The first Onimusha game was remastered for modern consoles back in 2019, and it was only a matter of time before the second one was too. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is a nostalgic trip back to the classic Capcom PS2 era with fixed camera angles and linear gameplay. Don’t expect any complicated mechanics like ones found in modern games like Sekiro or anything like that. However, there’s still plenty of fun to have with Jubei as he sets out to defeat Nobunaga. Let’s go over a few tips
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Impale your enemies
Screenshot: Capcom
Whenever Jubei downs his enemies, you have the opportunity to walk over to their bodies and impale them with a downward stab simply by pressing the attack button while standing on top. This move is an automatic OHKO (one-hit-knock-out) and prevents enemies from getting back up. Enemies don’t have any health bars so it’s impossible to know how much more health they have until they disappear. But with the downward stab, you’ll know they’re gone for good.
Just be careful, though, as you can still be hit by other enemies in the middle of the animation. Sometimes you won’t get the chance to impale them. But either way, if you have the opportunity to do so, definitely take it as it’s one less enemy to deal with.
Absorb every soul
Early on in the game, Jubei will get the ability to absorb souls from enemies that he’s defeated. Red souls can be spent upgrading Jubei’s weapons and capabilities, while the yellow and blue ones replenish Jubei’s health and magic, respectively. Jubei can also transform into a powerful and invincible demon for a short time if he collects five purple souls.
In this remaster, players can now control when Jubei enters this powerful mode whereas in the original, it automatically activated once the fifth soul was collected. So definitely take advantage of it to unleash hell at opportune times.
Also, souls disappear after a while if they aren’t absorbed, so make sure to not leave them hanging or you’ll regret it.
Regularly switch up your weapons
Screenshot: Capcom
In Onimusha 2, there are plenty of weapons to collect, each with their own unique effects. The Buraitou is a lightning sword that’s both fast and powerful, making it a fantastic all-rounder. The Hyojin-Yari is an ice lance and it has the longest reach out of all the weapons. Use it if you want to keep a safe distance.
The general idea is to switch between weapons so that you can maintain an advantage over your enemies. The wind sword, Senpumaru, might be the weakest in the game, but is incredibly useful for hitting flying enemies while the slow but powerful earth hammer, Dokoutsui can smash through enemies defences like they’re made out of paper.
Keep an eye on the ground for helpful items
Screenshot: Capcom
When you’re killing enemies and (hopefully) impaling them, they’ll drop valuable gold, which is needed to buy things such as healing items, weapons for companion characters, and collectibles like artwork. This will help you prepare for the challenges ahead.
Additionally, scour rooms for treasure chests. They can provide valuable items like green herbs for Jubei to heal himself. Due to the fixed camera angle, treasure chests can be hard to see sometiomes, but take the time to look at your surroundings and you won’t be disappointed.
Save slots are handy
Screenshot: Capcom
Modern technology means that the remaster of Onimusha 2 doesn’t need memory cards like the original did on the PlayStation 2. But there are still multiple save slots.
The game has autosave, so you don’t have to worry about potentially losing hours of progress if something happens like your power going out or the game crashes (which didn’t happen to me, to be clear). But saving often and using the slots gives you the ability to go back in case you want to replay a certain segment or if you missed something.
Follow these tips, and you’ll be breezing through Onimusha 2 in no time. They’ll be helpful no matter what difficulty you play on and how many playthroughs you do.
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Windows PCs.