Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

"Consider the next few days of your life occupied..."

ONIMUSHA 3 REVIEW

Be forewarned that this review is based on the Japanese version of the game, and the US and European releases may be different. Also, this game is not too unfriendly for people who can't read or understand Japanese. Obviously a lot of the story will not be understood, but for the most part, that should not hinder you from playing the game. Anyone who has played import games before should not have any appreciable problems.

Once you pop this game in, you will be in for a treat. The opening CG is not only visually stunning (without a doubt matching very closely to the likes of any Square-Enix offering), but does a good job of letting us know that our pal Samanosuke is right back in action, after his hiatus from the series in Onimusha 2. The opening sequence is rife with spectacular action, and I will just leave it at that.
I can say quite confidently that anyone who enjoyed the first or second game will definitely enjoy Onimusha 3. I can also say that anyone who liked the first game, but was a bit disappointed by the second game should put their fears to rest and know that this one matches the formula of the first, only on some crack / steroids hybrid.
This is one kick ass game.

STORY
Basically, what we've got here is your typical good samurai tries to stop a demonic (and therefore bad) samurai in 1500's Japan but manages to get himself thrown into some strange time altering vortex which capitulates him into modern day France only to have the vortex open again in France shortly after his arrival but then pull a modern day French guy (Jean Renot) and his buddy into 1500's Japan and everyone has to fight Ganma (the bad guys) so they can not only stop the evil time travel plot they have, but also get back to their respective time and place. You know... that kind of story.
As far as execution goes, the story is quite gripping, and I have found myself not skipping through any of the numerous cutscenes. It is compelling enough to draw you in and is one of several reasons that you will not want to stop playing the game once you have started. And not to worry, even though I did mention that there are numerous cutscenes, it isn't like Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty. The lapses in action come at logical points in the game, and never interrupt the flow of gameplay. You really should not find yourself saying ''Enough already, I get it'' unless you happen to die several times before a boss fight, and therefore have to watch the bad guy give their soliloquy more than once. Even then, you can skip it if need be.
The game does offer a couple of endings, and if you are like me, you will want to play it enough to actually see both of them. Don't expect any night and day differences, but the process of getting to the end is what makes it so fun.

GAMEPLAY / PRESENTATION
In one word: Awesome.
In a lot more words: Mega super duper uber killer major awesome. The reason being that it is the same type of gameplay (action-wise) which made the first two installments so damn good. You get to kick a lot of ass with some pretty cool weapons, which you get to level up as you earn enough experience. As I mentioned earlier, I do not want to ruin anything, so I won't get into specifics on characters, but you get to play as several characters, which all have different weapon types, and therefore approaches to combat, which helps to give the gameplay a bit more variety. Even though you may have just killed all the enemies in one area and are in a position to progress further into the game, you will many times be tempted and succumbing to that temptation to hang around in an area a bit longer, just so you can fight some more, and get more experience points to apply to those weapons of yours. In other words a ''Don't worry honey, i will be done in 5 minutes'' will easily turn into 20 minutes or longer.
There are also puzzles a plenty in this here installment, the more head-scratchery ones usually found on treasure chests which will give you items to increase your health and magic meters. There is also another puzzle which must be solved in a short amount of time of you die (much akin to the flood chamber in Onimusha 1) but can easily be solved the first go round if you pay attention. And of course there are the required ''do this thing to unlock this door which gets you this item which you use in this other place to get this key to unlock that door'' as there are in any Capcom action / adventure games, but nothing which can't be easily enough deduced if you got your thinking cap on when you play. But the puzzles are actually pretty fun, and have not proven to be a deterrent in the gameplay experience.
One reason for this is that everything is so compelling, because the feel of the game is perfectly ''there''. The little touches to graphics, sound, and story all work together so well that you really can feel like you are in old Japan, and modern day France. Everything works together to really push the appropriate tone and atmosphere, such that when you should feel anxious and tense, you do. Capcom should be commended for doing such a wonderful job on this aspect of the game.

