What Ever Happened to Onimusha?

Does anyone remember playing Capcom’s successful series Onimusha?  It was a gruesome action/adventure game that took place in ancient Japan and incorporated elements of the supernatural and survival horror.  The series did remarkably well, five games were released on the PlayStation 2 (one was a fighting game that used the characters from the series.) The games have often been compared to the Devil May Cry series and Resident Evil, as they combine brutal action with exploration and puzzle solving. 

            The first instalment of the series was released in 2001, right around the time the PlayStation 2 launched.  Even for an early PS2 game, the graphics were superb and made full use of the systems capabilities. The game takes place in Japan in 1560 where a civil war is in full swing. The player controls Samonosuke, a warrior whose cousin is Princess Yuki of the Saito Clan. The game begins with Samonosuke receiving a letter from Princess Yuki, telling him the maids have been disappearing from the castle.  She suspects monsters with supernatural powers that the opposing army is using.  Samonosuke goes to investigate and finds that Princess Yuki has been kidnapped and he must now explore the castle while fighting demonic monsters called the Genma.

The series is often compared to the Devil May Cry series

            Players start the game with a Katana, but find other blade styles and long-range weapons as the game progresses.  Weapons with elemental attributes can also be found.  When enemies are slain, the player collects different coloured orbs from the fallen foes (Devil May Cry anyone?).  Red souls are used to buy weapons upgrades, yellow souls recover health, and blue souls restore the magic power used to execute magical attacks with the elemental weapons.  Something I really enjoyed about the game was the use of fixed camera angles; no different then those used in survival horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill.  A lot of people do not enjoy fixed camera angles in games as they find them clunky,  I however, feel that they are creative and add a very artistic touch to the game.  They also help along the little bit of atmosphere that gives the game a slight survival horror feel.  In Onimusha, the fixed camera angles never felt clunky or out of place.  Complete control over the camera is a necessity in some games, but in this game, I feel the fixed camera angles gave each new area a unique feel, especially since you spend a lot of time in the same castle.

"A lot of people do not enjoy fixed camera angles in games as they find them clunky,  I however, feel that they are creative and add a very artistic touch"

            Onimusha received positive ratings when it was released.  The following instalments of the game stayed true to the original formula, adding a few touch ups here and there.  In the third game, Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, the player controlled one character in Feudal Japan and another in modern day Paris.  This came as a well-received surprise to players of the genre.  The last game that was released was in 2006, it was called Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.  The game got rid of the fixed camera angles and used a third person over the shoulder approach.  To me this was extremely disappointing, but the game was well received in Japan and America as it still stayed true to the quality formula of the series.  Since Dawn of Dreams, there have been no further releases in the Onimusha series, which is unfortunate because it did remarkably well when it was around and was a unique game that borrowed certain generic conventions from other successful Capcom games.  I am more than sure that an instalment for this generation of consoles would have the potential of being a masterpiece, and I really hope Capcom does not let this series fade out.  

Written by Michael Easton