They remastered Onimusha 1 for PS4 and XBox X but just stopped right there, smh. I bought 3 copies to support but apparently that still wasn't enough to get Capcom to remaster the rest of the series.
@@lipsontajgordongrunk4328 Well yea Ik that, but there's no way in hell Capcom actually thought people would buy a title that was almost 20 years old now, and all they did was up the resolution and added in free movement. They could've found a way to release other onimusha titles, like a remastered collection. Imagine if the DMC remaster had just came with the first DMC and that was it. It'd probably wouldn't have sold many copies. If Capcom had tried to at least get Onimusha 1&3 together then it probably would've sold more considering how fans considered 3 to be the best in rhe series. I'm pretty sure with Onimusha 2 it wouldn't be as easy because of copyright with the actor they used in that one. But still Capcom didn't really do much when it came to trying to bring back the onimusha franchise, they barely even marketed the damn remaster. I didn't even know it existed until I saw a Kbash review on it. Tldr: they didn't really try hard enough imo, even tho the onimusha remaster isn't bad, it's not enough to convince people to be into the series.
I like how Brit always goes straight into the review. Never rattles off over some nonsensical history or some philosophical question. Just straight facts and opinions and a DMC reference here or there
True. I remember watching a video about a guy talking about how the Jak and Daxter trilogy is the best trilogy when it comes to games that have a trilogies. But then all of a sudden he got into the whole "police" debate. He started talking about Copaganda and how "All" cops were bad/evil. And I'm thinking to myself, "dude, the games are not that deep!"
I played this game SO many times as a kid. Probably 14 years old. A ton of fun and a really cool dark aesthetic. It felt difficult but rewarding to overcome each challenge.
I liked being Tenkai a lot. He has an infinite-thrust spear later in the game you can poke people to death very quickly with. Plus he's Samanosuke in disguise, how great is that.
Shoutout to anyone who beat all 100 floors of the Demon Realm with all 5 characters. The weapons you unlocked on floor 50 were usually good enough for me. I did complete Soki's path all the way though
I remember buying this gem at toys r us with my employee discount and getting it for like 5 bucks when it was new. Management ordered a shit ton and it didn't sell well because it wasnt cooking mama and the other shit that was popular with young ones back then. Thank you for your thoughtful videos.
It's been neat to see all these Onimusha(and Genji lol) reviews. It's not a series I'm very familiar with, but thanks to a familiar historical setting and familiar developers, there's been a lot of recognizable things in here, and it's been interesting to learn about its place in history.
Yes a good day finally. My life has been bad but today I got a 90% on my final exam and Charlie uploads a new video about an action game. I am glad he is taking a break from talking about horror games. Seriously Horror game content and discussions (especially about Resident Evil) are everywhere on TH-cam these days.
Back in the day I played this entire game co-op with a friend so I never touched single player mechanics. I have fond memories of playing with my friend.
@DTPandemonium Hard to call either Onimusha or DMC an RE clone. If your definition of an RE clone is just fixed camera angles, then sure. Onimusha has a much bigger focus on combat than the old RE games. Unlike RE where fighting only wastes ammo, in Onimusha it is encouraged by giving you points to level up weapons with. There's also big over the top magic attacks, and a weird character relations system in 2. And saying DMC is even remotely close to an RE clone is just nonsensical.
It's one of those games that would've been immediately improved up on if it had coop with both players being able to switch between two characters seperately
When I was young (around 13 or 14), out of Onimusha 3 and 4, I liked 4 way more. I had a lot of fun and never got bored at all, to me it was good that the game was so big.
Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix still handles rpg stats the best when it comes to mixing with action game norms where you can beat the game with the basic key blade at level 1 just fine if your good enough
Wow, this game really was unique compared to the other Onimusha Games. I'm actually quite interested in playing it now. Thanks for your efforts in reviewing the mainline Onimusha games. Maybe someday, you can also review Onimusha Tactics, and Onimusha Blade Warriors?
Aw man, Tactics would be great. It's basically babby's first TRPG, and it has almost zero replay value, but I played it at the height of my Onimusha fandom, so it hit the spot like 👌
I love this game. It’s great. Co op was what put it over the top for me what it was definitely the best onimusha action game. But man when you showed the first one, it hits me much harder in the nostalgia. It definitely had that atmospheric feel, didn’t it? Would love to play this one with the fixed camera angle. The camera in co op was so bad they had to make it a cheat code lol.
This is the only Onimusha game I've played, as the idea of a more action focused version of this series does sound appealing to me. While it did feel good to play on a basic level, I found a lot of the more complicated stuff to be extremely fiddly and usually not worth the effort to attempt. It never felt like it was properly tuned to the stuff it was trying to do. That, and it was pretty tedious with how long and padded it was. It stays on way past its welcome. I also played the original Genji around the same time, and I think on balance it was a better experience. It was about as successful as Dawn of Dreams in the stuff it did right, but thanks to its much smaller scope, it wasn't dragged down by all the superfluous stuff and felt like a more focused experience. It's actually got me more interested in playing Genji 2 than any other Onimusha game.
