All Ankou Rift Locations Shinobi Art Vengeance March 2026
What are Ankou Rifts in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance? Ankou Rifts are special challenge rooms hidden throughout the game that test your platforming skills and mastery of Ningi abilities, rewarding you with Dark Katana fragments upon completion.
After spending countless hours exploring every corner of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance since its release on August 29, 2026, I’ve finally discovered all ten Ankou Rifts and unlocked the powerful Dark Katana. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share everything I’ve learned about finding and conquering these challenging platforming trials, including community-tested strategies that made my journey significantly easier.
| Guide Section | Key Benefit | Skill Level |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites & Requirements | Know exactly what you need before starting | All Levels |
| Complete Rift Locations | Find every single Ankou Rift efficiently | Intermediate |
| Difficulty Rankings | Plan your completion order strategically | Advanced |
| Dark Katana Rewards | Understand the ultimate prize | All Levels |
Understanding Ankou Rifts and Prerequisites
When I first started playing Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, I made the mistake of trying to access Ankou Rifts too early. These dimensional challenge rooms aren’t just hidden collectibles – they’re demanding platforming gauntlets that require specific Ningi abilities to even access. Through my experience and discussions with the community on Steam and Reddit, I’ve learned that preparation is absolutely crucial.
The most important thing to understand is that you cannot complete all Ankou Rifts in a single playthrough without backtracking. Many rifts require advanced Ningi tools that you’ll only acquire later in the story. I recommend focusing on story progression first, unlocking all abilities, then returning to collect the rifts systematically.
If you enjoy challenging 3D platforming experiences, the Ankou Rifts will test every skill you’ve developed. These challenges are reminiscent of the precision required in other demanding collectibles hunting guides, where patience and practice are essential.
Essential Ningi Tools You’ll Need
Before attempting any serious rift hunting, make sure you’ve unlocked these critical abilities:
- Sword Dive: Acquired in Oboro Village, essential for breaking through specific floor panels
- Wall Jump: Found in The Mountain, necessary for vertical navigation in most rifts
- Air Dash: Located in Neo City, crucial for crossing large gaps
- Grappling Hook: Obtained in ENE Corp Tower, required for several late-game rifts
I learned the hard way that attempting rifts without the proper tools leads to frustration. Save yourself the headache and wait until you have everything unlocked.
Complete Ankou Rift Location Guide
After extensive exploration and with help from the shinobi gaming community, I’ve documented every single Ankou Rift location in the game. I’ve organized them by area to make your collection journey as efficient as possible.
Like other comprehensive collectibles guides on challenging games, each location requires specific strategies and careful preparation to conquer successfully.
Oboro Village (2 Rifts)
Rift #1: Musashi’s House Attic
This was my first Ankou Rift discovery, and it’s relatively accessible early in the game. After obtaining the Sword Dive ability, return to Musashi’s house. In the attic area, you’ll notice a suspicious wooden floor panel near the eastern wall. Use Sword Dive to break through and reveal the rift entrance. The challenge inside focuses on precise jumping between disappearing platforms – I recommend memorizing the pattern during your first attempt.
Rift #2: Village Rooftops Secret
This one took me hours to find initially. From the village center, use the Wall Jump to reach the highest rooftop on the western side. Look for a barely visible shimmer near the chimney – that’s your rift entrance. You’ll need both Wall Jump and Air Dash to navigate the vertical challenge room inside. The key here is patience; rushing through will only lead to repeated failures.
The Mountain (2 Rifts)
Rift #3: Hidden Cave Behind the Waterfall
Classic ninja secret location! At the large waterfall approximately halfway up The Mountain, use Air Dash to reach the hidden cave entrance behind the falling water. The rift portal is at the back of the cave. This challenge combines wall jumping with timed platform sequences. My advice: watch the pattern for a full cycle before attempting – the platforms move in a predictable but fast sequence.
Rift #4: Summit Wind Temple
Near The Mountain’s peak, you’ll find an ancient temple structure. The rift is accessible through a broken window on the temple’s third floor, but reaching it requires a combination of Wall Jump and Grappling Hook. Inside, you’ll face one of the game’s toughest platforming challenges with rotating spike walls and narrow ledges. I died at least twenty times here before finally conquering it.
Neo City (2 Rifts)
Rift #5: Neon Alleyway Portal
In my opinion, this is the easiest rift in the entire game, making it perfect for beginners. In the downtown district, locate the narrow alley between the ramen shop and the electronics store. The rift entrance glows with purple neon light – impossible to miss at night. The challenge inside is straightforward horizontal platforming with generous checkpoints. I completed this one on my second attempt.
