Onimusha: Warlords

"Onimusha is great while it lasts. Unfortunately its lack of length does hurt it overall considerably."

Capcom have a habit of churning out a LOT of games. The quality of these titles varies so much it really isn’t funny. When Onimusha hit stores around the world I honestly hadn’t paid a great deal of attention to the game in the weeks and months prior to it’s release as I assumed it would be but another of the seemingly infinite flow of average-to-decent games hitting the Playstation 2, but I began to take notice when I was reading reviews praising it as one of the greatest PS2 games since launch.

A few days ago I finally picked up a copy of Onimusha: Warlords. I’d been meaning to do so since I ever-so-briefly had a quick romp through the first half hour or so of the game at a friend’s place a good year and a half ago and quite enjoyed it. I’ve since put in a fairly decent chunk of time into the title and am happy to be in the position of reviewing the game more than two years after it launched, as I have the advantage of having played a vast selection of games released on the PS2 and other platforms both close to the debut of Onimusha, and many months (and years) since.

The basic premise of Onimusha is quite simple. You play the majority of the game as Samanosuke, a good-doing Samurai with courage enough to face off against the evil demonic beings that have taken over his village and are butchering his people.... While the death of his fellow villagers is not sitting to well with dear old Samanosuke, the real issue is that poor-helpless Princess needs saving, and it’s up to Samanosuke (with a little help along the way) to save her ass. How original.

The gameplay is very simplistic yet extremely fun. At its most basic level, Onimusha is a very enjoyable hack-and-slash title, with a healthy dose of orientally inspired puzzles to give your grey matter a bit of a work out now and then. Through the course of the game you’ll slay countless enemies (absorbing their souls along the way to enhance your own powers, and that of your weapons) solve numerous puzzles (such as Chinese trick boxes and the like) and face off against some bad-ass bosses. You’ll also be treated to both in-game cutscenes and the odd FMV sequence to further the plot. The game’s developers have done well in that they’ve created and executed a pretty good story, which is more than what can be said for most games these days.

Weaponry includes three upgradeable swords each with their own magical abilities, throwing knives, a bow and arrow and even a sixteenth century gun. Capcom have kept to the rule of keeping things simple throughout the game, and it works well. The controls, gameplay mechanics and item use are quite basic, but do the job, and do it quite proficiently.

I found all of the puzzles in the game to be somewhat on the simple side of things, which I suppose is good as it helps keep the action moving along, but it would have been nice for a bit more of an intellectual challenge in at least a couple of instances. Perhaps I just got lucky with a lot of them... either way they’re still good fun.

Visually speaking Onimusha is fairly impressive considering how early on in the life of the Playstation 2 it was developed. Characters are modelled and animated very well and this is especially true for Samanosuke, who looks fantastic. You’ll see some nice special effects when magic is used and healthy dose of blood and gore to keep your mind off dinner. Backgrounds are pre-rendered (think Resident Evil) so there is plenty of processing power leftover to pump out sexy characters while keeping a silky-smooth framerate. Character movement is a little on the mechanical side of things (walking/running) but battles and moves are animated supremely.

Aiding the dynamic gameplay and remaining inline with the time period, in addition to enhancing the game’s mood and helping further the story is the very fine orchestral score. Often times the music will be so well-fitting in its style and placement it will go almost unnoticed as you wander around in search of your next clue, or another enemy to slaughter. At other moments in the game (such as intense battles) the music will have increased in tempo and drama enough that it will really get your heart pumping as you frantically contemplate your course of actions in the hope that you will not end up dead, thus having to trek through the small portion of the game since your last trip to a save spot.

Another point worth making is that it’s clear to see (or should that be hear?) that Capcom have, at least, invested in slightly-above-average voice actors for the game’s cinematic cut-scenes, and worked well on their animations and lip-sync. It’s not perfect, but nothing is worse (or more comical) than a game trying to be serious, and having characters say one thing, while their lips move completely out of time and sync, as if they are speaking an entirely different tongue.

Onimusha is a fantastic title, packing plenty of personality, great design and really enjoyable gameplay. Top that off with some nice visuals and sound and you’ve got a great overall package. There is however one very big downside. The game is excessively short. And I mean short. Most gamers will likely get through the entire thing first time in around 7 or 8 hours. Obviously this is subjective to skill levels, and also dedication to collection every last fluorite, text and slaying as many possible demons to increase your final stats as possible, but it remains a fairly accurate estimate. I can’t imagine anyone spending more than 10 hours first time through the game, and that is really stretching it.

Beating the game through multiple times and fulfilling specific constraints will reward players with additional costumes and characters and a few other bonuses like an Onimusha 2 trailer and a reasonably tough mini-game but these features are relatively insignificant in the scheme of things. The fact that you could rent Onimusha, beat it and beat it again (unlocking almost all of its content) in a matter of days hurts the game horribly as a title worth forking out money to own. However, being this late in the life of the PS2 you’d surely be able to pick up a used copy fairly cheaply as I did.

Definitely give Onimusha a rent at minimum. It is perhaps an almost perfect game as a rental. If you see it cheap it’s probably worth buying for that fact that it is indeed a great game, it’s just short. Thumbs up Capcom on a quality title. I must say that it’s far better the game be great, but brief than drawn out and boring as the gameplay could only stay enjoyable for so long anyway...

8.3/10 Great while it lasts. Rent it or pick up a used copy if you find it cheap.
(Rounded to 8/10 for GameFAQs)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/03, Updated 12/06/03