I started with Onimusha 2 and never played the original Onimusha, so I never really picked up on the tonal issues Gaming Brit speaks. While Oni 2 had Magoichi's gruff attitude, Ekei's dead daughter and the possibility of the ninja kid (Kotaro?) becoming a boss-fight, I managed to get the good ending first go around and experienced the unrestrained joy of GOGANDANTES, GRRREATEST SWORDSMAN OF AAAALL THE DEMONS. At 15 years of age Gogandantess exceeded ALL other vibes of the game so the memory of him kind of set the tone for the whole series in my mind. When timetravel and bombastic action invasion scenes (and, you know, Jean Reno) happened in 3 I just felt this was a goofy series that increased in goofiness with each installment, so 4 going full on anime POWER OF FRIENDSHIP that just felt like that was natural progression, a feature instead of a bug if you will. Perhaps if I had started with Onimusha 1 I'd feel this tonal shift more, but I didn't and I didn't and so I couldn't understand the haters for this one... until now. It has been YEARS since I played this so I had forgotten much of the actual gameplay. The nice vibes between the Dawn of Dream-team remained fresh in my minds eye but having it all laid out like this... yeah, I can see how people think it's a bothersome, cheap slog. I just remembered the cutscenes that were there and had fun with those, but the game really DID have a lot of text-scroll screens that would've been far more enjoyable to see than to read. And while I ADORED having all those weapons to grind as I'm the kind of person who levels up my JRPG-party to unreasonable levels, I'm old enough to realize people who don't like grind aren't just attention deficit, they just have different priorities in life and sometimes, just because a game lets me spend inordinate hours to become overpowered, it doesn't mean I should forgive bad pace and cumbersome gameplay. Unlocking mega-weapons for Roberto to just pound every single Oni in my way into dust with my bare hands was peak gaming pleasure back then, but my experiences are not universal. Also puzzles and reused backgrounds / worlds would stand out far more to my more critical mindset of today. Add camera issues on top of that and no wonder people at the time were... luke-warm, at best. But I can't deny that I adored the finale and the general vibe of the game. I still like the characters and felt this was a nice bow to wrap up the series with. I wish that the whole franchise could've gotten remasters and some polish to make them all accessible and let more people make new assessments, but it is what it is. It was the right game for me at the time, but not what the fanbase wanted. I can't hate it, but I can't pretend I don't get where the dissenting opinions are coming from. This video also really got me thinking of what an Onimusha reboot should be. Horror and mood might make for a fine game, the RE engine can deliver that in spades, but I wonder if I'd truly be interested in that game when the goofiness is what drew me in. Much to think about.
@@billyboleson2830 Like, even ignoring GOGANDANTES (though whyever would you?), Jujudorma the fat lady who jumps and crushes you with her butt and shoots missiles out of her umbrella? And even if what he doesbis gruesome, does anyone really take Guildenstern seriously? Like... anyone? He sounds like Skeletor!
As a kid I always thought this game was God tier. Have so many great memories of it I played it again a few months ago and I did still like it but it definitely had it's flaws.
As much as I loved the second Onimusha, this one is my favorite by far. Soundtrack itself is so good I found myself coming back to it many times over the years 😌
I always found it weird how Dawn of Dreams takes issens (the counterattacks) and makes them a core part of the character's magic attacks. They used to be for skill expression in every other game, but literally anyone can chain together multiple hits to wipe an enemy squad in this entry. Although it is satisfying, I find it hurting the game's skill ceiling, which is unfortunate because Onimusha's skill ceiling is a very high one.
@@billyboleson2830 Yeah, I know both issens are still there, but there is less reason to get good with them here because of my aforementioned comment. Plus, MP items are so common in DOD that I just use them if I run out of magic.
It is a little odd they moved away from the fixed camera angles here, regardless of RE4. Devil May Cry 4 comes a couple years after this game and still keeps the camera angles. That series only just really moved away from fixed camera angles with 2019’s DMC5.
my brother absolutely loved Dawn of Dreams, and while looking back on it in this video there are a lot more flaws than I remember, it's still a great game and having co-op in a game like this was just great fun
with the rise of popularity of from software's type of combat style in action games i think that could be an occasion to bring back the original style of onimusha and pair it with a modern and popular combat system
Onimusha 4 left a weird feeling for me. It had a pretty good and unique gameplay but some of it felt kinda half-baked/meh. Especially that one part in the game where u need to turn on/off engine to unlock certain areas then backtracking them again. God I hate that part so much 😅
The way this gameplay system reminds me so much of marvel vs Capcom infinite! Seems like some people at Capcom always wanted to do a active tag system XD
It's relly fun to use this assist/tag-in stuff in action games. My favorite part pf One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 was that for each character you rescued in a stage, they'd then be added to your super move so by the end of a stage you were doing awesome combination super moves.
