Feudal Japan, samurai, hordes of soul-devouring demons, need more? Maybe Jean Reno armed with a whip who kicks the demons off the Eiffel Tower? The Onimusha saga has already done all this, what it lacked was a return in style, a return that resulted in an HD version of the first episode Onimusha: Warlords.
Onimusha is back… but it's only a remastered
After the new registrations by Capcom of the Onimusha brand, fans around the world have begun to hope for the arrival of a new chapter or a next-gen reboot of the series. I myself, who am used to taking this news with a lot of moderation, rushed to the cellar to sharpen the blade of my katana waiting to be able to return to the Sengoku period to slice demons.
After a few months of frantic waiting, however, Capcom announced that one was on the way remastered version of the first chapter of the series, Onimusha: Warlords, for PC, Ps4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. I must admit that the disappointment was great, so much so that I even thought of doing harakiri so that the time spent sharpening the katana was not entirely in vain. Before doing so, however, I decided that it was at least right to try this return of Onimusha and I let myself be taken back to the eternal battle against Nobunaga from Nintendo Switch.
What is Onimusha?
If you entered this article without knowing the Capcom saga, up until now you probably thought you were reading the delusions of a madman, so before proceeding with the review maybe it is better to spend a few words on Onimusha:
Thought as a clone di Resident Evil, but with a different setting, Onimusha is the direct ancestor of the next Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghost of Tsushima. The title puts the player in the shoes of a samurai chosen by the Oni clan to fight the demons and their intermediary on earth, Nobunaga Oda, a real Japanese leader. One of the points on which the Onimusha saga stands out from Resident Evil is indeed historical inspiration that mixes real elements (such as characters, places and events) to others entirely fictitious. The game structure draws heavily from the adventure genre, however, skilfully mixing small environmental puzzles and survival horror phases with original ideas such as the possibility of sucking the souls of enemies once defeated.
Capcom carried on the saga from 2001 to 2006 by churning out 5 titles each with peculiar characteristics: Onimusha Warlords, progenitor of the series and clone of Resident Evil, Onimusha 2 Samurai's Destiny, which expands the game world with side missions and a city that serves as the main hub, Onimusha 3 Demon Siege, which instead expands at the plot level proposing an even more ramified universe (and Jean Reno who whips demons with the same determination with which he kills people in Wasabi), Onimusha Blade Warriors, a real battle royale in Smash Bros style with all the characters of the previous chapters and Onimusha Dawn of Dreams which represents a sort of reboot of the saga with new characters, new styles of play, the possibility of playing in multiplayer and a gameplay more similar to Devil May Cry.
In short, the Onimusha saga at the time was a video game with the ability to reinvent itself after a few years, rich in both narrative and gameplay, a pearl of the gaming landscape unfortunately ended with the end of PS2.
High definition is not enough
Back to us, Onimusha Warlords Remastered is just what you can expect: an HD version of an old PS2 classic. The graphic sector of Onimusha: Warlords remastered redefines the contours of the polygonal models, adjusts the colors, makes everything less yellow and less blurry, gives more expressiveness to the characters and more brilliance even where it did not seem possible. A good job, especially thanks to the 16: 9 format much less squashed than the original, but that perhaps it is not enough to justify the revival of this great series. Capcom for its part has never hidden that it wants to resurrect the old past glories, but one thing is the great remake work seen recently in Resident Evil 2 (by the way have you tried the demo?), Another is the revival of the exact same Onimusha of 2001 with a not so marked graphic optimization.
Seeing the growth made in the remastered Ratchet and Clank or Resident Evil the questions arise: why a saga full of potential like Onimusha was abandoned in a few years? And why after so many years all we can have is just a good memory or a remastered of the first chapter? Perhaps Capcom has never believed it enough and perhaps the only other answers we will have are the remastered of the following chapters, the fact remains that the disappointment for a missing new episode is perhaps much greater than the beauty of this return in HD.
Comparison video between Onimusha: Warlords Remastered for Switch and the original PS2:
Onimusha: Warlords Remastered Recensione in breve
Onimusha: Warlords is a pillar of the history of video games that returns usable to a special price, only 19,90 euros, for all major consoles of this generation. It is not a new game and therefore cannot be judged as such. On the other hand, judging it only for the novelties would penalize it too much since these include only one remastered graphics in HD (and 16: 9), integration with analog sticks and the addition of an easy mode. So how to judge such a game? In the age of remastered / remake / re-everything you want us reviewers often find ourselves in this situation and therefore we leave the judgment to you and your experience as a player. If you have already played Onimusha: Warlords, this remastered version will probably be just a pleasant blast from the past with which to spend a few hours in the memory of the old days. If, on the other hand, you find yourself grappling with this great title for the first time, know that you have all my envy and the good fortune of being able to discover one of Capcom's greatest works.
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