An improvement over the first game in most ways. I find the fusion of adventure game style of interactions in the hub town with the survival horror systems really interesting and help to set this game apart from RE. The branching paths that come from how you interact with characters during the adventure game-y parts are really cool too. The pre-rendered backgrounds are some of the best I've ever seen, they're just gorgeous.

The combat is much improved, and due to that this game is MUCH more difficult than the first. Really I think my biggest problem with this game is that difficulty, it just spikes at random intervals and you can really fuck yourself if you don't have the right items.

For being a sequel to Onimusha 1, this game certainly does a good job and improving stuff: better gameplay, better issen mechanics, story's very good, considerably longer, better replay value and better horrible voice acting. Not to mention it took some risks like the gift system but at the same time it kind of feels undercooked, since you could just ignore it alltogether but if you do then don't expect any help if a boss starts kicking your ass and can sometimes lead to some awkward moments where a character gets introduced into the story and then you don't know what happens to them next because you didn't gift him enough items. This is a title meant to be replayed multiple times since it's impossible to see all the alternate paths in one playthrough, also soundtrack is not as amazing as 1's but it's still good. A good sequel all things considered.

Why does Onimusha 2's opening song slap so hard? Seriously if you haven't heard the beginning of this games song, it is a full energetic ride, and delight. Why do I mention this tho? Well, because I honestly don't remember much of my time with this game. I remember enjoying Onimusha well enough, and 2 gives us more options and areas to explore, heck the whole game swapped over from a zombie horror like game to a hack'n'slash puzzler, but the game just isn't as remember able as I wish it was.
The game mostly gets rid of it's horror elements for a more horror aesthetic to add onto it's hack and slash that the previous game had going for it. This time around you go fighting various demons and zombies as they are invading ancient japan, and you get cool element attacks and weapons. Like the action in this game is a welcome change, but I do find it rather funny it went from Resident Evil Like to Devil May Cry like not only rather fast, but also nearly following the same history of Devil May Cry. While I don't remember much of this game, the fact that it had a friend system in place and provided extra replay value by switching scenarios around pending on which bud you decided to chum along with.
Despite everything, Onimusha 2 was the step in the right direction for the franchise, and certainly something I feel helps make the series unique to them as well. While I do think this game can get very blurry when it comes to other Capcom games, the fact that it still maintains an identity through it's sameness makes me happy to hear anyone played this game.

This is the best game in the series. Gameplay was refined from Oni1 and better. Lots of new characters and locales to explore. You even get to revisit areas from Oni1 again. The game had a big branching path system based on character affinity and your relationships. So many things change based on it. You can get gold early in the game to spend in shops and acquire random gifts which you can in turn give to your companions. Raise your affinity with one character might lower another or Raise your affinity really high with a character and you might get more scenes and paths based on them. It's impossible to see everything on one playthrough. In fact the system is so big it would probably take ten playthroughs to see every event. After beating the game there is a timeline reveal to see what could have a happened where so next time you can try to go for it. Plus the game has a ton of unlockables on top of that. The game is very feature packed.

Gameplay though was some sweet bliss. The countering system is back and a bigger focus. Landing critical strikes on enemies and trying to chain them is one of the best feelings ever ever had in a game. The quick strike and flash looks and sounds so good and satisfying. More weapons and attacks really flesh out the arsenal. Enemies are fun to fight and have some pretty cool designs. Fighting gauntlets of enemies is so fun. Quite an improvement from Oni1. The only negative to me is the final boss kinda sucks.

The best Onimusha title.

Great story and characters.

Please Capcom, port this in HD to the PC, please!

Uma decepção enorme, principalmente depois de jogar o primeiro jogo. O gameplay divertido é sabotado pois ao contrário do castelo interessante do primeiro jogo, temos um hub world chato e um sistema confuso e desnecessário de presentear NPCs com itens, que em sua maioria precisam ser comprados com ouro obtido através de GRIND. Por trás desses presentinhos para os NPCs estão a maioria dos itens e upgrades importantes pro personagem principal, tornando sua participação nele inevitável.
Eu estava procurando um jogo linear de ação, não um "dating sim" bizarro japonês!