@@Kriss_ch. I wasn't aware of OP PW having a system like that! I should give those musos a try. The only spin off one I played was the berserk and AOT ones (if alt counts)
Love the energy of this channel talking about Onimusha 4 at a time when the internet is ablaze with Resident Evil 4 Remake discourse. Never change TGB :)
Funnily enough, this was the Onimusha game I beat the most in my childhood. For some reason, I played the first one once, the second one twice, the third one thrice and the fourth one four times, as if it was a running joke. But it was just kind of a coincidence. I dunno what captivated me so much about DoD. I think leveling systems and grand, long games on two discs (that aren't JRPGs) were just something fascinating to me back then. Getting an action game that's over 20 hours just felt amazing and that soundtrack ... I still listen to it on occasion. Today I would probably put 3 over it, but I have some great memories with this one. Though I definitely get the criticism und think it's warranted.
Capcom definitely bit more than they could chew with this game, it was extremely ambitious and even as a kid I noticed that. I did also notice the recycled layouts and overlong stages, and was pretty shocked at how difficult the RPG mechanics could get on Stage 17 in higher diffs. The game's story really feels incredible to me, a worthy conclusion to all story arcs. It has a fond place in my heart alongside Demon Siege
One sample disc at Capcom. Reminds me that last year I started really rewatching X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on this channel called Comet, and I was noticing sample music in some episodes that gets used during the cutscene intros to the final boss fights in Capcom vs SNK 2. Farscape might have used it too. And it’s definitely in the movie Returner (starring Samanosuke actor Takeshi Kaneshiro) and another game called Samurai Western.
I got Onimusha 4 when I was a kid and was sorely disappointed by the tone and bloated length of it. I adored the original Oni games and 4 was absolutely not what I was looking for when I thought of Onimusha. But I gotta say I think this video won me over. I totally agree with all the criticisms and they definitely stopped me from finishing, but seeing how the game progressed and really tried something different looks pretty worthwhile. Maybe it's one of those things that you need time to appreciate. I think I might have to give it anothershot
Hope that new Onimusha game is still happening. Not having a PS2, I never really played much of any of the Onimusha series. But I did have Genma Onimusha on Xbox and loved that game. I also had Onimusha Tactics for like a day.
Fixed Camera angles are not exactly a good idea in most cases nowadays, it's extremely limiting in its own way, I've recently played Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and it certainly isn't flawless. It's more about making the camera a non-factor as the player's thumb can be focused on using the face buttons(where the good stuff is), This is the one aspect where I feel the OG God of War series trump these games in that regard.
Literally Fanservice: The Vidya Gaem. Nowhere near the quality of the first 3 games and padded to absolute shit, but still fun. More importantly, it felt like it came from a good place of "throw in everything and the kitchen sink to make the fans happy and have one last big hurrah for the franchise", which is the kind of attitude that's sorely missed these days.
Tbh if anything capcom do a little too much of the fan service and callbacks. Not that their games play poorly. Theyre mostly great. But they also all feel like essentially the same games weve been playing for 20 years. Its been forever since they had that early 2000s moment where they made a bunch of off the wall franchises. Even moving RE into first person ended up just being RE4... in first person
I was too young to think critical and comprehend criticism back then, but there is one thing I did know that is still true today. Blue Oni is one of the most hype soundtracks. Ever. It genuinely gives you the feeling of being a badass hero, fighting a long battle to save the world...and you're winning.
I remember playing the demo for this game way back in the day and loving it a lot. Years later whenever I tried looking into the game, I always saw a lot of people fucking hating it and that always confused me. I get it in retrospect now, especially playing the original couple games myself and seeing why older fans may have been/were vindictive towards it. Still, it's nice to see someone talk about the game in a nicer light for once (from my perspective at least).
I am kinda curious how you feel about the Nioh series and its place as an action game. I tend to find a lot of people write them off as Souls Games but their combat systems are extremely in depth with a plethora of options to dive into and lots of experimentation to be had. They might honestly be my favourite action games around, with Nioh 2 being my favourite ARPG outside of maybe Dragon's Dogma.
diablo of dark souls. You can play with all the stances but most builds end up spamming one or two abilities by the end because of stacking multipliers.
Ah yeah onimusha 4. I remember hating it. Cant say why, after 20 years...... Played all Onimushas at release. First one was mindblowing with its intro sequence. Loooved the second!! 3rd was cool with the time travel. 4 was ......dont know boring and long. But I have to play them again some time..... its 20+ years ago.
It really overstays it's welcome. It's one of those games I played for a long time, and don't remember much of it. Just that I was near the final boss at some point and didn't felt like playing anymore.
Resident Evil fans complain about not getting enough games even though they get a new game every year sometimes more. Meanwhile Onimusha hasn't had a new game since 2006
Basically residential evil 4 remake but with a durability weapon system with swords replacing knives. Well...at least until you get the onimusha weapons.
I wish DMC added something like Onimusha 4's tag system we got the tag system in the DMC mobile game but I'd like to have it on a controller on a pc/system and my fingers aren't covering half the screen
I'm surprised Capcom never decided to capitalize on the Soulslike fad with an Onimusha remake; when the first Nioh released it felt as thought Team Ninja were doing what Capcom could've been doing. An atmospheric Soulsy take on the first game would be great, and would love to see it given the RE2 remake treatment. These days I'm just hoping for HD releases of Oni 2 and Dawn of Dreams. I never did finish that one, though I still have all of my old PS2 stuff.