CONTROL
Finally, analogue control. The first two games, while extremely playable were hindered a bit by the fact that you had to use the ''left and right rotate while up and down go forward and back'' routine got a bit cumbersome. I mean, pushing up to run to the right seems a bit odd, but you somehow got used to it. Well, that is still place on the D-pad, but our good friend left analogue thumb-stick gets more use by being a very intuitive controller. Up is away. Left is to the left. Right is to the right. And - you guessed it - down is towards the camera. As far as movement goes, the analogue control solves all of the problems you may have had in the first two games. The differences in control of movement also carry over a bit into the combat as well. The ''down and attack equals kick'' on the D-pad is much more easily accomplished than on the analogue stick, just because finding the exact relative ''away'' position on the thumb-stick is a bit more difficult. The same applies for a couple of other maneuvers, but nothing too critical, and nothing which can't be overcome by quickly moving to the D-pad. Personally, I just stuck with the analogue control, and was willing to sacrifice the lack of ease of kicking and the occasional uppercut, as I never really used them too much in the first two games.

GRAPHICS
When I found out that Capcom went away from the pre-rendered backgrounds in favour of 3D environments, I was a bit worried. One of the things I loved so much about the first two games were the environments. But i was very pleasantly surprised. The settings all came out very very well. I would even go so far as to say that this game possesses the best graphics for the PS2, and even rivals several Xbox games I have seen. Knowing first-hand the limitations of texture memory and all that other hooplah for the PS2, I am actually wondering how Capcom managed to pull of this visual treat. The character models are also equally impressive. The detail level even on the lowest of Genma forces seems to have been given a lot of finesse, even more so than the previous two games. Particle effects, reflections, and weather effects are in full glory, but not overdone. And the several locations where you move back and forth in time which display erosion and whatnot on architecture were done very well.

SOUND
Once again, great stuff here. Most people focus so much on the graphics, and sort of neglect the audio aspect of gaming. Well... i work professionally in both graphics and audio, so I am usually a bit more of a stickler on sound in game, even to the point where I consider it 50% of the gameplay experience. One of my very good friends jokes with me about how if I feel like the music in a certain game is going to suck (something which I can usually tell on the main screen), that before i even get into gameplay that I go to the options menu, and turn the music completely off, if at all possible. In my opinion, if the music sucks, then it will hinder me from fully enjoying a game. Fortunately, this game required no such action from me. The music is a good match for the game. Traditional Japanese instruments intermixed with more orchestral instrumentation litter the score for the game, and always do a good job at matching the intensity of what sort of action is to come. If it's exploration time, then the music is a bit more subdues and less percussive. If it's time to kick ass and take names, then the music speeds up and is much more intense. This is especially true in the Phantom Realms (which are playable twice for each of the two main characters) where you will be fighting constantly - as it employs fast touches of drum and bass breaks and *gasp* orchestral hits, which are surprisingly not annoying as far as orchestral hits go.
The sound effects themselves are also stellar. The weapon impacts match the style of weapons, and the magic sounds don't clash at all with their visual counterparts. The monsters use some of the same sounds from previous Onimusha games, but there are enough new Genma types that the overlap is a bit minimal. The game also implement Dolby Digital Prologic II, which sounds pretty freaking sweet. The effect is felt nicely when you go to the options menu and set the sound perspective to come from the player, rather than the (default) camera, like it was in the previous two games. If a monster is coming behind your character, the sound will be behind you, the player. It can perhaps be a bit disorienting, and may not be your cup of tea, which is why the standard camera frame of reference is the default.

FINAL CONSENSUS
I really can't find anything majorly wrong with it. I got it, started playing it, continued playing it way too late into the night and deep into the weekend, and even had a bit of a quarrel with the wife about it, but determined that the argument was worth it. This game rocks. Buy it.
PROS
• Great graphics, sound, presentation
• Fun combat
• Good balance between puzzles, fighting, and exploration
• Good character balance (combat and overall approach)
• Cool unlockables once you beat the game (some from how well you performed)
• Overwhelming urge to play the game multiple times
CONS
• Sometimes combat in the Phantom Realm can be frustrating if you're not prepared
• Easy to level up one character and leave the other one a bit behind
• That this is the last Onimusha game

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/01/04