Onimusha Tactics was one of two offshoot games of the Onimusha series. The other was a fighting game for the PS2, similar to Super Smash Brothers Melee. Onimusha Tactics is a very basic strategy/RPG, but that doesn't make it bad, it makes it more enjoyable. Onimusha Tactics won't win over strategy/RPG vets, but it will bring new fans to the Onimusha series and possibly strategy/RPGs. Onimusha Tactics is a real treat to anyone who enjoys the Onimusha series.
It's a treat because it uses parts of the story from the previous games. You will encounter characters from the first two Onimusha games. It's really cool to play as characters that you never could play as before. The story is pretty good. Nobonaga, the big boss in the other Onimusha games, is out to destroy the world and have demons rise up from hell and take over the world with him. The demons are called "Genma" and are his cohorts. The person that is out to stop him is Onimaru, a descendant of the Oni clan, who battled the Genma many years ago. Onimaru's town is attacked right in the beginning and the story goes from there. You eventually meet up with past Onimusha characters and events. The missons are pretty much finding a key item, defeating a Genma general, breaking a Genma stronghold, or helping out a country being attacked by Genma. It's decent for people that aren't Onimusha series vets, but for vets of Onimusha games, it's a nice little treat.
The gameplay is good. I say good because it's so basic and easy to understand that the game is painfully easy. You should be able to blow right through this game with no problems at all. If a character dies in a mission, they come back in the next. If you lose a mission, you keep the EXP you had earned in your previous attempt of trying to clear it. You can level up your weapons and armor to become ridiculously strong and powerful. The gameplay is your usual strategy/RPG stuff. Move around blocks and attack enemies until you win. The missons usually just revolve around killing all the enemies. You hardly have anything different then that. The gameplay isn't bad, but it's not award winning either. It's a breath of fresh air in the strategy genre, but to anyone who has played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, it's a slap in the face.
The one neat thing about the gameplay is the way you get items and weapons in the game. You kill enemies and get stones and recipes from them. You use the energy you absorb in your gauntlet from killing enemies and sucking up their souls to create the items. It's a unique way to not have to worry about having so much gold to get the armor you need. Then, with items you create, you can enhance them to make them more powerful. It's a unique way to get weapons and items and it works very well. The last thing about the gameplay is the "Demon Realm". You can visit the Demon Realm to gain levels and get energy and item stones and recipes. It's a easy way to suck up souls to enhance items as well. It's a different way then having random battles.
The graphics are about Final Fantasy Tactics Advance quality; they might be a tad worse then FFTA. Attacks are bright and colorful, and so are the characters. The backgrounds all look the same for the most part though. They are done well, but they just look a little too much alike. Bottom line is they are better than average graphics for a GBA game.
The music isn't horrible. It's actually half-decent. You might find yourself humming to it even. The problem I have with it is that it plays battle music at death scenes in the game. It doesn't make much sense to see someone watching their relative die and hearing the music you just heard when you were playing a mission. If you want, you can turn the music off. The sound effects are top notch. Critical attacks sound critical and magic attacks sound like magic should.
The difficulty, as I said, is very easy. Anyone who plays games a decent amount will blow through it. A strategy/RPG vet will never lose a mission. It's a great game for new strategy/RPG players to get into. There might be one or two hard missons in the game, and they are usually beatable after one try. The difficulty is also easy because of the things I mentioned earlier -- being able to enhance your weapons and armor high and being able to use the EXP you earned from a failed mission attempt in a new mission.
Onimusha Tactics is a A+ game to me because I loved it so much. To everyone else it is a B game. It is good, fun, and enjoyable. The basics of it keep it from being a true gem, but it is a great alternative to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It's one of the better GBA games out. Check it out!
