Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

"The final Onimusha fails to disappoint (for the most part)."

The final game in the Onimusha trilogy is probably the one I enjoyed the most out of the three games. Samanosuke Akechi (Takeshi Kaneshiro) returns, along newcomer with Jacques Blanc (Jean Reno) and with a few others to kick some demon ass. The two experience a switch-a-roo and must find ways to get back home. Samanosuke gets transported to modern day Paris, while Jacques arrives in a 16th century forest near Kyoto. They have to discover the mysteries of time travel and above all…destroy the evil Nobunaga Oda (who seems to have tough trouble staying dead) and his demon hordes. Many new innovative features are at your disposal, more puzzles to solve and quite a bit of replay value in this one as well. Onimusha 3: Demon Siege is indeed a fitting end to this enjoyable hack ‘n slash series.

Onimusha 3 is a very, very pretty game. The wonderful opening CGI movie done by those guys at ROBOT is with no doubt one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen in a game. I salute ROBOT and their superior skills in 3-D animation. The in-game visuals themselves are nothing short of amazing either. Character and monster models are excellent, I found no reason at all to complain about them. The characters portray emotions in a iffy kind of way at times, but they're more than good enough. The backgrounds are no longer pre-rendered, and are now in full, lush three-dimension. French locations like the Mont Saint Michel, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower are portrayed beautifully and the developers even warped them into demon strongholds. The overtaken Eiffel tower was what impressed me the most in the French aspect of the game. Sengoku era Japan is also presented beautifully. The forest areas are lush and huge in detail, as well as structures like Honnouji temple and Azuchi castle alike. I rarely got angry at the camera, and there were no glitches at all, at least on my play-thrus. The video flows like water and the textures are smooth and slick.

Onimusha 3 has a stunning soundtrack. From the adventurous tunes of Honnouji temple and the haunting sounds of Notre Dame, it's all great. Sound effects are also standard for Onimusha--excellent. Sword slashes, gunfire, explosions, cars…just all great. The voice acting is better than the previous games (no Japanese track however). Jean Reno even voiced Jacques whenever he spoke French and so when he speaks English, you may giggle since it‘s a different actor who sounds nothing like him, voicing him. English seems to be the national language of 16th century Japan…but then again, it IS the English version of the game. It was weird that French and English exists in a game with also a Japanese setting hmm…Anyways, it's all good.

What's even greater is that the actual gameplay rivals the visuals in quality level in Onimusha 3. It's standard fare for a Capcom action/adventure game, for the controls that is. You can now use the left analog stick to move your character around, newbies would be loving this. Players can still use the “Resident Evil” controls by simply using the traditional D-pad. The game is mostly about kicking ass--a lot, so tons of hacking and slashing involved. Issen counter strikes (one-hit kills) can be done by striking the foe when it's in the middle of its attack and other types of powerful counters exist in the game as well. Those Issen strikes are counted towards the end of the game grading, so rack them up! Once a enemy has been killed, tap the circle button to suck in their souls. Red souls are the in-game currency to upgrading your weapons and armor, blue souls restore magic points, yellow refreshes vitality and collecting five purple souls can let you transform into your powerful Oni form so you can kick ass even harder. Upgrading your weapons and armor takes much longer than it did in the previous games, especially for Samanosuke (you'll see why later into the game), so patience is essential, especially to all you hot-blooded young bucks out there. In-game cinemas are frequent but can be skipped if you have seen that cut scene before and saved your game. So skipping all cut scenes require a cleared game. Like always, puzzles are abundant in this game, so you get mind exercises as well as thumb workouts. I did mention that some new and cool features were in the game. A little tengu (mountain goblin) partner named Ako (vets of the Nintendo 64 Zelda games will be strongly reminded of Navi and Tatl) joins you in your quest and can open treasure chests out of reach and pick up dropped spoils for you when you're on the go. At certain points in the game, Samanosuke and Jacques have to cooperate across vastly distant time periods in the same place. Ako can transport herself back and forth, players can attach items to her so when Samanosuke or Jacques is dying, she can transport a Medicine from either one to either one of them. She can also transport key items back and forth to help either character advance in their progress. A variety of haori (vests) can be found throughout the game to be equipped on Ako, each having different effects like being able to suck in souls more quickly or ones that turns all souls red. Each haori has a certain amount of EcoSpirits needed to activate them, EcoSpirits are found all over the game. It may be incredibly frustrating for some players to continually go back and forth. I found the Undersea Temple on the first playthrough to be the most tedious area of the game. Like previous games, you can play as different characters at different points in the game. Samanosuke and Jacques obviously, but also the attractive, gun-totting Michelle and a vassal of the Tokugawa family, Heihachi, who is masterful with the Japanese lance. There is much to be said about the gameplay and what I just said doesn't cover everything. It's always best to actually play the game to find out more about the game.

The game's difficulty can range from player to player. Veterans will enjoy the analog control and the game will be all too easy for them, newcomers will need a bit more time to get their groove. Onimusha 3's completion time can vary as well, speedsters and vets can finish it six hours or less while it can take up to ten hours or more for thorough scrutinizers and newbs. I recommend buying the game to any fan of the series, action junkies or pretty much anyone seeking a fun game. I can't argue that it's relatively a short game however, for some (maybe most) a rental is in order. Then it would be a nice way to spend a weekend, with a coke (or beer) and bag of chips on the side. But the again, replay value is included! If you beat the game with a high amount of points, you're in for a lot of bonus stuff. Costumes can be unlocked for the character, some amusing and some sexy. You can even play as a character you couldn't play as before in the game--if you clear the game that is. Your actions during play affects your ending and spoils, and sometimes drastically. So play hard!

Overall Game Rating: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/04, Updated 06/28/04