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Too much talking

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: May 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Great game for people who would like to see Onimusha1 and Final Fantasy combined.

Improvements were definately intended on character interaction. The games story line is greatly based on how you trade special items with the other four characters in the game. I've finished the game twice but I've yet to unlock all of the side stories with the other characters. Personally I think this detracts from the game but my wife, who loves the long Final Fantasy stories, loved trying to figure out how to open all the side stories. Some of the side stories do add a lot to the game, I just didn't like spending so much time trying to unlock them all.(I usually hand the controller to my wife whenever the game switches from action to game plot ;-)

If you don't mind talking to all the characters in the game two or three times, then you'll probably love this game. The action and graphics are much better than the first Onimusha. There's also a couple new weapons that add significantly. (The War Hammer kicks @$$) Although the game is still too short, if you liked Onimusha 1 like I did then you'll probably love this game.
Disclaimer: I bought and played the Japanese version of Onimusha2 which may be different than the American release.

Worth the buy, but suffers from bad sequel syndrome

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: September 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Onimusha 2 is without a doubt a thrilling game, which I greatly enjoyed.

But fans of the original game may suffer a little disappointment storywise, as this game suffers from "bad sequel syndrome", failing to match the original's epic feel, while providing a rather chaotic and foolish plot, and spoiling the game's environment with out of place futuristic anachronisms.

On the good side, graphics are improved substantially. They are one of the best that I've seen in a PS2 game. The FMV's are breathtaking and thrilling, although not numerous. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beautiful and captivating. Kudos for the sea, especially! Fighting is a blast, as in the first game or better. Unfortunately, the same Resident-Evil style control scheme remains, but it should not be a problem if you played the first Onimusha.

There are added gameplay elements, like interactivity with NPC's, and items that you can collect and trade. By doing this, you can befriend NPC's which can help you along the way, and change the events in the game a little bit. There are more side quests, and more goodies added after finishing the game, giving it a higher replay value than the original. While many people say this game is longer, I found it to be only marginally so; taking about 12 hours to beat the first time, with no cheating and plenty of wandering around.

I found this game to be moderately easier than the first one. Perhaps some of this is the added practice. Fortunately, this game lacks a frustratingly insane puzzle like the infamous water puzzle from the first game.

And most importantly, Jubei is just as cool as Samanosuke, which I thought it would be very hard to accomplish in the sequel. And if you are Onimusha I nostalgic, you will get a chance to re-visit some of the original game's locations.

Plotwise, there is little of a plot. You have a very simple objective, but what happens in between is a chaotic mess. It reminded me a lot of Devil May Cry; a thrill ride without much substance. The plot holes can make you wander aimlessly having no clue what to do next or what is going on. While the first game was no literary masterpiece either, at least it had more of a senseful and epic plot. And to make it worse, the game incorporates some futuristic elements that are out of place and ruin the Japanese medieval feel from the first game. At some point I felt that I was watching the movie "Flash Gordon".

But despite the shortcomings, this game is great and enjoyable. It is a sequel after all, and sequels are usually not as good as the original ones.

One last word of advice: remember to stay put through the credits after finishing the game!

Jubei's story

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Onimusha 2: Samurai Destiny - Circa 2002

GOOD:
- A nicely styled samurai horror/fantasy
- An original story, based loosely on Japanese history
- Cool samurai-sword combat
- Some nice unlockable mini-games
- Play as different characters at certain points of the game

BAD:
- This game is starting to show it's age, from the Luke-warm voice acting to the controls
- Not for those who don't like survival horror games

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Samurai game that plays like a survival horror
- Magic and fantasy are a pretty big part of the story
- Don't really need to play pervious game to enjoy this one, pervious game has very little to do with this game

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Onimusha: Warlords
- Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- There are different paths/choices to make in the game depending on how you play, while the over all story will not change, a lot of the in between story involving the other playable characters will

Nice

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Just two words that describe Onimusha 2, absolutely good. It's so much fun to play and I think this is easily one of my favorite new games to play. My favorite character in the whole game is of course Kotaro Fuma, that ninja boy that Jubei meets in Imasho. This is such a great video game, the scenery (in Imasho alone) is gorgeous!

The fighting is fun in this game. The backstories many characters have are great. I didn't really like the character interaction but I can see how some people might like it. Overall, this is a great game.

Samurai Legendry

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: November 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you follow my game reviews you know by know that I prefer the long drawn out, story oriented RPG's to those that take less than twenty hours and have a huge kill to puzzle ration. But when the price drops low enough I find it can be worthwhile to play through the more notable games in this genre. Onimusha 2 is certainly one of these.

