Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Review
Weighty and Without an Ounce of Tank
The beauty of video games as a medium lies in the multitude of little ways that a compelling story can be presented. Capcom accomplished this decades ago with Onimusha, a game that took their Resident Evil pre-rendered backgrounds, tank-like directional controls, and threw in a faster combat system with some RPG elements to create something unique. That ambition carried to the sequel Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, which only refined this new gameplay idea and tossed in some quirky humour. The barrier for entry twenty-three years ago was felt primarily in the clunky movement, but flash forward to 2025, and Capcom released an updated version for modern consoles that gives it a graphical overhaul, new analog controls, and a few quality of life implements. These changes make it a perfect time to see if the intriguing nostalgia of decades past holds up today.
The Yagyu clan village is attacked by demons led by a demonic Nobunaga Oda, citizens are slaughtered, and the town is decimated. Young warrior Jubei Yagyu was away at the time, only to return and swear vengeance on Nobunaga for the massacre. Tracking Nobunaga’s army takes Jubei to the town of Imasho, where their gold mine suddenly bursts with demons and riches. While spending time in Imasho, Jubei meets Oyu, a mysterious female samurai; Ekei, a boastful spear-wielding drunk; Magoichi, a thoughtful rifleman; and Kotaro, a young ninja. Jubei’s interactions with these newfound friends be very brief, or he can grow closer depending on player actions, as well as gifts that can be given to each character. As a shorter action title, the characterizations aren’t too deep, but their personalities are very memorable nonetheless.
Jubei is assisted on this journey by obtaining the powers of an Oni. This comes up in gameplay, with strong magical weapons and the collection of Oni orbs that unlock doors and other barriers that brings Jubei closer to confronting Nobunaga. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny plays out straightforwardly, with Jubei exploring a new area to obtain a key to a previously barred entrance, while collecting weapons and orbs along the way. All routes in the countryside lead to areas of Nobunaga’s Gifu Castle.
The souls are Jubei’s.
Jubei is capable of helping himself out of tight situations, but by building friendships with the other characters, they may jump in to help with a fight or can become player controlled during specific periods of time. These friendships mostly add flavour text and some character building, but the major draw is the novelty of controlling them for a little while. Jubei’s friendship is boosted by finding or purchasing gift items, but there’s no indication of how many points are needed for higher levels of friendship to unlock new story paths. Figuring out the easiest way to a particular NPC’s heart can be frustrating, but there’s no negative to engaging with the mechanic. It might just take a while to see every story option as a result, which does give some replayability to the game and offers a chance to become more adept at the combat system. It is worthwhile to spend as much time with these characters as possible, because they get into some whacky antics along with some equally entertaining villains. Jubei is a foil to these antics and often the proceedings veer closer to absurdist comedy than the trappings of survival horror would typically lead to.
Jubei is much easier to control this time around, as the analog stick allows for a more typical freedom of movement that makes it feel like a weighty action title. Those who want the authentic experience can still use the directional pad to move like a tank. Attacks and guards have a natural delay that is reflected on screen, and while there’s no control delay, there’s a comfortably deliberate feeling behind every motion. Combat can quickly becoming overwhelming, as common enemies can swarm and be devastating if a player isn’t paying attention. Boss fights pack a serious punch and will cycle through a lot of attacks in a hard-to-predict pattern that can take a while to get the timing down. There’s a sense of exciting tension to when enemies will fall, as there is no health bar for them, while Jubei’s can dwindle rapidly at times.
Jubei is also constantly fighting the environment. The tank controls may be optional, but the pre-rendered backgrounds are still there. This can lead to problematic shifts halfway in a battle arena to get to a new camera angle, or the view may suddenly shift to put an obstacle in the way at a different position. Since enemies don’t have to deal with these physical limitations, it adds a layer of frustrating strategy in how to approach each fight. Beyond a bulky shuffle that counts as a dodge and a dedicated block button, Jubei can still feel defenseless against enemies, which makes knowing the battleground and moving around very important in longer fights. Utilizing enemy pattern knowledge and blocking is a necessity, especially when factoring in how rare healing really is.
