Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams review

Resident Evil 4 – and the number four - has a lot to answer for. It’s already inspired Ubisoft to re-design Splinter Cell - the fourth game in the series - and now Capcom has done the same with Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams - also, ironically, the fourth game in the series.

The problem is, some could argue the formula to the Onimusha franchise has always been strong. They were strong survival action games at the end of the day and never needed changing. What Dawn of Dreams does is further proves that.

Don’t Call It Onimusha 4

Set 15 years after the events of Onimusha 3 the world has truly changed. If the first Onimusha was an ancient samurai movie with zombies, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams is Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. With zombies. The focus has shifted so much from the ancient to the otherworldly/hi-tech that the charm of playing a historical action game has, well, vanished.

Nobunaga Oda has vanished, killed at the hands of Samanosuke Akechi. But evil has not vanished with him. The land is suddenly ravished by all new Genma (and a few choice favourites from the past, naturally) and a new warrior has to step up to defend the land. Five new warriors, actually, considering you start picking up extra characters to fight with you (you’re very rarely alone in this game).

While the first game used perfect – and still to this day beautiful – pre-rendered backgrounds the shift began to change as the series progressed. Onimusha 2 had a little more 3D stuff, while Onimusha 3 was entirely 3D. Dawn of Dreams is like Onimusha 3 in that it’s entirely 3D this time. There are FMV sequences like before but they’re generally too over the top to fully appreciate.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

When you actually start playing the game the more radical design choices soon raise their heads. For instance, the writing. There’s a much talked about 3D camera but you can’t always use it – the game dictates when you can. It’s a little slow and cumbersome to move around, so it’s actually best to try and avoid using it often.

As you progress through the game more and more characters will join you. Each have their own attributes, so you have to start thinking tactically when you decide who to take with you (it can only be on). Unlike many other games your partner isn’t about as helpful as a plank of wood. They can actually handle themselves extremely well, turning enemies to mush about as fast you can also.

Dawn of Dreams is told in chapters but it takes one hell of a long time to get going. You’re walked through the unskippable tutorial section early on – but rather than being just a tutorial it’s forced into the story. As a result of this, each chapter is short as hell and you’ll be asking yourself by the fourth what Capcom was thinking. Where’s the Onimusha of old? It isn’t until about 45 minutes in that the game even remotely assembles the structure of the series.

More Changes!

It doesn’t end there either. While the series has never really prided itself on deep, layered plots they have always been engrossing. Onimusha: Dawn of Dream’s story is no less engrossing and serve’s as one of the games highlights. But it’s handled in a very bizarre way. Each chapter is usually bookended with a static shot that looks like it was taken from an FMV of two or more of the characters travelling. Text rolls up the screen informing us what’s going on.

It’s a bizarre choice because the game is actually packed with cutscenes as it is. And these just appear superfluous, as though to give the thing more gravitas. There id also narration by a woman that most of the time appeard when you’re slashing things and can therefore barely hear her.

One thing Capcom has retained is the short level space. Being 3D this time and seeing what games like God of War have accomplished on the PS2, it’s dismaying to find the play areas in Dawn of Dreams smaller than you expect. The maps are actually quite large and you can sometimes find yourself playing in towns and cities. But they are broken up into tiny sections. The game is hardly pushing the PS2’s graphical limits so this is annoying.

What’s also changed is the aesthetic the previous three games held. There are no characters modelled on real-life actors this time, as was the case in the other games. Nor is there a direct Akira Kurasowa influence. I still fondly remember the first game and the shot of Nobunaga Oda on horseback, the giant moon high in the sky above him, almost casting him in silhouette. In Dawn of Dreams: gone.

Dawn of Fad

There are even more changes than this but I’m running out of space. The point is: they all appear to be changes for change’s sake. Most of them don’t appear to advance the franchise in any way, nor do they make for better gameplay experiences. The single best thing is the partnering aspect.

Capcom wants to revitalize the series, but I have to ask why. The previous games had their problems but they were not broken. They had structure. Everything was coherent. Dawn of Dreams isn’t. It’s horribly unbalanced (you can walk out of one boss fight straight into another with no save ability in-between). It’s still a goof game on a purely destructive level – where the hacking and slashing is as good as the series has to offer.

But this criticism is strictly in comparison with the previous games. I’m comparing Dawn of Dreams to its predecessors. But Capcom doesn’t want you to do that. They’ve started a new series in the franchise and it should be treated as such. Well if that’s the case… it’s still only above average.