Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness (Playstation) - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki

1) Synopsis
Set Difficulty 6/10
Approximate time to master 30+ hours
Minimum numbers of playthroughs needed 2 due to endings however 3 recommended for challenges
Number of missable achievements 60
Does difficulty affect achievements? Not applicable
Hardest achievement of the set Castle of the Damned [m]

2) Introduction

So are you ready? Deception is a game about, well that, deception. You play as the prince of Zemekia, who after returning home is framed for murdering his father. You narrowly escape being executed for treason only to find your way to the Castle of the Damned. After arriving, your very own revenge story begins! The set is designed around general progression like upgrading everything and viewing all 6 endings, challenges based on the end of chapter results, as well as smaller chapter specific events. It may appear daunting at first but this guide here is to break it down so that it isn't overwhelming! There will be some tips and tricks that will help with cleaning up any achievements you may miss, without requiring an additional full playthrough later on!

3) Walkthrough

[Step 1: First Playthrough!]

The primary focus of this playthrough will be to simply enjoy the game without worrying too much about all of the achievements. The achievements are ordered based off of chapter so if you follow the achievement list you should be able to see the general challenges of that specific chapter. They will also support trigger so whenever you're at the point for an achievement, it will show in the bottom right hand corner that you're at the right point!

There are 6 endings to the game, and I will include a table later in which explains how to get all of them, however do not worry about which ending you get on this playthrough as a second playthrough is required to get all 6 endings. 4 are possible on first playthrough and you can get the other 2 on the second.

Whilst working through your first playthrough, the main things I'd suggest is to split up the point where you capture or kill enemies in the 3~ chapter blocks however if you don't get some of them these can be cleared up later. As you progress through this playthrough, try and become accustomed with body collecting which becomes available from the start of chapter 2 as this allows for you to lure invaders to the castle so that you can obtain additional resources. Also become familiar with monster creation which is possible after completing chapter 6 when you can start enslaving invaders that you capture and you can then use these for monster creation.

When you reach chapter 26, try to keep a save at the start of this chapter as you can reload this to replay the last 2 chapters to obtain 4 endings per playthrough depending on choices that you select in chapters 26 and 27.

If you are given the option to resurrect at the end of chapter 8, I would recommend to do that on this playthrough, if not, make sure to do this on playthrough 2! The monster that you receive by selecting this option is not included in the achievements for levelling all monsters ("Monster Rancher" and "Castle of the Damned") and for that specific achievement I would suggest to attempt these on playthrough 3, however these can also be attempted on playthrough 2 if you feel comfortable enough, as you'll need to utilise every opportunity for exp whilst gaining as much gold as possible.

During this step you should make progress towards the following sections

You will have completed most of these sections

If you created She Death this playthrough, you should get all from the following. If not, ensure this is completed on the second playthrough

[Step 2: Second playthrough!]

For this playthrough, you will want to play very similar to the first playthrough however try and do the opposite of the first playthrough for any of the chapter specific challenges for capturing/destroying all invaders. It will also be important to ensure you get the opposite outcome in chapter 8 as this will allow for you to achieve the other 2 endings in a very similar manner to the first playthrough.

During this step you should make progress towards the following sections

You will have completed most of these sections

[Step 3: Third playthrough and clean up!]

For the third playthrough you should be familiar with all of the systems and it's this playthrough that I would recommend to attempt for the "Castle of the Damned" achievement. The biggest difficulty for this achievement is ensuring that you can obtain enough exp for yourself to reach level 15, but also enough to level up all of the monsters. This achievement is the most difficult as there is a limited amount of exp that you can gain throughout the game and you will also be spending all of your gold on block orbs so that you can summon monsters to gain exp with them.

Each monster you summon has an associated cost which you pay with block orbs. Each block orb costs 300 gold from the merchant, and for C-B rank monsters, each summon costs between 2 to 6 block orbs (600 to 1800 gold per summon!) I would recommend levelling up monsters to B rank by having them deal damage to enemies, but not letting them finish the enemy off, and getting the exp for yourself on the killing blow. Later into the game when you have more resources available and you start getting closer to level 15, start allowing the monsters to get the killing blow as they will receive more exp this way. You can deal damage via destroy traps to weaken them and allow the monster to finish them off if wanting to maximise the amount of exp from gold.

Due to the time restraint to get exp, you will also want to ensure you can create a monster as soon as possible. The best way to do this would be via body collecting after finishing chapter 6 and luring a wizard, soldier and pirate. If all 3 arrive, then a cleric should also arrive. Ensure you enslave all of these via capture methods for monster creation as the soldier, pirate and cleric are required to create a zombie. You will also require a wizard to create a phantom so it's good to get that now so it's easier to get later.

