaper's Tooth, Arrow
First Land	Arrow, Dried Salve, Giese's Blue Painting, Gary's Red Painting, Glass Orb
Altar of Hanging	White Effigy, Match, Red Fruit
Dark Cellar	two Information pages, Fate Wheel, Fire Arrow
Beheading Plaza	SoulWard, an Information page, LifeWard
Karma Grove	three Tales
Land's End	Dagger, Red Dagger, Blaze Dagger

item	where	Fate on pickup
Gold-coin Note	First Land	15,000
Glass Orb	First Land (skull box), Beheading Plaza	7,000
Gary's Red Painting, Giese's Blue Painting	First Land (skull box)	8,000 each
Gold Brooch, Gary's Ring, Giese's Ring	Grudge-Desire Bog	—
Soiled Photo	Grudge-Desire Bog	1,000
Broken Necklace	Grudge-Desire Bog	7,000
Pearl Necklace	Bared Dark Hall	10,000
Blue Winder	Bared Dark Hall (also Swirling Desire)	10,000
Rusty Stake (three)	Bared Dark Hall	5,000 each
Linda's Letter / Linda's Photo	Altar of Hanging, one or the other	—
Iron Mask	the prisons	200
Dark Statue	Dark Cellar	8,000
Man's Portrait	Dark Cellar	1,000
Red Landscape, Blue Portrait	Ooze Killing Yard	20,000 each
Alan's Letter, Alan's Photo	Beheading Plaza	—
To My Friend, To Father	Fountain Plaza	50,000 each
Red Winder	Swirling Desire	10,000
Costly Trinket	Karma Hall	2,000
Oozy Gun, Oozy Tooth, Oozy Beehive	Karma Hall, Land's End	3,000 each, with desire (below)
Dry Flower	Karma Grove, after the finale	— (+10,000 to every desire)
Old Scrawl, Melted Orb	given in scenes	—

item	what it's for	pickup
Moth Wings	"A collector dwells in this graveyard. Enough wings collected, he will appear." Carry 10 or more into the Pit, and a spirit there offers the three eyes in turn for them	Fate 10; G 10
Imp Bone	the imps want 33 of them (Fifteen Judgments)	Fate 10; G 10
Imp Orb	the imps' gift, if you accept it	—
Apple Ingot, Arrow Ingot, Effigy Ingot	the three desire lumps a graveyard's rule may ask for, one from each of three places	Fate 100 each
Linda's Plate … Olnis's Plate	the nine name plates of the Graveyard's headstones (Fifteen Judgments)	Fate 100 each
Adam S.'s Plate and nine others	strangers' name plates, found on graves	Fate 100 each
your own plate	found on a death sentence (Dangers, section 5)	Fate 8,000 when found in time

