I’m a sucker for tank controls and pre-rendered backgrounds, so as soon as I see anybody say “It’s like Resident Evil with ________” I’m probably going to purchase and play whatever they’re talking about.
Onimusha: Warlords is Resident Evil with samurai. Kinda.
One big thing missing is resource management, so it’s not nearly as challenging, but the moment-to-moment gameplay and combat is surprisingly fluid and satisfying. The soul/weapon upgrade system was slightly reminiscent of the Dark Souls games, and was a welcome inclusion.
The story is a “save the princess” footnote to the gameplay, and you can really tell they were inspired by Resident Evil because the English voice acting is embarrassing.
But Onimusha isn’t literally Resident Evil. It’s its own thing, so I’m trying not to judge it entirely on a comparative basis. I found that the inclusion of puzzles along with a slower explorative pace balanced the hack-and-slash combat, despite neither being all that difficult on the highest difficulty available at the start of the game.
The game being so short (it’s only a few hours long) is a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it, and I fall slightly on the negative side, as I think the game could have used a few more enemy types and maybe a couple more puzzles. An additional area could have facilitated that. There is some replay value here, and I can see myself revisiting Onimusha: Warlords at some point.
Leaving me wanting more is far from the worst thing a game can do, and I’m pretty stoked to try the rest of the games. Apparently the third one heavily features Jean Reno for some reason!
Onimusha: Warlords is Resident Evil with samurai. Kinda.
One big thing missing is resource management, so it’s not nearly as challenging, but the moment-to-moment gameplay and combat is surprisingly fluid and satisfying. The soul/weapon upgrade system was slightly reminiscent of the Dark Souls games, and was a welcome inclusion.
The story is a “save the princess” footnote to the gameplay, and you can really tell they were inspired by Resident Evil because the English voice acting is embarrassing.
But Onimusha isn’t literally Resident Evil. It’s its own thing, so I’m trying not to judge it entirely on a comparative basis. I found that the inclusion of puzzles along with a slower explorative pace balanced the hack-and-slash combat, despite neither being all that difficult on the highest difficulty available at the start of the game.
The game being so short (it’s only a few hours long) is a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it, and I fall slightly on the negative side, as I think the game could have used a few more enemy types and maybe a couple more puzzles. An additional area could have facilitated that. There is some replay value here, and I can see myself revisiting Onimusha: Warlords at some point.
Leaving me wanting more is far from the worst thing a game can do, and I’m pretty stoked to try the rest of the games. Apparently the third one heavily features Jean Reno for some reason!
Onimusha: Warlords is a game I have been interested in playing for a very long time. I may have been interested in playing this game longer than some people reading this have been alive. So I finally got around to playing it and god damn it I should have played this sooner. Onimusha: Warlords is a short dose of greatness straight out of the golden era of gaming. 2001 just keeps on giving.
Onimusha: Warlords borrows a lot from the survival horror games of the time. It has tank controls, pre rendered backgrounds, fixed camera angles, puzzles, a bit of back tracking and using items to unlock your way through the game. But instead of being a survival horror it uses these elements to make an action game. So you could kind of say it falls somewhere between Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. However it doesn’t have as well designed locations and puzzles as the best survival horror and the action isn’t on the same level as a Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden.
First of all I want to address the controls. There is the option to use the stick but don’t do that. Use the direction buttons that controls like this were made for, it’s just better. I know there are probably plenty of people that will see fixed camera angles and tank controls and say things like ‘outdated’ or ‘slow and clunky’ or ‘needs modernising.’ To these people, please take a small amount of time and effort to learn to play it. Games should not have to bend to your comfort zone, low effort and taste. It shows a lack of understanding for how things like specific input methods, restrictions or limitations can create amazing gameplay experiences. Videogames were more interesting when we didn’t have standardised controls and it allowed for more unique experiences. The controls in Onimusha: Warlords are excellent. After a brief time getting comfortable with it you will find yourself running smoothly through the environments and weaving your way past enemies without getting touched. Then when you use R1 to lock onto enemies the controls change. Now the directions do quick forward/back/side steps. Perfect for dodging attacks, creating space or closing the distance. It works really well and you’ll be dancing with these demons in no time.
The combat is a bit on the simple side but it's satisfying and I didn’t tire of it across multiple play throughs. Combined with the controls I just explained you use a sword for basic combos and there is a block, thrust, kick, ground stab and upward slash. You can also perform counters if you attack or block at just the right time. The other attacks you have are magic which is great for tough enemies or dealing with groups but it does run out. Finally you have your ranged weapons, the first one being a bow, which is great for the floating enemies or just attacking from a safer distance. At first I found weapon swapping to be annoying as you can’t do it while attacking or moving but then I remembered this is an old game and you just pause to use the menu to instantly swap equipment or use items. Occasionally you’ll switch to another character which while similar to control is geared more towards evading enemies as they can flip over their heads and they don’t have an incentive to kill enemies.
