Good but missing something.
User Rating: 8.3 | Onimusha 3 PS2
Okay I played the first and second ones. The first was great but the second really disappointed me. It was not really related to the Samanosuke at all. Well sort of in the prologue. Plus the soul sucker was on his LEFT hand not the right. WTF? Plus the story was annoying. Now I heard of the third and final game. I was half excited and half afraid. I was excited to hear Samnosuke was back. But I was afraid that it would be exactly like Onimusha 2. A failure. Boy was I wrong... Graphics: Many people think that graphics, gameplay, and story are everything. Well they sort of are. The graphics in this game were good but there were some problems. Jean Reno looked good and all. But Samanosuke looked really weird. His face was really dark and the facial expressions wer hard to see. The monsters were good and somewhat deadly looking. But the CG intro movie was amazing. Yet the rest of the CG animations were just the in-game models brushed up and put into high quality backgrounds. Disappointing. 8/10 Gameplay: Now what is gameplay really. Well it's how the game's control responds. Or what fighting system or what strategy system and what not. This game had the same Onimusha hack and slash feel but added some features. Like the Oni Whip for Jacques(Jean Reno). You can throw enemies, objects, and swing on Oni Fireflies. Sounds weird but it actually works out well. The only complaint about Jacques' weapons is that they have trouble reaching airborne enemies. Samanosuke is just the same old hack and slash. Except for the bow being automatically equipped and all you have to press is L1 and X I think. Well his weapons are good. Now with another new feature. Ako the Tengu. She's about 9cm tall and has wings. She can pick items enemies drop, target enemies, open special chests, and has special vets or Haori which give you abilities like faster absorbtion or all souls are red. Plus in the fighting system it seems much easier to pull a Hajiki Issen than the first two. All you do is block and wait for a ring of light then press Square. Well gameplay is good and bad. 8/10 Sound: The sound is not that new. Same sound effects when slashing and stuff. But the music is good. Mozart's Requiem is soothing and the Japanese music reminds me of my Asian heritage. Also the American voices of Jacques and Samanosuke weren't played by the real actors posing for the CG and in game models. They are different people. Only Jean Reno speaks in French for Jacques. That's it. So 8/10 Story: Um the story is split into a dual-hero switching system. There are things called Time Folders which let's Ako travel through time to switch between characters. That's what the story is basically based on. Time and Nobunaga's death. Samanosuke was raiding Honnoji Temple when he was transported to the future when Jacques was sent to the past. So they must fight the Genma in their times and search for a way to get back to the right times so Jacques can be with Henri and Michelle while Samanosuke can defeat Nobunaga for good at Honnoji Temple. Not the best so 8/10 Value: Well the only value in this game is the following: Upgrading all the weapons to Max, Getting all the Haori, Unlocking the special costumes, completing all the Training missions, and playing the mini games. So not much 7/10 Rent Or Buy? Well if you just want to enjoy a good old action adventure game then rent. If you are an veteran Onimusha fan then it's a buy. It's your chose. 
