Dawn of Dreams offers more depth in combat and puzzle solving, while keeping the same concept of previous games.
Gameplay
I always thought the gameplay of Onimsha games was excellent, and Dawn of Dreams expands the combat system, while also adding five playable characters, each with their own fighting style and move list. There still is no jump button, but in this game you never really feel the need to jump. It also creates more puzzle solving by having to lower ladders and use certain characters to get to certain places. Each character has a certain ability that they can do, for example, Jubei can crawl through small spaces and Phatsu can grapple across ledges. One of the things I really liked about this game was the ability to control your ally. There are four commands you can issue the person who is fighting with you: Attack all enemies, follow and attack, guard/rest, and the fourth is a move unique to the individual. For instance, Soki's is to absorb souls and Tenkai's is to pray for the other ally.
Each Onimusha game had treasure chests that required a little puzzle to open, and this one is no different. The puzzle format has changed, however, and I must say, it was very fun figuring them out. Another big element of this game was the excessive number of boss fights, numbering in the 20s, at least. Most of them are interesting and fun, and I find it peculiar that all four of your allies were boss fights at one point. Some bosses were very easy, and others, especially at the end, are very difficult. The good thing is that you should have plenty of supplies to use that will help you if things are getting too frusterating. The number of weapons and equipment is amazing, as well as the number of moves for each character. Each weapon could upgrade three levels of magic, and then you could do a co-op magic attack, which was lethal and visually entertaining. Ally AI was almost perfect, and enemy AI was actually pretty good. In the early levels you will see Genma just standing around while you slaughter them mercilessly, but as the game progresses the Genma become deadly and much smarter.
Graphics
There were some beautiful environments to be seen, and the cinematic movies looked amazing. The in-game footage of the cherry trees and villages was very nice. There were some graphical glitches such as the larger bosses disappearing when you got too close and moved the camera a certain way. You could still hurt them, but they were invisible because of the glitchy camera. This only happened with one or two bossfights, however, and only for a few seconds. Another annoyance was during the breaks between stages, when the allies were talking to each other. The disgustingly exaggerated hand movements and head bobs were completely unnecessary and made the group look like a band of freaks. Characters has plenty of detail, however, and a lot of the magic attacks looked stunning.
Sound
The music was top notch, which is what I expected. Throughout the whole game the instrumentals were excellent and fit very well with the setting and the gameplay. Voice overs did not match the lips moving, of course, which looked goofy, but that is to be expected with a game originally made in Japanese. Dialogue was also annoying at times, especially with Jubei, and the acting could have been better. However, it was still slightly better than the previous titles in the series. A lot of the sound effects were clearly taken directly from the other games, such as the menu noises and the enemy growls.
Value
Dawn of Dreams is a very long game, which took me over 20 hours to beat. I believe this is the longest in the series. The story is similar to the other games, but it stays pretty interesting most of the time, and makes plenty of references to the other games, as well. Once the game is beaten on Normal, a Hard difficulty will be available, and then an even harder one after that. Completing the game also unlocks a two player arena game, but no other extras were to be found. Perhaps after beating the harder difficulties there would have been more. During the game, you can always go back to previous levels and retrieve certain items that you could not get before. For a game that is the fourth in a series, it packs a lot of punch and will keep you occupied for a while.
Tilt
I wonder why this game needed two discs, as there did not seem to be too much special content. I think this game was a little underrated by most sites, as they thought it was the same old Onimusha, which in essence, it is. On the plus side, there is a brand new main character, all new weapons, countless new attacks, more fun puzzles, and a much longer and in depth story. This is definitely worth a buy for any action fan out there, even if you have played every other Onimusha game already.