Onimusha feels like a slam dunk for Capcom. Splicing the DNA of Resident Evil with the exact right romanticisation of feudal Japanese fantasy and samurai aesthetics, it’s a series that feels right at home in the modern slate of Capcom’s four-quadrant appeal. And yet. Somewhat culturally dormant until the 2019 remaster of the first game in the series, Warlords, Onimusha has retained a cult favourite status in much the same way as countless PS2-era franchises have. Now, with a new entry in the action-adventure-cum-fantastical-horror on the horizon, Capcom is once again infusing an earlier entry with new life in its already rather impressive remaster of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny.
Dramatically shifting gears from Warlords’ hyper-focused nature (you can smash it out in a few solid hours if you’re fanging to catch up before this latest remaster drops in late May), Samurai’s Destiny casts you as Jubei Yagyu, last of his village and imminently social lad. Having had his home razed by series antagonist Nobunaga Oda and his ghoulish army, Jubei is propelled into a world of deities and mysticism, given a classic Collect The Orbs quest to gather power and end Nobunaga’s reign. While initially bathed in the same cinematic violence as the first game, Samurai’s Destiny pivots to a broader thematic and tonal palette, introducing a swathe of supporting characters and dropping Jubei into a bustling mining town that feels shockingly contemporary for its time.
The bulk of the preview took place here, a perfect showcase for the potential of the game and the suite of technical improvements made in the remaster. Like its predecessors, Samurai’s Destiny continues Capcom’s impressive streak of HD re-releases, the pre-rendered backdrops lavishly upscaled here and paired with crisp character models and higher frame rates. The result is a striking restoration of an already killer art direction, the game both looking and feeling right at home on a PS5. There’s pitfalls to this line of thinking, but no matter which Capcom remaster you boot up (I recently dabbled in the modern Resident Evil ports and those skyboxes are the single best argument against fidelity creep in AAA development), you’re guaranteed to find a mise en scène and artistic confidence that feels both nostalgic and fresh in the market.
The care put into Samurai’s Destiny extends beyond the aesthetic as the game has been punched up with a variety of control options and new ways to play. Straddling the line between preservation and modernisation, the game allows you to freely switch between traditional tank controls and a more fluid, current-gen standard approach. That I didn’t even clock the change initially tells you how seamless this transition is, Samurai’s Destiny neatly nestling into its hack and slash combat rhythms. The shift to modern hardware also grants grace when switching weapons, no longer done by opening a menu but on the fly, giving the player a better chance to find a flow state in combat. If you’re after more friction though, you’re welcome to dabble in the new difficulty mode, making Jubei’s demonic war all the more, well, hellish.
Between bouts of soul sucking and orb hunting, Jubei’s time in the village is marked with lite-social-system management as he builds relationships with NPCs and the early supporting cast. Simple acts like gift-giving can unlock stat boosts to make combat easier, while the small village provides a textured and welcoming space to inhabit, changing somewhat between missions to reflect the ways your actions impact the world around you. These aren’t revolutionary ideas in 2025, but they do speak to a game that was somewhat ahead of its time, as player choice is forefronted during missions and the world state reacts accordingly.
It all coalesces to make for a compelling look back at a cult classic, gorgeously remastered for modern hardware and audiences fanging for more of Capcom’s unique juice.
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered releases on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch and PC on May 23rd.
Previewed on PS5 using code provided by the publisher
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One part pretentious academic and one part goofy dickhead, James is often found defending strange games and frowning at the popular ones, but he's happy to play just about everything in between. An unbridled love for FromSoftware's pantheon, a keen eye for vibes first experiences, and an insistence on the Oxford comma have marked his time in the industry.