English	Japanese
Wood / Steel / Alloy Shaft	木の槍の柄 / 黒金の槍の柄 / 合金の槍の柄 ki no yari no e / kurogane no yari no e / gōkin no yari no e
Hunter / War / Knight Crossbow	狩人のボウガン / 戦士のボウガン / 騎士のボウガン karyūdo / senshi / kishi no bōgan
Grave Gun / Grave Gun Ammo	墓場の武器 / 墓場の武器の弾 hakaba no buki / hakaba no buki no tama
Iron / Blood / Torch Tip	鉄の槍先 / 血の槍先 / タイマツの槍先 tetsu / chi / taimatsu no yarisaki
Arrow / Iron Arrow / Fire Arrow	木の矢 / 鉄の矢 / 炎の矢 ki no ya / tetsu no ya / honō no ya
Match / Long Match / Twisted Match	マッチ / 長いマッチ / ねじれたマッチ macchi / nagai macchi / nejireta macchi
Canteen / Red Bag / Sachet	水袋 / 赤い袋 / 匂い袋 mizubukuro / akai fukuro / nioibukuro
Skullstone / Imp Skullstone	ドクロ石 / 悪魔のドクロ石 dokuro-ishi / akuma no dokuro-ishi
Shining Water / Threadball	輝く水 / 墓場の糸玉 kagayaku mizu / hakaba no itodama
Dagger / Blaze Dagger / Red Dagger	ダガー / 焦熱のダガー / 紅のダガー dagā / shōnetsu no dagā / kurenai no dagā
Red / Pale / Black Fruit	赤い果実 / 白い果実 / 黒い果実 akai / shiroi / kuroi kajitsu
Rotten Red / Rotten Pale Fruit	腐った赤い果実 / 腐った白い果実 kusatta akai / kusatta shiroi kajitsu
Dried Potato	ひからびたイモ hikarabita imo
Mushroom / Spotted Mushroom	キノコ / まだらのキノコ kinoko / madara no kinoko
Apple / Spotted Apple	リンゴ / まだらのリンゴ ringo / madara no ringo
Beehive / Rotten Beehive	ハチの巣 / 腐ったハチの巣 hachi no su / kusatta hachi no su
Dried / Half-dry / Fresh Salve	乾いたねり薬 / 半乾きのねり薬 / 真新しいねり薬 kawaita / hankawaki no / maatarashii neriyaku
Streaked / Dark Salve	黒まじりのねり薬 / 黒いねり薬 kuromajiri no / kuroi neriyaku
Red / Blue / Yellow / Green / White / Purple Effigy	身代わり赤 / 青 / 黄 / 緑 / 白 / 紫人形 migawari aka / ao / ki / midori / shiro / murasaki ningyō
Third Eye / Dark Eye / Hell's Eye	第三の目 / 闇の目 / 地獄の目 daisan no me / yami no me / jigoku no me
Fate Wheel / Desire Wheel	運命の輪 / 欲望の輪 unmei no wa / yokubō no wa
LifeWard / SoulWard	命の守り / 魂の守り inochi no mamori / tamashii no mamori
Reaper's Tooth	死神の歯 shinigami no ha
Cracked Bell / Grave Handbell	壊れかけのベル / 墓場のハンドベル kowarekake no beru / hakaba no handoberu
Skull Key / Jewelbox Key	ドクロのカギ / 宝飾箱のカギ dokuro no kagi / hōshokubako no kagi
Unknown Key / Window Key	どこかの扉のカギ / 窓扉のカギ dokoka no tobira no kagi / madotobira no kagi
Hall Key / Cauldron Key / Bog Door Key	回廊のカギ / 釜処刑場のカギ / 沼の扉のカギ kairō no kagi / kama shokeijō no kagi / numa no tobira no kagi
Handle / Gear Handle / Lever Arm	ハンドル / ギアのハンドル / 解除レバー handoru / gia no handoru / kaijo rebā
Oozy Orb	ドロみの玉 doromi no tama
Gold-coin Note	金貨付きの手紙 kinka-tsuki no tegami
Glass Orb / Melted Orb	ガラス玉 / 溶けたガラス玉 garasudama / toketa garasudama
Gary's Red Painting / Giese's Blue Painting	ギャレイの赤い絵 / ギースの青い絵 Gyarei no akai e / Gīsu no aoi e
Gold Brooch / Gary's Ring / Giese's Ring	金のブローチ / ギャレイの指輪 / ギースの指輪 kin no burōchi / Gyarei no yubiwa / Gīsu no yubiwa
Soiled Photo	汚れた写真 yogoreta shashin
Broken / Pearl Necklace	切れた首飾り / 真珠の首飾り kireta / shinju no kubikazari
Blue / Red Winder	青いネジ巻き / 赤いネジ巻き aoi / akai nejimaki
Rusty Stake	赤さびた杭 akasabita kui
Linda's Letter / Photo	リンダの手紙 / 写真 Rinda no tegami / shashin
Alan's Letter / Photo	アランの手紙 / 写真 Aran no tegami / shashin
Iron Mask	鉄仮面 tekkamen
Dark Statue / Man's Portrait	黒ずんだ彫像 / 誰かの肖像画 kurozunda chōzō / dareka no shōzōga
Red Landscape / Blue Portrait	赤色の風景画 / 青色の肖像画 akairo no fūkeiga / aoiro no shōzōga
To My Friend / To Father	親友への手紙 / 父への手紙 shin'yū e no tegami / chichi e no tegami
Old Scrawl	古い走り書き furui hashirigaki
Costly Trinket / Dry Flower	高価そうな置物 / 枯れた花 kōka-sō na okimono / kareta hana
Oozy Gun / Tooth / Beehive	ドロみの銃 / 歯 / ハチの巣 doromi no jū / ha / hachi no su
Moth Wings / Imp Bone / Imp Orb	吸血蛾の羽 / 悪魔の骨 / 悪魔の宝珠 kyūketsuga no hane / akuma no hone / akuma no hōju
Apple / Arrow / Effigy Ingot	リンゴの描かれた塊 / 矢の描かれた塊 / 人形の描かれた塊 ringo / ya / ningyō no egakareta katamari
… 's Plate	…のプレート … no purēto