There are also some other interesting things going on that I liked. First there is the risk/reward constantly in combat. The enemies drop souls when they die which is your currency for upgrades, or health and magic depending on the colour. They float around for a while before disappearing and you need to absorb them. This means stopping and being defenceless during battle or just letting them go but obviously you really need them. Then there is health. Herbs fill some health but medicine works way better. But upgrading an herb to medicine costs souls you need for upgrades. Some upgrades are actually required to unlock some doors as well. Once you are good enough you can actually play through the game without using any health items and without upgrading many things. Despite progression appearing simple and straight forward they found a way to make it interesting and give you more challenges on further play throughs once you’re more skilled. Speaking of further play throughs, I love the way this game progresses. You fumble your way through the first time and then get better and better and faster too with each play through. Then there is also an unlockable mini game, Oni Spirits, and another difficulty unlocked after that.
Onimusha: Warlords is set in 1500s Japan but with horror and demons, so of course it looks cool. It’s also one of the strongest looking early PS2 games and as far as I can tell they’ve done a good job with this remaster. It has great looking backgrounds, characters and enemies and the atmosphere is superb. I have to give a shout out to the CGI cutscenes as well, these would have blown me away back then and are clearly a bit ahead of their time. You play as a samurai, Samanosuke, and a ninja, Kaede, working together to defeat some demons and rescue a princess from becoming a sacrifice because her blood will make Nobunaga, who has an agreement with the demons, much more powerful. It is a solid enough story, with good characters, that is really well paced. It’s fleshed out further by reading the documents found throughout the game. The voice actors do a great job and the soundtrack is good too. I played in Japanese as that just felt right but the English has its own charm as well. By far the biggest problem here is that most cutscenes are not skippable. This is a huge sin in a highly replayable game and could even harm a single first play through if you die too often. I don’t have a problem with the cutscenes but I didn’t need to see them this often and it was frustrating.
Onimusha’s biggest problem though is the length. There is just not enough here. Your first playthrough will likely be less than six hours possibly even less than five. Then further playthroughs will probably be three or under. It feels like a short, small game much more so than the Resident Evil’s of this time. Onimusha: Warlords really needed more everything; more locations, more weapons, more puzzles, more enemies, more documents, more items, more upgrades and more unlockables. I think a couple of hours longer would have been the sweet spot but at least it’s really replayable and it is fun to blast through in one sitting. It is a bit of a shame because Onimusha: Warlords isn’t that far off of standing alongside the GOATs. If only there was more to it, skippable cutscenes and more impressively designed locations and puzzles.
I’m so glad we got this remaster and I hope to see the next Onimusha game get the same. How has this series not been fully revived, remastered and remade? Onimusha: Warlords may not quite be one of the all time greats but it’s still fantastic and not far off. Let me make things really simple. I am off to order an original copy of Onimusha: Warlords and the sequel, Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, which I am really looking forward to. If this game looks appealing to you I would recommend you do the same.
8.7/10
Onimusha: Warlords borrows a lot from the survival horror games of the time. It has tank controls, pre rendered backgrounds, fixed camera angles, puzzles, a bit of back tracking and using items to unlock your way through the game. But instead of being a survival horror it uses these elements to make an action game. So you could kind of say it falls somewhere between Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. However it doesn’t have as well designed locations and puzzles as the best survival horror and the action isn’t on the same level as a Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden.
First of all I want to address the controls. There is the option to use the stick but don’t do that. Use the direction buttons that controls like this were made for, it’s just better. I know there are probably plenty of people that will see fixed camera angles and tank controls and say things like ‘outdated’ or ‘slow and clunky’ or ‘needs modernising.’ To these people, please take a small amount of time and effort to learn to play it. Games should not have to bend to your comfort zone, low effort and taste. It shows a lack of understanding for how things like specific input methods, restrictions or limitations can create amazing gameplay experiences. Videogames were more interesting when we didn’t have standardised controls and it allowed for more unique experiences. The controls in Onimusha: Warlords are excellent. After a brief time getting comfortable with it you will find yourself running smoothly through the environments and weaving your way past enemies without getting touched. Then when you use R1 to lock onto enemies the controls change. Now the directions do quick forward/back/side steps. Perfect for dodging attacks, creating space or closing the distance. It works really well and you’ll be dancing with these demons in no time.
