Preview: Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Looks to Be a Perfectly-Honed Blade

It's been over six years since the Onimusha: Warlords remaster released on modern platforms. Certainly long enough that I had given up hope of seeing sequels get a similar treatment. That was a little heartbreaking, as I always felt Capcom didn't truly start finding its feet until the second game. I suppose I just needed a little patience, as earlier in 2025, the company announced a remaster of Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny. I previewed the PC version of the game, and it appears to be just the tempering this particular blade needed. The most obvious difference is one you can see with your own eyes. You can play Onimusha 2 in widescreen if you want, and every aspect of the visuals has been spiffed up to a shine. Just how good everything still looks is a testament to the original game with a bit of spit polish. The details in the backgrounds come alive with the new crispness, and the polygonal models wear their new higher resolution rendering with pride. Protagonist Jubei Yagyu, featuring the likeness of the late legendary actor Yusaku Matsuda, looks especially good. Image via Capcom With that said, the improvements in Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny go deeper than mere cosmetics. All of the control options seen in the remaster of the first game are here, so you can avoid tank controls if you like and switch weapons without fiddling around in menus. Unlike in the original PlayStation 2 release, you can choose when you want to use your Onimusha transformation. Once you collect the requisite five purple souls, you can trigger it at your leisure. This might seem like a small thing, but if you've played this game you know how annoying it is to have the timing of your powered-up form basically left to chance. The biggest addition here for veterans of the original game is the new Hell Mode. Hard's too lenient for you? You mastered the Issen critical counter to the point that even Critical difficulty is a breeze? Hell Mode is for you. In it, all it takes is a single hit to kill you. Yes, toss all those recovery items into the trash. They've got no use here. You need nothing less than a perfect defense to survive this ultimate challenge. But hey, if you have the true soul of a samurai and never fail your Issen strikes, you shouldn't be taking any hits anyway, right? Hell Mode is an absolute thrill, and it's an excellent new way to play this game. Image via Capcom You may or may not remember the Gallery from the PlayStation 2 game. It's back with all of the included art enhanced for cleaner viewing. You get 100 new pieces to gawk at, and you can also listen to the soundtrack. This seems like the right place to mention the one step back this remaster takes from the original. Capcom removed Hotei's awesome "Russian Roulette" song, taking the music video and behind-the-scenes footage with it. I suppose a person could just go watch it on YouTube to pump themselves up, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. There are some other small quality-of-life improvements that I appreciated. You can skip the cutscenes, even if it's your first time through the game. It's helpful if you don't have a whole lot of interest in the story. The Easy difficulty setting is available from the get-go, and that's handy if you just want to enjoy the experience and don't want to deal with too much opposition. However you might feel about the value of the story, you'll surely enjoy the new auto-save feature. It's nothing revolutionary, but the original game is more than good enough to not need much more than little tweaks. Image via Capcom Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny has always been a bigger, better sequel that built on the original in a lot of great ways, and my time with this remaster left me optimistic that it will carry that legacy forward. It's fascinating to go back to this game, as its parry-heavy mechanics make it feel more like a new release than a decades-old treasure. The improvements make the game better without fundamentally changing it, and the new Hell Mode serves as an enticing temptation for those who have played the wheels off the original. It's looking like a fine appetizer for the upcoming new installment. Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny will be available for the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on May 23, 2025. The post Preview: Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Looks to Be a Perfectly-Honed Blade appeared first on Siliconera.

Apr 22, 2025 - 23:30

Preview: Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Looks to Be a Perfectly-Honed Blade

It's been over six years since the Onimusha: Warlords remaster released on modern platforms. Certainly long enough that I had given up hope of seeing sequels get a similar treatment. That was a little heartbreaking, as I always felt Capcom didn't truly start finding its feet until the second game. I suppose I just needed a little patience, as earlier in 2025, the company announced a remaster of Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny. I previewed the PC version of the game, and it appears to be just the tempering this particular blade needed.

The most obvious difference is one you can see with your own eyes. You can play Onimusha 2 in widescreen if you want, and every aspect of the visuals has been spiffed up to a shine. Just how good everything still looks is a testament to the original game with a bit of spit polish. The details in the backgrounds come alive with the new crispness, and the polygonal models wear their new higher resolution rendering with pride. Protagonist Jubei Yagyu, featuring the likeness of the late legendary actor Yusaku Matsuda, looks especially good.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny - some of the playable characters — Image via Capcom

With that said, the improvements in Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny go deeper than mere cosmetics. All of the control options seen in the remaster of the first game are here, so you can avoid tank controls if you like and switch weapons without fiddling around in menus. Unlike in the original PlayStation 2 release, you can choose when you want to use your Onimusha transformation. Once you collect the requisite five purple souls, you can trigger it at your leisure. This might seem like a small thing, but if you've played this game you know how annoying it is to have the timing of your powered-up form basically left to chance.

The biggest addition here for veterans of the original game is the new Hell Mode. Hard's too lenient for you? You mastered the Issen critical counter to the point that even Critical difficulty is a breeze? Hell Mode is for you. In it, all it takes is a single hit to kill you. Yes, toss all those recovery items into the trash. They've got no use here. You need nothing less than a perfect defense to survive this ultimate challenge. But hey, if you have the true soul of a samurai and never fail your Issen strikes, you shouldn't be taking any hits anyway, right? Hell Mode is an absolute thrill, and it's an excellent new way to play this game.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny - the village — Image via Capcom

You may or may not remember the Gallery from the PlayStation 2 game. It's back with all of the included art enhanced for cleaner viewing. You get 100 new pieces to gawk at, and you can also listen to the soundtrack. This seems like the right place to mention the one step back this remaster takes from the original. Capcom removed Hotei's awesome "Russian Roulette" song, taking the music video and behind-the-scenes footage with it. I suppose a person could just go watch it on YouTube to pump themselves up, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it.

There are some other small quality-of-life improvements that I appreciated. You can skip the cutscenes, even if it's your first time through the game. It's helpful if you don't have a whole lot of interest in the story. The Easy difficulty setting is available from the get-go, and that's handy if you just want to enjoy the experience and don't want to deal with too much opposition. However you might feel about the value of the story, you'll surely enjoy the new auto-save feature. It's nothing revolutionary, but the original game is more than good enough to not need much more than little tweaks.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny - battling on the forest path — Image via Capcom

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny has always been a bigger, better sequel that built on the original in a lot of great ways, and my time with this remaster left me optimistic that it will carry that legacy forward. It's fascinating to go back to this game, as its parry-heavy mechanics make it feel more like a new release than a decades-old treasure. The improvements make the game better without fundamentally changing it, and the new Hell Mode serves as an enticing temptation for those who have played the wheels off the original. It's looking like a fine appetizer for the upcoming new installment.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny will be available for the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on May 23, 2025.

The post Preview: Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Looks to Be a Perfectly-Honed Blade appeared first on Siliconera.