Rank	Fate	Desires	Also
S	2,200,000 or more	all three low	clean state, both deep-karma deeds, no lure
A	2,200,000 or more	any	anything short of S
B	1,500,000 – 2,199,999	none very high	no lure
C	1,500,000 – 2,199,999	at least one very high	—
D	1,500,000 – 2,199,999	none very high	at least one lure
E	300,000 – 1,499,999	all three very high	—
F	300,000 – 1,499,999	exactly two very high	three lures or fewer
G	300,000 – 1,499,999	exactly two very high	four lures or more
H	300,000 – 1,499,999	exactly one very high	—
I	300,000 – 1,499,999	none very high, all three high	—
J	300,000 – 1,499,999	none very high, exactly two high	—
K	300,000 – 1,499,999	none very high, exactly one high	—
L	300,000 – 1,499,999	all three low	—
M	under 300,000	at least one very high	—
N	under 300,000	none very high	—

Where	What to do	Effect
the Graveyard	learn all nine names on the graves	every desire −75%, Fate +250,000, deep karma
Hell's Graves, the imps	hand over 33 Imp Bones, pick a desire, then refuse their gift	that desire wiped to 0, the other two halved; Spirit and Vitality drop hard
Desire Scaffold, Olnis	break an eye on the door, then decline his offer	that desire halved
Karma Grove	place the Reaper's Tooth on the altar	Attachment ×0.25
Land's End, seven dishes	place a Fate Wheel, Desire Wheel, eye or ward in each	Attachment down a little each time, about ×0.37 after all seven
Land's End, three dishes	place the Oozy Gun, Tooth or Beehive	Destruction, Attachment or Greed ×0.6
Land's End, the mirror	see below	one desire −75%

Rank	Very high (50,000+)	High (20,000–49,999)
E	all three	—
F G	exactly two	— (G needs four lures or more)
H	exactly one	—
I	none	all three
J	none	exactly two
K	none	exactly one
L	none	none

