Hm, I'm not sure. There's a very good reason to expect that Otakemaru is actually at least as fluent in Japanese than... whatever it is that you're actually getting from soul cores. I'm not sure that it's actually speech, not in the way that living youkai use? Like, you do pick up their souls, I imagine it's rather more an impression of their last thoughts.
I can certainly imagine Shuten-Doji actively wanting to communicate, though.
If they're the actual last thoughts before becoming Soul Cores, than it's even more telling that Shuten Doji thinks in human speech.
At first I thought it was due to Shuten Doji's backstory being that he Was Once a Man...except a lot of Yokai are examples of Was Once a Man (except for those who started out as animals or lamps or umbrellas).
Edited by M84 on May 31st 2021 at 1:04:14 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedI think it tells you more about Shuten-Douji than Otakemaru, though. I mean, go back and watch the story you're being told at the beginning of the game.
Damn it, I need to farm so much china if I want to make the equipment I want to play with now...
Edited by RainehDaze on May 30th 2021 at 6:04:37 PM
That story indicates that Otakemaru used to be on speaking terms with humans, I assume. But at this point he's so disgusted with them that he doesn't really want to talk with them any more than necessary (ie when he's manipulating them).
Edited by M84 on May 31st 2021 at 1:09:44 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedAlso, it just occurred to me that several of the boss fights in this game are actually just Otakemaru possessing someone. Saito Yoshitatsu, Azai Nagamasa, Saito Toshimitsu as Ryomen Sukuna, Tokichiro...shit, even the Final Boss fight is an example except he's possessing you and you two are duking it out in your mindscape.
Edited by M84 on May 31st 2021 at 1:10:37 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedSince I haven't gone to the trouble of forging gear that has all Luck and Item Drop Rate boosts, I'm stuck resorting to using Soul Cores with Yokai Shift Luck boosts on Ninetails which also offers a +70 Luck boost in Yokai Shift. That still only gives me +175 Luck total in Yokai Shift. My default Luck comes from Tea Sets.
If my Magic stat were higher I could equip some Luck Talismans too I guess, but it's still at 5 since I haven't really been using Onmyo for anything but buffs like Barrier Talisman. So I can only equip one Luck Talisman.
Edited by M84 on May 31st 2021 at 1:53:19 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedI've never bothered going that far. Good news is that there's a spirit in the first DLC that just flat gives you a luck bonus.
Managed to get the armour smithing text I want, anyway.
◊ So just relying on item drops for the rest was fine. Should probably boost my HP a ton now, but since I'll be levelling Onmyo and stuff as I go along, eh.
I see you've also got the "helms hidden" option. So far I haven't found a single helm that I find appealing enough to hide my character's face.
It's not like Dark Souls where not only was the face modeling still pretty bland, but most of the time you were a beef jerky zombie anyway. Meaning you want to keep your head hidden.
Disgusted, but not surprisedSome of the helms are interesting, others are full-face concealing things I don't want because I put time into that.
An interesting but kind of annoying aspect of the skin tone selections is you can do as dark as you want and as bloody jaundiced as you want (I am... reasonably confident nobody is that shade of green-yellow who's healthy), but you can't actually do pale to any extent.
Edited by RainehDaze on May 30th 2021 at 7:32:17 PM
Alright, so here's the texts I've gotten from Otakemaru. I don't know if it's the full list of texts, but at this point I really don't care anymore.
- Justice Ministry Armor
- Candlestick Slicer & Ridged Sword
- Shichisei & Heishishorin
- Ame-no-Mahitotsu's Axe
- Ishida Masamune
- The Exceptional One's Armor
- Gallant Armor
- Hornthrust Bow
- Kusanagi Tsurugi
- Raijin's Claw
- Yamauba Spear
- Great Chidori Cross Spear
- Snowmelt Kusarigama
- The Drying Pole
- Phoenix Wing
- Flashfire Splitstaff
- Sarutobi's Gunsticks
- Sanada's Crimson Armor
- Raging Fire Clawed Fists
- Great Holly Spear
- Futsunomitama
Edited by M84 on Jun 1st 2021 at 1:34:31 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedApparently:
Smithing Text: Vajra Tonfa
Smithing Text: Sakon's Spear
Smithing Text: Justice Ministry Armor
Smithing Text: Big Dipper Blade & Heishishorin-ken (Shichisei & Heishishorin)
Smithing Text: Shoudakiri Mitsutada & Shinogito Shiro (Candlestick Slicer & Ridged Sword)
Smithing Text: Ame-no-Mahitotsu's Axe
Smithing Text: Ishida Masamune
Smithing Text: Futsunomitama
Smithing Text: Onimaru Kunitsuna
Smithing Text: Raijin's Claw
Smithing Text: Watatsumi's Watch
Smithing Text: Phoenix Wing
Smithing Text: The Exeptional One's Armor
Smithing Text: Sanada's Crimson Armor
Smithing Text: Kusanagi Tsurugi
Smithing Text: Tsuruga Masamune & Hocho Toshiro
Smithing Text: Yamauba
Smithing Text: Great Chidori Cross Spear
Smithing Text: Great Holly Spear
Smithing Text: Snowmelt Kusarigama
Smithing Text: The Drying Pole
Smithing Text: Hornthrust Bow
Smithing Text: Tsunonotsuki Bow
Smithing Text: Golden Sun Helmet
Smithing Text: Tosa Governor's Armor
Smithing Text: Gallant Armor
Smithing Text: Sanada's Crimson Armor
Smithing Text: The Exceptional One's Armor
Smithing Text: Narukami
And then there was a few from the DLC adding fists and splitstaffs.
That explains the Flashfire Splitstaff and the Raging Fire Claws I guess.
Also, I think the Tsunonotsuki Bow is the Hornthrust Bow, and whoeve edited that into the wiki had a different translation or something.
There's apparently some overlap between Otakemaru's text drops and text drops from other bosses like William.
Disgusted, but not surprised

I take it to mean that they're more fluent in their native Yokai speech than in human speech.
Shuten Doji might be an exception since he's just that much of a fan of human sake. Guy might be the Yokai equivalent of a weaboo.
Disgusted, but not surprised