Being a fan of all things Japanese I find the samurai based plot, which sends Jubei Yagyu, young chief of a clan destroyed by Oda Nobunaga, on a journey of revenge and redemption. Nobunaga is one of the largest figures in Japanese history - a warlord who wielded immense power in the 16th Century. The premise of Onimusha is that Nobunaga died in 1560 and was resurrected as a demon (the historical Nobunage lived until 1580). Jubei's quest exposes him to both human and demonic opponents, one after another, and each more colorful.

Besides the puzzle solving and, often, wholesale slaughter, Samurai's Destiny has you use the Japanese custom of gift giving to cement relationships with five possible companions. The most important of these is Oyu, a mysterious woman who appears dressed as a samurai and quickly wins Jubei's heart. How you trade gifts and fulfill you're your obligations to these characters determines what your experience of the game is, and can provide considerable interest.

The game is beautiful to look at, and generally well animated. My only real irritation it with its insistence on using the direction buttons for character movement. This reduces an otherwise gracefully game to one where poor Jubei often has to bounce of a wall to get to a treasure. Otherwise Samurai's Destiny is a very pleasant diversion.

Awesome game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Although this game has not yet been released, I did play it for a brief while in a gaming store, and I was hooked. I am basically an RPG fan, and although I usually play those games, this game intrigued me right away. The graphics are exceptional, and the storyline is very entertaining, but my one problem with the game was the controls. They were very awkward and made it hard to move the main character. Despite this however, I think that the game is definately worth buying.

Not quite Samanosuke, but...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Onimusha 2 is not a bad game, actually, it's pretty damn good. The additional characters, variety of bonus mini-games, and special items obtained thereafter all make for great replay value, and the Earth Hammer is off the hook. Yagyu Jubei is a famous swordsman in Japan, so it's nice to see more historical references.
However, the game did not carry on the survival-horror feel quite as well as did the first game, and the trading system is a bit time-consuming (and sometimes, just plain frustrating, especially when trying to convince that dog at the gold mine to give you his buried items). Also, the controls get very frustrating when playing the mini-games, particularly when trying to uncover film strips and run up and down spiral staircases. Finally, what happened to the Japanese dialogue? Jubei does not gain that pimp recognition that Samanosuke carried when speaking in that goofy dubbed voice. I am looking forward to the third addition to the series; it would be nice to finally fight and kill Guildenstern (where was he this time around?) and that little punk Tokichiro, as opposed to the same bosses over and over again. Here's an idea: take Kibagami Jubei from "Ninja Scroll" to star in the game, as well as the Eight Devils of Kimon; they would make for excellent bosses and there wouldn't be a need to have repeat boss battles (I guess make Nobunaga the Shogun of the Dark?).

Better than the original, but still has many problems.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Onimusha 2, the 2nd installment in the 3-part samaurai action series, is a great addition to the series. The sequel is better than it's short predeccesor, but in no means is it perfect. In fact it's miles away from the word. Nobody plays the Onimusha series for story. It's just a fact. You won't find a thick, compelling story with so many twists and turns you just can't keep your eyes off of the screen. What will keep your eyes on the screen are the great graphics and Oyu (the main characters hot love interest), but that's another story.

1.Graphics
The graphics are great, that's one of the great aspects of the Onimusha games. The character models are detailed and fresh. And tthe special effects are great eye candy, but what annoys me are backrounds. They are pre-rendered, bringing me back to the days of PS1 RPG's. The PS2 has the ability to display real-time backrounds, but the pre-rendered backrounds are used for style. What kind of style thedevelopers are trying to use, I don't know.
But the backrounds I can live with. The CG cutscenes are just to die for. Enough said.
Rating: 5 Stars

2.Sound
The music is of course always great, like its older brother it features a great array of music. The classic, orchestral music really fits well with the midevil setting. The music is different, yet alike. And the same song is really never played twice. The voice acting is a different story. No Japanese voice acting option here. We just have to tolerate the dismal voice acting. Okay, it's not that bad. The voice actors are just boring, they are no fun whatsoever. Some voices are prety good, Jubei's voice grows on you and Kotaro's has emotion. But this is no Metal Gear Solid in the voice acting department. It could be worse though.
Rating: 4 Stars

3.Gameplay
The cameras are not that great. They are fixed, not my favorite kind, but when it is used right it can be good. The camera works here, a lot better than Onimusha's demon hack-'n'-slash buddy Devil May Cry. The Controls are a mixed bag. It's easy to fight and use magic. Using super moves are easy. Moving is not. The D-Pad is required. BR>Rating: 3 Stars