On the topic of samurai action kick are you gonna give the Nioh's a shot? I think you'd greatly enjoy the combat of 2 but would probably be at odds with the soulslike playstyle and how you can only truly flex on half of the enemy cast (humans)
The forth game in a series ditching its more atmospheric mood and fixed camera angles, for a more action focused and goofier game using a new perspective from capcom? Where have I heard this one before?
It does seam like Capcom made a concerted effort to change all their franchise from Horror to full on Action. And in the process they killed all those franchises but one. Resi 4 somehow hit a sweet spot with the critics and fans alike, even if it was not really a Resi game anymore. Thanks the gaming gods Hitman Abomination failed miserably is all I'm saying... There were and are ways to keep the horror going while moving the gameplay forward. But it seems like the game industry is extremely allergic to real honest forward thinking changes in gameplay like that. Instead favoring the Pew Pew Bang Bang gameplay for the most part when looking for all the money. Here is a fun observation. The more action oriented these games got, the more Capcom employed the use of Colorful Item Pickup Prompts, Numbers popping on screen for Combo Meters and Damage, Gold pickup as reward, etc. Now that's a story worth looking into. Especially once you start connecting it to the Arcades, other game devs, and how the video game landscape looks today. Anyways, thanks for the video. 👍
I have no problem with a fixed camera as long as when I transition to another camera in the room my character isn't flipped around because the controls have now flipped to suit the new camera. Its a small detail but it makes a game so much more replayable and less frustrating
Game of my childhood, I've played it soo many times on PS2 then on emulator...Waiting so fck loong to see remaster...CAPCOM WHY YOU DONT MAKE BEST GAMES GREAT AGAIN?
You really just got right into it. No big channel intro or unnecessary game introduction. For a sec I thought I got half way through the video
beautiful and simple.the content we deserve
I littlerly thought that I was halfway through during the Opening minutes
I've been wanting for Capcom to HD Remaster this game for YEARS. It's very underrated and absurdly fun.
Honestly Capcom did the Onimusha series dirty lol. It's like they didn't even try to bring it back tbh
They remastered Onimusha 1 for PS4 and XBox X but just stopped right there, smh. I bought 3 copies to support but apparently that still wasn't enough to get Capcom to remaster the rest of the series.
@@mickeybat5816 as much as inafune did them dirty by lending DMC, lost planet & dead rising to develop outside of capcom
@@mickeybat5816 nobody bought the first game that’s why. It sold terribly so they scrapped all future plans of remastering the rest of the series.
@@lipsontajgordongrunk4328 Well yea Ik that, but there's no way in hell Capcom actually thought people would buy a title that was almost 20 years old now, and all they did was up the resolution and added in free movement.
They could've found a way to release other onimusha titles, like a remastered collection. Imagine if the DMC remaster had just came with the first DMC and that was it. It'd probably wouldn't have sold many copies.
If Capcom had tried to at least get Onimusha 1&3 together then it probably would've sold more considering how fans considered 3 to be the best in rhe series.
I'm pretty sure with Onimusha 2 it wouldn't be as easy because of copyright with the actor they used in that one.
But still Capcom didn't really do much when it came to trying to bring back the onimusha franchise, they barely even marketed the damn remaster. I didn't even know it existed until I saw a Kbash review on it.
Tldr: they didn't really try hard enough imo, even tho the onimusha remaster isn't bad, it's not enough to convince people to be into the series.
I like how Brit always goes straight into the review. Never rattles off over some nonsensical history or some philosophical question. Just straight facts and opinions and a DMC reference here or there
True. I remember watching a video about a guy talking about how the Jak and Daxter trilogy is the best trilogy when it comes to games that have a trilogies. But then all of a sudden he got into the whole "police" debate. He started talking about Copaganda and how "All" cops were bad/evil. And I'm thinking to myself, "dude, the games are not that deep!"
I played this game SO many times as a kid. Probably 14 years old. A ton of fun and a really cool dark aesthetic. It felt difficult but rewarding to overcome each challenge.
"Are you prepared for Onimusha to be absolute nonsense now?"
The flying mechanical fortress and machines in 2 weren't nonsense?
Not to mention the entirety of Oni 3 is even more ridiculous than 4
I liked being Tenkai a lot. He has an infinite-thrust spear later in the game you can poke people to death very quickly with. Plus he's Samanosuke in disguise, how great is that.
Right?! I LOVED this game! Was super disappointed there was never a sequel!
I just learned this, lol
Shoutout to anyone who beat all 100 floors of the Demon Realm with all 5 characters. The weapons you unlocked on floor 50 were usually good enough for me. I did complete Soki's path all the way though
I remember buying this gem at toys r us with my employee discount and getting it for like 5 bucks when it was new. Management ordered a shit ton and it didn't sell well because it wasnt cooking mama and the other shit that was popular with young ones back then.
