Onimusha: Warlords

Onimusha: Warlords is a remastered version of the classic action game with elements of survival horror, the action of which was set in the 16th century Japan. The producer of the title is Capcom. Originally Onimusha: Warlords was released in 2001 on PlayStation 2 and later on Xbox and PCs. The title was the beginning of the Onimusha series, which for several years since its debut remained reasonably popular, and then quite quickly became forgotten. The first part of the cycle has sold more than two million copies worldwide. The game was originally planned as a spin-off of the Resident Evil cycle, which affected its mechanics of gameplay.

Plot

During their adventure, players move to the 16th-century Japan, which succumbed to war, and play as a samurai named Akechi Samanosuke and a young ninja named Kaede. They both try to save Princess Yuki from the hands of the mysterious demons who attacked the Inabayama Castle. A couple of protagonists soon discover that behind the attack stands the cunning Lord Oda Nobunaga, who was resurrected by demons and plans to sacrifice Yuki in a dark ritual.

Mechanics

In Onimusha: Warlords action is observed from a third-person perspective. The different locations are shown in a similar way as in the first two parts of Resident Evil. We are thus dealing with a static camera, which shows only a fragment of a given place. In combat, Samanosuke uses a rich arsenal of enchanted swords and a demonic glove that allows him to absorb the souls of defeated enemies and use them for various purposes, such as regenerating health or improving combat skills. Kaede, in turn, uses light trick weapons, which are associated with the ninja.

The creators of the remaster have modified access to an easy difficulty level, which we can now choose at the very beginning of the game, and not after a series of defeats in combat. The support for the analog gamepad knob, which was not available in the original, is certainly also a great help in playing with the game. Minor changes to the game interface have also been introduced, and smaller errors and imperfections of the original have been fixed.

Technical aspects

The remaster offers overhauled graphics, adapted to modern screen resolutions. The game can display images in both 4:3 aspect ratio and the modern standard – 16:9. The appearance of characters, textures and interface has been improved. Large changes also occurred in the sound layer. The game has a new instrumental soundtrack, improved English dubbing, as well as a Japanese dialogue track – made available for the first time in the western edition of the title.

Last updated on 07 May 2019