Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

"One of Capcom's finest does it again."

If you're living in a city or staying beside a video gamer, chances of you knowing about Onimusha is practically 100% even if you know knowing about the gaming world. This is because Onimusha is considered one of the more famous titles ever since it's launch on the Playstation 2 almost 3 years ago. This is of course if you have been living under a rock or somewhere deep in the jungle then well you can't be blamed really. Capcom being one of the world's most famous gaming company have provided gamers all around the World with top quality games and some of course being a let down to it's original when the sequal to the previous comes out. However the Onimusha series still hasn't been tainted and so far is improving overall better than it's original when it first came out. One of Capcom's recent famous masterpiece has not let down fans to the series once again and provide with more that was good for the game.

First off for those who aren't familiar with the series (oddly enough) Onimusha's series is based on the real life history of Japan during the 16th Century Sengoku Period and by giving it a fantasy twist of magic and sorcery while twisting the story alittle bit by bit (while staying mostly true to the actual history in a certain way). All these events evolves around a man named Oda Nobunaga. A super dainmyo/warlord during Japan's 16th century and possibly the most famous of all. From text he's famously known for his cruelty and wins in wars during the Sengoku Period and possibly a force nearly all other generals from other clans feared. In the game he's possibly the 'man-you-have-to-kill' or 'end-game-boss' (this if of course no spoiler as you will see for yourself once you play the game} so don't get confuse for him being the main star. Also in the game at first he was like everyone else, a normal human but during his death he made a pack with the keeper of hell Fortinbras thus granting Nobunaga a 2nd chance of living but this time around he was no more an ordinary human general but a demon with powers none would possess or ever been seen before. Not only that, Nobunaga is also been given aid by the realms of hell in the form of an army of monsters/demons and this turns the tides of the war greatly or you could say, unnaturally. During his occupant at Inabayama Castle his cross between the kidnapping of Princess Yuki persuades a wandering samurai that goes by the name Akechi Samanosuke to venture further into Inabayama Castle with the aid of the Oni's power, a force/race of monster/ogres that are somewhat in battle with the forces of the demons. Both Samanosuke and the Oni powers given to him had proven success over the forces of evil and being able to save the Princess. However Nobunaga was still alive and later on was pursue by a man named Jubei Yagyu. A half Oni, half human warrior on a mission of revenge against Nobunaga for what he has done to Jubei's village and mother. In the end Jubei and his friends came out victorious but it seemed as though the nightmare does not end just there.

STORY
Onimusha 3 takes place 9 years after the events of Jubei Yagyu's encounter with Nobunaga. The year is 1582 and it seems that Nobunaga had been revived once again and this time with a larger more powerful never been seen before force. Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Nobunaga's loyal general has turned against Nobunaga due to his disagreement with the way how Nobunaga is handling things overall. With this Akechi Mitsuhide prepares a raid on Honnoji Temple where Oda Nobunaga is currently residing. On another place demon/genma reinforcements are on their way to support Nobunaga. However reinforcements had been cut off by none other than Akechi Samanosuke the hero of Onimusha 1. After Nobunaga's reinforcements had been successfully cut off Samanosuke joins his uncle (Mitsuhide) in the assult of Honnoji Temple. Upon successfully reaching Nobunaga and during the final moment a warp like black hole tears through the floor of Honnoji Temple sucking Samanosuke in while transporting him into the present day 2004 in France. On the otherside, (present day 2004) France is being invaded by the genma/demons. The special unit of France is of no match and has little to no effect on the genmas/demons (I call this lack of skill). A lone special unit, Jacques manages to fend off some of the demons and survives their attack. This did not last for long and he was rescued in time by Samanosuke who had suddenly been transported to present day France. This subsequently by fate transported Jacques into the past of 16th century Japan a few days just before the raid on Honnoji Temple after both Jacques and Samanosuke's short brief encounter. Thus begins a new adventure and the 3rd installment of the ever so popular Onimusha series.

GAMEPLAY
Not much has changed since Onimusha 2 in gameplay and background terms. Take Resident Evil + samurai + fantasy and you get Onimusha. Few things that have changed are probably the puzzles and the weapons (althought you can access the Onimusha 1 weapons via secret) and character switching. This time around there are two main characters (Samanosuke and Jacques) and one sub character in which you'll be force to control throughout the course of the game. The unique thing this time is the dual main character aspect as at certain points of the game where you'll switch between the two main characters in order to proceed further into the game. The game takes place between modern day France and fuedal Japan. Both Samanosuke and Jacques play differently in which Samanosuke seems to be more closer range combater yet agile while Jacques is the opposite offering more range in attack but lacks in speed. There is an auto-targeting system that seems to be more sensitive then the one in Onimusha 2 and one downside is that at times it auto targets the furthest enemy from you causing you to take damage from enemies whom are close to you.Other than that an added extra this time around is the training mode in which players must complete a series of task given to you (usually attack and defence command) to overall unlock things once you've completed each task catagory and not to forget the Phantom Realms that have already been a tradition to the Onimusha games. The backgrounds are also fantastic if not perfect as this time around the characters seem to have more 'tone' on them. Overall it's Onimusha with better things this time around. The story is solid and each character is equally focused on (unlike certain games where not much is said about the other characters other than the main characters). What more can I say it's Onimusha!