Thank you for your thoughtful videos.
7:19 HELL YEAH YOU NOTICED THE SIMILAR GUITAR STING TO DMC3'S!!!
That dmc tune was my ringtone back in the day
Holy crap, his Silent Hill 4 review edges closer by the day. I gotta get back to playing before I’m left in the dust!
It's been neat to see all these Onimusha(and Genji lol) reviews. It's not a series I'm very familiar with, but thanks to a familiar historical setting and familiar developers, there's been a lot of recognizable things in here, and it's been interesting to learn about its place in history.
Yes a good day finally. My life has been bad but today I got a 90% on my final exam and Charlie uploads a new video about an action game. I am glad he is taking a break from talking about horror games. Seriously Horror game content and discussions (especially about Resident Evil) are everywhere on TH-cam these days.
Congrats!
late ps2 era graphics hit different man 👌
Facts
Back in the day I played this entire game co-op with a friend so I never touched single player mechanics. I have fond memories of playing with my friend.
I was expecting a Genji 2 review, which I'm guessing must be on the works...
I loved this vid btw, ty Brit!
i personally LOVE dawn of dreams. honestly, most of the footage, despite an overlay of criticism over it, makes me want to load the game up again.
When you said Samanosuke is 70 here i was truly shocked. Fully looked like a young guy with anime hair colour.
> -black- Oni don't crack
I always figured he's like Aya from PE in a sense that magic keeps him looking way more youthful than his actual age.
It's a shame Capcom is not remastering the other Onimusha games.
Had so much fun playing this game. Particularly having the option to play it with a friend, it was fantastic
That jokester Hideyoshi, always up to no good
Loved Onimusha 3 and 4 as a kid. I really wish Onimusha HD did better so they would've ported the other games
Which SUCKS I hadn’t played Onimusha since the early 2000’s and I bought HD and loved every minute of it again.
It was doomed from the start, first two games were definition of old resident evil clone, moreso than even DMC1.
@DTPandemonium Hard to call either Onimusha or DMC an RE clone. If your definition of an RE clone is just fixed camera angles, then sure. Onimusha has a much bigger focus on combat than the old RE games. Unlike RE where fighting only wastes ammo, in Onimusha it is encouraged by giving you points to level up weapons with. There's also big over the top magic attacks, and a weird character relations system in 2. And saying DMC is even remotely close to an RE clone is just nonsensical.
That bit about Rome being called “the past” elicited big lols.
I didn't even know Onimusha 4 was a thing. These reviews are a treat.
It's one of those games that would've been immediately improved up on if it had coop with both players being able to switch between two characters seperately
When I was young (around 13 or 14), out of Onimusha 3 and 4, I liked 4 way more. I had a lot of fun and never got bored at all, to me it was good that the game was so big.
Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix still handles rpg stats the best when it comes to mixing with action game norms where you can beat the game with the basic key blade at level 1 just fine if your good enough
Wow, this game really was unique compared to the other Onimusha Games. I'm actually quite interested in playing it now.
Thanks for your efforts in reviewing the mainline Onimusha games. Maybe someday, you can also review Onimusha Tactics, and Onimusha Blade Warriors?
Aw man, Tactics would be great. It's basically babby's first TRPG, and it has almost zero replay value, but I played it at the height of my Onimusha fandom, so it hit the spot like 👌
Unique? Lol
@@brooklynbred1460 Lol? What makes it not unique?
I love this game. It’s great. Co op was what put it over the top for me what it was definitely the best onimusha action game. But man when you showed the first one, it hits me much harder in the nostalgia. It definitely had that atmospheric feel, didn’t it? Would love to play this one with the fixed camera angle. The camera in co op was so bad they had to make it a cheat code lol.
I have the same feeling about Onimusha coming back. I hope it ratchets up the horror to an absurd degree.
The best Onmusha, hands down.
This is the only Onimusha game I've played, as the idea of a more action focused version of this series does sound appealing to me. While it did feel good to play on a basic level, I found a lot of the more complicated stuff to be extremely fiddly and usually not worth the effort to attempt. It never felt like it was properly tuned to the stuff it was trying to do. That, and it was pretty tedious with how long and padded it was. It stays on way past its welcome.
I also played the original Genji around the same time, and I think on balance it was a better experience. It was about as successful as Dawn of Dreams in the stuff it did right, but thanks to its much smaller scope, it wasn't dragged down by all the superfluous stuff and felt like a more focused experience. It's actually got me more interested in playing Genji 2 than any other Onimusha game.
Genji 1 was a great experience, and it is why genji 2 for me was such a slap in the face. What happened? It was beautiful tho for a launch ps3 game
LARGE AMOUNT OF DOPAMINE WHEN U UPLOAD
I loved this game. It's one of the main games from my childhood.
This is the only onimusha game that I ever was able to beat. Takes me back to the good ol days
7:38 Those things are barely contained!
The western release of Dawn of Dreams is infamous for making Hard Mode Normal, it would not have been a problem but they removed easier difficulties.
