Onimusha: Warlords

The Original, the Foundation, One of the greats in the 3d person Action genre. The game that was supposed to be Resident Evil but became it's own thing and somewhat inspired Devil May Cry (which coincidentally also was supposed to be a RE game).

Playing it in 2026 surprised me because the game is still very fun to play and has very responsive controls. Yes the combat system is not as deep or as complex as Hack'n'slashers/CAGs but it still has risk/reward mechanics that require a lot of skill to execute like Issen/Counter. Great game and I'm glad that in 2026, after a long hiatus, we finally see a new entry in this forgotten franchise.

The only downside is - it's a lazy remaster. Instead of putting in some effort and making proper full HD image, they took the original 4:3 ratio zoomed it in and cut the top and the bottom of the screen so it fits properly on a 16:9. You don't have any black bars on the sides but you also can't see the full intended picture. Also the lighting is pretty bad.

All in all great game but a lazy remaster

Originally released in 2001 and then remastered in 2019 for modern platforms, Onimusha: Warlords is an utter thrill of a game where you get to fight against demons in Sengoku period Japan with gameplay and design inspired by Capcom’s early Resident Evil games.
The story is about Samanosuke Akechi, a samurai who received a letter from his cousin, Princess Yuki, requesting to get rescued after suspecting monsters are killing off maids and servants at her castle. Samanosuke, along with his kunoichi partner, Kaede, makes their way to the castle Yuki is held captive in. After splitting up from Kaede, he gets defeated by one of the demons residing near the castle, but suddenly, Samanosuke gets given a mysterious gauntlet by a group of Oni. With the gauntlet’s power, Samanosuke is able to fight against the demonic forces that stand in his way and goes on a journey to rescue the princess.
Given the game’s very short length, the story isn’t particularly too detailed, but it’s fine enough for what it is. It helps that I really liked what I heard from the Japanese voice acting (which is actually redone with brand new recordings for this remaster), as I feel it made me more invested in the cutscenes. In particular, Takeshi Kaneshiro’s voice acting as Samanosuke is absolutely fantastic to listen to, and I think his voice alone makes the game worth playing with the Japanese voice cast any day over the bland English dub. I also find myself interested in the game's historical setting mixed with a supernatural theme. Despite not being able to skip the in-game cutscenes, the game itself is surprisingly short, even for a blind first playthrough.
The gameplay is fun, albeit a little janky given its age. Onimusha essentially plays like it’s a faster-paced, classic Resident Evil game, with it even having the exact same style of presentation with fixed camera angles and use of pre-rendered backgrounds. I’ve previously struggled to get into similar Capcom games with the fixed camera and tank controls, but thankfully, there is the option for free analogue movement newly added to this release of the game, which genuinely makes it feel more comfortable to play. Once I got adjusted to how the game works, Samanosuke felt satisfying to play as, and I really liked his variety of weapons that you could use to slash away the demons. Killing enemies with Samanosuke grants you different coloured souls that you can absorb with his gauntlet. Yellow souls recover your health, blue souls recover magic that is used for hard-hitting elemental attacks, and red souls function as a currency which allows you to upgrade Samanosuke's arsenal of weapons. If you time it correctly, you can also parry enemies with your weapon, and you get rewarded with extra souls, especially with more yellow souls, so you're encouraged to be more patient when dealing with enemies.
Additionally, there are various puzzles, such as decoder boxes that require you to find items that list out the text that you need to answer encrypted questions and boxes where you have to match the numbers in order under a limited number of turns. The majority of these are optional; I personally thought they were designed well and not overly frustrating. When you solve those puzzles, you are rewarded with items that can really aid you on your playthrough, so it’s recommended to try to finish as many of them as you can.
You also get to play as Kaede during specific portions of the game, but unfortunately, I find those moments to be rather half-baked considering the short amount of time you’ll be using her for, and there’s less depth to her gameplay. You certainly feel weaker using her compared to using Samanosuke, who has all these extra tools at his disposal to help him take down the demons, whereas Kaede only has a knife, kunai and a smaller health bar that you can’t even upgrade. I think her segments could have genuinely benefitted from having additional gameplay mechanics and making those playable parts with her last longer to increase the overall game’s very small length.
Due to controversy surrounding the original release’s credited composer, Capcom decided to completely replace the soundtrack with an entirely new score composed by Rei Kondoh, known for his work on Okami and various Nintendo games. From what I’ve heard while playing the game, I thought the new music fits the game’s overall setting really well, and you truly feel like you’re part of an epic demon-slaying adventure while listening to the background music. Whether it’s better than the original soundtrack or not is purely down to personal opinion, but as a new player, I really enjoyed listening to the newer music for what it is.
The PC version works perfectly fine. It ran out of the box for me with no technical issues at all. The new accessibility additions to the game, such as the free analogue movement and being able to swap weapons without having to use the menu, are super helpful and will definitely help a lot of players get hooked on the gameplay. Despite that, content-wise, this remaster does not include the additions and alterations that came from the original Xbox version of the game titled Genma Onimusha, which I find their lack of inclusion to be particularly odd given the extra effort Capcom has invested in regards to the new voice acting and music. As mentioned above, there’s no original soundtrack available, but you have the option to mod it back in, so it’s not much of a problem, at least on PC.
Onimusha: Warlords is a blast to play and definitely a classic worth checking out if you don’t mind the older Resident Evil-based gameplay. It has a few shortcomings, but I do not feel that they’re bad enough to detract from the overall enjoyment you gain from playing the game. Given the game’s age and how it was originally designed, I was pleasantly surprised by my time playing it, and I will be looking forward to trying out the other games in the future.

Pro: It's very short game lol (play time 3:33 with max dark floors and max hp upgrades etc)
Con: I wish devs that remaster their old games WOULD ADD AN OPTION TO SKIP CUTSCENES.

A fantastic remaster that will hopefully lead to us seeing the rest of the series.
+Impeccably paced
+Hilariously bad voice acting
+Satisfying power creep
+Improved controls over the original
+Runs perfectly on the Steam Deck
-Inability to skip cutscenes, especially pre-boss ones, is really annoying

Resident Evil with Swords! Frustuating Camera but regardless a good game. If you're planning on buying it, Consider to buy this one on sale.

Onimusha: Warlords is a classic that still holds up way better than I expected. The mix of samurai combat, demons, and survival-style progression feels tight and focused, and playing as Samanosuke Akechi never stops being cool. Absorbing souls to power up weapons, managing resources, and learning enemy patterns makes every fight feel deliberate instead of mindless. The atmosphere really carries the game, from the creepy Genma enemies to the moody Sengoku-era setting, and honestly Guildenstern — the weird moth dude — ended up being my favorite character. Overall, Onimusha: Warlords is a great reminder of how effective simple, well-designed action games can be when the mechanics and vibe are on point.

A classic Capcom title and I would love to see Onimusha 3 get a remaster as well as Dawn of Dreams