With this simple, yet satisfying system, Onimusha would begin a legacy of it’s own, a 3D beat em up that catered to those who enjoyed the slower pace of Survival Horror as well as a more technical combat system. Those who were unable to get to grips with this system however relied on a basic combo attack as well as a magic attack that felt very much like a musou attack in Dynasty Warriors 2 in the sense that not only does the attack provide invincibility frames but it also delivers incredible damage to enemies. Despite this however, the game’s critical system allowed players to feel equally as powerful as that of a Dynasty Warriors character but that power demanded greater skill from the player to pull off, as players would have to counter the enemy’s attack with near-perfect timing and by doing so, they would kill the enemy instantly. It was one of the first 3D beat em ups on the PS2 to give the player a feeling of unease. It was this contrast that gave Onimusha it’s identity at the time.

Unlike Dynasty Warriors 2 however which emphasized fighting massive hordes of enemies with over the top attacks, Onimusha instead focused on fighting fewer enemies in tighter environments with a fixed camera and a combat system that required more finesse compared with that of Dynasty Warriors 2 which mainly revolved around mindless button mashing. Onimusha was released around the time where games like Dynasty Warriors 2 were the highlight of the genre. When it comes to 3D beat em ups, the first thing people usually think about is Devil May Cry and while the Devil May Cry series did manage to bring a lot to the genre, it’s predecessor, Onimusha Warlords is basically the father that Devil May Cry never knew it had as it was Capcom’s first attempt at melding the survival horror genre with the beat em up genre which is ironic considering the fact that Hideki Kamiya would do the exact same thing with Devil May Cry.

Onimusha ps4 2015