* AnticlimaxBoss: The final fight in your rematch with Shinjiro is really easy. You can perform the Tiger on him and kill him with a few shots from your upgraded rifle.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Admit it, the cel-shaded graphics are beautiful.
* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Shinjiro]] is the leader of the Jackal Gang and Katakara who annihilated the Kusaragi Clan. Seeking the [[MacGuffin Gale Sword]], Shinjiro led the genocide that turned the desert into a ghost town full of bandits before hunting TheHero who had the sword, using any means to kill him, even sacrificing his men as [[CannonFodder fodder]] in his many schemes. After losing [[CoDragons Payne and Okaji]], Shinjiro took the Hero's friends hostage, and force his allies to betray him before luring him into a brutal final duel. Despicable enough to do anything for the precious Gale Sword, Shinjiro left the once-thriving desert into a wasteland full of the worst of the worst.
* DemonicSpiders: The machine pistol ninjas. They are just as good as you with powerful melee and ranged capability. If you're not careful, their rapid gunfire can deal massive damage in a heartbeat.
* FridgeLogic:
** [[RewardingVandalism The town must have a really crappy economy.]]
** "Those bandits are robbing our banks! They're carrying off all our gold!" Apparently, there was so much of it, they stuck them in boxes around the town.
* GameBreaker: The Tiger. This even works on bosses, making the difficulty drop like a rock for the whole game.
* {{Narm}}: "I'm gonna cut your throat with your own Katana! Poetic ain't it?"
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The first game was very much hit-and-miss, with extremely finnicky controls. This sequel does away with all that by capitalizing on the Wii [=MotionPlus=] and many critics found a lot to like about it.
* ThatOneBoss: Shinjiro's first encounter. He moves and attacks very quickly and deals a lot of damage if one doesn't use the Tiger efficiently.
* ThatOneSidequest:
** The wanted poster sidequests can be a bit tough because they might blend in with the intentionally drab CattlePunk environments.
** Hope you have a BladderOfSteel to score a gold medal in challenge mode for Rattlesnake Canyon. It's a [[MarathonLevel long, long, level]] and that doesn't help matters when AutoSave is disabled in challenge mode, meaning that you must complete a chapter in one sitting.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: It's clear they were trying to do more with the plot, but it feels really barebones for the most part. [[spoiler:Not only do you never find out why you were banished from your clan, but the characters are mostly flat and what little exposition there is doesn't really do much for the story.]]