The combat is a bit on the simple side but it's satisfying and I didn’t tire of it across multiple play throughs. Combined with the controls I just explained you use a sword for basic combos and there is a block, thrust, kick, ground stab and upward slash. You can also perform counters if you attack or block at just the right time. The other attacks you have are magic which is great for tough enemies or dealing with groups but it does run out. Finally you have your ranged weapons, the first one being a bow, which is great for the floating enemies or just attacking from a safer distance. At first I found weapon swapping to be annoying as you can’t do it while attacking or moving but then I remembered this is an old game and you just pause to use the menu to instantly swap equipment or use items. Occasionally you’ll switch to another character which while similar to control is geared more towards evading enemies as they can flip over their heads and they don’t have an incentive to kill enemies.
There are also some other interesting things going on that I liked. First there is the risk/reward constantly in combat. The enemies drop souls when they die which is your currency for upgrades, or health and magic depending on the colour. They float around for a while before disappearing and you need to absorb them. This means stopping and being defenceless during battle or just letting them go but obviously you really need them. Then there is health. Herbs fill some health but medicine works way better. But upgrading an herb to medicine costs souls you need for upgrades. Some upgrades are actually required to unlock some doors as well. Once you are good enough you can actually play through the game without using any health items and without upgrading many things. Despite progression appearing simple and straight forward they found a way to make it interesting and give you more challenges on further play throughs once you’re more skilled. Speaking of further play throughs, I love the way this game progresses. You fumble your way through the first time and then get better and better and faster too with each play through. Then there is also an unlockable mini game, Oni Spirits, and another difficulty unlocked after that.
Onimusha: Warlords is set in 1500s Japan but with horror and demons, so of course it looks cool. It’s also one of the strongest looking early PS2 games and as far as I can tell they’ve done a good job with this remaster. It has great looking backgrounds, characters and enemies and the atmosphere is superb. I have to give a shout out to the CGI cutscenes as well, these would have blown me away back then and are clearly a bit ahead of their time. You play as a samurai, Samanosuke, and a ninja, Kaede, working together to defeat some demons and rescue a princess from becoming a sacrifice because her blood will make Nobunaga, who has an agreement with the demons, much more powerful. It is a solid enough story, with good characters, that is really well paced. It’s fleshed out further by reading the documents found throughout the game. The voice actors do a great job and the soundtrack is good too. I played in Japanese as that just felt right but the English has its own charm as well. By far the biggest problem here is that most cutscenes are not skippable. This is a huge sin in a highly replayable game and could even harm a single first play through if you die too often. I don’t have a problem with the cutscenes but I didn’t need to see them this often and it was frustrating.
Onimusha’s biggest problem though is the length. There is just not enough here. Your first playthrough will likely be less than six hours possibly even less than five. Then further playthroughs will probably be three or under. It feels like a short, small game much more so than the Resident Evil’s of this time. Onimusha: Warlords really needed more everything; more locations, more weapons, more puzzles, more enemies, more documents, more items, more upgrades and more unlockables. I think a couple of hours longer would have been the sweet spot but at least it’s really replayable and it is fun to blast through in one sitting. It is a bit of a shame because Onimusha: Warlords isn’t that far off of standing alongside the GOATs. If only there was more to it, skippable cutscenes and more impressively designed locations and puzzles.
I’m so glad we got this remaster and I hope to see the next Onimusha game get the same. How has this series not been fully revived, remastered and remade? Onimusha: Warlords may not quite be one of the all time greats but it’s still fantastic and not far off. Let me make things really simple. I am off to order an original copy of Onimusha: Warlords and the sequel, Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, which I am really looking forward to. If this game looks appealing to you I would recommend you do the same.
8.7/10
Cool, action-centric take on the RE formula with presentation too good and campaign too short for the tedium of its combat to set in. That timed sliding-block puzzle was unnecessary. The new non-tank controls unsurprisingly make combat smoother, if inelegant.
Um ótimo começo pra uma franquia, esse aqui sendo um dos pais do hack 'n slash (eu acho), é sólido demais, e a idéia de acabar sendo uma mistureba com resident evil é de certa forma encantadora, e combina bem, o combate sólido, narrativa muito gostosa de acompanhar, digna de momentos que qualquer um nos anos 2000 iria a loucura (quem to querendo enganar, até hoje piro com essas coisas) esse jogo merece muito mais atenção, e CAPCOM, por favor traga essa franquia de volta.
The resident evil and pre-devil may cry samurai game is very fun with terrible, over dramatic voice acting adding so much cheese to it, in addition to combat that is surprisingly fun but a little awkward and clunky in some spots. That said, this remaster kinda blows. The puzzles nearly broke me with the awful manual save system and the lack of cutscene skips that all add up to watching these characters painfully get through dialogue that was unintentionally goofy at first but starting to frustrate me heavy. The death arena put me through it for more than an hour, but I eventually got it and saved before moving to the final area, only to remember about the sword you can get right after completing the arena. Restarted to get to that new save I made only to see that the save after the arena wasn’t even there, and I dropped the game and watched the ending on YouTube because my brain broke at that moment lol
Also who puts the map button on the left joystick in a very heavy combat game and then not giving options to rebind the controls so they wouldn’t be uncomfortable ?????
