Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Review

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny (2025) makes me impossibly glad for game preservation. A somewhat minimalist remaster of the 2002 title, Capcom’s latest re-release has allowed me, certified sicko, to finally play this experimental, uneven, certified sicko sequel. 

As noted in my preview of the game, it’s kind of astounding how ahead of its time Onimusha 2 is in retrospect. Replete with social systems, branching, ensemble cast storytelling and a flair for aesthetic patchworking, it’s a game that would have been formative to my tastes as a pre-teen, now readily accessible on modern hardware with a humble assortment of accoutrements. In a sense, remake culture has somewhat poisoned the well on expectations for re-releases, but Onimusha 2’s (relatively) budget price tag matches its updates. Returning players will find crisp revitalised visuals and meaningfully subtle shifts to gameplay, making for a release that upholds the core of the original while allowing new audiences to experience, and more keenly, preserve it.  

This, of course, also means that the pain points of the original remain, though to have updated the experience that intensely would cut against the grain of its preservation efforts. A fast-paced action horror title played from fixed-camera angles, Onimusha 2’s speed and framing are in near constant tension with each other, an experimental and fascinating approach. It is also very much a game of its time, littered with clumsy mechanical implementations, repeated assets, and a healthy dose of ambiguity to its systems. Poking at the edges of the experience in 2025 is almost refreshing.

Jubei’s friends are charming and provide branching narratives

Left adrift in feudal Japan after his home was razed by the great unifier himself, Nobunaga Oda and his army of undead, Onimusha 2 follows the mystical misadventures of swordsman Jubei Yagyu as he attempts to claim revenge for his clan in a world on the tipping point of demonic war. While Oda marches across the country in an unending quest for unification, Jubei explores his own supernatural heritage while amassing a small band of like-minded warriors to aid in his fated clash with the warlord. It’s all appropriately operatic and goofy, deftly weaving between the two tonal endpoints so that by the time a flouncy demon doing his best Mr. Sinister impersonation shows up to measure swords with Jubei, you don’t really blink. 

The core narrative adheres fairly closely to tropes and broad strokes, its good and evil spinning wheels home to a charming array of archetypes both good and evil (2002 wasn’t a great time for women in games). That you’re able to actively engage with these elements is Onimusha 2’s secret sauce; gifting and chatting with the supporting cast in safe zones can have flow on effects on missions and boss fights, and branch the story into myriad smaller shifts that make rerunning the game’s dozen or so hour campaign a treat. Beyond structure, though there’s just an X factor to the game’s sensibilities, that gingerly paced walk between self-serious action and fantastical macabre and a prevailing sense of humour and whimsy. 

These disparate, complementary narrative elements are expressed through one of the most striking art directions of the generation. The upscale of original assets works wonders for the game, its pre-rendered backgrounds already impressive for their time with moving parts and detail, beautifully remastered to the level befitting a Capcom classic. Likewise, where Onimusha 2 chooses to place its static camera, as well as its expressive cinematic one during cutscenes, remains potent, a twisted sister piece to 2002’s Resident Evil’s considered placements, Onimusha 2 lets its hair down with playful results. Framed within these shots is a patchwork of the fantastical and science-fiction, the infernal machinery that escalates the game’s vibe neatly matched by larger-than-life character models and a thumping score. 

Combat is brutal, swift, and always framed from interesting camera angles

Muchado was made at the time for Capcom’s “Resident Evil but make it samurai” pitch for Onimusha, my only contention being you’d need to add a 6 to be more accurate. A snappy, fast-paced action title played from fixed-camera angles and drizzled with puzzles, the comparison only does a disservice to what Onimusha is trying to achieve on its own merits, successfully or otherwise. Jubei will wield a variety of magical weapons, now mercifully able to quickly interchange thanks to the remaster, and slash through foes utilising the souls he manually hoovers up between blows. Ranging from elemental damage to special moves, your combat arsenal is tight and consistently enjoyable, though your mileage will vary on exactly how Onimusha wants you to fight.  

The fixed-camera angles can be intensely frustrating during certain boss encounters (no matter how many times you fight them), though that same tension makes the game’s oppressive environments feel all the more dangerous while exploring. You do feel trapped in these play spaces, Jubei’s next rounded corner or push down a darkened corridor waiting to snap the camera again and frame up your next encounter. It’s bordering on theme as camera work and I heavy fuck with it conceptually, and largely in practice. Granted, I also bumped this down to easy during a particularly hairy boss fight so again, how you’re able to wrangle the best experience from the game is going to be on you, the remaster correctly leaving its bones untouched even as it grants swifter load times, that weapon quickswap, and smoother movement controls.  

Final Thoughts 

Tickling both the sicko horror fan in me and the critic crying out for better efforts at game preservation, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remaster is a clumsy, infintiately likeable achievement. Comfortably maintaining the tension points of the original while layering in effective quality of life improvements, it sits neatly alongside Capcom’s existing remasters and should hopefully pave the way for a return to form for the Onimusha series in the future. And even if not, I got to meet Gogandantess and ponder some orbs, so all’s well. 

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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