This is basically the missing link between old school resident evil and devil may cry 1 and it rocks
however this version has some downsides with lazy ai upscaling, the default mode is 16:9 which just crops the screen, and worst of all despite being a remaster, it lacks content of the xbox release
but with that said, it at least did update controls to just be better, and it runs very well, at least on pc
if you get it, this is probably the second best version overall, but as a remaster it is a bit lacking

Any excuse to play it again is fine by me. It was fun getting that platinum trophy. Runs better than ever and is optimized. Adding on the fly weapon switching was a really nice touch. The only critical flaw here is that the whole soundtrack was redone. There was some controversy back in the day with the composer so I guess they didn't want anything to do with it here. It's definitly noticable and it sucks but we they did do is pretty good and fits well. With that I'm not sure I can call it definitive but outside that it is the best version of the game. Is it definitive? Your call.

Platinum #94

Pretty fucking GOATed. I bought this on a whim for $8 on sale and I don't regret it for even one second. I had a blast playing through this. I loved the pre-rended visual backgrounds, and the CG cutscenes looked pretty nice and clean too. And while the fixed camera was sometimes a little inconvenient, it never wound up getting me killed or anything. I enjoyed the combat a lot, performing counter attacks always felt so godly. I absolutely loved too having three different swords and magic attacks to power up, it really helped with the general feeling of progression. I REALLY appreciated also that each time you level up a sword, it changes appearance. I wish the Kaede sections had a bit more going on, but that's a minor gripe. I can very easily see myself replaying this in the future.

Side note:
We REALLY need more PS2 games on the Switch. Playing this game undocked the entire time with a Hori Split Pad Pro was the best, and I'd love to play more PS2 games in this manner.

weird to hear this called the "first million seller on ps2" given the series's relative obscurity now, a victim of capcom's prolific 3D output in the 00's. unquestionably any cultural cachet these interesting action-focused takes on resident evil's structure had was entirely wiped away when a young hideki kamiya pulled off the wildest "hold my beer" in gaming history and dropped devil may cry less than a year later. for how clever and honestly entertaining onimusha is, its conception of combat consists of mashing square to swing your sword and blocking when needed. no stinger, no launchers, and any semblence of juggling completely wiped from the beta builds - though not before dmc's designers got a quick whiff and snuck the concept into their own game.

onimusha in general hews closely to the resident evil playbook much more earnestly than was probably necessary, but the amount of upgrades and changes they made to suit their system still keeps the game feeling well-tuned decades after its original release. the tank controls are excellent, with not only a comfortable turning radius and synergistic hallway geometry but most importantly a full backdash in place of a slow back-up. this is an actual game-changer in terms of keeping protagonist samanosuke agile and frankly for my money beats out the free-roam controls slapped into this hd remaster. it's also a major boon considering that prerendered backdrops and fixed camera angles are used, as the frequent changes in orientation make non-tank controls too erratic. these are issues regardless of the control scheme given that enemies often appear and attack just off-screen; the designers smartly responded to this issue by making samanosuke's block omnidirectional (except against arrows unfortunately) and by giving his attacks a solid amount of draw towards nearby enemies, eliminating the need to precisely aim slashes. on top of all of this is a target-strafing system that I did not even realize existed until the final boss, although using it there felt instantly at home with the rest of the movement options.

the area exploration primarily takes place within a war-torn castle and its east and west grounds, all of which are littered with the usual locked doors, simple logic puzzles, and oddly-shaped keys that you would expect from a game in this vein. if you're into that sort of structure, it's a blast! each section of the game is nicely partioned into no more than a dozen rooms and a few objectives to cleanly take care of in about an hour each with a boss battle to finish things off. enemies don't stay permanently dead unlike resident evil (ignoring the remake's crimson heads), but each one drops orbs that give exp, health, or magic that must be sucked up with the player's gauntlet in a similar if more protracted way to the later ninja gaiden reboot. thus backtracking feels painless, and a few extra fights here and there never hurt in order to upgrade each of the game's three weapons.