Also who puts the map button on the left joystick in a very heavy combat game and then not giving options to rebind the controls so they wouldn’t be uncomfortable ?????
Devil May Cry before Dante was kicking ass, shredding, eating cheese pizza & claiming "Devils Never Cry". A Capcom action(horror?) gem of gaming's past, that might have been lost but has not been forgotten. Too bad the others never got remastered, this one rules.
Very nice port of a cool, stylish game.
Maybe some day Capcom will remaster the complete trilogy
Maybe some day Capcom will remaster the complete trilogy
Great pacing for both story and combat, short but highly replayable, fun challenges, you can dress as a panda, banger OST, has the best English dub ever, and most importantly... super fun! That was the best 13-hour gaming experience of my life. 10/10
Awesome PS2 action game from the golden era of Capcom. Really eager to move right onto Onimusha 2 now. Man this was seriously really fun and I highly recommend it.
A supernatural samurai action-adventure game built like "𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘭", nothing more to say.
Didnt age well but still a good game.
Back the time when the games didnt hold your hand for everything.
Would be nice a new Onimusha
Back the time when the games didnt hold your hand for everything.
Would be nice a new Onimusha
Even though I believe the first game in the series to be its weakest one, playing it is still a whole lot of fun to this day. The way the combat flows so smoothly, how the world pulls you in and the incredible design of the enemies and the environments – it's all just top-notch. It's truly disappointing that the remaster didn't meet Capcom's expectations, because of that, it looks like we won't get to see the rest of the series get the remaster treatment.
Fun remaster of an old game.
This game was a ton of fun, and my final play time was under 3 hours. It was basically the perfect length. There are a couple trophies I want to clean up, but doubt I'm going to go for the platinum.
Onimusha:Warlords parece que foi uma junção de Resident Evil com Dmc e samurais, sua história é bem simples e entendível, a trilha sonora é mto boa e condiz com a temática do japão feudal, combate é limitado e que tem poucos golpes varíaveis, o cenário pré-renderizado junto com a câmera fixa de Resident Evil são bem usados tirando a parte de que os inimigos te atacam fora da câmera.
Em minha experiÊncia pessoal com o jogo, sinto que quando você pega as mecânicas dele, ele se torna bem mais fácil,mas para um jogador casual ele é bem desafiador mesmo no Normal, consideraria que isso seria Sekiro só que no ps2 kkkkkkkk. Esperava que este game fosse um pouco mais longo, no dia em que estou escrevendo isso, comecei ele hj e terminei ele hj, mas recomendo a experiência.
Em minha experiÊncia pessoal com o jogo, sinto que quando você pega as mecânicas dele, ele se torna bem mais fácil,mas para um jogador casual ele é bem desafiador mesmo no Normal, consideraria que isso seria Sekiro só que no ps2 kkkkkkkk. Esperava que este game fosse um pouco mais longo, no dia em que estou escrevendo isso, comecei ele hj e terminei ele hj, mas recomendo a experiência.
Me surpreendi, perfeitamente jogável até hoje, a gameplay é divertida do começo ao fim, o gráfico era muito bom pra época e mesmo hoje em dia não ficou feio. Maior problema do jogo é ser curto, 4 horinhas já dá pra terminar, ainda mais que a história parece um filme de aventura qualquer.
Onimusha: Warlords: A short, serviceable, and somewhat fun ride. An unabashed ninja knockoff of Resident Evil, but Onimusha has enough going for it that you may want to check it out. It's only like three or four hours long, though, and don't expect total gold.
You are Samanosuke, who is apparently just some guy who's here and not a samurai (despite dressing like one), and you'll be leading this theatrical affair. All the characters went for ham, but you're the hammiest of them all! You'll find a few melee weapons that can all be upgraded and a couple ranged weapons that cannot be. It doesn't matter, they're almost completely worthless. Every new melee weapon means a new magic ability and attack pattern. You're never really forced to use any particular blade, so whatever suits your style is fair game.
Samanosuke wants to save Princess Yuri and her adopted brother from demons who are running rampant thanks to Nobunaga, some asshole leading an army. Nobunaga died, actually, and made a deal with some demons so he could come back and finish what he started. They think he's very powerful and will be useful in obtaining them lots o' sacrifices. He must be quite the charmer!
