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| | Title:
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
Action
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Publisher:
Capcom
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Developer:
Capcom
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Release:
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
M
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Well Capcom lied to us. Instead of ending the Onimusha trilogy, Capcom has opted to continue it with the latest release titled Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. It is not as if this “lie” is a bad thing, though. Onimusha is one of Capcom’s more popular and beloved franchises (although nowhere near the legendary status of Street Fighter or Mega Man). But we should have expected to see more of Onimusha. Capcom sticks by the franchises which work for them.
The problem with having such an established franchise is that there is a lot of history involved. This is especially the case with Onimusha titles. The games are rich with story content. Diving right into any of the three titles requires the player to have a somewhat basic understanding of what has transpired before. With one or two games this is manageable for the gamer, but after finishing a trilogy the task becomes a little daunting. This is why Capcom decided to start the fourth game off with an entirely new cast of heroes. A new story and a new setting will obviously make the game a bit more user-friendly to those who have never picked up an Onimusha title before and want to see what all the hype is about. But completely abandoning the old formula would also damage the series. This is why Dawn of Dreams, while different, retains a lot of similar characteristics. The Genma are still the main baddies in the game with significant gameplay footage given to those skeleton warriors. The player will still take the role of a hero bent on ridding the world of these Genma.
Interestingly, though, how heroes might be handled in Dawn of Dreams is different. The official Dawn of Dreams website suggests that there will be numerous heroes to play. Seeing the success of Onimusha 3 (with its storyline switching between two heroes), Capcom might have elected to expand the number of heroes to see just how far they could push it. There are pictures of these other heroes on the website for Dawn of Dreams. They include a young girl, the typical long, white-haired male armed with a bo-staff, a crazed monk, another male who is outfitted in more high tech armor, and another female armed with a sword. The protagonist, though, that has been receiving the most media attention is the one with the horns. Yeah I said it; horns. He is the typical Onimusha hero: good looking, covered in samurai armor, equipped with the soul-sucking arm attachment, and wielding a huge sword. Of all the heroes seen thus far he seems like the coolest and will probably draw the attention of all the old-school Onimusha fans.
Veterans won’t be disgruntled to hear that gameplay is similar to previous titles, and newcomers should certainly not be frightened off by this either. Environments are three dimensional (like Onimusha 3), and various enemies will populate these areas. The camera looks to be about the same as before and whether it will be plagued by issues like in past Onimusha titles will be determined during the review. The main hero is outfitted with various elemental attacks including ice, fire, lightning, wind, and what appears to be holy (we are fighting the undead here). The weapons look to be upgradeable, too; there are have been various shots of the main character holding several different forms of his sword. The only real aspect of Onimusha being kept under wraps is the story. I can see why this would be the case. Onimusha has always been known for its amazing narratives. To spoil the surprise for fans would be a crime.
I’m glad Capcom lied to us. If they hadn’t we would be missing out what seems to be a great game. While keeping some of the core mechanics Capcom is also appealing to a wider audience by starting the story over. This will make the game as accessible as some of their more popular franchises. The Japanese will be getting the game first, but then expect it to quickly ship over seas.
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