The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Onimusha

Whazzat? Don't gimme none o'this Japanese lingo! I prefer AMERICAN names for my games, like Demon Warrior: The God of 1000 DEATHS! With lots of boobies of course.
But no, this is NOT my review of God of War yet, although it's surprisingly accurate.

This is the game that was obviously one of the major influences on God of War, Onimusha. Not as big an influence as Rygar though. Can you say Rip-Off in Japanese?
But I digress yet again.
This is about Capcom's Demon-slashing Samurai game Onimusha, or Onimusha Warlords as it is called in the West, because of that whole language thing. Onimusha is another classic example of a Capcom series that makes sense until they decide the series is too profitable to stop so they fuck up any kind of logic and story continuity.
Onimusha was originally supposed to be a Trilogy, and it IS. At the moment at least, cos Onimusha 4 is already in the works, ready to pulverize Capcom's integrity, and make a direct attack on the gullible gamer's wallet. Megaman X anyone?

You play as Samanosuke, a young Samurai person, who is thrust into a dangerous adventure when Princess Yuki is kidnapped by a bunch of monsters called Genma(a kidnapped princess! What'll they think of next, these crazy Japanese!?) who need her for some kind of Dark Ceremony to create the ultimate Genma with the body of Lord Nobunaga, who happens to be one of the most popular Generals in Japanese history.
I don't know if the Japanese Historical Society approves of this alternative theory that Mr. Oda was killed in a battlefield, but revived again by demons, but who's to know? I know for a fact that the Universe is presented by Capcom, so they probably know best.
Incidentally, Samanosuke is played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, a very well known drama actor in Japan, who not only gave his voice but also his face to the Early Modern Samurai, as well as being actively involved in producing the game. If you don't know who he is, he also played Jin in House of the Flying Daggers, where he speaks Chinese amazingly well. If that still doesn't mean anything to you then this whole series is probably wasted on you.

Anyway, I'm always rather partial to stories that have their foundations in actual facts. It's what makes the Metal Gear series very enjoyable, and there are loads of references to actual Japanese historic events in this game, to make it a bit more credible. Yeah, right.
It's a crying shame therefore, that what initially looks like a Japanese Historical Drama gone Hack'n'Slash, turns out to be a very sad attempt at Hollywood style action...uh....gone Hack'n'slash. What this means is that the story is stupid, there are lots of explosions, and a stupid whiny moralistic background story which is far too preachy to be enjoyable. A shame really, cos as a decent Japanese jidaigeki it could have been great, and it sequel does a far better job at it, but more on that later.

But it's all about the gameplay of course, and that's solid enough to be very enjoyable, as you would come to expect. Keiji Inafune is the man behind all this, and if you consider the fact that he's the creative Mastermind behind the entire Megaman Series, it not only explains why a potentially good story is messed up, but also prooves that the gameplay is well worked-out.
The game basically controls like most Survival Horror games, meaning pressing 'up' will make your character go forward, regardless of where the camera is. This is a kind of control scheme that always raises a lot of criticism amongst gamers and critics alike, since it doesn't really allow for versatile movement. The problem is that this kind of control system doesn't even really make sense in this kind of game.
Why not just use 3D controls?
On the other hand, when you press R1 to lock onto enemies, you can quickly dash backwards, forwards and sideways, and you're generally mobile enough to dance around your foes. You also get a block button, which is VERY helpful, but dodging is essential if you want to perform those elusive 'issen' moves, to eradicate your opponent with one mighty blow. These require very precise timing, but are very satisfying when pulled off nicely. Also, when you knock an enemy to the ground, you can use your weapon to deliver a final stab in the guts to finish them off, which also feels nicely warm and squishy inside.

As an added service, the Japanese version comes with both the original Japanese voices as well as the entire English voice track, which is really quite GODAWFUL.
Seriously, this makes the original Resident Evil sound like Shakespeare. Very painful, especially considering the fact that the Japanese voice acting is actually really really good (with some exceptions). Also the soundtrack is performed by a full orchestra, complete with classic Japanese instruments to enhance the feel of early modern Japan. It was scored by Mamoru Samuragoch, who is often called the Japanese Beethoven, either because he's deaf, or because he's been dead for a couple of centuries now, I'm not sure.

When all's said and done, this is a very simple but extremely enjoyable action game. It's mostly about slashing enemies to pieces, collecting their souls and enhancing your weaponry with them, with some puzzles thrown in for good measure. It's nothing out of the ordinary if you've played any Resident Evil before, although there's no element of Survival OR Horror, since you don't have to worry about ammo and the like.
There's more action too which makes it more enjoyable for more people probably.
There's very little else though. There are 20 Shiny stones hidden in the entire game, and getting all of them will open up a new subgame. There's also a nice extra strong sword hidden somewhere, and clearing the game will give you a new (stupid) costume for Samanosuke and that's about the extent of the extra's.
The game's also insanely short, clocking in at about 4 and a half hours which is a disgrace even for a game like this. It's very enjoyable while it lasts, but it's far from perfect. Too whiny, too preachy, too short-lived and too short in general.
Still fun as long as it lasts though. I'll give it an 8.8, which puts it in about the same league as the original Devil May Cry. Seems about right.

posted by Ingen! @ 1:14 PM