Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Review

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny picks up after the events of Onimusha after Samanosuke defeated Fortinbras, Nobunaga Oda as taken control of the Genma in orer to wipe any resistance on his way to power. On his path of destruction was Yagyu village leaving a lone survivor, Jubei Yagyu, as he was away during the invasion. Upon his arrival and realizing what happened, Jubei set off on a revenge quest to kill Nobunaga.

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is a 3rd person action game where players as Jubei explore and roam around various areas to kill enemies and solve puzzles. Our protagonist begins with a normal sword, but as the game progress progresses, he’ll pick some additional weaponry such as an electric infused sword and ice infused spear. Given enemies come from all sides, our protagonist can block to avoid taking damage. You have a basic attack and a special magical attack that will unleash elemental damage to your enemy.

One of Onimusha’s staple is for the protagonist to absorb dead enemies’ souls. While in the first game, Samunosuke had a magical gauntlet, Jubei absorbs them through his hand. The collected souls have three purpose: it either refills your health meter, magic mater or can be used to upgrade your gear. When reaching a save point, you can enhance your weapons and protective gear by using collected souls.

One useful mechanic that will help clearing enemies (and is mandatory for those who want to attempt Hell mode) is the issen or deathly strike move. This will allow players to perform one hit kill enemies. Players can pull off the issen by timing their attack perfectly with the enemy’s attack. Our protagonist will also find a firearm and bow for additional firepower in combat.

Jubei also has a few friends that he’ll interact with here and there. As Jubei explores and find items, he’ll come across with items that maybe look useless at first, when in reality it can be used to give to his pals in order to build a relationship with them. Some items, such as gear, can be purchased and given to them. In exchange they’ll give you useful items and sometimes assist you in battle.

Once you’ve finished the campaign, or simply need a diversion, Onimusha 2 offers three additional game modes available from the get-go in the main menu, under Special Features: The Man in Black, Team Oni, and Puzzle Phantom Realm. The first game mode has players successfully survive a portion under the game without killing enemies; the game ends when you die or time runs out. Team Oni features 20 levels where you’ll play as various characters from story mode. It’s basically a survival mode where you need to eliminate enemies as fast as possible as your health drains progressively. You can find blue pots to prolong your life. Puzzle Phantom Realm is a collection of 20 different box you need to unlock by moving the tiles so they form a circle.

The game looks good; Capcom managed to do a decent job upscaling the visuals to fit today’s technologies. Obviously, it’s not perfect given the original game is now 23 years old as of this writing, but it looks fine. The game’s environments are also pre-rendered backgrounds due to the limitations of the PS2 back in the day. They do look great and there’s a surprising amount of details, but some areas feels like they all mesh together making it easy to miss paths. On the audio side of things, it’s fine; a forgettable score. Voiceover is enjoyable, but also a bit over the top at times.

The game clearly shows its age and it’s another proof that not all games should be brought back. The originally released in 2002 where technology and gaming was a bit more restrained due to technical limitations. The first hiccup is the combat. While there’s a way to target an enemy with RB, it’s not really precise if you find yourself surrounded by 3 enemies or more as Jubei is “magnetically” drawn to the closest enemy. It’s also a where do you go kind of game; going in blind will offer a long gameplay experience.

The issue with that is that if an enemy on the ground, ready to be executed, if you’re not pixel perfectly positioned, your next move will bring you to the second closest enemy. Also the fixed camera can be an hinderance given that it changes when entering a new area and some enemies, especially archers, are out of sight meaning you need to listen carefully if you want to react accordingly without getting hit. Also the camera is a problem for boss battles; due to the camera position, it’s easy to not see the boss’ attack coming.

Is Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny a good game? Yes, absolutely. It was back in the early 2000s, it is in 2025. Is it outdated? Yes. It takes a of time to adapt to the archaic mechanics such as the combat, camera angles/changes and the lack of guidance and hand-holding, but if you’ve never played it and looking for a challenging action game, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is for you considering you can tolerate the “outdated-ness” of it. If you’ve enjoyed back in the day, it’ll fit like an old glove. There are worst ways to spend money.