Oyu’s sashimi skills are on point.
Trading gifts to NPCs is always reciprocated with something worthwhile, be it a healing item, permanent stat upgrade, ranged weapon ammo, or another gift. Additionally, treasure chests always yield worthwhile items, with some being locked behind puzzle boxes that players must solve in a limited number of moves to open. Collecting everything is needed because there is no reliable source of healing. This makes Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny one of the few titles where saving items for later bosses is actually encouraged, especially as the difficulty spikes drastically towards the end game. Enemy patterns can be learned, but they take time and patience to perfect and there’s often a tough decision whether to redo a boss fight or not just because there were too many healing supplies consumed. For those looking for a tougher time, there’s a new Hell mode where Jubei dies in one hit to go along with the equally difficult Critical mode where only counter strikes deal damage.
These counter strikes, which are intricately timed slashes called Issen, are completed as enemies are starting their attacks on Jubei. They yield a higher rate of healing souls, but are definitely not the easiest move to pull off consistently. There is a later-game accessory that is invaluable, as it heals Jubei while he is standing still. Most of the time Jubei has to fend off reloaded enemies for the hope at more healing, which means running to avoid combat can be the most prudent option. However, there is a risk/reward to fighting, as there’s always a chance to collect souls from defeated enemies. There are healing (yellow), magic (blue), upgrading weapons and armour (red), or charging Jubei’s Onimusha meter (purple) souls that can be collected from defeating these enemies that definitely makes the journey easier. Collecting five of the giant purple souls will allow Jubei to turn into an invulnerable Oni that fires a long stream of magic bolts that will defeat minor enemies easily and do a lot of damage against bosses.
No surprise from the team at finding a magical mechanical horse.
Jubei is given four easily obtained fighting styles that are attached to an element, with a fifth optional one that is obtainable off the beaten path after undergoing a difficult trial. Jubei typically gains access to an electric katana, wind spear, ice lance, and earth warhammer that are gained in that order throughout the journey. Each of these weapons handles a bit differently and can take some getting used to. It can be useful to swap between them just to utilize their different magical attacks. Each one is tied to a different magic bar and replenishing souls will fill all of the bars at once. Holding a button down and using the left and right direction pad buttons cycles through the ranged and melee weapons respectively, saving a few seconds of menu hopping that would otherwise slow down combat.
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny has a quaint voice cast. There’s a bit of an echo on a few of the performances, but some are just so over-the-top comedically or dryly wooden that it is simply too charming to be problematic. The soundtrack relies on the shamisen and taiko drums to give an authentic Sengoku era feel that does a capable job. The in-game cinematics have a layer of old-school to them that no amount of polishing would feel entirely modern. These scenes are full of comedic charm and were a pleasure to see every time, but like with some voice acting moments, it led to a few smiles during serious moments. During gameplay, the visuals are much smoother, particularly in the deliberate motions of the combat models.
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny fits an interesting place in gaming history. There’s a weightiness to the visuals and combat that place it more in the past, but the new life given from the analog controls cannot be understated. What results is a comedically charming story that is coupled with methodical action combat. The lack of reliable healing adds a layer of difficulty that makes taking hits problematic and gives added weight to the powerful boss encounters. This particular style of quirky nostalgic charm hasn’t been replicated since the original’s release and the modern improvements make this a treat that is enjoyable to experience firsthand.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
Nothing plays quite like Onimusha
Freedom of movement gives it a new lease on life
Hoarding healing items is actually useful
Has a comedic charm to it
Pre-rendered backgrounds factoring into combat shows its age
Some serious moments are ruined by the comedic presentation
Late game difficulty spike is devastating
1 ½ cups white sugar, divided
1 cup roasted pistachio nut meats
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
⅔ cup milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar and pistachios in a blender; blend until finely ground.
Sift all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Combine milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in several batches, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; stir until batter just comes together. Fold in pistachios until incorporated. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
PS
There is also massive censorship which was not said in the review. Any game with ANY censorship does not deserve a buy in my opinion unless its a REMAKE.