There's also Kaede, the female equivalent of Samanosuke's “just some guy who's here”. You'll play as her a couple times, but her segments are pretty pointless dashes; she doesn't have the tool Samanosuke does to regain health on her own and she can't acquire demon souls for upgrades, rendering her combat pointless. She's fast, though, so she can easily zip by foes; just run from A to B, grab X, then sprint to C. This remaster does include comical breast physics. Sorry, Kaede, you deserved better.
Combat is pretty simple, there's only two attack buttons: normal and magic. Switch melee weapons with the right trigger, ranged weapons with the left. The left bumper blocks, the right bumper gets Samanosuke ready to strafe and dodge attacks (with ranged, this is 'lock on', too). On paper, it's all pretty good.
In practice, the combat is pretty stiff stuff. Samanosuke cannot break his attack animations to block and you just have to memorize (or guess) which attacks can be blocked at all. Then if you can block it, should they follow it up with a second attack, there's a chance you're locked into a “recoil” where you've got no choice but to get hit by the followup. It's hard to find a good flow.
Dodging, then? Well, only if there's room to do it, which can be infrequent. Again, you'll just have to memorize some of these attacks and hope there's room to dodge the overhead swing before blocking (or dodging again) the followup spin. Typing it out, I know I sound like a whiner, but trust me: it's a stiff system and you'll get extra pissed when you have to fight in a room where the camera leaps around on you, fucking with your movement inputs.
I'm pretty sure I was parrying or something, every so often -- but the game never tells you anything re: combat, so I don't know what that was.
You won't really give a shit about the story or characters because again, it's comically hammy, so you're really only here for the combat and puzzles.
I think the combat “works” but certainly isn't something I'd ever replay the game for, it's not Devil May Cry or anything (though, supposedly, a bug in this game inspired DMC and its aerial combat. Kinda neat).
The puzzles? They're fine, too. Only one is memorable to me, a sliding block puzzle where you've gotta beat the clock or Samanosuke drowns. It did its job and was pretty stressful.
It's fine. For its time, maybe pretty cool to see, but now? Well, it's got some charm. I kind of recommend it: it's probably worth seeing if you like Resident Evil's style, but it doesn't need to be on the top of anybody's list.
Despite never owning a PS2 growing up, I have a distinct memory of Nobunaga getting that arrow in his neck (in the opening cutscene) and it freaking me the fuck out. I'll never know how I saw this.
From what I've read, the sequels actually only get better and are pretty ambitious in how they don't stick to a set formula. I'm interested enough to try out 2 and 3 someday, I'll toss them on the backlog.
You are Samanosuke, who is apparently just some guy who's here and not a samurai (despite dressing like one), and you'll be leading this theatrical affair. All the characters went for ham, but you're the hammiest of them all! You'll find a few melee weapons that can all be upgraded and a couple ranged weapons that cannot be. It doesn't matter, they're almost completely worthless. Every new melee weapon means a new magic ability and attack pattern. You're never really forced to use any particular blade, so whatever suits your style is fair game.
Samanosuke wants to save Princess Yuri and her adopted brother from demons who are running rampant thanks to Nobunaga, some asshole leading an army. Nobunaga died, actually, and made a deal with some demons so he could come back and finish what he started. They think he's very powerful and will be useful in obtaining them lots o' sacrifices. He must be quite the charmer!
There's also Kaede, the female equivalent of Samanosuke's “just some guy who's here”. You'll play as her a couple times, but her segments are pretty pointless dashes; she doesn't have the tool Samanosuke does to regain health on her own and she can't acquire demon souls for upgrades, rendering her combat pointless. She's fast, though, so she can easily zip by foes; just run from A to B, grab X, then sprint to C. This remaster does include comical breast physics. Sorry, Kaede, you deserved better.
Combat is pretty simple, there's only two attack buttons: normal and magic. Switch melee weapons with the right trigger, ranged weapons with the left. The left bumper blocks, the right bumper gets Samanosuke ready to strafe and dodge attacks (with ranged, this is 'lock on', too). On paper, it's all pretty good.
In practice, the combat is pretty stiff stuff. Samanosuke cannot break his attack animations to block and you just have to memorize (or guess) which attacks can be blocked at all. Then if you can block it, should they follow it up with a second attack, there's a chance you're locked into a “recoil” where you've got no choice but to get hit by the followup. It's hard to find a good flow.
Dodging, then? Well, only if there's room to do it, which can be infrequent. Again, you'll just have to memorize some of these attacks and hope there's room to dodge the overhead swing before blocking (or dodging again) the followup spin. Typing it out, I know I sound like a whiner, but trust me: it's a stiff system and you'll get extra pissed when you have to fight in a room where the camera leaps around on you, fucking with your movement inputs.