Rift #6: Skyscraper Construction Site
This rift requires significant vertical navigation skills. At the unfinished skyscraper in Neo City’s business district, use your full arsenal of movement abilities to reach the construction crane at the top. The rift portal sits on the crane’s arm. The challenge room features moving platforms with tight timing windows – practice your Air Dash timing before attempting this one seriously.
ENE Corp Tower (2 Rifts)
Rift #7: Executive Office Hidden Panel
On the 47th floor of ENE Corp Tower, search the CEO’s office thoroughly. Behind the large portrait on the north wall, you’ll find a hidden button. Press it to reveal the rift entrance. This challenge focuses on stealth mechanics combined with platforming – shadow clones will mirror your movements, adding an extra layer of complexity that caught me off guard initially.
Rift #8: Server Room Maintenance Shaft
The server room on sublevel 3 contains a maintenance shaft accessible only with the Grappling Hook. The rift portal is at the end of the ventilation system. This challenge features electrified floors and precise timing requirements. I found success by breaking the room into sections and perfecting each one individually before attempting full runs.
ENE Corp Laboratory (2 Rifts)
Rift #9: Experimental Chamber Alpha
This location gave me nightmares. In the laboratory’s west wing, find Experimental Chamber Alpha (clearly marked). The rift entrance is inside the containment unit. The challenge here is absolutely brutal – combining every skill you’ve learned with pixel-perfect precision. According to community consensus on Steam forums, this is the hardest rift in the game, and I completely agree. Budget at least an hour for this one.
Rift #10: Rooftop Helipad Secret
The final rift is cleverly hidden on the laboratory’s helipad. After defeating the area boss, return to the helipad at night. Stand in the center of the landing circle and perform a charged Sword Dive. The rift entrance will appear. This final challenge is a victory lap of sorts, combining elements from all previous rifts into one ultimate test.
Difficulty Rankings and Recommended Completion Order
Based on my experience and extensive community feedback from Reddit’s r/Shinobi community, I’ve developed this difficulty ranking system for strategic completion. Similar to how other challenging collectibles require strategic planning, these rifts benefit from careful progression:
| Difficulty | Rift Location | Required Skills | Estimated Attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Neo City Neon Alley | Basic platforming | 1-3 |
| Easy | Oboro Village Attic | Sword Dive, jumping | 2-5 |
| Medium | Village Rooftops | Wall Jump, Air Dash | 5-10 |
| Medium | Mountain Waterfall | Air Dash, timing | 5-10 |
| Medium | Neo City Skyscraper | All movement abilities | 8-12 |
| Hard | ENE Tower Office | Stealth, platforming | 10-15 |
| Hard | Mountain Summit Temple | Grappling, precision | 15-20 |
| Hard | ENE Tower Server Room | Timing, patience | 15-20 |
| Expert | Laboratory Helipad | Everything | 20-30 |
| Nightmare | Laboratory Chamber Alpha | Perfection | 30+ |
I strongly recommend following this order, starting with the easiest rifts to build confidence and muscle memory. The skills you develop in earlier rifts directly translate to success in the harder challenges.
The Dark Katana: Your Ultimate Reward
After conquering all ten Ankou Rifts, you’ll automatically receive the Dark Katana, and let me tell you – it’s absolutely worth the effort. This legendary weapon isn’t just a trophy; it fundamentally changes how you can approach combat.
Dark Katana Benefits
The Dark Katana provides several game-changing advantages:
- Increased Damage: 50% boost to all sword attacks
- Life Steal: Recover health with every successful hit
- Extended Combos: Unlock exclusive attack chains
- Shadow Strike: New special ability that teleports you behind enemies
Since unlocking it, I’ve found the Dark Katana makes subsequent playthroughs significantly more enjoyable. The life steal ability in particular transforms the game’s difficulty, allowing for more aggressive playstyles.
Pro Tips and Advanced Strategies
Through my journey and conversations with other dedicated players in various ninja gaming communities, I’ve compiled these essential tips for Ankou Rift success:
General Strategies
Master the Basics First: Before attempting any rift, spend time in regular levels perfecting your movement abilities. I practiced wall jumping and air dashing in Oboro Village until they became second nature.
Study Before You Jump: Most rift challenges have observable patterns. Take a moment to watch moving platforms, rotating hazards, and enemy patterns before making your move. Patience saved me countless deaths.
