It has come to it at last. The final confrontation of the evil Nobunaga Oda. In the opening, we saw him pierced with an arrow through the throat. But he was risen by the demons, called the Genma, and he was to be a mighty warrior. But a ronin samurai, Samanosuke Akechi, was granted magical powers by the Oni, a powerful race hidden from the world. With these powers, he absorbed the souls of the demons, and killed their Lord. He was last seen facing Nogunaga, and none have since seen him. Shortly after, Jubei Yagyu's hometown village was attacked by Oda troops. Jubei swears vengeance, and defeats Nobunaga in a grueling battle. But Nobunaga has returned, this time has the Demon Lord. Amassing a powerful army with technology far beyond its years, he terrorizes feudal Japan. There are but two men who can stop him. One is Samanosuke, who has reappeared at Honnoji Temple in time for an attack. The other is a Frenchman named Jacques Blanc, who lies 500 years in the future. Their tale culminates for the epic conclusion to the Onimusha series.
This series was once stuck in a middle ground. It was 'Resident Evil' with swords' and it was 'Devil May Cry, only slower'. But no longer. It has stepped into its own, and has become a unique game, and an extremely good one as well. Capcom learned from their previous mistakes, and they not only corrected them, but improved upon them. They even had the guts to add in a few new features, which are all fantastic. This is no Resident Evil. This is Onimusha, and it has become as epic as all the Final Fantasies out there. Every single thing comes together perfectly in this game; from the dramatic music, to the amazing graphics, to the super fast game-play and the true emotion of the characters. I can tell you, that as I watched and played the final moments of this brilliant franchise, that chills were sent down my spine more than once. I knew that before this game was over, Nobunaga would be mine, once and for all.
The game opens with what can be called the greatest CG opening to ever grace a videogame. As Samanosuke stylishly and promptly lays waste to an entire legion of Genma, it sets the tone for a very exciting game. Somehow, the Genma have found a way through time, and are attacking the city of Paris... in 2004. A time distortion ripples through each of the lands, sending Samanosuke to Paris, and a military soldier named Jacques is sent to Japan, where he gains the power of the Oni as well in the form of a whip. Through the guidance of the Tengu Ako, these two men will fight across the Genma hordes, so that they may defeat Nobunaga and return to their times.
While each character handles in the same basic manner, their styles are very different, which is a nice change from the typical swordplay that the series tends to favor. Samanosuke, along with his favorite Straight Sword, can also obtain a pair of swords for fast melee fighting (light magic), a longsword for bigger enemies (wind magic) and a huge battle axe for those enemies that make you feel like running away (earth magic). Pressing R1 will cause Samanosuke to lock onto a target, and pressing box will make him attack. If you hold down the R1 button, you can charge up your weapon to unleash a devastating attack. Jacques can also perform this move, but he does things a little differently. The Frenchman can use a standard whip, a bladed whip (fire magic) a pole-arm (lightning magic) and a gigantic mace that he can swing all around him (ice magic). When he charges up his weapons, he can latch it onto the enemy, putting them in a bind. Here, he has several options. He can bring himself in close and throw a flurry of kicks, or simply unload on them from afar with his handgun. Personally, I prefer to throw them into other enemies. Using a behemoth of a creature to crush all the underlings is an extremely satisfying way to end a fight before it even began. Samanosuke also comes equipped with a bow, since it's harder for him to reach those pesky archers and distant enemies. But attacking isn't the only thing that Jacques' whip is good for. He can latch onto Oni Fireflies, which can swing him across chasms and other unreachable locations. Later on in the game, these fireflies become puzzles, and are even the source of a cool little action sequence. Jacques is on an ice flow in a lake, and he uses the fireflies to pull him across, all the while avoiding chunks of ice that gradually smash the piece he's on. It's a nice variety from doing the typical thing.