I definitely have a soft spot for this kind of gameplay, a big fan of the first and third game in the series, Samurai's Destiny somehow slipped my fingers. Visiting it almost twenty years after its release date, I was still able to become absorbed in the characters and settings, following a new plot line that strangely takes a completely different path following an unknown protagonist. It's pretty much more of the same as with Warlords, except with a new gifting system which is fun to play around with. It doesn't really feel like an epic sequel, except for its last boss fight which really stepped itself up on. However, a quick game with addictive gameplay and immersive setting.

Very interesting that different characters help you throughout the game. I still don't know how this choice happened.

The game has different paths depending on which characters helped. Interesting. Also feels more balanced with how much orbs you get, its also harder than the first with far better boss fights. The phantom zone is far better than the demon realm in the first too but its still not very good.

Play Time: 9 hours 7 min
Souls: 139310
Defeated: 1226
Critical: 40
Phantom realm: 41/41
Scenario: 63%

B

Should be much better than it is

A step down from the quality found in Onimusha Warlords. This time, the levels are much more linear with less exploration and puzzle solving focus. The combat is still fun, the Issen is still the most satisfying attack in all of gaming, but that’s pretty much it. The new gift system is half baked, ideas are dropped at the halfway point, and the “choose your own adventure” scenario is underutilized and poorly explained to the player. However, it does make for a great chunk of extra content. Pretty much all the changes from the first are bad, but it’s still a good video game.

6/10

I love how Onimusha 2 begins. Showing the Yagyu village getting decimated and then having you traverse through the foggy aftermath as an eerie voice repeatedly calls out Jubei's name, it leaves such a strong first impression.

It's also during the opening that Onimusha 2 shows off its improved combat. Not only is it much faster here, there's also plenty of new additions like running attacks, charge attacks and even unlockable secret techniques. Because of this, the combat is much more varied here compared to Onimusha 1. Onimusha 2 also adds purple souls and collecting 5 of them transforms Jubei into an Oni and when in this state, he is invincible. It's neat when it works but I wish you could choose when you could trigger it. The moment you get the 5th soul you're forced to transform. So, if you want to save the transformation for bosses, you have to avoid the 5th soul which just gets cumbersome.

Even with that said, the additions to the combat are all welcome, but the biggest addition Onimusha 2 has is the gift system. Once in Imasho, you'll get a bunch of random items that you can give to other characters to befriend them. Befriending different characters leads to them showing up to help you at different points in the game. This is where Onimusha 2 gets it replayability factor from, since it's impossible to acquire every scenario on a single playthrough. This is cool in concept, but honestly, this system is handled really poorly. Firstly, the game doesn't explain how this system works at all. It gives you a few hints, like saying Ekei likes drinks and Magoichi likes books, but when it comes to items like Parrots, Coins, Fork etc, you just have to guess or follow a guide. Another issue is that if you want to give as many gifts as possible, it requires a lot of early game grinding since you get the items by buying them for gold. My final issue with this system is that it just feels so artificial and shallow. I never felt like I earned the trusts of the characters I befriended because all I did was shower them with useless presents. Because of this, later in the game when the game is trying to get an emotional reaction from the player, it completely fails because I don't really feel like I bonded with the cast of characters. As a whole, the story doesn't do much for me, it retreads old ground only with a less likeable protagonist.

Atleast the reward for having friendships is cool. If your friendship with someone is high enough, they'll save Jubei at different points in the story. In these segments, you'll control the characters you befriended and they're handled way better than the Kaede sections in Onimusha 1. The characters feel distinct from Jubei (except Oyu) from Kotaro's shadow clones to Magoichi's emphasis on long range combat and the sections are short enough to not overstay their welcome.

Onimusha 2 is twice the length of the first game, which is welcome, but a large chunk of the game is simply you revisiting the castle from Warlords. The game as a whole is much more linear, and yet I got lost here a few times near the endgame since the Gifu Castle just isn't as well designed as it was in the first game, where I never got lost.

Onimusha 2 does have things going for it, like the improved combat, its immense replayability and the character of Gogandantess who is always fun to watch. However, I'd say I prefer Onimusha 1 due to its superior OST and it feels like a very complete package, whereas 2 feels a little undercooked in many areas.

The first few hours are really fun then it starts having the most annoying enemy encounters in the tiniest rooms with the worst camera angles while enemies don't dither so you are completely blind. You are fighting the auto targeting more than the enemies in this game. The final hours are a complete slog. The game reveals at the very end it has branching paths which is why half the cast just dispears half way through the game depending on what you do and why some plot points are left completely unanswered. It seems you have to play the game 4 times to see it all, fuck that