Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to ensure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.
Capcom has created enduring franchises over the years that have releases spanning multiple console generations.Resident Evil,Street FighterandMonster Hunterare examples that immediately spring to mind. Onimusha was a property that had the potential to be named among those properties, but not counting remasters or browser games, it’s been close to two decades since there was a proper Onimusha release. This is a shame, as Capcom’s other franchises have continued to produce some stellar games and a modern take on Onimusha is something many would have liked to see. Onimusha: Warlords is the game that kicked off things in 2001 and is worth revisiting in spite of no new Onimusha games being forthcoming.
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Demon Warrior
Onimusha: Warlords takes place during the Sengoku period. Like many games set in this era, Nobunaga Oda is the enemy, but unlike most historical games, Oda poses a minor threat compared to all the demons hanging out with him. The players mostly controls samurai Samanosuke Akechi, occasionally stepping into the tabi of his ninja companion Kaede. After a year passes from a battle where Oda is victorious, but nonetheless presumed dead, Samanosuke is summoned by his cousin, Princess Yuki. Samanosuke and Kaede arrive just in time for the princess to be abducted. Samanosuke and Kaede split up to rescue her, but Samanosuke is defeated by a powerful monster. As Samanosuke is writhing in agony, he’s visited by the twelve Oni. They give him a mystical gauntlet, which allows him to capture the souls of their enemy and Yuki’s kidnappers, the Genma. With his new-found power, Samanosuke is ready to resume his quest.
Onimusha: Warlords is a primarily an action game. Samanosuke can obtain three melee weapons, each with a different elemental affinity: Raizan, Enryuu and Shippuu. The elemental properties of each weapon relate to their unique special attacks, but in addition to applications in battle, they also serve a purpose of opening doors with elemental locks. Firearms and a bow and arrows have also become available, though the controls for these make using them cumbersome. Kaede is armed with a shorter melee blade and throwing knives. She lacks the ability to absorb souls or unleash elemental attacks but does have a unique fighting style that has some flashy acrobatic attacks.
To balance out the action, Onimusha: Warlords does have its share of puzzles. Most of these are simple, such as pulling levers in the proper order or lighting candles to open a hidden door. Some treasure boxes are locked with number puzzles that need to be rotated to the proper order or matching symbols to solve a riddle. The most aggravating puzzle is the water trap puzzle, where the game mechanics are the main culprit for the frustration there. The puzzle requires the player to move a symbol to the center of the puzzle board, which is done by moving the stone tiles. There is a timer which cannot be paused and no instructions are given. Even with the time limit and no real guidance, it should only take a couple tries to figure out how to solve the puzzle, but this particular puzzle is the end of a series of a few other puzzles and unskippable cutscenes, which can greatly add to the time and annoyance.
Evil Origins
Despite not being a survival horror game, it’s difficult to play Onimusha: Warlords and not be reminded of Resident Evil. The actual game heavily emphasizes action, but with the puzzles mixed in along with Gemna plodding about like lab grown zombies, the overall vibe is similar to a Sengoku Resident Evil. This makes sense when one learns that, in its early stages of development, the idea of what would eventually become Onimusha: Warlords was a ninja-themed Resident Evil. The idea included a ninja house with thematically-appropriate traps and ninjas battling each other with swords. Production began on this with discussions of being released for PlayStation and Nintendo 64, but was never completed. The project restarted for the PlayStation 2 which resulted in the Onimusha we all know, but certain elements of the game show hints of the original ideas.
Onimusha: Warlords does a good job of forging its own identity, but the Genma and certain plot elements make the Resident Evil roots seem obvious. Samanosuke and Kaede teaming up to rescue Princess Yuki seem like a basic damsel in distress plot, but the demonic forces working with Nobunaga Oda and the ritualistic use of blood to strengthen demons does sound like it came from survival horror roots. But even with the similarities, it does feel like its own entity and is an enjoyable if short journey. The puzzles are used just frequently enough to help counterbalance the emphasis on action. The variety of regular enemy Genma is limited, but the boss battles are where some truly horrific demonic beasts are showcased.
Onimusha: Warlords is a product of its time but is still fun to play. Certain mechanics feel dated, such as the controls feeling clunky and the fixed camera is difficult to get used to when so many modern games have spoiled us with movable cameras. This was one of the stand-out titles of 2001, but beyond nostalgia or historical perspective, it doesn’t feel like a must-play game today. It holds up well enough that fans of this style will still consider it worth their time, but certain game play elements will reinforce how far gaming technology has come.
Legacy and Re-Releases
Following the success of Onimusha: Warlords on Playstation 2, an upgraded version, Genma Onimusha, was released on Xbox. This was an enhanced version that improved the graphics and sound to take advantage of the more powerful hardware that was available on Xbox. The story remains unchanged, but a new tower area was added to extend the game. The difficulty was increased and some new enemies were added, along with a new game mechanic with green souls that can be collected to trigger temporary invincibility and health regeneration, but to go along with the added challenge, the enemies can also take advantage of the green souls.
In 2018, Onimusha: Warlords was remastered for modern platforms. This remaster is based on the original Onimusha: Warlords and does not include any of the changes or additional content that was added to Genma Onimusha. The changes are minor; the resolution and framerate have been improved. The soundtrack was re-recorded and the actor for Samanosuke re-dubbed his dialogue. Players can now switch weapons without having to go to their inventory screen, but aside from that, the gameplay has remained the same. A quality-of-life improvement that would have benefited Onimusha: Warlords would have been the ability to skip cutscenes.
Onimusha: Warlords and Genma Onimusha are available on PlayStation 2 and Xbox, respectively. The remaster of Onimusha: Warlords is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One. Playing Onimusha today is simultaneously a testament to how good games were over twenty years ago, but it showcases the limitations and outdated standards of the time. Tank controls, for example, are almost nonexistent in modern games, but for a while they were common. While using them in Onimusha is optional and there are probably some gamers who swear by them, my personal opinion is glad they never really caught on. But even with the outdated mechanics and primitive-looking character models, Onimusha: Warlords is still a joy to play, even if certain aspects show their age.
