Playing Onimusha Warlords

[cube_b3]

Ever have one of those nights where you just can't sleep?

I slept at 2 in the morning and woke up at 4 for sehri as I am fasting - in the month of Ramadan.

Unfortunately I couldn't go back to sleep, 3 hours later I gave on the prospect of sleep and got out of bed. I didn't really have any errands (as I'll be leaving for Texas in 2 days) except a meeting as 11 AM. So I started playing some SF4 an hour into it I was bored.

I try to balance one classic with one new game - my next game on the list is Uncharted but I lent it to a friend, so I had nothing to do...

I opened my seal Onimusha Essentials Collection and popped in the first game in the series.

It is obviously a game that was in development for PS1, the environments are tiny but beautiful.
The gameplay is a premature (if you can call it that) DMC version of DMC as it is purely set to the classic Resident Evil or more appropriately Dino Crisis 2 design template which means guns are replaced with swords.

I played the game for an hour and I am hoping it is a short game cause it doesn't look like it can hold me interest for long.

The games translation is terrible, not in a poorly translated way of the old days but in a disingenuous way. Fortunately you have the option to change to Japanese voices (as the english one is bad anyways) and I can more sense of what they are actually saying in the cut scenes. Unfortunately there is a major pit fall with that during the FMV cut scenes the subtitles don't show which was a major inconvenience in the opening cinematics and will be in future ones.

Right now the story barely makes any sense even... it is based on some true event or some Japanese war... with the twist of Demons involved (I assume those demon's are Shinigami's right?) So anyway some princess asks for the protagonists help and when he arrives she is kid napped so right now I'm on a quest to rescue her.

Let's see if the story picks up cause the gameplay won't keep me interested for very long.

I can understand why this failed in the US - it requires knowledge on Japanese history and the all to American localization isn't helping.

[Ex-Cyber]

The idea that Nobunaga was a demon or involved with demons doesn't even qualify as a "twist" anymore, sort of like the Nazis being involved with demons/the occult.

I don't think the demons are supposed to be shinigami. They're essentially killing people for reasons of amusement and greed, not because they have any special (let alone divine) authority over death.

As for gameplay, it's not as sophisticated as something like Devil May Cry, but there is a key thing to make it more skill-based and less tedious: issen/critical. This is an extremely powerful attack (one-hit kill for most enemies) that dodges/interrupts the enemy's attack and must be performed during a specific part of the enemy's attack animation. You've probably done it by accident a few times, but it's not random at all. A weaker issen can be done after parrying as well (block at the last possible moment and immediately attack after the impact). I don't remember whether the parry issen is in the first game, though.

[cube_b3]

The whole Nobunaga thing would have more impact if they introduced the guy and the story proper. The game demands you have knowledge on Japanese history and that is just stupid for an English game.

[Stryfe]

I never played past the first Onimusha. Let me know if it's worth a game store budget pickup.

I know Pakistan may not be the most comfy place in the world...

But why in the name of anything would you go to Texas? I didn't think you'd want to downgrade your living conditions.

[Specially Cork]

I played a game once.

[cube_b3]

hahaha down grade to Texas.

Well it ain't that bad, sure it ain't Chicago or someplace.
The water is literally detrimental to your health (I am 24 and have 2 strands of white hair now), and it doesn't rain as often as I thought.

Well i'm upgrading to Dallas, it's still Texas but better than San Antonio.
____________________________

As for the game it is getting better, played it last night for an hour. I have a bit more understanding of the combat and I know how to work it properly but I think I explained the gameplay model precisely in my earlier posts. The story so far is a simple rescue the princess dynamic it is evolving (she has an adopted younger brother) that Sengoku currently has to track and I got to play with Sengoku's side kick for a while as well.

The graphics are beautiful..... If I go on i'd just be repeating my first post.

The games are going to get better with the sequels and be more English friendly while not abandoning their heritage. So go get it, it is a playable and somewhat enjoyable game and on the cheap it should be alright. I got all 3 in an Essentials Compilation.

[cube_b3]

Alright final post time I beat the game.
Gameplay:
The combat remains simple but it is fun when you properly master it.
Basically in addition to the block, attack, and special moves holding down R1 with directional keys allows you to perform dashes, which really spice up the combat and you can dodge and counter enemy attacks. It can be considered similar to Shinobi's stealth dash (though not as fun or long range).
The game also has bow and arrow and match lock (shotgun type weapon) which control identical to the guns in the RE games.

Story:
As for the story for the most part it is left fairly ambiguous, they refer to J-historical events constantly but I don't know about them, nor do I care. To me it was basically just a rescue the princess thing, which was probably the only plot point an average would be able to grasp properly.
The ending is left very open ended/cliff hanger which is then followed with individual character epilogue (perhaps tying into historical events).
I finished the game in a little over 4 hours (which meant I played around 6 counting deaths and stuff).
Finishing the game unlocks a teaser for Onimusha 2, and a PANDA costume for Samanouske :S.
Unfortunately it didn't unlock an extra scenario or allowed me to restart the game with my inventory, towards the end of the game like other games. So I restarted the game in Easy mode finished it in 2 hours (divided into 2 sessions morning and evening).
I like it when games are short and sweet, so this worked out nicely for me.
I'll give it 6 out of 10.