If all 4 of those enemies don't show up, you can split this across a couple of chapters where you lure less however it is luck based if they actually arrive.

During this step you should finish up the following and any others you may not have achieved yet.

4) General gameplay tips and tricks

You will obtain different resources depending on how you take out an invader.

  • If you capture them, you will have the choice to obtain either MP, gold, or enslave them (last one after finishing chapter 6)
  • If you destroy them, they will drop a bag of gold You will want to maximise what types of resources you receive however the resources that are generally most valuable are gold and enslaving for monster creation. You will need to capture 1 of every enemy type that can be captured, and some require you to capture 2-3 of them. When playing through the game, make sure to make backups! You can only keep one save on the memory card due to the game requiring 8 slots, so backing up memory cards will help cleaning up any chapter specific challenges that you missed a lot easier to get back to.

I would recommend to keep a save backed up at the start of the chapter every 3 chapters, starting from chapter 4, so chapters 4, 7, 10 etc when the "capture pro" and "destroy pro" achievements begin. You can backup a save by making a copy of the memory card after saving at those points in the game, and can then copy them back to the memory card the emulator reads when needed. Just make sure the name of the memory card matches the name of the game when you go to open them! If you are unsure how to backup and restore a memory card this way feel free to reach out either via the website or discord and I'll help however I can.

Additional Resources

A great guide for the game without spoilers can be found at the following link. This includes an overview of how to obtain all 6 endings at the very bottom as well as a lot of chapter specific information. https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/573108-tecmos-deception-invitation-to-darkness/faqs/49725

The following guide is also useful for very specific bits of information as it has a lot more detail, however isn't as well formatted overall and does include spoilers, so be warned! It does include Shadow's Weakness however for the "General Pelipper" achievement (yes the name is a Pokemon reference, and it's a hint towards their weakness!) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/573108-tecmos-deception-invitation-to-darkness/faqs/3825

5) Achievement Specific Information

Progression | Total points: 68

This is all general progression that will be almost guaranteed. The only one that you will need to make sure you do some extra for is hitting level 18 which will require body collecting on a playthrough for some extra experience whilst not having monsters take the final hit.

Endings | Total points: 51

The endings will come naturally however here is a breakdown on how to get all of the endings. The only one not listed here is "But I'm Right Here" - In order to achieve this you need to complete the requirements as if you were going to get the evil ending, and as you arrive at the altar for the final fight, ignore the enemy that shows up, and interact with the mirror.

Table displaying ending conditions - Text version in first guide of additional resources section.

Capture Pro | Total points: 80

The following batch are for clearing each chapter whilst only capturing. Any times where a kill is mandatory this is exempt from this rule. The 3 mandatory kills in the game are in chapters 13, 23 and 24. There is only a single mandatory kill in each of these chapters.

Destroy Pro | Total points: 80

The following batch are for clearing each chapter whilst only using destroy traps or monsters to kill enemies. You can only use capture traps in chapter 1 which is why that is not included here.

Miscellaneous Challenges & Bonuses | Total points: 55

Damageless | Total points: 125

The following achievements are relatively straight forward and simply require you to complete each chapter without taking damage. The difficulty varies per chapter and any time spent body collecting will not affect this as it's tied directly to the end of chapter bonus. The most difficult enemies for these achievements are any ranged enemies and ninja due to their speed. For ranged enemies you can side step their attack however this can make it more difficult to get them in the right location so that you can take them out. Generally using monsters against these types of enemies will make it easier to defeat them whilst not taking any damage.

Monsters & Slaves | Total points: 67

After completing chapter 6 you will have the option to enslave invaders that you capture. You can then use these invaders to create monsters which you can then summon to help in combat at the cost of block orbs. You only need to perform the monster creation once and then the monster is permanently unlocked for use.

Monsters - She Death | Total points: 13

This batch of achievements revolve around the monster "She Death". For the achievements for levelling up to A rank, these are recommended to be done on a playthrough where you aren't aiming for Castle of the Damned due to this requiring additional resource, whilst She Death isn't required for that achievement. Respect the Dead is unlocked if you select to not resurrect at the end of chapter 8, if given the choice. This is a good option to take for the third playthrough when aiming for Castle of the Damned.

Traps | Total points: 46

These achievements just require you to upgrade your traps. You can upgrade these at the development part at the start of each chapter and also by interacting with the crystal at the altar by spending MP.

Castle of the Damned | Total points: 50

The single largest challenge of the set. See step 3 for more in depth information. You'll need all the exp and gold you can get!