I'm pretty sure I was parrying or something, every so often -- but the game never tells you anything re: combat, so I don't know what that was.
You won't really give a shit about the story or characters because again, it's comically hammy, so you're really only here for the combat and puzzles.
I think the combat “works” but certainly isn't something I'd ever replay the game for, it's not Devil May Cry or anything (though, supposedly, a bug in this game inspired DMC and its aerial combat. Kinda neat).
The puzzles? They're fine, too. Only one is memorable to me, a sliding block puzzle where you've gotta beat the clock or Samanosuke drowns. It did its job and was pretty stressful.
It's fine. For its time, maybe pretty cool to see, but now? Well, it's got some charm. I kind of recommend it: it's probably worth seeing if you like Resident Evil's style, but it doesn't need to be on the top of anybody's list.
Despite never owning a PS2 growing up, I have a distinct memory of Nobunaga getting that arrow in his neck (in the opening cutscene) and it freaking me the fuck out. I'll never know how I saw this.
From what I've read, the sequels actually only get better and are pretty ambitious in how they don't stick to a set formula. I'm interested enough to try out 2 and 3 someday, I'll toss them on the backlog.
Was fully not expecting to beat this one in a single sitting but damn Capcom really made em compact back in the day. Some of the best prerendered backgrounds Cappy ever produced on display here, the bio horror aesthetics of the monsters clashing with the rigidity of the historical setting is so fresh and so clean, it's a joy to explore this space and fight some dudes. The combat is, eh it's sword fighting in Resi style. Could have been worse for sure but it's pretty easy to bash n smash your way through, especially in the less than satisfying Ayane sections. These seem to justify themselves with a unique deadly strike and some restrictions, but you can just run past enemies sooooo whatever? The deadly strike in general is neat but it's too precise a mechanic to hang such a thin combat system around, unless maybe I'm bad or the port introduced some input lag or sommat. Fun!
Oque melhor define esse jogo é "Resident evil de samurai", e só isso já define tudo. O jogo é excelente desde a trilha exploração e etc e tal, talvez único problema seria o combate limitado, espetáculo.
09/10.
09/10.
I didn't expect this short game to be as fun as it was, even with 2024 standards.
Resident Evil but sometimes you suck up ghosts like it's Luigi's Mansion.
Far easier without tank controls and incredibly short. It is actually just Resident Evil with samurai though and didn't really find its identity until the second game. They should remaster the rest though because it was worth the revisit.
I didn't realize how much Resident Evil DNA is within the first Onimusha game, but now it is one of my favorites! Between the puzzle-solving and navigating a dense map, this really feels like the developers went "What if Resident Evil was set in feudal japan?". The game is originally from the PS2 and has all the elements that comes with that, which I personally love.
Overall, definitely a fantastic experience and I wish the other entries on the Onimusha series stayed with this formula, but they did not.
Overall, definitely a fantastic experience and I wish the other entries on the Onimusha series stayed with this formula, but they did not.
I never played the original with tank controls, but I think the tank controls may have been a bit much looking back. I just know I would have gotten frustrated at times with those controls in this type of combat. The camera angles are phenomenal, definitely has that resident evil feel. I can't believe it took me so many years to give this one a shot. Worth it.
Resident Evil... BUT SAMURAI.
I liked it :^)
I liked it :^)
Gorgeous game, Japanese voice acting is fantastic, with my boy Takeshi Kaneshiro heading the game, good enemy variety, enjoyable world to explore. But a little bit too short! I want more! Also the remaster is of great quality, the game looks fantastic.
It might be the nostalgia talking, but this was a great time. The pre-rendered environments, great hack n slash action, the unsettling music and a ton of demons. For some reason, despite it being very similar to Resident Evil, I never played this on the PS2. It was extremely my thing, but it just passed me by. I did play the sequel with Jean Reno, however. Although I can't remember if I finished that one.
Anyway, it took me about 3 hours to beat this, and while that's not a great deal of time, the fun I had doing it (aside from that awful gauntlet of puzzles about an hour in) mae it worth it. As I say, I think some of it is nostalgia talking, as some of the corridors gave me big Resi 1 vibes, and it really struck a chord with me.
It's probably been one of the more entertaining games I've played recently, and I think the time it's taken is a contributing factor. I would love some more of these ports/remasters. Not just Onimusha, but more of these pre-rendered action or horror games. I loved them back in the day. I'd happily pay however much I paid for this for more of the same.
Anyway, it took me about 3 hours to beat this, and while that's not a great deal of time, the fun I had doing it (aside from that awful gauntlet of puzzles about an hour in) mae it worth it. As I say, I think some of it is nostalgia talking, as some of the corridors gave me big Resi 1 vibes, and it really struck a chord with me.
