The Dragon’s Back
Shadow Warrior 3 starts in the Wang Cave, where the game's protagonist, Lo Wang, explains to Hoji's mask the events from the past game and how he doomed the entire world by releasing a ten-thousand-year-old dragon from the Shadow Realm.
Completing this section of the game will unlock the "The End of the World" trophy/achievement.
Getting to the Dragon's Head
Lo Wang's story will be juxtaposed with gameplay sections where you'll traverse through an icy mountain to get close to the dragon. You'll start this part with "Dragontail," Lo Wang's Katana, and the only sword-like weapon you'll find in the game.
This area serves as a tutorial to get used to the game's mechanics. You'll learn basic things like how to:
- Dash
- Perform a double jump
- Perform a double jump with Aerial Dash
- Destroy Demonic Thorns
- Slide
- Jump onto vertical surfaces
- Perform a Chi-Blast
- Change weapons and open the weapon wheel
- Perform a wall run
- Perform Finishers
Receiving Your First Firearm
Shortly after destroying your first Demonic Thorn, you'll receive "The Outlaw," a revolver, and one of the six available firearms in this game.
With this revolver, you can fire long-range precision shots in quick succession.
Meeting The Shogai
After receiving the revolver, you'll be introduced to the "Shogai," one of the many enemy types found in Shadow Warrior 3. These demons are very fast and deal damage using their claws but can be killed quickly with just a few shots.
Learning How to Heal and Get Ammo
In this area, you'll find health and ammo pickups. The red ones restore your HP, while the blue ones give you ammunition for the firearm you are using whenever you pick them up.
Another way to get ammo and HP is by killing enemies. Those you kill with the katana drop ammo, while enemies killed using firearms drop health.
Meeting The Kugutsu
When Lo Wangs gets closer to the dragon, the creature will spawn a new type of demonic enemy, the Kugutsu.
These guys are as easy to kill as the Shogai, but unlike the other demons, the Kugutsy throw ice from their arms, hurting you from a distance.
Receiving the Riot Gun
After defeating the first row of Kugutsus, keep moving forward, and you'll eventually receive the Riot Gun. This one is a shotgun that deals a lot of damage to enemies in a short range.
Talking With Zilla
After Lo Wang stabs the dragon in the eye, you'll be brought back to the present, where he is still talking with Hoji's masks. Shortly after, Zilla will appear in the Wang Cave, but Lo Wang won't notice him at first.
The tutorial continues, and you'll be back in the icy mountain to learn more mechanics. This is when you'll be introduced to Finisher Orbs, yellow spheres that restore charges of your Finisher Gauge. Another way to obtain these orbs is by killing the Yokais.
You need to have these charges to perform finishers and instantly kill an enemy. Every enemy in the game can be killed using this method (except for bosses), and after performing a finisher, you'll gain a gory weapon that will aid you in combat for a limited amount of time.
After killing even more enemies, Zilla will talk to Lo Wang, bringing him back to reality only to be transported back to the mountain again.
This section of the game will end with a cutscene where Lo Wang jumps to reach the dragon and fails and falls off the mountain.