Customer Reviews

Onimusha Warlords

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(71)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Wow. What is there to say about this game without resulting in sweeping praise? This game has great graphics, a wonderful storyline, and great replay value too.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Onimusha: Warlords - Circa 2001

GOOD:
- A nicely styled samurai horror/fantasy
- An original story, based loosely on Japanese history
- Cool samurai-sword combat

BAD:
- This game is sort of showing it's age, from the Luke-warm voice acting to the controls
- Not for those who don't like survival horror games

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Samurai game that plays like a survival horror
- Magic and fantasy are a pretty big part of the story
- Some backtracking and "fetch the key" quest, but over all very well paced and enjoyable

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Onimusha 2: Samurai Destiny
- Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This game is also for Xbox but it is called Gemma Onimusha
- When Capcom was first making this game there was a glitch that make enemies fly into the air after being hit (it was later fixed and taken out before release), well one day while in development the programming team for another upcoming Capom title sat in on the very early build of this game and tried it out, turns out they liked the glitch so much (the same one which the Onimusha team later removed) that they added it to there upcoming game which later turned out to be Devil May Cry

Capcom has one again show that they are the best. Onimusha is above all standards.Has graphics that will make you think you are part of it.The storyline has being used in many other games such as zelda but the way this story tries to express itself it makes it seem like another story. I really think this game is worth playing. The games biggest drawback,which isnt that big but still maybe onimusha 2 improves it, Its the length you can finish the game with in 4-5 hours but the game is worth playing.

I think this game was the best game I've ever played in my entire life!! The game is very well thought out and the graphics are incredible! Only there are couple of problems,1, the camera angles stink,2,I want to know what's in the western path, and 3, the game is way too short,other wise it's pretty good. I've already beat the game 3 times with an A rating each time,and when I beat the game a 4th time, I 'll try out ultimate mode. I can't wait until ONIMUSHA WARLORDS 2 comes out. My favorite games are becoming Japanese samurai games at a steadily increasing rate.

This game is very highly rated, and I expected more out of it. The graphics are pretty good, and the "cut scenes" are interesting, providing a good story line, but the game play between the cut scenes is all too short.

As with a lot of games with a mission, once the mission is completed the first time, a lot of the fun goes out of the game. This game is probably a better game to rent than to buy.

I found Onimusha: Warlords one of the greatest games on PS2. Fantastic graphics, good storyline, perfect controls. Everything a game needs to be successful. The game is like Resident Evil, if you take the characters, settings, and guns away you'll find out that you have the perfect match of Resident Evil. This game even made #1 on the top ten games of Playstation Magazine!

The thing that surprised me although was that the game was very short. I loved it until I came to the demon world (not going to mention anything more, sorry) and that I'd only played about an hour of the game. I was really surprised and became frustrated about it.

Except about this game being short, I thought this game was awesome and deserves to be on the top ten list. I gave it a four star rating (I would've given it a five star rating)because of it's length. Mabey, the producers will somehow decide to make a sequal or a prequel (or whatever game they want to make).

I would rent this game If I were you, and if you like it buy it, cause it's sorta a waste of money to play a game for one hour, when you could be playing Resident Evil for eight hours. So rent it first and see how it looks.