Onimusha 2 Preview
The sequel to the first million-selling unit on the PS2 (in Japan), Onimusha 2 promises to go much further than its predecessor, both in terms of gameplay and story. And judging by what we've heard so far, it looks like you're going to have to add another big PS2 game to your "Most Wanted List" next year. Onimusha 2, which is due to ship in Japan in March 2002, has not been officially announced in North America just yet, but we're sure it'll appear here in the US. It's just a matter of time.
The sequel's story takes place in the early summer of 1573, 13 years following the original. Yagyuu Juyuubei, the new main character, has just returned from some travel to find that his hometown has been under attack. Apparently, this was the doing of Nobunaga Ota, the ruthless warlord who appeared in part 1 in undead form and now, at the age of 39, still longs to unite the nation of Japan. So begins Yagyuu's adventure.
Some characters from Onimusha: Warlords will make an appearance in support of Yagyuu. Kaede has been confirmed as one such character, and she will be joined by more, to be revealed later. Will Samanosuke Akechi, the main character from the original, make an appearance? The developers would not comment. And, as mentioned above, Nobunaga Ota will return in this game for his updated look.
In addition to these reappearances, we currently know of three original characters who will play a role in Yagyuu's adventure. Oyuu is a 20-year-old female knight who's quick as a ninja and wears western style clothing. She's a beautiful lady, but there's also a strange mystery surrounding her. A 33-year-old character called Magoichi will act as a companion to Yagyuu in battle. He's a gun master who has a clear mind and an understanding of Western science. Finally, Hideyoshi Kinoshita is a 36-year-old commander in Nobunaga's army who was left in command of the Ootori castle attack.
It seems that the game's designers intend to place the characters in a more involving story this time around. The designers have commented that the scenario (the way in which the story unfolds) was made simple in the original so that the action sequences would stand out. This has been changed for the sequel, and we can expect a more dramatic experience all around, along with greater character depth. This will be accompanied by a greater variety to the game world, including full-fledged towns that are apparently made to resemble the make-shift towns that sprung up during the Gold Rush.
Graphically, the game will be similar to the original -- realtime characters atop pre-rendereed backdrops. However, the backgrounds will be full of animation, beyond what we saw in Onimusha: Warlords. The developers have made mention of one particular form of scene -- a down-pouring of rain that was made in the motif of seemingly every game developer's favorite movie, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. There will be many sequences with this rain effect throughout the game.
Kotarou is a 17-year-old ninja, whose present mission crosses paths with that of hero Yagyu Jubei. He appears to be one of the speedier of the secondary characters, with a mix of quicker weapons. Also in today's news is a little more information about the character relationship system, which affects how Jubei relates to his allies. By completing certain tasks and gathering items that secondary characters want, it's possible to increase their reliability and possibly gain access to their skills more often.
For the most part, the staff members from the original have returned for the sequel. Keiji Inafune is acting as producer. Previously, in addition to the original Onimusha, he worked on Resident Evil 2 and has participated in just about every Mega Man game to date. Mikitaka Kurasawa is returning to produce the CG for the game; you'll recall that the opening for the original, which was produced by Kurasawa, received an award at SIGGRAPH. Ryuu Kaneda, who had a role in the ending CG for the original Onimusha is now serving as the director of the CG in this game. Returning to develop the game's scenario is Noboru Sugimura, who's also worked on Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica.
Newcomers include sound producer Tarou Iwashiro, who's worked on numerous television commercials as well as the television series "Another Heaven." He's joined by character designer Keita Amemiya, who's been involved in television, anime and movies.