English	Japanese
Fate	運命の力 (unmei no chikara)
Greed / Attachment / Destruction	物欲 / 依存 / 破壊 (butsuyoku / izon / hakai)
the Seven Lures from Hell	地獄からの７つの誘い (jigoku kara no nanatsu no sasoi)
Cave to Hell	地獄へ続く洞窟 (jigoku e tsuzuku dōkutsu)
First Land	始まりの地 (hajimari no chi)
Grudge-Desire Bog	恨みと欲望の沈む沼 (urami to yokubō no shizumu numa)
Bared Dark Hall	さらされし闇の通路 (sarasareshi yami no tsūro)
Altar of Hanging	首吊り処刑の祭壇 (kubitsuri shokei no saidan)
Warped Torture Cell	大渦にゆがむ拷問牢獄 (ōuzu ni yugamu gōmon rōgoku)
Dark Cellar	闇の床下牢獄 (yami no yukashita rōgoku)
Ooze Killing Yard	ドロみを生む処刑場 (doromi o umu shokeijō)
Beheading Plaza	斬首処刑の広場 (zanshu shokei no hiroba)
Fountain Plaza	噴水のある広場 (funsui no aru hiroba)
Swirling Desire	渦巻く欲望の地 (uzumaku yokubō no chi)
Karma Hall	因果の回廊 (inga no kairō)
Cliff of the Fallen	落ち行く者の断崖 (ochiyuku mono no dangai)
Desire Scaffold	欲望の処刑台 (yokubō no shokeidai)
Karma Grove	因果の園 (inga no sono)
Land's End	終わりの大地 (owari no daichi)
the Gate of Judgment	審判の門 (shinpan no mon)
Hell's Graves	地獄への墓場 (jigoku e no hakaba)
the Graveyard	欲望の墓場 (yokubō no hakaba)
Fate Door	運命の扉 (unmei no tobira)
Fate Wheel / Desire Wheel	運命の輪 / 欲望の輪 (unmei no wa / yokubō no wa)
Reaper's Tooth	死神の歯 (shinigami no ha)
Soiled Photo	汚れた写真 (yogoreta shashin)
Broken Necklace / Pearl Necklace	切れた首飾り / 真珠の首飾り (kireta kubikazari / shinju no kubikazari)
Rusty Stake	赤さびた杭 (akasabita kui)
Blue Winder	青いネジ巻き (aoi nejimaki)
Linda's Letter / Linda's Photo	リンダの手紙 / リンダの写真 (Rinda no tegami / Rinda no shashin)
Alan's Letter / Alan's Photo	アランの手紙 / アランの写真 (Aran no tegami / Aran no shashin)
Red Landscape / Blue Portrait	赤色の風景画 / 青色の肖像画 (akairo no fūkeiga / aoiro no shōzōga)
To My Friend / To Father	親友への手紙 / 父への手紙 (shin'yū e no tegami / chichi e no tegami)
Costly Trinket	高価そうな置物 (kōka-sō na okimono)
Dry Flower	枯れた花 (kareta hana)
Oozy Gun / Oozy Tooth / Oozy Beehive	ドロみの銃 / ドロみの歯 / ドロみのハチの巣 (doromi no jū / doromi no ha / doromi no hachi no su)
Purple Effigy	身代わり紫人形 (migawari murasaki ningyō)
Grave Gun	墓場の武器 (hakaba no buki)
Imp Bone	悪魔の骨 (akuma no hone)
Iron Mask	鉄仮面 (tekkamen)
Skull Key / Jewelbox Key	ドクロのカギ / 宝飾箱のカギ (dokuro no kagi / hōshokubako no kagi)

1The shape of the game

2Controls

The original controls

The Modern Controls edition

3Spirit and Vitality

4Looking, touching, taking

5Weapons, tools and liquids

6The item menu (△)

7The menu screen (Select)

8The Old Journal

9Meeting the dead

10Fate and the desires

11Doors and the way forward

12Saving and loading

13What the world remembers

14When you're stuck

Names in this guide

1The ghosts

2Curses

Spirit is your defense

The eleven curses

Effigies

Lifting a curse

3Possession

4The Oni

5The Reapers and the death sentence

The last Reaper

6The graveyards

Getting out

Rule 1: the grave's question

Rule 2: the dark-red plate

Rule 3: three desire lumps

The Gravekeeper

Which grave? Carry the Hell's Eye

Other things down there

7When something goes wrong

Names in this guide

1The lay of the land

2The beginning

Fate Begins (the boat)

Cave to Hell

3The First Land area

First Land

Grudge-Desire Bog

Bared Dark Hall

Altar of Hanging

4The prisons

Warped Torture Cell

Dark Cellar

Ooze Killing Yard

Beheading Plaza

5The Fountain Plaza

6The lands of desire

Swirling Desire

Karma Hall

Cliff of the Fallen

Desire Scaffold

7The end of the road

Karma Grove

Land's End

The Gate of Judgment

8The graveyards

Names in this guide

Reading the tables

1Weapons

Spear shafts and crossbows

Spear tips and ammunition

How hard you hit

2Tools (Equip Items)

3Use Items

Food and salves

Effigies

Eyes, wheels, wards and bells

4Key items

Keys and devices

Keepsakes

From the graveyards

Names in this guide

1What the judgment counts

2The fifteen ranks