Why does the (sword guy with white pants) guard getting away from Ayame mean Rin can turn the Kuroya statues and what the heck do they actually do? is there a point at all?
Why does Ranzou living through his fight with Ayame mean Rin can now meet with the informant and does this have a point either?

the guard and Ranzou are just what the designers made the variables. as for a logical reason, there probably isn't one. the statues are apparently supposed to confuse the guards, but they don't, making them a pain in the ass and little else.

i always wondered why Rin couldn't figure out where Jyuzou was without the guy telling her. even if she didn't know what was behind that big gate, you'd think she'd still check.

I agree on the subject of how pointless those little nuances are. :/ All they do is cause pointless pondering about how all those differences in the plot don't mean jack in the end, and don't tie in together cohesively. ANNOYING. >:/

Here's my "why does...?"
Why does Sega/K2 have to use the same engine that the very first game was modeled around for Fatal Shadows? The game has a pretty good following of fans? Decent if not anything else? Why not take advantage of the foot hold the game had, since it was like the first stealth/sneaking game, and I don't know CHANGE IT FOR THE BETTER SOMEHOW?
Let's face it, combat stinks. I'd like to be a lot more versatile like say, oh I don't know... A NINJA MAYBE?
I like the fact that FS took a different approach with the plot, rather than use the omnipotent evil sorceror convention. :/
The game deserves some attention to make it better, and fans deserve something better too because we go out and buy the game anyway, don't we?

Don't make a mountain out of a mole-hill. Combat was'nt bad (More fluidity= best of the series) and why are you rambling on about the story? They are just to put more longevity into it. Anyway who cares? A great game for the stealth ninja genre.