New Review Posted: Onimusha 3

Daniel Weissenberger · 06-22-2004, 11:54 PM

Brad Gallaway brings his two week examination of the 'samurai vs. demons' genre to a close with a look at Onimusha 3: Demon Siege:

"The final chapter in Capcom's samurai & demons series, Onimusha 3: Demon Siege couldn't have been a better conclusion. Packed with everything from tender family moments to huge action-packed set pieces, the game delivers. Although it's essentially similar to its predecessors, Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha: Samurai's Destiny, I found it more polished and enjoyable than both of them. In fact, the series is a textbook model demonstrating the conservative theory of sequel creation; it doesn't take any bold leaps, but the contents of each new iteration are clearly better than the last."

THes rest of his thoughts are neatly encoded and posted here: http://www.gamecritics.com/review/onimusha3/main.php

legendarypegasu · 06-23-2004, 10:49 AM

Brad, great review, even though I did like Sam much more than Jacques. I have to agree with you on the Issen moves. Despite practicing them in the training mode several times, I never really got a hang of it, and that caused the Dark Realms to be harder then the were probably meant to be.

I do have two questions. The first is what you thought of the unlockables like Heihachi's extra mission and Oni shooting? Second in you review of Onimusha 3 you write

Quote:

And the brand-new third installment is markedly improved over the second

Despite your statement that you felt Onimusha 3 is better then 2, you give them the same score. Not be to be ass, but I was wondering why. In your review of Onimusha 3 you wrote how the end of Onimusha 3 just added on backtracking to add a few hours of gameplay. Were you just not to this point of the game when you wrote the review of Onimusha 2?

Brad Gallaway · 06-23-2004, 07:53 PM

Hey LP. (can i call you Peg?)
Thanks for the kudos.

I have to agree with you on the Issen moves. Despite practicing them in the training mode several times, I never really got a hang of it, and that caused the Dark Realms to be harder then the were probably meant to be.

man, i was just tearing my hair out at some of these. i was able to complete most of the trainings, but there were a few that just totally escaped me. with some areas of the Dark Realms obviously being tailor-made for Issen-ing, they were just too tough to do, IMO.

I do have two questions. The first is what you thought of the unlockables like Heihachi's extra mission and Oni shooting?

that stuff was alright, but i didn't spend a whole lot of time on them. by the time i finished the game i was pretty ready to move on to something else, although i do appreciate the fact that Capcom added it in. i liked the extra Puzzle Realm the best, though.. am i a geek, or what? ; )

Second in you review of Onimusha 3 you write
Despite your statement that you felt Onimusha 3 is better then 2, you give them the same score. Not be to be ass, but I was wondering why.

both games have features that i love, and in terms of overall "how good is this?" they're pretty close. i loved Jacques and thought he made the game in 3, and in 2 i loved the mini-RPG elements and the path branching... so, i gave them the same score since i view them as each having a similar amount of elements that are good (and some not so good).

but, my gut feeling is that 3 would be the better game to recommend overall if someone was to look at the reviews and had to pick just one. it's fairly arbitrary, but that was my thinking. both good, but 3 just nudges 2 out.

In your review of Onimusha 3 you wrote how the end of Onimusha 3 just added on backtracking to add a few hours of gameplay. Were you just not to this point of the game when you wrote the review of Onimusha 2?

i'm not sure what you mean, but i disliked that equally in both games. in my review of Oni 2, i made comments about it too...

"Sadly, the development team completely drops these juicy improvements at the halfway mark. Past a certain point, the keyfetching and backtracking I despise so much came back, and in full effect. I don’t know why this happened, but the result is that Onimusha 2’s gripping first half feels quite different from the been-there, done-that, tired-of-it tail end. If they had been able to maintain the early, fresh parts of the design for the game’s duration, it would have been spectacular. "

so, i didn't say it in exactly the same terms, but the sentiment is there.

thanks for the comments!

legendarypegasu · 06-23-2004, 08:18 PM

Thanks for the response Brad. And yeah you can call me Peg. The only unlockable I found really worthwhile was the Oni shooting b/c beating all 8 levels (which can be a bitch) unlocks ultimate mode. You get infinite health, a whole bunch of meds and wood charms, and all the weapons (bishamon sword, Sam's extra weapons and Jacque's whip version of the bishamon sword). It makes it easier to complete the game under 6 hours which unlocks something else.

ASS-asn · 06-27-2004, 12:08 PM

nice review, even more convinced to buy the game now

belshy · 06-30-2004, 03:31 AM

Very good review.

I too put it slightly above Onimusha 2, although would give Samurai's Destiny a 9, not an 8.

But I'd also not feel right about giving Demon Siege a near 10, because it has a few niggly issues worth mentioning: noticeable graphical slowdown in the boss encounters, Jacques' voice is lacking the Jean Reno treatment (and that's kind of the point of courting such a big name, yes?) and sometimes the challenge of the last few boss fights doesn't live up to the previous 2 games.

Overall though I'd recommend it over #2 to an Onimusha novice. It has a compelling story, it has wonderful graphics, superb control, and the 'side quests' (training mode and Phantom Realm) can often be as addictive as the main game.

Also the sad loss of the compelling 'gift system' of Samurai's destiny has been made up for by the time travel based 'warp' system. It's better value for money too...15 hours long as opposed to 10 hours in 2, and only 5 in Warlords.

Buy this game!

farfus · 06-30-2004, 10:31 AM

Ive rented, instead, and am quite happy. You can see just how well Capcom has gotten with the ps2. Their ability to create environments on this system is exceptional, and ive found the game overall to be quite pleasureable. Ive played all three games and this one does indeed seem to be an improvement over the first two. Three more days on the rental, and i hope to make it through to the end. If not i may just keep it a few days more...