Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

"A little less Nobunaga, a little more action!"

This is the fourth release of the Onimusha series on the Playstation 2 and it just happens to be the best yet. It seems Capcom has learned that changing a game's gameplay a lot but not completely seems to be very successful (RE4) and they weren't wrong.

Story 9/10

The story is amazing and is set quite a little while after Onimusha 3. The normal stuff stays, like the genma, evil samurai dudes, and Kickass good guys decked out in armor. But the story is totally a turn around from the other Onimusha's, pretty much, no more Samanosuke (maybe). The story is about an evil star falling towards the planet which is to revive a certain evil god. Friends and foes get posessed by otherworldly beings, and its up to the new hero Soki and his new found allies to bring peace to Japan and the rest of the world. The only and very small problem I have with the story is the name game they seem to play. It seems like everybody has three hundred different aliases, and it gets pretty confusing, but after awhile its easy to understand, so I give it a 9.

Gameplay 9/10

The new gameplay totally reminds me of RE4 in the sense that the camera is now from the behind, but not always, many times the camera locks in one place, but that's not the point. With the introduction of character switching amongst 5 different characters, an RPG like leveling up system, and a whole slew of weapons waiting for you to pump thousands of red souls into, like spears, swords, Gauntlets, and some guns. I spent many many hours trying to level up my characters and their weapons, which brings me to my next point, the length of this game. The Length has pretty much quadrupled from the other games, I spent about 20 hours on the game until I beat it, and about 20 more just leveling up and having some fun. And the new Dark Realm is nothing but pure Hell, 100 floors of non-stop hardcore action, and no rest in between, and you ALWAYS have to start over if you die. Overall the gameplay is great, but I think a little bit more combo action with multiple characters at once wouldn't have hurt. So I give it a 9.

Characters 10/10

This is where the game absolutely ROCKS. Each and every character has some sort of story to go along with them and there is not a one that I don't like. Each of them are very powerful on their own, but when tag-teaming with the main guy Soki, they are just about unstoppable. I'll give ya a rundown of all of the playable characters.

Soki- The main hero, kinda like Sam, kinda like Jubei, but he lives in his own world of kickass, equipped with 2 broadswords, and the power of the black oni, he fits in well in our array of Onimusha heroes.

Jubei Yagyu Akane- Super fast, Super enthusiastic, and absoultely deadly with a blade, but geez that name sounds familiar, oh that's because her grandfather is... You guessed it Jubei from Onimusha 2. Similar to Soki in terms of gameplay, except faster and weaker.

Ohatsu- A gun wielding, grappling hook beauty, and Soki's childhood friend. She is quite a mystery, and her story is slowly revealed in the game. She is a good ranger to bring along for your journey.

Roberto- This guy is awesome, a 7 foot tall spanish man with huge muscles, he serves as the brute of the gang at first but eventually shows a bit of a soft side. His Berserk ability and his punching adds a new twist to the game that I absolutely love.

Tenkai- Now this man is nothing but mystery, and his past is something I would rather not say, as it might spoil the story. But he is my favorite of the characters, armed with a spear, he is an absolute powerhouse and a very balanced character.

Sound 8/10

The music still remains about the same and always fits the mood well, not really any change in the sound effects, but still good as it always has been.

Overall 9/10

This might not be the best Onimusha game so far in everybody's opinion, but I have to say that the new faster paced action and character switching and RPG elements are an amazing new feature that many Old school Oni players and non players alike would most likely enjoy. And trust me, you'll get many solid hours of gameplay, maybe a few broken controllers but lots and lots of fun out of it. Don't miss out on this one.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/15/06