Summary
The first boss of Okami 3 (name subject to change). Kuni heard the pleas of local villagers lamenting on a fearsome creature as big as a boulder smashing their crops and toppling trees onto their buildings. They thought they could rebuild after the attack, but the creature returned again, and again, and again, and again, and so on and so forth. After tracking down the creature, Kuni and Sanmomme found themselves confronted by a great big black bear with a crescent shaped white patch across their chest and a demon scroll over their face. After a fight, the scroll burns off, and the bear spits out a ball of light that flies into the sky. Kuni then receives a new weapon, the Mochi Pounding Mallet, a weapon treated like a staff due to how long the shaft is compared to the height of Kuni. A new constellation forms, revealing a rabbit upon restoration. Sanmomme then learns the technique crescent. Shortly afterwards, the duo are able to bring forth the moon for apparently the first time in a while. Furthermore, Sanmomme is able to understand the bear and discover that he wishes to assist the warrior however he can. He can also follow certain scents.
Tofu-Kozo's advice
T-that beast you're after? He's up ahead. Y-you didn't hear it from me, buuuuut.... he's a slow guy, but he packs a punch. Also, he likes to roll. Remember that those bombs you magically create stun rolling enemies.
Boss Fight
Attacks
- Attacks phase 1
| Name | Description | Damage/effects |
|---|---|---|
| Slash combo | Three swipes with his claws, following each other in quick succession. He's able to only pull of one strike or two instead of the full three combo. | Does a third unit of damage per swipe. |
| Stomp | Picks up a hind leg and tries to bring it down on top of you. | Two thirds a unit of damage. |
| Walnut hammer | Slams the walnut in front of him. | Does a unit of damage. |
| Walnut swipe | Swipes the walnut in front of him. Sometimes follows up into walnut hammer. | Does two thirds a unit of damage. |
| Walnut toss | Tosses the walnut at your location. It will bounce back to him. When it is thrown, you can't affect it if it has a blue hue while hurtling towards you. If it does have a red hue, you can perform a power slash to hit it back at the moon bear and stun him. | Does a unit of damage. |
| Walnut roll (after he gets on the walnut) | Tries to roll over you with the walnut. | Contact equals one unit of damage. |
| Bear roll (after knocked of walnut) | Tries to roll over you with his own mass. | Contact equals one unit off damage. |
- Attacks phase 2
| Name | Description | Damage/effects |
|---|---|---|
| Slash combo | Same as before | Same as before |
| Stomp | Same as before | Same as before |
| Leaping stomp | Crouches, leaps towards Kuni, landing hind legs first upon the spot Kuni occupied. | Deals a unit and a third of damage. |
| Cabbage hammer | Slams cabbage in front of him. Faster than walnut hammer. | Does a unit of damage. |
| Cabbage swipe | Swipes cabbage in front of him. Sometimes follows up into cabbage hammer. Faster than walnut swipe. | Does two thirds a unit of damage. |
| Cabbage toss | Tosses cabbage at Kuni's location. It will bounce back to him. Again, blue hue means you can't affect it, red hue means power slash to stun the moon bear. | Does a unit of damage. |
| Cabbage Roll (after he gets on the cabbage) | The Moon Bear bumps into you while riding the cabbage | Does a unit of damage |
| Bear roll (after knocked off cabbage) | Same as before | Same as before |
- Phase 3 attacks
| Name | Description | Damage/effects |
|---|---|---|
| slash combo | Same as before | Same as before |
| Stomp | Same as before | Same as before |
| Leaping stomp | Same as before | Same as before |
| Crescent slash | One of his claws light up purple. He then swipes his claw in front of him, sending a damaging crescent shaped slash outwards. | Deals a unit of damage. |
| Beehive hammer | Similar to cabbage hammer, except leaves a trail of bees where he swings. | Impact deals a unit of damage. The trail deals a third of a unit of damage. |
| Beehive swipe | Similar to cabbage swipe, except leaves a trail of bees where he swings. | Deals two thirds a unit of damage. The trail deal a third of a unit of damage. |
| Beehive toss | Similar to cabbage toss, except leaves a trail of bees where the hive goes. | Impact does a unit of damage. Trail deals a third of a unit of damage. |
| Beehive Roll (after he gets on the beehive) | The Moon Bear bumps into you while riding the beehive. Leaves behind a trail of bees. | Does a unit of damage |
| Bear roll (after knocked off beehive) | Same as before | Same as before |
Strategy
- techniques necessary: power slash and cherry bomb
Upon entering the arena via a drop off of a tree root, Kuni and Sanmomme find themselves at the apparent den of the creature terrorizing the village, a grassy area surrounded by trees blocking the sun. They then see the creature, a great moon bear the size of a boulder, wearing a demon scroll over his face. After growling at the pair, it jumps down, brandishes its claws, and readies for a fight. Upon starting the fight, a scene plays out where it rushes to one of the nearby trees, shoulder tackling it. A walnut the size of its stomach falls down next to him. He stands on his hind legs and picks up the walnut, holding it over his shoulder.
