Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny
Capcom
Initial release: March 7, 2002 (Japan)
Platform: Sony PlayStation 2
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| images c/o Mobygames |
Onimusha is a series I have a love/hate relationship with. On the one hand, I really adored the first game; but, at least for me, the franchise went off the rails very quickly, as it moved away from horror to a more solidly fantasy series, and at the same time turned into something less "Resident Evil with swords" and more precision action game. I suppose it makes sense; the early 2000s were a time with no rails at all, both in gaming and in the wider world. And so it goes that Onimusha 2, while at face value indistinguishable from its predecessor, radically changes the focus of the series.
It’s probably a logical next step, given the deep roots in Japanese history and mythology. Nobunaga and Tokichiro return, of course; other historical figures abound as well: even the main character Jubei Yagyu is lifted, name intact, from the annals of real-world samurai legend. But while it’s a “logical next step” for the franchise, it’s still a disappointing one. The horror tone was the biggest draw for most fans of the original — a samurai Resident Evil is a novel idea. The more light-hearted tone of the sequel makes the whole thing seem silly. It’s hard to take things like a literally-demonic Nobunaga waging war with literal demons for soldiers to take over Japan seriously when the tone is so aggressively “two-fisted swashbuckler.” The “gift system” that you use to manipulate the supporting cast doesn’t help; basically if you want the four supporting characters (two of them based on historical figures in their own right) to help you out (or access their sidequests) you have to give them random gifts you can find in the game world or buy at the shop during your two visits in town. This is pretty dumb on its face, but nothing is ever simple. Give one character a gift, another will dislike it. You have to balance your loyalties, while also being fucking psychic about which character will like which gift. A guide is mandatory for this.
Worse
is the completely tacked-on romance subplot. not only is it completely
extraneous, but Oyu, the previously-competent ninja girl, becomes a
clueless ditz in the process. There’s also some dumb relevations about
her relationship to the Oda clan that don’t matter. And did I mention that all this is related via the worst English dub I've ever heard this side of 4Kids?
About halfway through the game I realized I just didn’t care about the game. I found Onimusha 2 orders of magnitude more difficult and demanding than the original — health is hard to come by, and the bosses are brutal. I struggled through as much of the game as I could; while I could probably come back to it now and do better, as I consider myself a better player, I don't feel terribly interested in doing so, as the story just wasn't worth it. What pushed me to give up was this boss that took up all my scant few health items, and then when I pushed ahead, I was caught in a gas trap and died before i could escape, and I hadn’t saved. This was after fighting the boss four times already. So fuck it, I went to YouTube. Wasn't the first time, definitely wasn't the last.
I think it's okay to admit that a game isn't for you. I often struggle with the kind of games that require the amount of precision and timing that Onimusha 2 does. That doesn't necessarily make these games bad, even if I hate the social stuff and the boring plot of Onimusha 2. But it does kinda put them out of my wheelhouse, and I would be less resentful of it if I hadn't thoroughly enjoyed the first game so much.
Maybe I'll come back to it someday. Like the first game, it got an HD re-release, and you can go on Steam and buy it right now. It's tempting, as it looks pretty good for a game from 2002. But I've got so much else to play first.