Onimusha: Warlords Review

Since I beat all the mainline Onimushas with the remaster of Onimusha 2 and especially with the recent Onimusha Way of the Sword coming out, I decided to play Warlords once again. I recall this game being well made and the first good 3D beat em up that I can recall and after playing the game again, I say it still does.

I'll start with the weakest aspect of the game first and that is the story. What I find so frustrating about it is that it can't decide whether it wants to be an excuse plot or have a geniune attempt at a story so much of the characters and their interactions expect you to feel like you should know everything already before playing the game. On top of that, the characters feel underdeveloped. The monsters you fight being called the "Genma" was something that was introduced in the sequels. Samanosuke's speech seeking knowledge or something felt unearned and barely had any build to the reveal.

There is also other early installment weirdness like Oni Form being just a cutscene to finish off the final boss or Nobunaga popping up at the end of the game and the player never actually faces him despite being a built up antagonist the game reminds you of. The Onimusha sequels do have a far better attempt at telling a story than Warlords does.

Gameplay is where Warlords shines. If you can get past the short length and the fact that the game is even shorter knowing that you have to upgrade the Oni Jewel for all 3 weapons to unlock level 3 doors early on in the game then a enjoyable game can be found here. Cutscenes also can't be skipped which is why I played on emulator and not pick up the remaster since you can't skip them in that either which also helps alleviate the frustration from that infamous drowning puzzle.

What makes Warlords such a stand out game in terms of combat is that it has a pick up and play feel to it. Sure, play the game on normal difficulty and dying to combat might happen here and there. The thing is, the game has enough going on that players like me who are average at best at action games if even that can feel competent at the game.

There is a block button but there is also a lock on button and Samanosuke can strafe around enemies using the d pad while the former is held down. This really helps at avoiding enemies attacks especially larger enemies that can break blocks. The large enemy attacks generally have enough telegraphing to know when to get out of the way. The only big issue with this system is knowing when to strafe left and right in the heat of the moment. There are also times where Samonosuke will try to attack enemies you don't want him to but this never got in the way.

The only two big issues I can say is switching to between ranged and melee weapons during the heat of battle.

Camera is competent here too especially how it's better than the first Devil May Cry, the latter of which came out around the same time, on the same system and under the same publisher. Warlords camera complements it's more methodical, "wait for an opening combat" system. It's always framed enough to the point where the player has a good idea of where enemies are coming from. There are moments of getting attacked off screen here and there but it is not as numerous by comparison to the aforementioned Devil May Cry.

What also helps makes Warlords easy to approach for newcomers is that enemies always give health, magical and currency upon death and due to this combat never feels like a dull boring chore of you being a tank living off borrowed time. Each weapons has it's own magic attack which has it's own meter which also helps even the odds against tougher encounters.

There is the counter attack isshin system but that is mainly for players who want to learn the extra step.

Level design also has that classic Resident Evil feeling too. There isn't as much backtracking but there is a sense of the overall setting being interconnected. The way level loops back after Samonsuke gets the second half of a seal to open a closed door late game is a good example. My only big gripe is that some doors don't look stand out enough to use the various colored keys on. The blue or red keys don't have designs that much their color for example.

The Kaede sections aren't very good. Later Onimusha games would do a better job at multiple player characters but the problem with her sections on top of not being as fun as Samanosuke is that there is no reasons to fight enemies as her. She has no Oni Gaunlet so no upgrade, health or magic orbs meaning no reason to fight enemies so you can run past them. Outside of bosses, you can run past most if not every enemy with her which is for the best since she takes less hits and is more limited in terms of moves. It's weird how considering how the Samanosuke parts avoided this potential issue.

Overall, I don't mind the breezy length and really enjoyed the game in the moment. Some questionable design and story here and there doesn't detract from Warlords' quality.