• For Play on Your PlayStation 2

• Puts you in the difficult position of having to save a kidnapped princess from an evil General.

• Published by Capcom

• Game Genre: Action/Adventure, Game Sub-Genre: Survival/Horror

Take on the role of Samonosuke and his Ninja friend Kaede, who have set ot to retrieve Princess Yuki from the Demons who have overtaken the province.

Samonosuke has been given powers by the subverted Ogre Clan, in the form of a Gauntlet that grants him the use of magic orbs and the ability to steal the souls of fallen demons, using their power to enhance his own, thus using it against them.

Cool fragments of history are interspered into a wonderful storyline. The FMV sequences are great, and the graphics in the actual game are almost of the same level.

I was a bit weary at first; not being a big fan of the controls on the Resident Evil series, I thought the comparisons would be a major turn off. But the problems I have with the controls are minor compared to the plusses of this game.

Combining hack and slach with adventure with strategy, and minor elements of a RPG, this game is hard to compare to other games. It's an experience in and of itself.

This game had me going right up until the end, and I'm on my third replay. Onimusha is clearly one of the best games on the PS2, and with a sequel on it's way, it promises to be one of the best series to boot.

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:


I sure am glad this game's got an "easy" mode.  Mar 06, 2002 By Desired FX "Call me Don. It's shorter than Ishmael."
I'm not big on battle strategy unless I've got time to think--in a game like this one, I charge the enemy and pound buttons until the enemy is pulp.

Or I am. Which happens a lot.

In this game, when you're smashed to dust somewhere around 5 times, the game hands you a free pass: the option to play in "easy" mode.

Don't get me wrong--I still die on occasion, but without this mode, the game would have been unsurmountable to a player of my skill (and I use the term loosely). As it is, I've made it to the final boss (though haven't beaten him yet) and enjoyed the experience all around.

2 minor complaints: the use of the D-Pad only for character motion and the occasional bad camera angle.

In the case of the D-pad, I don't mind not being able to use the analog stick, but the choice of how the D-pad functions is a little weird--the left/right arrows turn you, the up arrow sprints you forward, and the down arrow jumps you back. I seem to spend a lot of time tapping the left and right to line up where I want to go before I go there...this is especially bad when you're in the middle of a boss fight.

The camera angles are generally quite good, but often you'll find yourself fighting a demon who is out of view, and you have no way to bring him into view except to try to move somewhere that there's a more favorable camera angle. My personal solution is to hack-and-slash toward the enemy because a) you can kill him even if he's not on camera and b) you'll usually slash your way to a better camera angle. Once or twice, though, the camera angle set me up to take damage I could easily have avoided, and since Kaede can't heal except with the games rather scarce herbs and medicines (I've never seen a game as stingy with healing items), having her take damage is a pretty expensive proposition.

But the game is pretty, sounds good, is anywhere from reasonably challenging to "what? Are you crazy?" depending on your skill level, and has a pretty decent story and system of combat/magic.

If you like hard-driving combat against some pretty tough enemies and don't mind that the puzzles aren't especially tricky, this is a solid offering that you should enjoy. Worth your time, even if it is a little on the short side.

18 of 21 found the following review helpful:


Rent, don't Buy...  May 09, 2001 By Chris Peters
Onimusha is very good, but let me say this: I saw everything this game has to offer in 1 five day rental. I actually played through it TWICE. I had fun, was blown away by the graphics, but after I returned the game I never thought of it again.

Onimusha can be compared to Resident Evil because it basically that same game only set in medival Japan. Anyone who has played the RE series will certainly feel some deja vu. You play a samuri warrior who must rescue a princess from a castle over run by zombies. The graphics are beautiful but are still the same static shots. However, the player models and little touches of smoke and such really make everything blend in together and seem more alive. Combat is simple yet strategic and very fun, although it gets old after the second run thru. Still, I enjoyed myself better than shooting zombies. There are a few puzzles in the game, but nothing too hard. The story, though, is very very simple, and a bit of a letdown. You can tell they cut parts of the game to release it on time.

I consider Onimusha a part of the Resident Evil series because it is SO similiar to those games. Definitely rent it if you own a PS2, but I think you money is better saved for RE:Code Veronica...

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


A sign of good things to come...  Mar 28, 2001 By Albert Lee
Onimusha is by no means a perfect game. But after a set of disappointing PS2 launch titles, Onimusha is definitely a big step in the right direction.

The general gameplay mechanics are derived from Capcom's Resident Evil series and are fairly basic. You navigate your character through various environments killing demons and solving the occasion puzzle. The focus of the game is clearly more on action as demons are constantly materializing around you.

The fighting mechanics are definitely not as advanced as a pure fighting game. However, there are a variety of weapons, abilities, and enemies which keeps combat from becoming stale.

However, the visuals and the atmosphere are where the game really excels. Onimusha employs 3D characters on a 2D background. This allows the backgrounds to be incredibly rich and detailed. This also allows the characters to be incredibly detailed as well. A lot of emphasis clearly was spent on modelling and animating facial features. As a result, Onimusha is the first game I've ever played where the in-game characters look realistically human.

The story is driven along by both real-time and prerendered cutscenes. The real-time cutscenes are the best to-date. The stunning level of facial animation allows the models to actually display emotions realistically. The prerendered cutscenes are also top-notch and on a par with anything that Final Fantasy has offered. The cutscenes and the atmosphere of the game really give the impression that you are experiencing an interactive movie.

However, this movie analogy extends to the length of the game as well. While long for a movie, the game is very short by videogame standards. I was able to complete the game in just over 3 hours of game time. There are a few missed items and secrets to unlock, so i will likely play through the game again, but regardless, the game is quite brief.

Also, I found myself very disappointed by the ending. I won't reveal any spoilers, but the general impression is that I felt the ending was very abrupt and didn't really close off the story very well. The amount of detail and effort spent setting up the story and atmosphere were oddly contradicted by the sudden end of the game.

Despite that, Onimusha is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Action-packed, stunning visuals, immersive atmosphere. Definitely a good sign of things to come.

7 of 9 found the following review helpful:


More thought could have gone into it.  Mar 27, 2001 By Aaron Newlands "Sithgod"
This is a good game, and graphiclly it is pretty amazing. The hero looks too western to be a samurai though. Yes it is a resident evil clone. And for that it is a little sad. Capcom are showing that they have the talent to do excellent games. But they are having a tendency to do the same style of survival horror. The graphics are great, but the characters are weak overall. Just that little bit two dimentional. But hopefully that will improve with an Onimusha II. I don't like the distances between some save points and I don't like the way you can't skip movies. There are 3 trap/puzzel rooms in a row in one area and you have to view the movie each time. The monsters go from being very cool, to just average and that is a bit of a pity. I would have liked to have seen more ninja based villans. The samurai villains are easy but cool. I would have liked to have been able to play the girl ninja. She for most of the game takes a different route and that would have added alot to the lasting appeal. The extra costumes are cool, although I was told there is a panda bear costume or something similar. Capcom for god's sake why? Give us another interesting costume rather than something just ridiculas. I bought the game I am happy I bought it. It is worth buying and the PS2 has already had some nice Japanese samurai games. They are rapidly becoming my favourite type of game. I hope to see more of these cinematic style games.

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