SPOILER ALERT!

Against my better judgement, I am absolutely loving this game (on Chapter 14 right now and itching to play again already). I was a big fan of the difficulty scale on the first one and the second is just as (if not more) challenging. But for some reason the developers decided to be very very perplexing with the difficulty scale in this sequel. And not just because an enemy is hard; it’s more that they’ll just “randomly” kill you without warning. Case in point - the Armadillo battle in Chapter 7. As soon as you finish him off, he explodes in a HUGE fireball, killing you instantly. Running away does nothing…I tried being on the opposite side of the arena…dead. Firing off a Ninpo just before he blows supposedly works but again…dead. No, you have to block. That’s right, holding up your arms and sword saves your ass. You can be standing right next to the ‘dillo and not take any damage. But you didn’t know it was going to explode did you, so why the heck would you block when you just vanquished a boss? Thank you, Team Ninja ;)

Anyway, the super super easy way to kill the Armadillo is get in close and stay to either side of its head. Combo the heck out of the side of its face. When it tries to bite you, do the quick dash out of the way. These facial attacks do a TON of damage so you should wear him down pretty quickly. When it flares up and turns red, jump back in there and do the same thing. When it drops finally, hit Y near it’s head to do your obliteration technique and finish him off. IMMEDIATELY after Ryu jumps off (following the obliteration “cut-scene”), START HOLDING L1 TO BLOCK!! Unless you have a Talisman of Rebirth left, then you’re safe (but don’t waste it if you don’t have to!). Now go buy another controller to replace the one your smashed before knowing that Ryu’s arms can withstand a sub-nuclear explosion. P.S. Maybe two for the later mini-boss fight when you fight two of them at the same time. BLOCK + BLOCK!

Gamertag: BboyHacynth