Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remaster Review

With the successful remaster of Onimusha: Warlords, the team at Capcom is back (back again) with a remaster of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny.

Should players set out to become a demon slayer in this way of the samurai?

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remaster Review

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Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny starts off on an ominous note, complete with a demon invasion taking over Japan.

Enter Jubei, a samurai who rushes back home to save his village from said demons. With the town destroyed and one’s friends killed, players will take on the demon horde, get themselves a new power, and set forth to retrieve mystical orbs to seal the Demon King.

Clocking in at around 10 hours, one’s quest for justice in Onimusha 2 can be done much quicker if one knows where to go.

The main journey brings players to the mining town of Imasho, featuring new allies and (of course) demons to fight.

Imasho is in the middle of a gold rush, and has visitors from all over Japan coming and going. The humble little town acts as a hub for a good portion of the title, also providing region lore and information on happenings around Japan.

Imasho is also home to one of my favorite parts of Onimusha 2: the shop and gift system.

As players kill demons and find chests, one will get gold that can then be exchanged for items at the mining shop.

From there, one can pick who to give each gift to from four different characters. All have different likes and dislikes, so it’s a mini-puzzle to get the best loot.

Do note that the shop doesn’t sell healing items, so the best way to stay alive is to give your allies good gifts for medicine and the like.

Depending on who one makes friends with, players might get extra side quests involving them. There was more than once when one of the NPCs showed up to help me with a boss or just came to fight enemies with me because of their gifts.

Of course, if you really want to create a challenge, one can say nuts to it all and play the game with hardly any healing items at all.

Onimusha 2’s combat, while simple, works very well.

Square is your basic attack, and one can combo into knockdowns or magic attacks. As players net more orbs, they get new weapons and magic skills.

Do note that players need to pause to switch between weapons – and since each weapon has its mana bar, one switches a ton.

Having some sort of quick switch option would have relieved this issue; at the very least, a ranged weapon and a melee weapon simultaneously equipped would have been a godensd.

It can be really rough during Onimusha 2’s boss fights, when players are constantly switching to see if one has enough mana on a weapon.

While annoying, bosses are well-designed and fun to fight. There is some frustration with bosses who corner and keep staggering, but again having allies come in clutch remedies most of that.

Just forgive some of the dubbing from certain bosses; it is a bit rough.

When not fighting, Onimusha 2 features exploration elements for chests and other upgrades. The chests are locked with small puzzles and certain number of turns to make the symbol.

Done correctly, the chest opens and players get the loot.

This means if you skip the puzzle, you can miss a couple of the weapons or even some HP or Mana upgrades.

Exploration in Onimusha 2 varies depending on one’s relationships with the NPCs.

During certain parts, Jubei might get a cutscene, and then you play as an ally for a bit. However, if one doesn’t have a good relationship with that NPC, one skips it and plays as Jubei.

Onimusha 2 is fairly linear, with the odd side path or building to check out. For those looking to grind or farm, enemies respawn quickly and allow players to keep the fight going.

All this demon slaying nets players Souls one can then use to upgrade weapons and armor. Not only does this provide more damage and more powerful magic, appearances changes a bit with each upgrade.

Armor takes more to upgrade but keeps you safe, and you rarely change what you are wearing, so it can be a wise investment. Even without grinding, you’ll be able to get plenty of upgrades from beating the bosses.

This remaster of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is a great new way to play this timeless samurai tale. Whether you’re a fan of the original or a newcomer to the series, don’t hesitate to check this one out.

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