Onimusha: Warlords

 It really is amazing how video game series' come and go.

On one hand, you have the IPs that cross multiple gaming generations, your Marios, your Final Fantasys, your Sonics, etc. On the other, you have weird, obscure one-off titles like Nano Breaker or Shadow Madness. Sometimes series' seem to drop off the map without warning, like F-Zero or Star Fox. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a series take as strange a path as that of Onimusha. These games were a huge deal in the 6th generation. It gave us four mainline titles, the first of which will be our subject today, as well as a tactics-style game. Onimusha: Warlords, was the first PlayStation 2 game to sell more than a million copies and was eventually ported to the original XBox. It came from a huge studio in Capcom and was designed by Keiji Inafune, a name all too familiar to Mega Man fans. The game actually began development as a 64DD title in the 90's, as the higher ups at Capcom reportedly wanted a Resident Evil style game set in feudal Japan. That original prototype was eventually scrapped, but the developers regrouped and eventually released Warlords for the PS2 in 2001. So, if you got all that, this is basically Resident Evil meets Mega Man meets Japanese history, how can it be bad?

I mean, that was a serious question, how could it? I mean, I guess Capcom could have found a way to screw it up, but they didn't. Warlords is excellent, it's far from a perfect game and there were some puzzling design choices, but I totally understand why it sold as well as it did. I should also mention this is my first foray into the franchise, I skipped these games when they first came out and I'm a bit upset I did. The gameplay and presentation are both top notch for the time period, though this game almost seems as if it was designed specifically for me and a lot of its flaws would have been deal breakers for most gamers. We will start with the story, set during Japan's Sengoku, or warring states, period (not to be confused with China's warring states period, that's a different thing). The game starts with an excellent cutscene, which sees frequent video game antagonist Nobunaga Oda killed in battle. We then pick things up a year later, as the player takes control of Samanosuke Akechi on his way to investigate a suspicious letter from Princess Yuki of the Saito clan. He and his associate Kaede arrive at Inabayama castle to find the princess kidnapped and the building infested with monsters. The two set out on a quest to rescue Princess Yuki, along the way encountering ferocious demons and learning the truth about Nobunaga's "death" a year prior.

Warlords is a 3rd person hack and slash adventure game, I knew that going in. But I was not prepared for all of the survival horror elements I encountered. The environments are downright disturbing, the walls of the castle are covered with blood and packed with the bodies of fallen soldiers. Some of the demons are very unsettling, as are the spirits that haunt various parts of the castle. Everything drips of evil and gore is commonplace, Warlords truly did earn its "M" rating. I really didn't expect this game to dive heavily into the occult, but its kind of cool that it did. Even the gameplay elements skew more towards survival horror with pre-rendered backgrounds, puzzles and enemies that appear behind you. Warlords isn't actively trying to jump-scare you like Resident Evil, but I can't say I didn't flinch a few times when demon ninjas just suddenly dropped in behind me and attacked. The game couldn't truly be called survival horror, as Samanosuke is too powerful and inventory management isn't a thing, but it was clear this started life as an RE spinoff. Even the menus are in the same style as the old Resident Evil games. The graphics are great, not perfect but definitely very good for an early PS2 game.

Before I go on, I'm going to have to get what most gamers will perceive Warlords' biggest flaw to be: tank controls. I know, everyone hates tank controls. I personally don't mind them and in fact I find myself defending and even advocating for them...in survival horror games. But this isn't a true survival horror game. While I did eventually get used to it and I wouldn't consider it as gamebreaking as some, I can't deny that this was not the right control scheme for a 3rd person action game. For one, it makes it difficult to turn around and face enemies behind you which, as we've established, happens frequently here. It also makes dodging some of the bigger enemies a chore. In a survival horror game, it's supposed to be a chore, but not in a game like this. That said, the game never throws too many enemies at you at once, and there really wasn't any point where I felt like the controls crippled the gameplay. They did make it next to impossible to use ranged weapons, but there was rarely a time I felt like I would have done that anyway.

Fortunately, the controls are at least responsive and combat is still fun. Samanosuke starts out with a basic Katana, but will eventually gain the ability to infuse his weapon with the powers of lighting, fire and wind. Each causes his weapon to behave differently and provides its own unique advantages in battle. It's easy to switch back and forth and each element is fun to use in its own way. You will also find a bow and a gun, but again, I could never hit anything with them and there were rarely times where they would have been my preferred method of attack anyway. You explore the castle Resident Evil style, with the map expanding as you visit new rooms. As with RE, you can find a completed map for each area if you look hard enough. Defeating enemies will yield Genma souls, which Samanosuke can absorb to restore his health and special energy and buy upgrades. You can upgrade herbs (again, the RE references are strong) or arrows, your three elemental weapons and their associated gauntlets. These are necessary to advance, as they allow you to unlock specific doors. Again, there's no better way I can describe it than saying its an action game laid out like a survival horror game.

Warlords does have its share of puzzles, though not as many as your typical survival horror game. Some of these felt more like a distraction than anything, but sometimes they were nice distractions from all the fighting. The biggest issue is that some of these puzzles are life or death and if you fail them, you have to go back to the last save point. It's usually not too far back, but there were times where I had to repeat significant sections multiple times, which was frustrating. It also makes it difficult to practice some of the puzzles. I probably played the water prison puzzle 10 times and it's not that difficult, but I just never got a chance to figure out how it worked before it killed me. I did like the treasure chest puzzles where you had to figure out the password based on documents that you found. It gave you something to work towards and a nice reward for doing so. It would have been nice to have more variety in puzzles as well, a lot of them were just sliding block puzzles, but I would rather them focus on the action.

The remaining flaws are somewhat nit picky. There are a few sections where you have to play as Samanosuke's associate Kaede, which is a good idea in theory. However, Kaede can't absorb souls, which means she can't restore herself without using items. These sections feel more like survival horror, but they are jarring and the game isn't designed for them. Warlords is very short, you can beat the game relatively easily in less than five hours. That used to be a big problem for me, though as I get older I find I appreciate shorter games a little more. I wish there were more varied enemy types and I think it should have been easier to gather upgrade souls, as they were required to advance. Grinding is annoying enough in RPGs, it's an absolute no-no in an action game.

The Onimusha series is such an interesting case because it was such a huge series during the 6th generation...and then just died. There was a browser game slated for release in 2018 that I couldn't find any information on and a remaster of the original games released in 2020, but that's it. Warlords certainly had its flaws, but it had excellent combat, a cool aesthetic and phenomenal atmosphere. I've never played the next two games, but trust me, they are on my list after playing this. So what happened? Why did the series die off? Three words, Devil May Cry. As the story goes, it was a glitch in Warlords that gave DMC its biggest feature: juggling enemies. To me, and to a lot of gamers, that was what really made Dante's abilities stand out and it all came from a simple error in the first Onimusha title. Of course, it was more than that. DMC ditched the pre-rendered backgrounds and survival horror elements of the Onimusha series and went full on action. This left Onimusha in something of a limbo. Horror fans went back to Resident Evil, action fans picked up Devil May Cry and Onimusha was left on the shelf.

But I still think Warlords is more than worth playing today. Yes, the tank controls are off-putting and even as someone who doesn't mind them, I can say they don't work particularly well here. But the game is so forgiving in other ways that it's more than made up for. The setting, atmosphere and presentation are unlike anything I've ever experienced, though I will say it can get disturbing at times and is not for everyone. All in all, Warlords was a quality game that kicked off a series once considered among the biggest in gaming. It's a series I think is ripe for a modern reboot.

8.5/10