- Phase 1
During this part of the fight, the moon bear will lumber towards you to try and attack you. He is slow in this form, but you should still watch out for his attacks. Watch out for body movement to determine when to attack and when to retreat. You can power slash the walnut back at him when it is red while soaring through the air. This'll stun him and leave him susceptible to combos and brush techniques. After you do a sufficient amount of damage to him, he'll drop the walnut on the ground, hop on top of it, and try to roll it at you.
As explained previously in the dungeon, rolling enemies are often rendered helpless with a well placed cherry bomb. Place a cherry bomb in his path, and you'll knock him off of the walnut. Then, he'll curl into a ball and roll about, bouncing the walnut off of his form.
Again, stun him with a well placed cherry bomb. He'll be rendered dizzy (not the susceptible to damage and brush strokes dizzy), and the walnut will earn a red hue. Power slash the walnut just right, and you'll launch it into the moon bear, shattering it on him. At this point, he should be down a full third of his health. Next, a scene plays out where he rushes to a tree, shoulder tackling it. A cabbage as large as his stomach falls down next to him, and he stands on his hind legs, placing the cabbage over his shoulder.
- Phase 2
The Moon Bear behaves like before, except he can swing his weapon faster than the walnut. Furthermore, he can jump from his current position to all the way across the arena. However, he'll target the area Kuni occupies, meaning you simply have to move away from your position. He usually performs this attack when you're far from him. Watch his body movements and stun him, find openings to strike him. When you deal a sufficient amount of damage to him, he'll drop the cabbage on the ground, jump on top of it, and try to roll it at you. Again, leave a cherry bomb in his path, he falls of the walnut, then starts rolling himself. Cherry bomb him, hit the cabbage at him with a power slash, and the cabbage will break on him. He should be down two thirds of his health. He'll proceed to shoulder tackle another tree, and a beehive as large as his stomach falls next to him. He'll stand on his hind legs, and places the beehive on his shoulder.
- Phase 3
Same as before, except now his weapon leaves a trail of bees where he goes. It's usually too high to worry you, but when he swings the hive, then the bees start to become a worry. The bee trail lasts five moon bear steps, then the back of the trail disappears. Follow the same strategy as before. One decent amount of damage later, he drops the hive, climbs onto it, and rolls it at you. The hive again leaves a trail of bees. Use the cherry bomb, the moon bear rolls around himself. Bomb the moon bear, power slash the hive into him, it breaks on him, and he loses the last of his health.
As a companion
After defeating Moon Bear in battle, Kuni is able to call on him, via patches of special grass. When he arrives, Kuni rides on his back. Outside of battle, he can smash most structures with a slash of his claw, he can sniff certain scents to track something down, but he may be a bit too large for certain pathways.
Trivia
- Enemies known as onikumas appear later that behave similarly to the Moon Bear in his boss fight.
- Night never appears in the game until Sanmomme uses crescent after the fight, implying the Moon Bear ate Yumigami before the start of the game
(more to come)