Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

"Shredding History to Ribbons"

INTRO

The first time I heard of Onimusha was when I read a review for Onimusha 2 in a magazine. I read the review, thought "Meh, just another game" and went along my merry way.

Flash forward to 2004. I pop a demo disc into my PS2 and am treated to an advance screening of Onimusha 3, by way of the opening movie. By the end of the cutscene, my mouth was agape. I made a mental note: BUY THIS GAME. So, I did. Sure, it took me a while, but I finally acquired this game, and I couldn't be happier with it. Allow me to elaborate.

Graphics

This game's opening cutscene is flawless. Not spoiling too much, Samanosuke takes on a horde of Genma demons and, of course, comes out on top. Every part of the movie is beautiful, especially the showdown with Gargant and pretty much every part with Samanosuke close-ups. I mention the close ups because it's damned hard to tell if Sammy is a game character or some unlucky duder who got locked inside the TV. IE, he looks real.

Unfortunately, the actual game's graphics aren't nearly as good. Of course, they aren't bad, but merely average. There's plenty of gore flying around (more on that later), and the fire effects are pretty. The snowy lake area near the end of the game is breathtakingly beautiful. All in all, it looks pretty good.

About the gore: there's lots of it flying around, but if you have disapproving parents, don't fret! You can change the blood color to green or take it out all together, which makes the game family-friendly, except for the various profanities.

Story

So, if you know anything about this game, you've probably heard that there's a French duder in it now, and there's time travel. Well, that sounds pretty bad on paper, but the story is actually pretty good. Basic, but good. There's not very many plot twists until the very end, and a few are definitely surprising. However, the point of the game is clear from the beginning: Kill that bastard Nobunaga. This is the point through the entire game. In short, don't expect a story rivalling that of, say, a Final Fantasy.

Sound

Honestly, there's not much I can say. I was pissed when Jean Reno's awesome French was replaced by somebody's lame English, but I dealt with it. I didn't find Ako (your fairy companion) to be all that irritating, but I have a high capacity for such things.

Gameplay

Finally. From the rest of this review, you might be thinking I'm overscoring this game. Well, you'd be wrong. This game plays like no other, and is absolutely awesome in pretty much every regard. One moment stands out for me, and through it I'll explain the gameplay to you.

Late in the game, you are controlling Jacques and, through various events, find yourself heading for battle with a massive horde of Genma. As you charge forward, weapon drawn, you feel slightly awed by the countless demons facing you down. As you charge into them and start hacking away, you'll notice that by locking on and timing it just right, you can get a massive string of 1-hit kills, which definitely is a massive ego boost. The basic hack-and-slash is immaculate, and both characters are great to play as and have some sweet weapons. Jacques definitely has the better finishing moves, though.

After you lay a few Genma to rest, you'll notice lots of colors flying through the air. Well, those are souls, and you can absorb them due to the gauntlet on your arm. The yellow ones recharge your health, the blue ones restore magic, the purple ones charge up your Onimusha meter, and the red ones allow you to level up your gear. Wait, what's that? Levelling items up? Yes, if you go to a save point, you can enhance your weapons to their maximum-ass kicking form, or max out your defenses if that's your desire.

Anyway, back to combat. You get surrounded by 10 snarling Genma and you're low on health. You get skewered and die, but thanks to the 5 purple souls you'd gathered previously, you revive in Jacques' Onimusha form, which is essentially heinious ass-kicking mode. You can either whale away with your Oni-powered weapon, or unleash magic all over those Genma bastards. Either way, they're dead meat.

So now you've taken down a serious buttload of Genma and you're still not getting as many red souls as you'd like. Well, you can equip Ako with various vests that give her different abilities, such as making all souls red or restoring your health.

The only bad thing about the gameplay is that you'll occasionally be forced to backtrack in search of a key or some other trinket to progress through a given area. There's way too many hunts for items, which is disappointing, but you'll be OK. If you do well throughout the game, you'll unlock things like new costumes or target practice. All in all, this game is a delight to play.

Replay

Well, I haven't replayed the game yet, but I'm definitely feeling urges to do so. Some parts of the game are just that fun.

Overall

This game is awesome. From the moment you view the spectacular opening cutscene to the very end of the game, I was enthralled with Onimusha 3, and you will be too. The combat engine is so fun it makes up for the seemingly average remainder of the game, and that's definitely saying something. In short: Buy this game. Love this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/05