I do have a couple of qualms with progression that disappointed me a bit the more I dug into the game. for one: a major component of accessing certain doors is leveling up the gems within your weapons for "higher-level" doors ie a third-level green door requires the green gem to be upgraded twice. this check is arbitrary and would have been annoying had I elected to upgrade my weapons first, which have a tangible effect on moment-to-moment gameplay - I reluctantly upgraded the gems first to avoid needing to grind orbs. there is also a significant portion of the game (maybe about 25% in two sections) in which you play as samanosuke's allied kunoichi kaede. while she's perfectly fit in combat and can hurl kunai for ranged combat, she lacks alternate weapons or the orb system and thus feels overly simplified. in her portions I often found it easier to run around enemies than bothering to fight for no reward. the little bits of fluff in samanosuke's combat like magic and hot-swapping weapons (and eventually a gun) shore up the shallow framework of the combat, and without that the deficiencies of the game seem more apparent.

regardless of these issues the game is a breezy adventure in the sub-5 hour range and hits the spot for those wanting a survival horror-style adventure with less anxiety and more swordplay. for what it lacks in depth it certainly makes up for in unpretentious charm and adherence to a comfortable modality of play. also: for those playing the hd version, make sure you set it to 4:3! the 16:9 seems to just zoom in on the backgrounds with panning and I found it to look rather unappealing.

OKAY SO IT LOOKS LIKE I WONT BE BEATING THIS VIDEO GAME BECAUSE I SPENT LIKE 2 HOURS TRYING TO BEAT WEAVILS INSECT QUEEN ONLY TO DO IT AND THEN ENTER ONE OF THE FINAL BOSS BATTLES DIRECTLY AFTER WHICH I OF COURSE DIED TO AND THIS GAME DOESNT HAVE ANY CHECKPOINTS ONLY SAVES SO I WOULD HAVE TO FIGHT THE ULTIMATE INSECT QUEEN AGAIN AND IM DONE AND LITERALLY WAS AT THE FINAL BOSS AREA ANYWAYS SO I JUST WATCHED THE FINAL CUTSCENES ON YOUTUBE. I WISH THERE WAS A “GOT TO THE FINAL BOSS AND QUIT” STATUS ON THIS WEBSITE. THIS GAME WAS REALLY COOL TOO SO ITS A SHAME THAT I HAVE TO BUSTER OUT HERE AT THE END OF THE GAME BUT IT JUST MUST BE DONE. THIS HAS ALL THE COOL JAPANESE DEMON LORE TOO. ITS LIKE AN INUYASHA VERSION OF RESIDENT EVIL MAYBE ILL PLAY THE SEQUEL SOMETIME IDK DANG

Re-releasing old games is a tricky business because nostalgia can often crumble when an old title is being judged by new standards. While the original release date explains how the game is shaped, it doesn’t exempt it from the criticism of other, newer games. Onimusha: Warlords Remastered is one of those remasters getting pushed back out onto the market. Although it was typically regarded as a samurai game on the sharpest edge of the genre, the years since have turned it into glorified butter knife that has been dulled by the many advancements in ensuing years.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/482717-onimusha-warlords-remastered-review-snore-lords

Remaster of the PS2 version of Onimusha with HD resolution and the ability for analog movement as opposed to the old Resident Evil "tank" controls. Did not make use of any of the addition made by the Xbox Genma Onimusha version that had extra content with a new boss and unlockables and improved features that gave new enemy placement and combat moves to both you and your opponents.

Still a quick and enjoyable playthrough. Looks and animated well for an older title and is a good setting, though the atmosphere and play area is a bit limited for a PS2 game with little visual variety and for a more action oriented game there is a lack of enemy types. Combat typically works well and the counterattack system where you can attack or block right before being hit to deal much more damage and regain health is a fun feature, but the lock on attacks are terrible, probably made even worse with the more modern movement that makes the entire feature obsolete, with it constantly forcing you to swing at enemies you won't want to target and might not even be able to hit. A few dull, time wasting, and often out of place puzzles.

Worth a look if found on sale, but content wise isn't even the best version of the game.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1512757294789902346

I think this series' relative obscurity now is less a mark on its age and more a testament to the frankly absurd amount of quality releases, not just from Capcom, but from a lot of developers during the 6th generation of consoles.

It's a short one, and on the easier side if you're used to the fixed-camera Capcom games of the era, but it's still a lot of fun while it lasts and is worth playing if you want something that sits somewhere in the middle of Resident Evil survival horror and Devil May Cry stylish action. There is one section that is just cruel (if you know you know), but honestly, in an era where you can just look it up in two seconds, it's hardly worth getting upset over.

It's a shame this didn't sell well enough to justify porting the rest of the series over to modern platforms, but at least we got something (which is more than I can say for most companies regarding their legacy output...).