I started with Onimusha 2 and never played the original Onimusha, so I never really picked up on the tonal issues Gaming Brit speaks. While Oni 2 had Magoichi's gruff attitude, Ekei's dead daughter and the possibility of the ninja kid (Kotaro?) becoming a boss-fight, I managed to get the good ending first go around and experienced the unrestrained joy of GOGANDANTES, GRRREATEST SWORDSMAN OF AAAALL THE DEMONS. At 15 years of age Gogandantess exceeded ALL other vibes of the game so the memory of him kind of set the tone for the whole series in my mind. When timetravel and bombastic action invasion scenes (and, you know, Jean Reno) happened in 3 I just felt this was a goofy series that increased in goofiness with each installment, so 4 going full on anime POWER OF FRIENDSHIP that just felt like that was natural progression, a feature instead of a bug if you will. Perhaps if I had started with Onimusha 1 I'd feel this tonal shift more, but I didn't and I didn't and so I couldn't understand the haters for this one... until now.
It has been YEARS since I played this so I had forgotten much of the actual gameplay. The nice vibes between the Dawn of Dream-team remained fresh in my minds eye but having it all laid out like this... yeah, I can see how people think it's a bothersome, cheap slog. I just remembered the cutscenes that were there and had fun with those, but the game really DID have a lot of text-scroll screens that would've been far more enjoyable to see than to read. And while I ADORED having all those weapons to grind as I'm the kind of person who levels up my JRPG-party to unreasonable levels, I'm old enough to realize people who don't like grind aren't just attention deficit, they just have different priorities in life and sometimes, just because a game lets me spend inordinate hours to become overpowered, it doesn't mean I should forgive bad pace and cumbersome gameplay. Unlocking mega-weapons for Roberto to just pound every single Oni in my way into dust with my bare hands was peak gaming pleasure back then, but my experiences are not universal. Also puzzles and reused backgrounds / worlds would stand out far more to my more critical mindset of today. Add camera issues on top of that and no wonder people at the time were... luke-warm, at best.
But I can't deny that I adored the finale and the general vibe of the game. I still like the characters and felt this was a nice bow to wrap up the series with. I wish that the whole franchise could've gotten remasters and some polish to make them all accessible and let more people make new assessments, but it is what it is. It was the right game for me at the time, but not what the fanbase wanted. I can't hate it, but I can't pretend I don't get where the dissenting opinions are coming from.
This video also really got me thinking of what an Onimusha reboot should be. Horror and mood might make for a fine game, the RE engine can deliver that in spades, but I wonder if I'd truly be interested in that game when the goofiness is what drew me in. Much to think about.
Yeah people shit talk 4 for losing the horror vibes when 2 has the goofiest villains in a ps2 game
@@billyboleson2830 Like, even ignoring GOGANDANTES (though whyever would you?), Jujudorma the fat lady who jumps and crushes you with her butt and shoots missiles out of her umbrella? And even if what he doesbis gruesome, does anyone really take Guildenstern seriously? Like... anyone? He sounds like Skeletor!
As a kid I always thought this game was God tier. Have so many great memories of it
I played it again a few months ago and I did still like it but it definitely had it's flaws.
So that’s the fucking game character from Tatsunko vs Capcom
Shame onimsuha fans seem to dislike this game. I think it’s arguably the best one outside of 2. At least it tries something new
As much as I loved the second Onimusha, this one is my favorite by far. Soundtrack itself is so good I found myself coming back to it many times over the years 😌
Fuck yeah!
Finally, we got to DOD review!
Gonna order some pizza brb!
Even with all the flaws, I found this game very fun and this is the one I come back to the most.
One can hope that Capcom releases a collection of Onimusha games some time soon.
One can cope
I always found it weird how Dawn of Dreams takes issens (the counterattacks) and makes them a core part of the character's magic attacks. They used to be for skill expression in every other game, but literally anyone can chain together multiple hits to wipe an enemy squad in this entry. Although it is satisfying, I find it hurting the game's skill ceiling, which is unfortunate because Onimusha's skill ceiling is a very high one.
You can still do normal guard issen which is good for when you run out of magic or when you wanna use magic elsewhere
@@billyboleson2830 Yeah, I know both issens are still there, but there is less reason to get good with them here because of my aforementioned comment. Plus, MP items are so common in DOD that I just use them if I run out of magic.
@@Trisaaru if i dont remember it badly, the special power issen makes less damaged than normal/guard issen
It is a little odd they moved away from the fixed camera angles here, regardless of RE4. Devil May Cry 4 comes a couple years after this game and still keeps the camera angles. That series only just really moved away from fixed camera angles with 2019’s DMC5.
Damn bro I got DUMB HYPE seeing that thumbnail like hold up HOLD IP IS ONIMUSHA BACK!?!?!?!?
my brother absolutely loved Dawn of Dreams, and while looking back on it in this video there are a lot more flaws than I remember, it's still a great game and having co-op in a game like this was just great fun
with the rise of popularity of from software's type of combat style in action games i think that could be an occasion to bring back the original style of onimusha and pair it with a modern and popular combat system
Still waiting on the inevitable Samurai Western video.
