The final Onimusha for the PS2 lives up to its legend!
GAMEPLAY - In Onimusha 3 Capcom finally switched to analog control, and of course this is also the case here. The fighting is very fluid, with many more attacks available to your character than in the previous games. This includes some awesome combo attacks which become necessary as the fighting becomes much more intense as you go along. The biggest change is that there are five different characters that can be controlled during the game, all of which have their own unique style. Another feature is that as levels are completed you will come across areas that can only be accessed by a particular member of your team, and many times that member is not with you at that moment. You then have the option to go back to the level at a later time with the member you need to explore a new area, which usually contains great treasure items (powerful weapons). Unlike previous games this one does not get too heavy into puzzle solving. Basically just solving puzzle boxes, which is not too difficult. Having the extra characters and multitude of weapons also adds strategy to your decisions as to who and what to level up throughout the game.
GRAPHICS - Capcom continues their tradition of providing great graphics. Vibrant, colorful backgrounds and well detailed characters and monsters. My only complaint is that it seemed that this game had less CGI scenes compared to the previous games, but it may have only seemed that way since this game was much longer. The occasions when CGI scenes were used were spectacular.
SOUND - Thankfully Capcom has brought back the option to use the original Japanese voices, something that was missing from the second and third game. This is something I really enjoy as it makes the game more authentic and immersive for me. Sound effects were pretty much the same as in the first three games, but if it isn't broke, don't try to fix it! Background music continues to be top notch, mixing in ancient Japanese music with occasionally going to a rocking tune during intense battles.
VALUE - Each Onimusha game has increased it's depth and playing time. This game can have a large variance of playing time depending on how involved you get with certain areas that are not absolutely essential to finishing the game. As I had mentioned previously, you have the option to go back to completed levels to either get to areas that had been inaccessible or to simply level up your experience. While I did a fair amount of backtracking, I know that I could have done much more. Still, the game took approximately 28 hours for me to complete, which was more time than it took for me to complete the first three games combined! I feel that this was an exceptional amount of gameplay for an action game. After completion you have the option to play again on a more difficult level, as well as a co-op mode that I have not yet taken a look at but sounds interesting.
SUMMARY - As much as I enjoyed the first Onimusha game, I am amazed at how each of the following games have been able to go to a higher level. Whether it be gameplay depth, graphics or story this series has been outstanding. I'll have to start saving up for a PS3 in anticipation for the next Onimusha! I highly recommend this to any action game fan.