Eighteen years have passed since the first appearance of Onimusha: Warlords, eighteen long years dotted with three unforgettable titles starring Samanosuke. Despite the success it had in the past and the modern desire to bring historical titles back to recent consoles, the Onimusha saga is as if it had fallen into oblivion. Fortunately Capcom has taken over everything, starting with a light remastered: will it be successful in the coup and deliver us a title worthy of the name it bears? Let's find out in this review which aims to hit the commercial bogey demons straight to the heart.
Oni and Warriors
Onimusha: Warlords tells the very first events of Samanosuke Akechi, a samurai who will see himself enmeshed in Japanese history as opposed to a historical figure of the highest depth for the Japanese country: Oda Nobunaga. Although the latter in the real world has unified Japan, in the game during his "crusade" he finds himself making pacts with demons and monsters, called Genma. During his battle, Samanosuke is summoned by the council of twelve Oni, who deliver him a Deli Oni glove: a legendary weapon capable of accumulating the demonic souls of the Genma and converting them into spiritual energy, which not only can be channeled from time to time into different weapons available to our hero, but will obviously serve to give him the legendary power ofOnimusha, a hybrid between man and demon capable of overthrowing any enemy that stands in front of him. To avoid spoilers about the plot, we stop here, so that those who have not actually played it can fully enjoy the experience that this title offers. However, remember that on the narrative level things have not changed, faithful to the historical sector of its predecessor of almost twenty years ago, still fresh, non-trivial, and well inserted in the feudal context of medieval Japan.
Killing demons never goes out of style
Onimusha: Warlords will make you return (or ignite) the desire to defeat demons and Genma, in a perhaps anachronistic context but with a completely timeless charm. We are faced with a classic survival horror: narrow corridors, numerical inferiority compared to the enemy who seems imperturbable despite the blows he suffers, but also a shortage of medicines and products to recover health and, as if that were not enough, a series of puzzles scattered here. and there to mess up our existence and give us serious mental disturbances about the contents of that box that we have not been able to open. Unlike in the past, in this version you can control Samanosuke with the analog stick, while in the 2001 chapter it was possible to do it only via the D-pad or directional arrows. The weapons at your disposal will be tied to the power of the Oni Gauntlet, which will give you access to Raizan the sword that controls the power of lightning, Enryuu the sword of fire e Shippuu, a double blade of the wind; finally you will get the Sword of the Onimusha, a very powerful weapon that will be delivered to you temporarily assuming the human / demon hybrid form we were talking about a little while ago.
During the fight, killing or inflicting huge damage to the enemy, these will emit souls that will start dancing in the room and it will be up to you to capture them before they disappear: through the glove you can collect souls of three different colors, yellow to instantly recover health red to upgrade your gear and blue to regain Oni power and unleash your most devastating attacks. During the game you will find columns called "Mirror of the Oni" that will allow you to spend the accumulated souls in points to upgrade your favorite weapon, as well as allowing you to save your progress so far. In the inventory instead we will find consumable items such as herbs and medicines or documents that will give us the possibility to solve puzzles and problems of all kinds. Also in the inventory menu it is also possible to change armor or bullets of our firearms, such as the bow. Similarly to what happened with i resident evil of its era twenty years ago, the title takes with both hands elements such as herbs and the possibility of combining elements to obtain better ones, in addition to the camera, which being fixed in the shots e varying only when a certain angle is reached, makes combat difficult, intriguing and rewarding (because not knowing exactly where on the screen an enemy might emerge requires us to "stay on the alert" at all times.
Twenty years and not hear them
If it's true that good blood doesn't lie, Onimusha: Warlords he really is a thoroughbred! The title is still fresh today, with an engaging and well-articulated plot even for the most experienced of oriental history, as well as presenting a gameplay that has objectively taught a lot to modern games such as Dark Souls, Nioh and the next Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The idea of unearthing a similar chapter on Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One and Nintendo Switch is really great for Capcom and we hope this will be a stepping stone to a next chapter, or even a reboot in style of the perhaps strong series of a dusting off in Resident Evil 2 Remake style (coming soon this month).Onimusha: Warlords is a little gem that never stops teaching as a solid gameplay and an intriguing storyline, they can still involve both a spectator who has never played the title, and an old enthusiast. The title is a real must have for everyone, and we are sure that you will be able to fully enjoy it if you pass over a not exceptional soundtrack and a slightly dated (but solid) gameplay and graphics that are objectively far from today's 4K but that do not disappoint either during the adventure or during the movies.