SOUND/MUSIC
Fabulous from the sound effects to the background music. And overall masterpiece that does not lack in any place compared to other game titles. Most of it are of course expected especially if you've played previous Onimushas. Most of the background music is orchestra japanese Taiga Drama sort of music giving you more of a 'freedom and traveling/great adventure' theme during in open places or heated battles and turns to a little more mysterious+eerie feel in most enclose places but all mainly ochestred in Taiga style most noticably while playing with Jacques.

CONTROLS
Like other Onimusha games (which plays differently in most aspects compared to Resident Evil) and nothing much has changed since Onimusha 2. One of the difference is that this time around you can manually transform into Oni form by pressing R3 as compared to Onimusha 2's auto transformation after collecting purple souls till they've filled out the circle meter. Another uniqueness in this comes from holding R1. For Samanosuke holding down R1 charges your sword (an alternath way would be holding Square/Attack button). Upon charging it to purple Samanosuke's attack becomes more powerful by pressing the attack button/Square after the charge has been completed and by pressing Circle (after holding and still holding while pressing Circle) Samanosuke uses his bow to choot down arial enemies or enemies that are too far from reach. Jacques has a slight twist in difference to it unlike Samanosuke. By holding R1 (and still holding it after that) your attack stance changes when you press the attack button/Square with this time around he gives more range by standing on his ground without dashing foward and if you press Circle, Jacques is able to grab hold of rocks, barrels and other stuffs that are around him and tosses it towards his opponents. Jacques can also grab his opponents using the stance change method (R1+Square after fully charging to purple). Once he has grabed his opponent he has two choices of attack. Jacques can either pull his enemy closer and gun him (pressing Square after grabbing) or he can simply toss his enemies in any direction he pleases (toggle the R3 button to the direction you want to throw you enemy). There are of course two other characters playable (one sub character and another in a mini game). By not giving away too much the sub character plays like a Resident Evil character (firearms base) accept the character comes with unlimited ammo and to use the grenade press and hold R1 while pressing the Square button after that. The other character has more range but can be both weaker or stronger than Samanosuke and Jacques depending on the gamer's point of view and how they play their game. Both of the characters (sub and mini quest) does not have any usage of the Magic or Ogre meter and they cannot upgrade their HP/Life like how Samanosuke and Jacques are allowed to with the help of the Yellow Life Gem.As for everything else players should feel right at home especially those who have played other Onimushas before this (excluding Onimusha Tactics). The only downside of the game is the auto targeting/lock on system as players will have trouble fending off the enemy closest to you sometimes cause the auto targeting system usually locks in to the furthest enemy around you for odd reasons and sometimes players might have difficulty ground stabbing their enemies because of this. As for eevrything else if all been nicely done and like before , Onimusha style.

OVERALL
Seriously I cannot say anything thats bad about this game other than the auto-lock system at random or most of the times might cause alittle trouble. It's Onimusha and what you expect to see in this game you've already gotten it now adding more extras to it. So all in all how can it be bad? With all the 10 score reviews you see near everywhere on the site about this game you would think it's just some fanboyism gang up review but seriously though if you love the previous Onimushas what is there not to love about this game (especially the opening CG that is by no means second to the ones in even Final Fantasy). A game highly recommended for everyone/anyone out there and for those who hasn't gotten this game but don't know what to get by all means I suggest this is the game that will make your money worth it all even just for collection it's worth that much overall.

SHORT HISTORY
A small lowdown on the actual history based off Oda Nobunaga and other small things for leisure. Akechi Samanosuke is a fiction character made after Akechi Mitsuhide who was the true person who slayed Oda Nobunaga due to personal affairs within the ranks Akechi Mitsuhide couldn't take it anymore and decided to rebel against Oda Nobunaga and successfully killed Oda Nobunaga at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto during June 20th 1584. Almost all charcters accept Samanosuke, Jacques, France characters (all of them) and the usual lesser enemies/monsters you see everywhere around the game are infact characters that are from actual Japanese Sengoku Period history (you'll know who by searching it on the web) and infact certain generals from the Sengoku Period were given the tiiles of 'Samanosuke/Sama no Suke'. Intresting no?

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/04