Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

"A New Dawn for the Onimusha Series!"

I've been a big fan of the Onimusha series ever since it came out. As time went by I continued to faithfully get each installment of the series and by the time I reached the end of Onimusha 3, I felt that the series had run its course. But I was dead wrong. I had no idea things could be revamped and something completely fresh as if it were a new series. So many things are new and for the most part it works. To describe this latest installment, is to say that it's Onimusha and Devil May Cry intertwined into one fantastic game. Simply put, Onimusha breaks away as a subpar game to Devil May Cry and God of War or Ninja Gaiden and puts itself as a contender of one of the great action/adventure games.

The story begins with a series of events...

Hideyoshi Toyotomi (or Tokichiro Kinishita) has conquered Japan bringing the country to peace....or so the people thought. Before you know it, you are shown a battle between a mysterious character named Tenkai Nankobo and Mitsunari Ishida (Toyotomi's right hand man), Tenkai loses and you see Kyoto, and suddenly, the Genma appear. As usual, it puts the people in a state of chaos as hundreds of Genma are attacking the citizens. Just as a child is about to be killed, Soki appears, the main character of this game, and he eliminates all of the Genma in the area including a gigantic monster, with one slash. From then on, Soki declares that he will destroy the Genma Trees (that spawn the Genma monsters) and kill Hideyoshi with his own blade, and he will be joined by other members who possess the power of the Oni.

I am impressed with the story, because the twists and turns are much more believable and not too over the top. The whole time travel in the 3rd installment was kind of awkward and thankfully there is nothing like that in this game. The plot is simple but manages to narrarate it in great style and the story also gets more in depth with the power of the Oni which is good. Overall the story is probably the best of the series because it's executed well (although the overall plot is somewhat similar to Samurai's Destiny).

Story: 9/10

The gameplay of the series takes a new turn....

Well to be honest, the Onimusha series has mostly been regarded as Resident Evil with swords. Well, that's what it used to be. After Onimusha 3, I think that whole comparison was dismissed and the welcome changes of Onimusha 3 are here in Dawn of Dreams as well. First off, the big changes, the game is now split up into stages. At first, this is bothersome because it seems to cut the flow of the game but when you think about it, it also gives you the time to roam past areas. Yes, I said, roam past areas. You could say it's like free roam in GTA but a little more limited but it really works out well.

In the game, you will be going to places all over the country but you'll also go to your hideout, where you can talk to other party members and upgrade your weapons and shop for swords, armor, and medicine. This is probably what makes the stages pretty cool, it gives you time to relax, and cool off from killing Genma and keeps the pace under control. This also is an easy way to get medicine as well!

Over the course of the game, you will meet other characters including Tenkai Nankobo but also the granddaughter of Jubei Yagyu (the main character of Samurai's Destiny). These characters all have their useful skills that you can use to get items, get through area, etc. You can also play a 2 player Co-Op which is kind of limited and you can't use the camera which is a real shame. However, the AI is dumb for both enemies and allies so Co-Op is a real positive in a way. But, it eliminates the use of commands and switching characters to let others heal up (Saves a ton of medicines, believe me), but the whole Co-Op thing whether it's two player or not is really cool.

Weapons in this game are different, instead of there being six or 4 or whatever, there's tons of weapons. You can find weapons, you can buy weapons, you can test your valor for weapons so there's a whole bunch of ways to get weapons and they also have a weird type of Oni magic system. Each level it is upgrade, a new elemental is added to your strike making it stronger but the first level of magic use is different than that of the other games. You'll really need to play it for yourself. I mentioned tests of valor, where you need to do a certain task in a certain amount of time which gets you items and experience as well. I think they're fun but some are pretty hard.

The controls in this game are great, and there's little bothersome buttons that seem out of place. They are fairly responsive but sometimes if you wanted to stab an enemy in the chest, it'll just slash at them which gets annoying. Other than that, no problem. Then there si the AI which is incredibly weak in this game. While the enemies can be tough every once and a while, your allies don't do much (they rarely seem to use Oni Magic unless you do a double attack) and they killed easily. Enemies respond to your aggressiveness which is annoying (especially practicing on your issens!) Simply put, this latest installment really puts something fresh on the table for the series and are mostly positive, everything that was good from Onimusha 3 is back and brings back some good things from the second installment as well (like gold!).

Gameplay: 9/10

The Game is back in full 3D graphic fashion, but how does it hold up?

To be honest, when I first played this game, I was a bit underwhelmed by the graphics. The detail was lacking during gameplay and some of the cutscenes. But as the game progressed, it seemed that more detail was put, but honestly, I was hallucinating, this game looks great! The cutscenes are made by ROBOT (you know how good they are if yo usaw the intro video of Demon Siege) and look excellent.

Meanwhile I said I had concerns about the gameplay graphics, in some aspects, they are bit sluggish like they lack in detail. But the sheer amount of art design put into the game is easily noticeable. They pretty much threw away everything and rebuilt it from the ground up so I'm really glad it turned out well and there's little slow down in this game! Unless you do a flurry of combos and Oni magic with 5 or 6 enemies on the screen (that have to be giant), it's not going to happen. It only happened to me 2 or 3 times if that reassures you guys. So for the most part, the graphics might seem a little underwhelming, however, it's easy to accept the way it is and very good in its own respect.

Graphics: 9/10 (I would put 8.5 out of 10, but I'll save you guys the trouble)

The acting for the Resident Evil and Onimusha games are notorious for its badness...does it still hold true?

Not really so this time around the acting is decent. It's certainly no Metal Gear Solid or some other great acted game but it's bearable and it won't make you cringe. Soki does a pretty solid job but some of the other voices can be annoying like Minokichi. Thankfully, there is a Japanese audio track for the game which is much better than the English track. However, if you don't enjoy reading English subtitles, just stick with the English audio track. I can't really say much other than music which fits the mood for the most part, but there are some upbeat rock and techno songs, some which are out of place. Other than that, the sound is fine.

Sound: 8/10

The Onimusha series has never lasted gamers a long time, but Dawn of Dreams reverses the curse.

Onimusha Warlords, 4 hours...........Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, 7 hours............Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, 11 hours. You get the point yet? The Onimusha series has never had much of a lasting appeal. After the game, you can play Ultimate Mode and just dominate but it never really made it something to play for months. You might come back to it every once and a while, but that's it. But with Dawn of Dreams, there's two discs, and one hell of a long adventure. The main story took me about 21 hours and I didn't even get close to getting through with the extras! The Dark Realm (ugh....I haven't gotten past it all quite yet) is 100 stages and pure annoying but it's long and can keep you entertained. If you're quick, this game will take you 18 hours, if you take your time, some 25 hours but with 2 Player Co-Op, a longer adventure, and more exploring and extras to grow through, this installment has got plenty of incentives to keep you playing.

Replay Value: 9/10

Final Thoughts

I've always been a big fan of the Onimusha series and from the looks of this game, it's definitely a fresh new start for the series and gives games like DMC3, God of War, and Ninja Gaiden a good run for their money in the genre. This game is simply likeable and has all the great elements needed to make it an enjoyable game and best of all, it's finally got lasting appeal, something all the previous series lacked so I'm proud to say that Dawn of Dreams is the best in the series yet.

Overall Score: 8.9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/06