Genma Onimusha

"Origin of Onimusha"

So this game was my third Onimusha that I had played, the first two being Onimusha 2 and 3. I know I started off in a roundabout way but when I got into the Onimusha series, the first Onimusha was no where to be found.
Then it was my luck that Capcom made this for the Xbox in an improved version (take notice of the word Improved).
Anyway, going off into the actual game;

Graphics: 8
You gotta see that this game is pretty old, so that the full graphical power of the Xbox wasnt fully used. Thats why the cut scenes seem rather....off. Facial animation not quite to par, and the whole vision being a bit grainy.

The graphics outside the cut scenes, though are pretty damn amazing, even today. They pull this grade to a high place.

The character animation is fluid, without any visible graphical glitches, and the environments are pre-rendered.
The enemy design is also pretty imaginative, ranging from huge bull demons with axes to a cute little dolls....with dozens of knives that can kill in an instant (out of the Bulls and the Dolls, fear the dolls more...you'll know why).
This game definitely deserves an 8 in the graphical/design department.

Audio: 8
Not much going on here in this department, so I cant really put a whole essay in here. The music is pretty epic, with the timing in pretty good order.

The grunts anf groans are pretty fine in their own respect too, but a thing that really bugs me, (its not all that important, but still) is that the lipsynch is totally off. When Samanosuke speaks, it can be pretty wrong with the lips moving at the wrong times and at times moving when absolutely nothing is being said.

Its nothing serious, but in my opinion, it really creates a hurdle towards perfection.

Story: 9
The story is pretty amazing. Its sets in feudal Japan, with characters that have actually lived at that point in time (a la Nobunaga). This realism is then coupled with a whole mythos regarding demons and ogres.

The backstory is that Nobunaga is trying to unite the whole of Japan under a single flag (his own flag), but he gets arrowed in the throat right when he's winning. Thats not cool when you're just becoming a big ruler, so he makes a deal with the demons (its an EVIL deal, if you havent picked that up already). But in order to make that deal he needs a sacrifice, and he decides to chop off the local princess.

Then in come you, Samanosuke, and you have to kill the bad guys, enter the castle and save the princess. A bit cliche, but it works, since the monsters arent all that kiddy-friendly. Thats why it gets a well-deserved niner.

Gameplay: 10
The best par of this game, its that simple. I havent played the original Onimusha, so I cant say what improvements they have made to the gamplay in this outing, but I gotta say, the gameplay here is amazing.

This game has the style of RES and Devil May Cry. With the horror (somewhat) of RES and action of DMC.
The movement in this game is set in a RES'ish style, with the d-pad. Then there is an attack button, a soul sucking button and a magic button (the rest is explained throughout the game).

Through the game you receive magical weapons, each with their strengths and weaknesses, like some enemies go down faster if you use a specific weapon and so on. Each weapon also has its own magical attack that be quite a boon in tight situations. Alongside these weapons, there is also the soul sucking.
Whenever you kill and enemy (or hurt them enough), they'll spew out souls of all colours. Different colours means different things, as some souls heal you, give you magic or just collectibles.

The collectible souls, the red souls, can be used to upgrade your weapons and items. You can power up your magical weapons, making them stronger, or you could upgrade normal arrows into fire arrows. You could also upgrade a normal herb (a medication....see the RES style?), can be upgraded to a full medicine. That way, the game balances between how many enemies you kill and how strong you become.

Also there is a special kind of soul, the green soul. This is pretty much the best out there as if you collect enough, it can heal you and turn you invincible. But there's a downside....enemies can collect these too, and if they get it, they'll be more powerful and more aggressive. This again gives the game a fine balance between a defence tactic or an aggressive tactics employed by the player.

Once you have beaten the game, theres more to come back for. As you get graded on how well you played the game, and you can unlock different items after reaching certain quotas, like extra costumes, and mini games.

All in all this game deserves a 9. Its a hard game, a lot of harder than the other game in the series, but this is what makes it special. The gamplay coupled with the amazing stor. Now go down and buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/06