I know a lot of the people on this forum prefer to reply to posts rather then read posts so I\'m going to condense my reviews from now on to plain old categories and give it a score for each category as well as a final score (not an average). If you want intracacies on battle systems or the backstory, feel free to look up a decent PREVIEW on the net and then come back here and read about the good and bad sides of the game. Anyways, on with the "review"...
Onimusha Warlords
Presentation:
The menus are pretty sweet in the beginning with some pretty authentic Japanese music and sounds and the menus in game are pretty friendly as well. I\'m not too much of a fan of the puzzles on the locked by "Japanese Kanji" phrases in the game. I even found myself passing them from time to time because I was too lazy to look at all the notes that you collect to figure them out. I\'ll answer their questions with their answers if they answer mine. On the other hand, the CG sequences are breath taking. So far, I have yet to see anything better from anyone, even Squaresoft, as far as CG goes, especially the ending. 9.5/10
Graphics:
The graphics are utterly amazing. Every character model, both villains and heroes, are animated and textured extremely well. The lighting effects and shadows are brilliant and outstanding. Smoke poors from lit candles which light the room appropriately and setup the atmosphere perfectly. Although the backgrounds are 2D, there are many objects that you can interact with that look equally as stunning as the backgrounds around them. Sticks and swords protrude from dead human bodies and structers collapse to reveal hidden rooms in the static backgrounds. Even the mouths and faces of the characters accurately protrude both speech and emotion artisticly. It\'s too bad the mouths and voices for the dubbed versions are not as accurately portrayed. 9.5/10
Sound:
Amazing. Breathtaking. Jawdropping. (Ed. Note: I would like to thank thesaurus.com -Ryu) There just isn\'t enough positive adjectives to appropriately describe this games music, japanese voice acting, and sound effects. If I ever find the Japanese soundtrack at my importer, I\'m buying it on the spot. My only gripe, which is a big enough gripe to drop the score by a few points, is the English voice overs. As I write this review and my friend begins to play the game, the first word that comes to mind is a simple quote from Kaeda: "Understand." That right there made me scratch my head and scream bloody murder from that point on. 9.0/10
Gameplay:
Some of the camera angles are pretty poor, but bearable. Nothing is worse then fighting a huge boss that obstructs your view. Occasionally, I couldn\'t even tell which direction i was facing until it was too late thanks to the obstructions. Another poor point is the control. Come on, the RE scheme blew the first time I used it and yet the trend continues with Onimusha. Otherwise, it\'s pretty solid. Level up your weapons for stronger attacks and those attacks vary based on the direction you press with the attack move. Both Kaeda and Samanosuke have pretty varied moves and Kaeda, the chance syou get to use her at least, is a breath of fresh air after Samanosuke\'s brute strength. It takes a player with some finess to use her though and she\'s not for everybody. 8.0/10
Lasting Appeal:
It\'s pretty bland for replayability, much like the RE series since the story is the same each time. However, just to see Samanosuke, for once, in a panda suit is hilarious. I nearly fell on my ass laughing when I saw that and I applaud Capcom for the humor on such a serious effort. I suppose getting a great rank is something to shoot for, but nothing that isn\'t massively desired. It deserves two sittings in all, but since the game, in it\'s longest first play, is only about 8 hours long, the second play will be even shorter. If the characters took note of your panda suit in a comical way when you go through it again, it would be gold. I can only imagine the last boss\' face when you show up to save Princess Yuki in a panda suit. 7.0/10
Final score: 9.5/10
Not an average