Use Visual Cues: The developers included subtle visual hints throughout the rifts. Slightly different colored walls often indicate wall jump points, while faint sparkles suggest air dash trajectories.
Platform-Specific Optimizations
Different platforms offer varying experiences with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. Here’s what I’ve discovered:
PC (Steam): The precision of keyboard and mouse controls makes certain rifts easier. I found mapping Air Dash to a mouse button improved my reaction time significantly.
PlayStation 5: The adaptive triggers provide subtle feedback that helps with timing. The haptic feedback also alerts you to nearby rift entrances – a feature I wish I’d known about earlier. For more PS5 gaming experiences, check out our comprehensive platform guides.
Nintendo Switch: While portable mode is convenient, I strongly recommend docked mode with a Pro Controller for rifts. The larger screen and more precise controls make a significant difference in the challenging sections.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
During my rift-hunting journey, I encountered several problems that the community helped me solve:
Can’t Find a Rift Entrance
If you’re certain you’re in the right location but can’t find the entrance, ensure you have all required Ningi tools. Some rifts won’t even appear until you have the necessary abilities. Also, certain rifts only become visible at specific times of day – try visiting during both day and night cycles.
Repeatedly Failing the Same Section
When I kept dying in the same spot (looking at you, Laboratory Chamber Alpha), I found success by changing my approach entirely. Sometimes the obvious path isn’t the best one. Experiment with different ability combinations and timing. This approach has proven effective in other challenging action game guides as well.
Game Performance Issues in Rifts
Some rifts can cause frame drops on certain systems due to their complex visual effects. I improved performance by lowering shadow quality and particle effects in the settings. The slight visual downgrade was worth the smoother gameplay in challenging sections.
Community Resources and Ongoing Discoveries
The Shinobi: Art of Vengeance community continues to discover new strategies and optimizations. I regularly check the gaming guide sections on various platforms for updates. The Steam Community guides section has been particularly helpful, with detailed video walkthroughs for each rift.
The official SEGA forums also occasionally share developer insights about rift design, which helped me understand the intended strategies for certain challenges. Knowing the developer’s perspective changed how I approached several of the harder rifts.
For players interested in other challenging collectibles experiences, I recommend checking out guides for cross-platform games that offer similar completion challenges across multiple systems.
Conclusion: Your Ninja Journey Awaits
Collecting all Ankou Rifts in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance represents one of gaming’s most satisfying completionist challenges in 2026. While the journey tested my patience and platforming skills to their limits, the sense of accomplishment and the powerful Dark Katana reward made every death worth it.
Remember, there’s no shame in taking breaks when frustration builds – I certainly needed them, especially during my attempts at Laboratory Chamber Alpha. The key is persistence, practice, and learning from each failure. With the strategies and locations I’ve shared in this guide, you’re well-equipped to conquer every Ankou Rift and claim your Dark Katana.
Whether you’re a completionist seeking 100% achievement or simply want to experience everything Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has to offer, the Ankou Rifts provide some of the game’s most memorable and rewarding challenges. Good luck, fellow shinobi – may your reflexes be swift and your timing perfect!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I complete Ankou Rifts in any order?
Yes, once you have the required Ningi tools for each rift, you can complete them in any order you prefer. However, I strongly recommend following the difficulty progression I’ve outlined above. Starting with easier rifts helps build the skills necessary for the harder challenges.
Do I need to complete all Ankou Rifts to finish the main story?
No, Ankou Rifts are completely optional content. You can finish the main story without entering a single rift. However, the Dark Katana reward makes the final boss significantly easier, so I recommend at least attempting them before the endgame.
What happens if I miss an Ankou Rift during my playthrough?
Don’t worry – you can return to any area after completing the main story to collect missed rifts. The game includes a chapter select feature that makes backtracking convenient. I actually prefer collecting rifts post-game when I have all abilities unlocked.
Is the Dark Katana worth the effort required to unlock it?
Absolutely! The Dark Katana isn’t just a cosmetic reward – it’s genuinely game-changing. The life steal ability alone transforms combat encounters, and the increased damage makes boss fights significantly more manageable. Plus, the satisfaction of conquering all ten rifts is reward enough for many players.
Are there any hidden or secret Ankou Rifts beyond the main ten?
As of March 2026, only ten Ankou Rifts exist in the game. However, the developers at Lizardcube have hinted at potential DLC content that might include additional rifts. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for more challenging content in future updates!