It's probably been one of the more entertaining games I've played recently, and I think the time it's taken is a contributing factor. I would love some more of these ports/remasters. Not just Onimusha, but more of these pre-rendered action or horror games. I loved them back in the day. I'd happily pay however much I paid for this for more of the same.
Masterpiece.
Play it with the dpad tank controls if you want the true experience. I’m not just being a purist, tank controls are Fun and Good! Let’s bring them back.
Play it with the dpad tank controls if you want the true experience. I’m not just being a purist, tank controls are Fun and Good! Let’s bring them back.
I’m a total a sucker for the highly specific (but never-not-great) combo of occult shenanigans in ancient Japan with demons and lots of insect stuff, so Onimusha: Warlords was right up my pagoda.
I played the re-mastered version. Its new default 16:9 aspect ratio, nice as it is and all, was cutting off some of the beautiful, pre-rendered artistry of the backgrounds, so I set it to the old one, because some of its backgrounds are gorgeous, and highly cinematic.
You may know the story of how the original Resident Evil 2 prototype evolved into Hideki Kamiya’s game-changer, Devil May Cry. Well, this game also started as an RE spinoff, itself, before (as with DMC1) the devs ultimately decided to make it its own thing, which I’m glad they did!
You may also know about how DMC1 is still often described as showing the “growing pains” of not quite being RE, while also not quite being the more fluid DMC we’ve come to know today. To quote an ancient, wise Japanese proverb:
“Not a girl.
Not yet a woman.”
Now, in truth, that’s a Britney Spears song, but let’s not get hung up on details. If you’re wondering how Onimusha: Warlords plays, it’s kind of like that middle ground between RE and DMC that DMC1 was. So if you love both, you’ll love this. Absorbing soul orbs of fallen enemies, lots of hacking and slashing, but also pre-rendered backgrounds, puzzles, scarce health, and a bunch of ambushing zombies. To quote another ancient sage:
“Best of both worlds.”
Okay, so that’s a Hannah Montana song, but don’t get frustrated just yet. Save your rage. After all, there are some truly frustrating segments in the re-master of Onimusha: Warlords, ones perhaps more forgivable in the context of the PS2 and its time of release, but inexcusable today.
The specific one that really got under my exoskeleton was a moment whose sadistic, torturous design was apparently at least skmewhat mitigated in a port of the game on the original X-Box called Genma Onimusha. Now, that port is actually much more than just a simple port with some improvement, as it ups the difficulty, adds new enemies, armor, combat mechanics and and generally changing things around a fair bit. It’s, by all signs, the best version of the game, but probably only if you’ve played the original already. The fact, however, that its less gameplay-changing, more objective improvements (like the ability to simply skip in-game cutscenes) weren’t implemented into this modern re-master, which ideally should be the definitive version so many years later, is kind of crazy and a bit unacceptable/lazy. After all, they took the time to implement one new, great change (quick swapping between weapons with the shoulder buttons wasn’t in the original, where you had to pause constantly to do so). Why stop there?
Some of the more hair-tearing, controller-throwing moments wouldn’t be half as bad if the cutscenes before them were skippable.
Alas, they are not. So, good luck with failing that TIMED puzzle at the last second and attempting trial and error like any sane person would, only to be greeted by the same cutscene over and over and OVER before you can get to the pure joy that is ALSO doing the three puzzles in a gauntlet of stupidly easy puzzles again, just to finally get back to the only one that’s suddenly extremely difficult (and, again, TIMED!), just to fail that and do them all over again, with that unskippable cutscene as the rotten cherry on top of this section’s most putrid of sundaes.
Don’t perform seppuku just yet, though, because Capcom so graciously and thoughtfully made it so that you CAN skip the PRE-RENDERED cinematics!!! If you’re thinking about how that makes about as much sense as an atheist praying mantis, you’re correct. Those cinematics are few and far between, and the ability to skip them is a paltry nothing.
Honestly, you probably won’t even want to skip the cinematics, because they’re actually quite beautiful! At the time, Capcom was pouring a TON of money into this franchise, what with its orchestrated score, celebrity actors, etc. Its intro cinematic is still one of the best ever.
If you like a little demonic horror in your feudal Japan and enjoy RE and DMC (especially DMC1, which while clunky in hindsight when compared to other DMCs, still was a cool evolutionary stage that gets overshadowed sometimes, and this takes its ball and runs with it), then when you’re making your backlog of “games to play”, don’t forget Onimusha!
