Onimusha : Warlords

[AndyKurosaki]

Well,this is a very welcome return for the Onimusha series. It’s been laying dormant for far too long (So has Dino Crisis,Capcom. Hint hint). So when it was announced that the first game was getting a Remaster,I was all for it.

 

I absolutely loved these games back in the day,which was basically  “Resident Evil but in Samurai times”. And the game has held up really well. The combat is simple enough to learn, one button for sword attacks,another for magic,one for blocking. Killing enemies earns souls,which are used to level up your gear.

 

The graphics have been given a nice lick of paint, it looks good. Though as it’s a straight up port,there’s things to be aware of. Cutscenes are totally unskippable. Which wouldn’t be a problem,except for the infamous Water Puzzle section. Which puts you through 3 traps in a row,the final being a sliding tile puzzle,which are always a massive ball ache. Made worse here as you’re up against a time limit,and failing means doing the entire section again, after going through a lengthy cutscene preceding it. YouTube guides to the rescue for that bloody bit.

 

It would have been nice to have some extra content thrown in,such as a history of the series,promotional material,stuff like that. Something like the effort Capcom put in to the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection last year. 

And it’s a shame it’s only the first game,rather than all 3 in one collection. 

 

But I’m just glad to have the series back. And hopefully we will see more of it in the future.

[one-armed dwarf]

So I kind of know the answer already, but is it definitely the case we can't play with the classic OST?

 

Onimusha was one of my favourite series on PS2 but it fell off hard for me with 3 being more of a 3d action game and 4 just being a very bland action RPG.

 

Onimusha 2 had sweet combat mechanics. That whole issen system and chaining one hit kills never stopped being satisfying. Very underated combat engine imo.

[DisturbedSwan]

Got this loaded on my Switch, will give it a go on the plane on Friday ?

[AndyKurosaki]

As far as I’m aware (and I could be wrong), the soundtrack is from the original version. I’m not sure,because I can’t remember what that was ? 

 

They have apparently re-recorded some of the voice acting. Again,I don’t remember what that was originally like either.

 

Satisfying is definitely the best way to sum up the combat. Especially when you manage critical hits,so awesome.

[one-armed dwarf]

I've started playing it. That opening cutscene's assets don't hold up in 4k but you can still see the grand cinematic ambition. Something which the sequels have also (3 especially).

 

But the soundtrack is different. Consider it nit picking perhaps but I definitely noticed that the musical cues that used to be there on PS2 were way more effective at selling the action than the new one chosen here. It kind of sounded like one of those soundtracks that a silent film is given after the fact. It still sounds good, but not quite right.

 

In game tho the new OST might actually be better than the old one, but I'm really fond of that old OST.

 

 

Anyway that should only effect this game, the sequels don't have the same weirdness surrounding their soundtracks as this game does (the story behind is interesting and crazy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Samuragochi)

[Jimboxy]

Quote

.In June 2013, a reporter from the magazine Aera interviewed Samuragochi at his apartment in Yokohama, but noticed a number of inconsistencies in Samuragochi's deafness statements, including his ability to respond to questions before the sign-language interpreter had finished, and standing up to answer a doorbell when it rang.[11] The interview was ultimately not published by the magazine due to doubts about Samuragochi's statements

Dude, come on.

[DisturbedSwan]

73% average from 47 critic reviews on OpenCritic

 

70% average from 16 critic reviews from Metacritic (PS4 Version)

 

 

[one-armed dwarf]

Well I beat it. Blew a snake guy's eyeballs out through his head. Got the "speed demon" trophy

 

 

 

 

Now to wait for them to bring the sequel over.

 

Speaking of giant snake eyeballs that's still a super cool execution of a major villain. Why is it this particular series is so good at cutscenes I wonder. They don't really match the on-screen action (onimusha 3's opening cg is flagrant false advertising I say)

[DisturbedSwan]

You beat it in 2 hours?!?! ?

[one-armed dwarf]

Yea

 

The cutscenes are unskippable so you can imagine how short the game part actut is. You can beat this game fast.

 

There's parts I didn't remember but still managed to get in to nab that trophy.

 

It's not got the same labyrinthine structure as Resident Evil. Map layout is super basic.

 

Oni 2 is way longer than this and the pre-rendered backdrops in that game are beautiful. But it's got some real shit bits too like those friend characters. I still hope it gets a port tho

[DisturbedSwan]

Me neither! 

 

But then I never finished it on PS2 as I repeatedly got pwned.

[Jimboxy]

8 hours ago, Nag said:

Fuck me, I didn't remember it being that short...

Wasn't that one of the major criticisms at the time? I've got a vague recollection of that.

[AndyKurosaki]

I took my time with it,grinding a bit to max out all my weapons,and finish the Dark Realm. And finished it in just over 4 hours. I didn’t remember it being that short,but then i haven’t played it since 2001.

 

Still,I very much enjoyed it (apart from that bloody Water Puzzle), and I certainly hope we see 2 and 3 get the Remaster treatment at some point. I’d also love a brand new Onimusha,but I don’t expect that to happen this generation.