I miss this game. I hope they remake the Onimusha series, even this 4th one. DoD is my fave.
i didn't even know there was an onimusha 4 so this is cool.
Onimusha 4 left a weird feeling for me. It had a pretty good and unique gameplay but some of it felt kinda half-baked/meh. Especially that one part in the game where u need to turn on/off engine to unlock certain areas then backtracking them again. God I hate that part so much 😅
The way this gameplay system reminds me so much of marvel vs Capcom infinite! Seems like some people at Capcom always wanted to do a active tag system XD
It's relly fun to use this assist/tag-in stuff in action games. My favorite part pf One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 was that for each character you rescued in a stage, they'd then be added to your super move so by the end of a stage you were doing awesome combination super moves.
@@Kriss_ch. I wasn't aware of OP PW having a system like that! I should give those musos a try. The only spin off one I played was the berserk and AOT ones (if alt counts)
Love the energy of this channel talking about Onimusha 4 at a time when the internet is ablaze with Resident Evil 4 Remake discourse. Never change TGB :)
The partner system kinda reminds me of The World Ends With You
Funnily enough, this was the Onimusha game I beat the most in my childhood. For some reason, I played the first one once, the second one twice, the third one thrice and the fourth one four times, as if it was a running joke. But it was just kind of a coincidence.
I dunno what captivated me so much about DoD. I think leveling systems and grand, long games on two discs (that aren't JRPGs) were just something fascinating to me back then. Getting an action game that's over 20 hours just felt amazing and that soundtrack ... I still listen to it on occasion.
Today I would probably put 3 over it, but I have some great memories with this one. Though I definitely get the criticism und think it's warranted.
Capcom definitely bit more than they could chew with this game, it was extremely ambitious and even as a kid I noticed that. I did also notice the recycled layouts and overlong stages, and was pretty shocked at how difficult the RPG mechanics could get on Stage 17 in higher diffs. The game's story really feels incredible to me, a worthy conclusion to all story arcs. It has a fond place in my heart alongside Demon Siege
One sample disc at Capcom. Reminds me that last year I started really rewatching X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on this channel called Comet, and I was noticing sample music in some episodes that gets used during the cutscene intros to the final boss fights in Capcom vs SNK 2. Farscape might have used it too. And it’s definitely in the movie Returner (starring Samanosuke actor Takeshi Kaneshiro) and another game called Samurai Western.
I got Onimusha 4 when I was a kid and was sorely disappointed by the tone and bloated length of it. I adored the original Oni games and 4 was absolutely not what I was looking for when I thought of Onimusha. But I gotta say I think this video won me over. I totally agree with all the criticisms and they definitely stopped me from finishing, but seeing how the game progressed and really tried something different looks pretty worthwhile. Maybe it's one of those things that you need time to appreciate. I think I might have to give it anothershot
Loved this game. Played it through so many times in co-op and alone.
Favourite line: I don't have a name. But if I did, Soki would be it
Serious Wario World analysis when?
Hope that new Onimusha game is still happening.
Not having a PS2, I never really played much of any of the Onimusha series. But I did have Genma Onimusha on Xbox and loved that game. I also had Onimusha Tactics for like a day.
Fixed Camera angles are not exactly a good idea in most cases nowadays, it's extremely limiting in its own way, I've recently played Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and it certainly isn't flawless. It's more about making the camera a non-factor as the player's thumb can be focused on using the face buttons(where the good stuff is), This is the one aspect where I feel the OG God of War series trump these games in that regard.
Literally Fanservice: The Vidya Gaem. Nowhere near the quality of the first 3 games and padded to absolute shit, but still fun. More importantly, it felt like it came from a good place of "throw in everything and the kitchen sink to make the fans happy and have one last big hurrah for the franchise", which is the kind of attitude that's sorely missed these days.
Tbh if anything capcom do a little too much of the fan service and callbacks. Not that their games play poorly. Theyre mostly great. But they also all feel like essentially the same games weve been playing for 20 years. Its been forever since they had that early 2000s moment where they made a bunch of off the wall franchises. Even moving RE into first person ended up just being RE4... in first person
Weird game but I got addicted to it despite never beating a previous Onimusha game. Did the 100 floor dungeon with every character.
I was too young to think critical and comprehend criticism back then, but there is one thing I did know that is still true today.
Blue Oni is one of the most hype soundtracks. Ever. It genuinely gives you the feeling of being a badass hero, fighting a long battle to save the world...and you're winning.
I remember playing the demo for this game way back in the day and loving it a lot. Years later whenever I tried looking into the game, I always saw a lot of people fucking hating it and that always confused me. I get it in retrospect now, especially playing the original couple games myself and seeing why older fans may have been/were vindictive towards it. Still, it's nice to see someone talk about the game in a nicer light for once (from my perspective at least).
