Onimusha Dawn of Dreams (PS2)

[Romier S]

Yeah so the third game wasn't the last one (not too suprising). I enjoyed the third game quite a bit (though it took me awhile to finally get to playing it), and I've always had an affinity for the series. This new one looks fantastic so far and is due for the Playstation 2 in Feb. '06. There is a nice high resolution video of the game in motion available right here:

 

Low Resolution video

 

High Resolution Video

 

I really like the looks of the combat system. The enemies appear to be a tad immobile at the moment, but Onimusha has always had a good challenge curve to it so I've no doubt the final game will give us some good enemy battles. I'm also liking that they brought the game back to Japan. I wasn't all that high on the Paris levels in 3.

[Mark E]

Anybody else pick this one up? I traded in some junk and snagged it yesterday and have pushed it up on my plate after finishing Medal of Honor. This is my first encounter with an Onimusha game, so it's all new to me. So far I'm enjoying it though - it reminds me a lot of a cross between Devil May Cry and Resident Evil.

 

I'm only a couple of stages in, but it's been fun. Graphics are nice, I like the skill-building aspects, and the fact that your teammates all have a variety of unique skills they bring to the table. The puzzle boxes are my favorite part so far, which is silly, but nothing like solving a brain-teaser and getting a cool new sword out of it.

 

Enemies have thus far not been hard, although I'm just at the one hour mark so I didn't expect it anyway. Trying to put the beats on foot soldiers while archers in the back are sniping away at you is a bit of a dance though. Anyway, will insert further comments as I think of 'em .

[Romier S]

I considered it, but decided to wait on a price drop Mark. It's only 39.99 and the money went to the Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistance limited edition. I was reading a few reviews on it though and it looks to be the best Onimusha yet. The adventure is supposed to be a good 15-20 hours long now if you take your time and explore all the story sequences etc. I'm glad to hear it came out pretty well. Hopefully it drops in price soon, as I'll happily pick it up. I remember I bought Onimusha 3 for full price and like a month later it was going for 19.99 so I'll be patient with this one.

 

Definitely update with more thoughts though man, I'm interested in hearing more.

[Jordan_E]

Man, if I hadn't bought Black just a few days ago I might have snagged this one instead! I've always enjoyed the Onimusha games quite a bit.

[Mark E]

Two words describe my Onimusha experience so far - fun and HARD.

 

Ow ow ow ow ow. It's not the hardest game in the world but it's tougher than most I've played in the past couple of months, to be sure. My reluctance to use healing items in these games doesn't help, nor does the fact that you can easily get ganked before you even have the chance to use one. There's quite a bit of defensive play and jockeying for the right time to strike, which makes it a bit more thoughtful than a straight-up button masher.

 

Lots of fun though, lest you think I'm not diggin' it. The five characters are all cool in their own right, although the lead's a bit of a dip. The variety of fighting styles is a great addition, and I suspect those of you familiar with fighting games and how to chain combos will have a much easier time of this than I am.

 

Replay value is quite good too; you'll see several areas in some stages that can only be accessed by particular allies with particular skills, leading to some swapping and revisiting. The Tests of Valor are great - kill x enemies or perform combat maneuver y in a set time frame to get goodies and upgrades.

 

Finally, lest you think you won't get value for your money - this puppy is LONG. Seventeen stages in total, I just cleared stage 7 and I'm 8 hours in already. 18 hours isn't a bad estimate for game length, probably even longer if you revisit some of the older stages.