4.Lasting Appeal
It's not long, not at all. 10 hours the 1st way through, shorter than that the 2nd time. It is defiantely replayable, a few times. And there are many games to play. But the game just has so much to offer, then dies. Let's hope the 3rd game is longer. Well the 2nd is longer than the 1st.
Rating: 3 Stars

5.Overall
This is a great title. Fans of the 1st game will enjoy it. Newcomers may as well. But it is not perfect. The voice acting, having to use the D-Pad, and its shortness are the main problems. All it boils down to is a mindless hack-'n'-slash action game. But that's why I play it. If your interested but skepitical, at least rent it. But you'll probably beat it, so beware. It's short, it does grow on you though.
Final Rating: 4 Stars

The Most Awesome Game Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I just got Onimusha 2 yesterday, and I must say, it is my favorite game ever (tied with Devil May Cry). It is much like the original Onimusha, but there are several changes.

1. The graphics are AMAZING. They are extremely well done. The scenery and the character are very detailed making the game seem almost photorealistic. I think it's safe to say that these are the best graphics to be found on the PS2.

2. This game takes after Devil May Cry sort of. This time around, Onimusha 2 has purple souls in addition to blue, yellow and red. The purple souls act much like Devil Trigger counters. Once you collect 5 purple souls, you automatically turn into Onimusha for a short period of time. As Onimusha, you change appearance, glow purple, are invincible, and benefit from faster and stronger attacks. Unfortunately, Onimusha mode lasts for a very limited time, so you dont want to pick up that 5th purple soul unless you are around a lot of guys, because otherwise it is a waste. Purple souls aren't too common either.

3. Cutscenes. I have to say that there are more cutscenes than in the original. Although there aren't as many as, say, Metal Gear Solid 2, there are a fair amount.

4. You can play as some of the other characters for short periods of time, and you benefit from their specialty attacks while you play as them. Of course, they will also follow you around at times when you play as Jubei (main character).

5. Fights are much more awesome looking than in the original Onimusha, with better attacks and special attacks.

So there's a little bit about the game. I'll end with a list of Pros and Cons.

Pros:
Amazing graphics
Awesome Onimusha mode
More weapons that you can level-up than in the original

Cons:
Onimusha mode very short
I have not beat the game, but there are a lot of tedious cut scenes
Tedious trading

It was cool at first

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was fun when I first got it, but now the question arises, is this game a good game or not? Well, yes and no. I'd have given this a higher rating were it not for some things that were dumb.

The gameplay is great at first! But eventually its just the same thing over and over again. The gameplay starts to repeat itself over and over and over. Kill something exchange items with a character. This become very annoying. If this game were more of an RPG and not some action game it would've been better. A LOT better.

The exchanging gifts was cool and a great concept but it gets boring really fast sometimes when you're just receiving the same gift over and over again.

When you actually got to battle a bunch though the game really hits high when they're a lot of enemies around, but like I said battling gets repetive at times and easily gets frustrating later on in the game when you start to notice that enemies can block anything. Also, its annoying to keep fighting the same goddamn boss over and over again! I felt like I was playing Devil May Cry fighting every boss like three times.

The cutscenes in the game are brilliant! But the characters have no real depth behind them. There isn't anything this game does to make you feel much of anything for the characters. To make matters worse they tried to throw in a love story and that wasn't too good either.

I like the fact that the game does actually give off replay. If you actually liked battling and can deal with it all the time, this game has lots of replay. But you also have to like the gift exchange system. Depending on who you trade with most depends on who you're most allied with. Its possible to play all the four different scenarios in one game! If you trade and battle a lot then cool.

Leveling up your armor is ok, but once its all maxed out why the hell would you want anymore souls? There isn't much to this game at all. It has tons of mini-games and secrets. But near the end the game gets boring and is the same basic thing over and over again.

The music score is brilliant, but isn't quite as good as the first game. The game is a little harder but I still think it was easy until that final boss battle. The game has different game modes and thats kinda cool too. But the game would've been much better as and RPG rather than an acton game.

OVERALL
The good
+Fantastic Music
+Great cinematics and graphics
+Battling can be fun
+Trading gifts was creative
+Pretty good storyline for something done over and over
+Cool secrets
+Good replay for the different scenarios

The Bad
-Too much battling gets repetitive
-Trading can get boring and predicable
-The ending isn't much of an ending
-Would've been better as an RPG
-Too much of the same battling as in the last game

Overall its good but the fact that you don't play as Samanosuke kinda sucks! I hate sequals where they almost never mention what the previous character(s) did in the last one.

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