Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams is the fourth entry in the Onimusha series from the Japanese developper Capcom, although this is the first one I’ve really enjoyed. It took me about 25 hours to finish it on normal difficulty and, apart from a few boss fights, the game pulled no cheap tricks and it remained a constantly fun 3rd-person action game.
The story follows Soki and his 4 companions who are destined to save Japan and the rest of the world from the evil (as always) Genma. Throughout the course of the game, all 5 characters are playable and, even though they control the same way, they all have diverse fighting styles. For example, Roberto boxes instead of using traditional weapon, and Ohatsu is deadly with her guns and even laser rifles (talk about Japanese technical prowess!). The storyline isn’t convoluted and it is fairly easy to follow. However it is difficult to keep track of development of 5 seperate and distinct characters: it is probably possible to complete the game without developping them all (since you can only have 1 companion at a time in a battle), but slightly diverse fighting styles warrant a second look.
Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams features nice graphics with consistant framerate although this is definitely not next-gen material! Even without high-def visuals, this hack-and-slash adventure lasts 2 whole disks, probably due to numerous CG videos, and it is loaded with content: at the completion, the game gently reminded me that I had unlocked only 40% of the available weapons and accessories. Although it’s highly unprobable that I will revisit this game and start (again) from the beginning to get 100% completion, the first playthrough was thoroughly enjoyable. Some minor issues are slightly better than average English voiceovers, fighting same bosses a couple of times and collision detection problems where I could hit enemies in another room, or where they could damage me through the wall.
Compared to the first Onimusha, this is a greatly improved version with free roaming camera and easier control scheme (your fighter no longer controls like a tank). Even though the control scheme is highly intuitive, I found it too easy to press a button too many times and get locked in a combo move I didn’t want in the first place. Overall, it’s a good game that can also be enjoyed with a friend, since a 2-player co-op mode can be unlocked (to do so, both players must hold R1+R2+L1+L2 at the title screen. Then 2nd player must press start. If succesful, you’ll hear a sound). However, it does not feature any online connectivity.
Rating: 
 (3.5 out of 5)
Buy Onimusha Dawn of Dreams for PS2