Combat is much easier due to the revamped control scheme. Gone are clunky Resident Evil controls, replaced with full 3D movement. This makes moving about in the world of Onimusha 3 much, much easier than the previous installments. Combat is handled in much the same way, but more emphasis has been placed on the counter system. In the original games, hacking through enemies was pretty much the only way to take care of business, but blindly charging into a group of demons will only get you cut up here. If you carefully time your attacks, you can Issen them, which is a one hit kill that literally rips the enemy in half, and if you're really good, you can clear out a whole room of enemies in a single flurry of these. It's a lot of fun to watch, and very rewarding to pull off. A different strategy is needed for each enemy. Some won't let you in close, so you'll have to deflect their attacks back at them to take them out. Others are hulking beasts but slow down after heaving their weapons for a while, and you can charge in quickly and take them out. Killing enemies rewards you with souls, which are collected through the use of the Oni Gauntlet, and by pressing circle. Red souls are used to enhance your weapons and armor, yellow souls restore health, blue souls restore magic power, and last but certainly not least, purple souls give you the chance to become the Onimusha, or Demon Warrior. If you collect 5 of these souls, you become an invincible warrior for a short time, able to cut through the hardest of enemies with ease. So along with the hacking and the slashing, you'll have to upgrade your equipment in an RPG manner. If you don't upgrade, you aren't going to get far. So you better start killing those demons!
I will admit, I was a little upset when I heard that Capcom was abandoning the pre-rendered backgrounds in favor of 3D ones. I was afraid that the graphics wouldn't be as amazing as the first two games, and that I would be playing the final game with a disappointed feeling. As it turns out, my fears were completely unfounded. From the moment I watched the CG opening unfold, I was taken into a world more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Right down to the final moments, I was blown away over how good these graphics were. Jacques looks amazingly like his real life counterpart (Jean Reno), and Samanosuke has a close up shot of his face in the opening CG that I could swear is real. The in-game graphics are awesome as well. The magic attacks erupt and flash, illuminating the screen with such brilliance that is rarely found outside of a Square game. The monsters are as terrible looking as ever, from a giant two-headed giant hound to the final form of Nobunaga. When I say terrible, I don't mean they have rough edges or don't look as good as the heroes. When I say terrible, I mean I wouldn't want to meet any of them in an alley late at night. The environments are beautiful as well, and the photo-realistic water makes a stunning return. As you run through ankle deep water, a wake ripples behind you, and even splashes onto the walls and enemies. The weather effects are quite nice, and actually does a lot to add to the atmosphere, instead of just showing off the graphical prowess of the game. A calm snow falls over a quiet forest which hides a hidden temple. It sends out the impression that this is what it was like to be in Japan.
Aside from the settings, the music adds a lot to the atmosphere, and is a lot more varied that previous iterations of the series. Classical music can be heard playing more than once, along with the standard Japanese fare found in all the Onimusha games. In the Demon Realm, an element of the game fans of the series should be familiar with, it seems like the music was ripped from Onimusha and crossed with Metal Gear Solid 2. It's very cool sounding, and exciting. There are times, however, where the action becomes so frenetic that you just can't even hear the music. I'm not complaining, because the demons screaming and swiping your swords at the leading men are plenty cool enough to over-power the music. It's a real treat listening to Jean Reno recite his lines in French, but unfortunately, all voice acting becomes English very shortly into the game. There is no way to change it back, as Capcom has left out this option to include the original languages of Japanese and French. While this is no big deal, the talent hired to voice Jacques is less than good, and the same goes for Samanosuke. Luckily, it doesn't detract from their character.
Upon completing the game, Onimusha 3 has a wealth of game-play modes and several mini-games to keep you occupied. The actual game itself has a cool training mode, which everyone should go through, as it allows you to practice virtually every move in the game. If you want everything in the game, you'll have to truly master it.
Onimusha 3 is a brilliant conclusion to an epic franchise. For the time being, it has surpassed Resident Evil, blowing it right away. This final game brings everything it has, and it brings it in force. It's all bigger: bigger swords, bigger enemies, bigger boss battles; but with that bigger comes the better. This is the perfect version of Onimusha. From it's amazing opening to the shocking (yet inevitable, if you're a fan) ending, you will be held in a trance at the absolute quality of this game. I have always loved Onimusha, but it seems like every year at the end it gets buried under the avalanche of those big name fall releases. I'm not so sure this will happen this year. Onimusha 3 is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and one of the very best games on the Playstation2. Thank you Capcom, for Samanosuke, Jubei, Jacques and Nobunaga. They will be missed.