One of the many old masters Ryo meets in Hong Kong is Jianmin, a master of Tai Chi. Despite his age, his skill easily surpasses Ryo's and our hero can barely land a hit on him when they spar together. Jianmin eventually teaches Ryo a palm strike move, and tasks him with practicing on a tree and covering the ground in leaves. The lesson ends with Jianmin gently touching the tree, yet with a force so powerful that it sends a storm of leaves falling to the ground.
Once she is introduced, Xiuying, a young, beautiful and intelligent woman in her mid-twenties, is quickly revealed to be one of the most powerful characters in the entire series, takes Hopeless Boss Fight to a whole new level, and shines during her many Big Damn Heroes moments, including saving Ryo from Dou Niu . While she does try to dissaude Ryo from continuing his quest for vengeance and mostly stays out of his affairs, what she does teach him is invaluable to his journey.
During Fangmei's Birthday sidequest, a hidden QTE fight can be initiated in Man Mo Bistro where Ryo has to save her from some thugs, and she can even help him out. Beat the QTE without making any mistakes and Ryo will knock a thug into a frying pan she's holding. If the last button is missed, Ryo will get put into a choke hold, and Fangmei will intervene by repeatedly hitting the thug's head with a large spoon, giving our hero the opening he needs to take him out.
In Wan Chai, players can unlock a hidden martial arts tournament at the arcade and fight against two surprise opponents. While the fights themselves are entertaining, what some might find particularly awesome about them is that while Ryo clearly has his reservations about fighting against two young women, he accepts their challenge and fights them as not just martial artists, but equals. The skill both girls demonstrate are absolutely nothing to scoff at, both accept their defeat graciously and are grateful that Ryo didn't hold back because they were women. Oh, and Eileen's fight music is awesome.
Trying the Chawan Sign at the diner where you met the Poison Brothers will bring them out, and you finally get to fight them in a brief QTE fight. Beat them, and they'll tremble before Ryo and cooperate with him from that point on.
The alleyway brawl in the White Dynasty Quarter when Zhu's associate is kidnapped. Ryo goes after his captors and takes out every punk that stands in his way, and the entire sequence feels like a piece of action cinema. And just when a nasty surprise awaits him at the end, Xiuying takes out Yuan's backup without anyone noticing.
The chase against Ren in a building under construction, which ends with the two of them falling off the side of the building and safely onto a truck.
A surprise mentor in Kowloon challenges Ryo in a completely dark room, teaching him not to rely on sight. It's the blind music player Ryo met earlier, who isn't actually blind, and turns out to be an old friend of Ryo's father. Although he's devastated at the news of his death, he becomes another ally on Ryo's journey.
Ryo's fight with the deadly street fighter, Chunyan. He ends the fight by throwing her out of the suspended ring, and she's left hanging on for her life as the spectators call for Ryo to finish her off, much to her brother's horror. Despite how many combatants died at their hands and how gleeful they were in doing it, Ryo instead pulls her back into the ring, leaving her and her brother completely shocked at the mercy shown towards them.
After terrorizing Ryo and Ren with a chainsaw, Yuan decides to challenge Ryo to a duel. No QTE battles, no running away, the two of them finally duke it out, which makes Yuan's defeat all the more satisfying.
The final battle in Kowloon delivers what fans had been waiting for the entire time. After fighting against the Chi You Men, Ryo finally catches up with Lan Di himself, who observes our hero's fight against Dou Niu from a helicopter ladder. After a long and brutal fight, the finishing blow is nothing short of epic: Xiuying's Counter Elbow Assault, finally bringing down the reign of the Yellow Head leader.
In Guilin, when Ryo and Shenhua watch over the campfire while the other sleeps, Shenhua can be heard singing the vocal version of her theme song, while Ryo practices Tai Chi.
The official comics introduced in the Xbox version reveal more to the story that wasn't implemented in the games, such as Chai sneaking onto the ferry and fighting Ryo again, and Giuzhang rescuing Joy when she was younger.
