Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

"Great gameplay and controls, HORRIBLE storyline."

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

I expected a lot from this game, but sadly received much less than I hoped for.

Story: 4/10 My God is Capcom horrible at making storylines with their action series. For some reason your characters get transported through time, for some reason the main character's son can tell what is going on in a different time and he can also hack huge codes and solve godly puzzles. Not only that, but the dialogue and characters are horrible, HORRIBLY cliche and boring, and I quite literally laughed a few times. Just plain horrible.

Gameplay: 9/10 Good stuff. You attack with square, R1 + X for long range attack, R1 + Square for more combos to your plain X combos. You control Samonosuke in Paris, France, 2004 AD and Jacques in 1582 in various parts of Japan. You can charge attacks, use various weapons and upgrade them, create some kickass and very fun combos, dodge with R1 and the analog stick (best dodging system ever, in my opinion), and of course block. Jacques uses a whip, a chain sword, an elongating spear and a huge mace, all with different elemental and special attacks as well as combos. Jacques can also throw enemies from a long range and is a better defensive character. Samonosuke uses two swords, a long sword, a huge axe and a plain sword, and as with Jacques, with all different elements and combos. The gameplay is fast paced and fun, not repetitive at all. You will have a lot of fun exploring and creating new combos and techniques to destroy your opponents as you level up your various equipment. As in previous Onimushas, when enemies are defeated souls fly out, and you absorb them to level up equipment, restore health/magic and gain Oni spirits. Gain 6 Oni spirits and you have the option (R3) of turning into an Oni: a super-powered demon that is invincible with stronger and faster attacks as long as a raining shock wave of terror for a limited amount of time. The best part is that if you die with all 6 Oni orbs full, you are resurrected as the Oni demon as in Ocarina of Time with Fairies.

Speaking of Ocarina of Time, you have a small partner fairy of your own named Ako who transports items and control back and forth between Jacques and Samonosuke. You can find and equip vests on her that change soul absorption, and one can even heal you slowly when not in battle. Very useful little thing; sometimes she can even get some far away chests for you and pick up far away items before they disappear.

The few but fun puzzles are slightly challenging, but not irritating. There are certain chests that require a series of moving of blocks to open it and receive the status upgrade within, and various puzzles to get through the game which take time and sometimes are even time based, but not so much to irritate you. In fact, they will e a good change of pace from the crazy and fun battles you take part in ever so much.

Music: 8/10 None of the music is bad, a lot if quite good, but I gave this an 8 simple because of the high standards for music we all have from other composers *cough*NobuoUematsu*cough*. One of my favorite themes is the Dark Realm theme, which is a secret area of insanely hard battles for a secret weapon later on. Great rock music that will remind you of the battles with Nightmare in Devil May Cry.

Graphics: 10/10 From the first movie scene, your mouth will drop over the beautifully done environments and elements. The cutscenes and characters are very intricate: most likely the best on the Playstation2 so far, and the water, lightning and fire rival the power of the almighty X-Box and even PC with its beauty. Not the most important thing, but definitely a plus.

Length/Replay: 8/10 For an action game, there is quite a bit to do. I finished the game in 15 hours with no FAQs, strategy guides, help, or anything but did many sidequests (not all), got all weapons and upgraded everything fully. Then there is hard mode, Issen mode, Oni mode and Ultimate mode as well as many unlockables and secret weapons only obtainable in higher difficulties. The only problem may be forcing yourself to listen to the storyline again. ;)

Buy or Rent?: 50/50 If you have the extra money, and you don't have anything else to buy, go ahead and buy it. It will give you some good fun for a while and surely it will be a joy simply to pick this game up again and kill some monsters. I suggest waiting for a price drop, and it will most likely be a greatest hit soon. I beat it in a rent, so if you just want a quick fun game I strongly recommend this.

Overall score: 7.8/10

Pros:
+Gameplay rocks with cool combos and much to explore, not repetitive
+Graphics are the best on Playsation2 so far
+Very smooth controls and non-stop fun with the rare but involving puzzles
+Very good music

Cons:
-Story is just plain horrible. This is not an opinion, but a fact. Everyone will tell you thus.
-Short, but an action game. Can't expect it to be RPG length.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/23/04