Jubei and Oyu - Onimusha 2 Samurai's Destiny [Part 4]
2Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, released in Japan as Onimusha 2 (鬼武者2, Onimusha Tsū), is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed and released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It is the second installment in the Onimusha series of video games released in March 2002. Set in medieval Japan, the plot revolves around a new protagonist, Jubei Yagyu, who is on a quest of revenge as he battles a demon army led by Nobunaga Oda, a sinister warlord who eliminated the Yagyu clan. Across his quest, Jubei learns of his oni heritage which grants him powers to slay the demons and meets new allies who also wish to defeat Nobunaga and his army of Genma.
The game retains the action elements from its predecessor such as the use of multiple special weapons that can be upgraded by defeating enemies. Apart from the main character, the game features four playable sub-characters, each of whom shares a part in the story. The player's actions determine which characters will decide to help Jubei in his quest. These characters were added by the Capcom staff to give a bigger depth to the game and expand the game's feeling of adventure. Each character that the player befriends will have different cutscenes as well as personal story arcs that Jubei gets to experience, although the main narrative will largely remain the same. There are certain characters or cutscenes that cannot be experienced on the same playthrough, due to plot reasons.
Publications for video games generally praised Onimusha 2 for its branching storyline paths, music, re-playability, and for keeping the action elements from its predecessor and adding new gameplay elements, although the game was criticized for abandoning its RPG element about 40% of the way through and becoming a little bit too similar to the original. Also the American release did not contain the Japanese audio unlike the first game. On another note, the graphics and the CGI intro were highly praised.
Samurai's Destiny features a control scheme found in many survival horror games published by Capcom, most notably Resident Evil. Other similarities include open-ended gameplay, the use of herbs and medicine to restore health, and the inclusion of puzzles which must be solved in order to progress. Hostile demons known as Genma inhabit most areas, and will attack and chase Jubei. Jubei collects an assortment of short and long-range weapons throughout the game, including a bow and a matchlock rifle. Jubei is able to use magic by wielding element-based weapons. When wielding these weapons, Jubei can perform a stronger elemental attack at any time.
In order to discourage button mashing, the player is rewarded for performing "Issen" hits on Genma. Issen occur when the player initiates an attack the moment an enemy is about to lunge forward. A bright flash will appear if the move was successful, and the target enemy will die instantly. If a group of Genma surround Jubei, he will be able to chain several Issen hits together, mowing down the entire group. Also Jubei can find hidden scrolls which teaches him extra moves to use against his enemies. These moves can be inputted at anytime except for the end of a combo. They can be used to create different combos of attacks although the battle system is still mainly focused on timing and counter-attacking, as opposed to the flashy fast combo system of Devil May Cry.
Shortly into the game, Jubei gains the ability to absorb the souls of defeated Genma. Jubei can attract any orbs in the vicinity and draw them into his hand, provided that he is standing close enough. Demons Souls are differentiated by the color of the orb: the most common type, red orbs, act as experience points which can be spent to improve Jubei's weapons and armor. Yellow orbs will restore a character's health. Blue orbs recharge magic ability. The rarest variety is the purple orb temporarily powers up Jubei into an "Onimusha", increasing his attack damage and becoming invincible. Unlike the red, blue, and yellow orbs, the players do not necessary need to kill an enemy for the purple orbs to show, as purple orbs sometimes come out as they hit the enemies with weapons or kicks. Unlike Onimusha 3 (which allowed the players to transform into an Onimusha at the push of a button after getting 5 purple souls), Jubei cannot transform into an Onimusha as he likes, and will automatically transform into an Onimusha whenever he has 5 orbs (whether the player wants to transform or not).
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- Intro and Outro by Ross MacKay - FOLLOW AT BANDCAMP Ross MacKay