Post by Giant Brother on Apr 9, 2007 10:08:13 GMT -5
Onimusha 3 Demon Siege
Onimusha 3 is the (you’ll never guess this) third installment in the Onimusha series. This game is for the PS 2 and PC.
The story picks up on Samanosuke Akechi, the protagonist of the first Onimusha game. For those unfamiliar with the story, Onimusha starts after the historical death of the daimyo Nobunaga Oda. The fallen warlord makes a pact with a group of demons known as the Genma. Revived, he begins a reign of terror on 16th century Japan. The third installment begins with Samanosuke - a samurai granted magic power to combat the Genma by a race called the Oni – attempting to finish off Nobunaga. After a short scuffle, Samanosuke is flung 500 years forward in time to modern day Paris. Paris is suffering a Genma invasion, which brings in the second half of the Oni’s dream team, French special forces unit Jacques Blanc. In a similar incident, Jacques is transported back to warring states Japan, gaining the same magic power that Samanosuke has. Now, both heroes must team up to return to France and Japan, respectively. The story is good, though some of the minor details could use work. The ending is very nice, but a small teaser scene for the fourth game after the credits may leave a few people stumped.
The sound for this game is very good. As with the previous games, a celebrity actor was brought in to lend their appearance and voice for the game. Along with Takeshi Kaneshiro returning for the role of Samanosuke, French king of cool Jean Reno has hopped on board to do the role of Jacques. While Jean only did the voice for Jacques’s French lines and he really could’ve done the English lines with more appeal then the chosen English voice actor, the sound and music was overall very well done.
As stated above, the templates for the two leading heroes were generously provided by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno, and I must say - considering the time this game was made – the rendering for them was amazing. The creature and magic design was also quite impressive. The environments, from a besieged Japanese temple to a certain French landmark that has been assimilated by the Genma, were very good as well. In conclusion, the graphics gave a good feeling to the player, whatever it may be.
Gameplay was very nice as well. It gave a good balance between brain teasing puzzle solving and hack and slash action. You play as Samanosuke with his samurai weapons - including a naginata (double sided pole blade) and the customary samurai sword - and Jaques, who uses a sword that elongates into a whip-like weapon, similar to Ivy from the Soul fighting game series.. Also, gameplay will swap over to Jacques through plot events or by your consent in certain areas and vice-versa. The latter is required to solve certain puzzles so both characters can proceed. Every now and then the baton is passed over to Jacques fiancé, Michelle, who uses different guns to adequately crush Genma opposition. Some features Samanosuke and Jacques have access to are forbidden to her though. Unfortunately, the gameplay is also very difficult. First timers may go insane trying to defeat some of the bosses and clear the more boggling puzzles. Even the “easy” mode can work you over and hand your character’s corpse back to you on a platter.
Overall, I give this game the following:
7.5/10 for story
7/10 for sound
8/10 for graphics
6.5/ for gameplay
Average, that totals to 7.25/10.
Onimusha 3 is the (you’ll never guess this) third installment in the Onimusha series. This game is for the PS 2 and PC.
The story picks up on Samanosuke Akechi, the protagonist of the first Onimusha game. For those unfamiliar with the story, Onimusha starts after the historical death of the daimyo Nobunaga Oda. The fallen warlord makes a pact with a group of demons known as the Genma. Revived, he begins a reign of terror on 16th century Japan. The third installment begins with Samanosuke - a samurai granted magic power to combat the Genma by a race called the Oni – attempting to finish off Nobunaga. After a short scuffle, Samanosuke is flung 500 years forward in time to modern day Paris. Paris is suffering a Genma invasion, which brings in the second half of the Oni’s dream team, French special forces unit Jacques Blanc. In a similar incident, Jacques is transported back to warring states Japan, gaining the same magic power that Samanosuke has. Now, both heroes must team up to return to France and Japan, respectively. The story is good, though some of the minor details could use work. The ending is very nice, but a small teaser scene for the fourth game after the credits may leave a few people stumped.
The sound for this game is very good. As with the previous games, a celebrity actor was brought in to lend their appearance and voice for the game. Along with Takeshi Kaneshiro returning for the role of Samanosuke, French king of cool Jean Reno has hopped on board to do the role of Jacques. While Jean only did the voice for Jacques’s French lines and he really could’ve done the English lines with more appeal then the chosen English voice actor, the sound and music was overall very well done.
As stated above, the templates for the two leading heroes were generously provided by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno, and I must say - considering the time this game was made – the rendering for them was amazing. The creature and magic design was also quite impressive. The environments, from a besieged Japanese temple to a certain French landmark that has been assimilated by the Genma, were very good as well. In conclusion, the graphics gave a good feeling to the player, whatever it may be.
Gameplay was very nice as well. It gave a good balance between brain teasing puzzle solving and hack and slash action. You play as Samanosuke with his samurai weapons - including a naginata (double sided pole blade) and the customary samurai sword - and Jaques, who uses a sword that elongates into a whip-like weapon, similar to Ivy from the Soul fighting game series.. Also, gameplay will swap over to Jacques through plot events or by your consent in certain areas and vice-versa. The latter is required to solve certain puzzles so both characters can proceed. Every now and then the baton is passed over to Jacques fiancé, Michelle, who uses different guns to adequately crush Genma opposition. Some features Samanosuke and Jacques have access to are forbidden to her though. Unfortunately, the gameplay is also very difficult. First timers may go insane trying to defeat some of the bosses and clear the more boggling puzzles. Even the “easy” mode can work you over and hand your character’s corpse back to you on a platter.
Overall, I give this game the following:
7.5/10 for story
7/10 for sound
8/10 for graphics
6.5/ for gameplay
Average, that totals to 7.25/10.