Lord knows Capcom has… 😢
Note:
This is easily a 4 or 4.5-star game, but I’m reviewing the re-master, specifically, and it’s a pretty bare bones one, aside from the welcome ease of weapon-switching on the fly. It majorly missed an opportunity to correct some shortcomings that maybe, in the past, were more acceptable and which the Genma version fixed, but which make certain parts of this game just no fun at all. The rest has aged very well and I highly recommend it, but this why the re-master’e getting 3 stars from me, while the original, in context, would get much higher.
I played the re-mastered version. Its new default 16:9 aspect ratio, nice as it is and all, was cutting off some of the beautiful, pre-rendered artistry of the backgrounds, so I set it to the old one, because some of its backgrounds are gorgeous, and highly cinematic.
You may know the story of how the original Resident Evil 2 prototype evolved into Hideki Kamiya’s game-changer, Devil May Cry. Well, this game also started as an RE spinoff, itself, before (as with DMC1) the devs ultimately decided to make it its own thing, which I’m glad they did!
You may also know about how DMC1 is still often described as showing the “growing pains” of not quite being RE, while also not quite being the more fluid DMC we’ve come to know today. To quote an ancient, wise Japanese proverb:
“Not a girl.
Not yet a woman.”
Now, in truth, that’s a Britney Spears song, but let’s not get hung up on details. If you’re wondering how Onimusha: Warlords plays, it’s kind of like that middle ground between RE and DMC that DMC1 was. So if you love both, you’ll love this. Absorbing soul orbs of fallen enemies, lots of hacking and slashing, but also pre-rendered backgrounds, puzzles, scarce health, and a bunch of ambushing zombies. To quote another ancient sage:
“Best of both worlds.”
Okay, so that’s a Hannah Montana song, but don’t get frustrated just yet. Save your rage. After all, there are some truly frustrating segments in the re-master of Onimusha: Warlords, ones perhaps more forgivable in the context of the PS2 and its time of release, but inexcusable today.
The specific one that really got under my exoskeleton was a moment whose sadistic, torturous design was apparently at least skmewhat mitigated in a port of the game on the original X-Box called Genma Onimusha. Now, that port is actually much more than just a simple port with some improvement, as it ups the difficulty, adds new enemies, armor, combat mechanics and and generally changing things around a fair bit. It’s, by all signs, the best version of the game, but probably only if you’ve played the original already. The fact, however, that its less gameplay-changing, more objective improvements (like the ability to simply skip in-game cutscenes) weren’t implemented into this modern re-master, which ideally should be the definitive version so many years later, is kind of crazy and a bit unacceptable/lazy. After all, they took the time to implement one new, great change (quick swapping between weapons with the shoulder buttons wasn’t in the original, where you had to pause constantly to do so). Why stop there?
Some of the more hair-tearing, controller-throwing moments wouldn’t be half as bad if the cutscenes before them were skippable.
Alas, they are not. So, good luck with failing that TIMED puzzle at the last second and attempting trial and error like any sane person would, only to be greeted by the same cutscene over and over and OVER before you can get to the pure joy that is ALSO doing the three puzzles in a gauntlet of stupidly easy puzzles again, just to finally get back to the only one that’s suddenly extremely difficult (and, again, TIMED!), just to fail that and do them all over again, with that unskippable cutscene as the rotten cherry on top of this section’s most putrid of sundaes.
Don’t perform seppuku just yet, though, because Capcom so graciously and thoughtfully made it so that you CAN skip the PRE-RENDERED cinematics!!! If you’re thinking about how that makes about as much sense as an atheist praying mantis, you’re correct. Those cinematics are few and far between, and the ability to skip them is a paltry nothing.
Honestly, you probably won’t even want to skip the cinematics, because they’re actually quite beautiful! At the time, Capcom was pouring a TON of money into this franchise, what with its orchestrated score, celebrity actors, etc. Its intro cinematic is still one of the best ever.
If you like a little demonic horror in your feudal Japan and enjoy RE and DMC (especially DMC1, which while clunky in hindsight when compared to other DMCs, still was a cool evolutionary stage that gets overshadowed sometimes, and this takes its ball and runs with it), then when you’re making your backlog of “games to play”, don’t forget Onimusha!
Lord knows Capcom has… 😢
Note:
This is easily a 4 or 4.5-star game, but I’m reviewing the re-master, specifically, and it’s a pretty bare bones one, aside from the welcome ease of weapon-switching on the fly. It majorly missed an opportunity to correct some shortcomings that maybe, in the past, were more acceptable and which the Genma version fixed, but which make certain parts of this game just no fun at all. The rest has aged very well and I highly recommend it, but this why the re-master’e getting 3 stars from me, while the original, in context, would get much higher.
Fun fact: This game is surrounded by good trivia, but i will mention two of the most obvious. On the original concept, this project was planned as a Resident Evil game; And many demons are named after Shakespeare's Hamlet.