I am kinda curious how you feel about the Nioh series and its place as an action game. I tend to find a lot of people write them off as Souls Games but their combat systems are extremely in depth with a plethora of options to dive into and lots of experimentation to be had. They might honestly be my favourite action games around, with Nioh 2 being my favourite ARPG outside of maybe Dragon's Dogma.
diablo of dark souls. You can play with all the stances but most builds end up spamming one or two abilities by the end because of stacking multipliers.
Ah yeah onimusha 4. I remember hating it. Cant say why, after 20 years...... Played all Onimushas at release. First one was mindblowing with its intro sequence. Loooved the second!! 3rd was cool with the time travel.
4 was ......dont know boring and long.
But I have to play them again some time..... its 20+ years ago.
It really overstays it's welcome.
It's one of those games I played for a long time, and don't remember much of it. Just that I was near the final boss at some point and didn't felt like playing anymore.
Ahh yes !! The most cultured weapon of the medieval samurai : A MACHINE GUN !!!
Resident Evil fans complain about not getting enough games even though they get a new game every year sometimes more. Meanwhile Onimusha hasn't had a new game since 2006
I remember playing this game a very long time ago.
Just wanna say you're easily the best "youtube" videogame commentator.
Basically residential evil 4 remake but with a durability weapon system with swords replacing knives. Well...at least until you get the onimusha weapons.
I wish DMC added something like Onimusha 4's tag system we got the tag system in the DMC mobile game but I'd like to have it on a controller on a pc/system and my fingers aren't covering half the screen
Even 3 strayed too far from the perfect formula they had in Genma Onimusha and Onimusha 2
I'm surprised Capcom never decided to capitalize on the Soulslike fad with an Onimusha remake; when the first Nioh released it felt as thought Team Ninja were doing what Capcom could've been doing. An atmospheric Soulsy take on the first game would be great, and would love to see it given the RE2 remake treatment. These days I'm just hoping for HD releases of Oni 2 and Dawn of Dreams. I never did finish that one, though I still have all of my old PS2 stuff.
I wounder if he's going to do a quick video of the smash bros. clone... Onimusha Blade Warriors!?
I love this channel
Dawn of Dreams is simultaneously the worst and best Onimusha game.
Oh man this game is giving me heavy heavy God of war 4 vibes.
Gotta say, I love me some ray-tracing, but miss the time games looked like this
On the topic of samurai action kick are you gonna give the Nioh's a shot? I think you'd greatly enjoy the combat of 2 but would probably be at odds with the soulslike playstyle and how you can only truly flex on half of the enemy cast (humans)
I really wish Dawn of Dreams and Oni 3 would get remasters. Unfortunately that may never be a reality.
Nice review bro. Does this game have any sort of puzzles/riddles or the only challenge of the game is the combat?
I think the only two PS2 games I’ve ever played with two discs are this and DMC2…
Not sure what that says but hey it’s something I guess.
The forth game in a series ditching its more atmospheric mood and fixed camera angles, for a more action focused and goofier game using a new perspective from capcom? Where have I heard this one before?
holy shit I didnt know that Rome game was made by the Onimusha devs! thats ...weird.
loved that game back then
Gotta love this new age of Brit.
Wasn't aware of Onimusha 4. Interesting
My dream onimusha revival would probably end up being a lot like the RE2 remake. Absolutely bring back the tension.
It does seam like Capcom made a concerted effort to change all their franchise from Horror to full on Action. And in the process they killed all those franchises but one. Resi 4 somehow hit a sweet spot with the critics and fans alike, even if it was not really a Resi game anymore. Thanks the gaming gods Hitman Abomination failed miserably is all I'm saying...
There were and are ways to keep the horror going while moving the gameplay forward. But it seems like the game industry is extremely allergic to real honest forward thinking changes in gameplay like that. Instead favoring the Pew Pew Bang Bang gameplay for the most part when looking for all the money.
Here is a fun observation. The more action oriented these games got, the more Capcom employed the use of Colorful Item Pickup Prompts, Numbers popping on screen for Combo Meters and Damage, Gold pickup as reward, etc.
Now that's a story worth looking into. Especially once you start connecting it to the Arcades, other game devs, and how the video game landscape looks today.
Anyways, thanks for the video. 👍
I have no problem with a fixed camera as long as when I transition to another camera in the room my character isn't flipped around because the controls have now flipped to suit the new camera.
Its a small detail but it makes a game so much more replayable and less frustrating
I have a copy of this I've beat it probably 5 times and I had no idea you could use your buddies that way In Kombat
I played this game way back in 2012 on the ps2. I didn't have a memory card so I beat the game in a single sitting. The double disc thing was cool
i remember posting questionable fanart of this game a literal decade ago
"questionable" lmao
This was my favorite of the series. Still need to go back and finish it.
The game runs well on an emulator and there’s a fan made HD remaster mod you can use.
One of my favorite Onimusha!!!
Game of my childhood, I've played it soo many times on PS2 then on emulator...Waiting so fck loong to see remaster...CAPCOM WHY YOU DONT MAKE BEST GAMES GREAT AGAIN?