Onimusha: Warlords
Capcom
Initial release: January 25, 2001 (Japan)
Platform: Sony PlayStation 2 (reviewed), Microsoft Xbox
Also known as: Onimusha (Japan), Genma Onimusha (Xbox version)
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| images c/o Mobygames |
The Sony PlayStation 2, much like its successors, had an early period devoid of true system-selling “killer apps.” Tekken Tag was the only non-sports game of note (except maybe the flash-in-the-pan The Bouncer and the genre-creating Dynasty Warriors 2) on the North American launch day; something needed to fill the void until Twisted Metal Black and Metal Gear Solid 2. Resident Evil was still very popular, but Code Veronica was still a Dreamcast exclusive at the time; Capcom had yet to make a real showing on the PlayStation 2 outside of a Street Fighter spinoff, and Resident Evil 4’s development was sputtering. Enter Onimusha.
Onimusha, with the subtitle of Warlords appended to the North American version, began life around 1996 as “Sengoku Biohazard,” one of a series of planned Resident Evil spinoffs with different themes. Most of these other ideas never panned out; Onimusha did, however, eventually turning into a weird mix of action and traditional survival horror. The story goes something like this: in 1560 in Sengoku-era Japan (an era of widespread civil war across Japan,), notorious warlord Nobunaga Oda stages his famous attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto’s camp in the battle of Okehazama, only to take an arrow to the throat. A year later he returns, mysteriously alive, to lead an army of demons to sack Inabayama Castle.
The protagonist, Samanosuke Akechi (supposedly based on the real-world swordsman Hidemitsu Akechi) receives a letter from his cousin, princess Yuki of the Saito clan, expressing her concerns about disappearances around the castle. He arrives just in time to witness Oda’s attack. The rest of the game is a bunch of guff about Samanosuke being gifted a gauntlet by a secretive clan of Oni that gives him the power to fight off the demon army, called the Genma, which he then proceeds to tear apart like puppies in a blender.
There’s
a bunch of historical domain characters running around; aside from Oda
himself, there’s also Oda’s servant Toyotomi Hideyoshi (going by
Tokichiro in this game), who’s portrayed a little less flatteringly than
you’d expect of the guy who would succeed Oda. Really,
the only named characters that don’t seem to have a historical basis
are princess Yuki, and Samanosuke’s ninja friend Kaede. The actual
timing of the sacking of the castle is a little off, as well, by about 7
years, but since Oda is supposed to be dead, it doesn’t matter.
Like its stylistic predecessor, Onimusha (the name means "demon warrior") makes use of pre-rendered backgrounds. these are beautifully done, in a higher resolution and greater detail than even the overdone-by-PlayStation-standards Resident Evil 3. Everything is rendered beautifully; moving elements animate at a higher framerate. Light and shadow play out correctly. The FMV cutscenes are gorgeous. There’s even a Japanese language option to make everything feel authentic. While the plot is typical surhor claptrap, Samanosuke is well-rendered by his Japanese voice actor (who also served as the character model.) Oda is appropriately menacing as a kind of Japanese Dracula (apparently not an uncommon portrayal in Japan.)
Of course, the downside to using pre-rendered backgrounds is that the camera isn’t always cooperative. You can’t move it, it only switches viewpoints when you’re in the right zone of a room. On the plus side, at least the controls are far more intuitive. In gameplay terms, Onimusha might well stand as a sort of middle-ground between classic Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. You can generally target the enemy you want, but instead of slowly aiming and firing, you’ll be swinging very sharp swords, while circling, and hopping back and forth.
The major conceit that makes this more than a simple hack and slash is the gauntlet you wear, which allows you to absorb soul energy (or something) from defeated monsters, of which the yellow orbs restore health, blue orbs restore your mana, and red orbs serve as a sort of experience points to grow your skills. Along the way you’ll gain access to a number of magical weapons, each with their own elemental power. At save points, you can upgrade both weapons and powers (you’ll need to do the latter to unlock certain doors anyway) by absorbing red soul energy.
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| Genma Onimusha for the Xbox, the green orb mechanic in action |
Onimusha later saw an updated re-release on Microsoft's original XBox titled Genma Onimusha. Aside from a slight graphical upgrade and new things to do and see and get, including a super creepy doll scene, the big addition is green souls, which you must tug-of-war with enemies to acquire and power up with. It’s backwards-compatible on the 360, though the new green soul mechanic makes the game an order of magnitude more difficult. There was also an HD re-release for modern consoles and PC; due to an ongoing legal agreement between Capcom and Microsoft, they couldn't use Genma Onimusha as the basis for this remaster, so we're stuck with the PlayStation 2 version.
If you’re looking for an old-school survival horror with better-than-average presentation and controls, you can’t go wrong with Onimusha. There’s a lot to recommend this game for: the combat, the music, the novelty of a horror game set in medieval Japan. Personally, I just like it for a ridiculous scene where Samanosuke and Kaede jump out the window of an exploding building. Only Capcom, fam.