Demons in Paris
Onimusha 3s story has time travel, telepathically communicating relatives and a completely random sub-plot about a boy blaming himself for the death of his mother. With so many bizarre elements at play, the game manages to have a story that's way more entertaining and memorable than past Onimusha games. At the same time though, it's not as fun as it could've been. This is because Onimusha 3 is committed to having its characters react in the most boring and serious way to their circumstances at all times and that's a real shame. If they gave Samanosuke and Jacques some personality, I could easily see this games plot being incredibly fun but as it stands, it's just decently enjoyable. I also wish Nobunaga got more screentime, he's the element that ties the games together and yet in every game he's almost a non-entity until the very end. Still, the story is my favourite from the first 3 Onimusha games.
As for gameplay, the thing that immediately jumps out is the fact that the fixed camera angles aren't nearly as aggregious this time around since the camera pans and tilts way more here. This improves the combat immensely and it's a needed change since 3 has you fight way more enemies here than in past games. Other than that though, 3 doesn't really change much from its predecessors. It removes the poorly executed gift system of 2 and instead has you playing as 2 characters throughout the game. This is cool in concept, but it's not as significant of a change as it should be, since Jacques and Samanosuke basically control the same. The only real difference is that Jacques has the occassonal rudimentary platforming segment and has slightly different weapons. For what's meant to be this games main feature, its a shame that it feels so insignificant.
The only time the game makes good use of having multiple playable characters is in 2 levels which have you swap between them frequently. These are the highlight of the game for me, the puzzles are interesting, the levels are very long and they have a great sense of progression to them which is very reminiscent of Onimusha 1. The other levels in this game are very linear and short, they're also enjoyable and never overstay their welcome. Overall, Onimusha 3 is paced very well, despite being the longest game of the first three, it really doesn't feel that way.
Another addition to gameplay is Ako, a fairy that you can equip with different coloured vests in order to get different perks like getting more red souls, making issens easier to perform or getting to see enemy healthbars. It's a small, but welcome addition. Another thing I like here is that turning into an Oni doesn't happen automatically, but instead, it happens when you press R3 while having 5 purple souls. Because of this, I got way more use out of the transformation than in 2. The final major change that Onimusha 3 adds is that the bow is no longer a separate weapon, and you're free to use it anytime you want provided you have the arrows for it, which is obviously a good change since using the bow doesn't break the flow of combat like it did in prior games.
To conclude, this is a very hard game to review for me. I like the story, though I think it feels like wasted potential. I like the combat, but the game doesn't add enough to it to accommodate for how many enemies you'll be fighting here. Those are my biggest gripes with the game, but with that said, the levels are well designed and the scenery within them is varied, the games pacing is just right and I also think the music here is a step up from 2 and this game might just have the best CGI intro I've ever seen. There's a lot to like here, even if I think some of it could've been much better.
Onimusha 3s story has time travel, telepathically communicating relatives and a completely random sub-plot about a boy blaming himself for the death of his mother. With so many bizarre elements at play, the game manages to have a story that's way more entertaining and memorable than past Onimusha games. At the same time though, it's not as fun as it could've been. This is because Onimusha 3 is committed to having its characters react in the most boring and serious way to their circumstances at all times and that's a real shame. If they gave Samanosuke and Jacques some personality, I could easily see this games plot being incredibly fun but as it stands, it's just decently enjoyable. I also wish Nobunaga got more screentime, he's the element that ties the games together and yet in every game he's almost a non-entity until the very end. Still, the story is my favourite from the first 3 Onimusha games.
As for gameplay, the thing that immediately jumps out is the fact that the fixed camera angles aren't nearly as aggregious this time around since the camera pans and tilts way more here. This improves the combat immensely and it's a needed change since 3 has you fight way more enemies here than in past games. Other than that though, 3 doesn't really change much from its predecessors. It removes the poorly executed gift system of 2 and instead has you playing as 2 characters throughout the game. This is cool in concept, but it's not as significant of a change as it should be, since Jacques and Samanosuke basically control the same. The only real difference is that Jacques has the occassonal rudimentary platforming segment and has slightly different weapons. For what's meant to be this games main feature, its a shame that it feels so insignificant.
The only time the game makes good use of having multiple playable characters is in 2 levels which have you swap between them frequently. These are the highlight of the game for me, the puzzles are interesting, the levels are very long and they have a great sense of progression to them which is very reminiscent of Onimusha 1. The other levels in this game are very linear and short, they're also enjoyable and never overstay their welcome. Overall, Onimusha 3 is paced very well, despite being the longest game of the first three, it really doesn't feel that way.
Another addition to gameplay is Ako, a fairy that you can equip with different coloured vests in order to get different perks like getting more red souls, making issens easier to perform or getting to see enemy healthbars. It's a small, but welcome addition. Another thing I like here is that turning into an Oni doesn't happen automatically, but instead, it happens when you press R3 while having 5 purple souls. Because of this, I got way more use out of the transformation than in 2. The final major change that Onimusha 3 adds is that the bow is no longer a separate weapon, and you're free to use it anytime you want provided you have the arrows for it, which is obviously a good change since using the bow doesn't break the flow of combat like it did in prior games.
To conclude, this is a very hard game to review for me. I like the story, though I think it feels like wasted potential. I like the combat, but the game doesn't add enough to it to accommodate for how many enemies you'll be fighting here. Those are my biggest gripes with the game, but with that said, the levels are well designed and the scenery within them is varied, the games pacing is just right and I also think the music here is a step up from 2 and this game might just have the best CGI intro I've ever seen. There's a lot to like here, even if I think some of it could've been much better.