Rekuru’s Japanese Cinema Royale Special is still going strong and today, we look at the Playstation 2 title Onimusha 3: Demon Siege which not only stars japanese heart-throb Takeshi Kaneshiro but hit-man with a heart Jean Reno as well. As always, a trailer will follow the review for your viewing pleasure.

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
Sucking up souls has never been this much fun.

Current price: $5.99 @ Gamestop (used), $9 @ eBay (new), $9 @ Amazon (new)

The Good:
+ One of the best CG openings. Ever.
+ Playable likenesses of Jean Reno and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
+ A nice blend of Japanese history and demonic horror.
+ More demon hacking, light puzzle solving that you’ve come to love (or hate) from the series.
+ A few levels require you to utilize both characters, allowing for some engaging teamwork options such as inventory sharing, key item trading, and more.
+ A 3rd playable character, Michelle, provides a rare and unique change of pace from the other two characters with her focus on guns and grenades.
+ The addition of Ako, your trusty pixie-like sidekick, provides some gameplay enhancements such as HP restoration, visible enemy health bar, faster enemy soul absorption, and more.
+ Amazing looking environments whether it’s the famous locales of France such as the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame de Paris, and the Eiffel Tower or the temples, forests, and castles of feudal Japan.
+ A larger variety of locations for you to go to than in previous titles.
+ With the shift from 2D backgrounds (a la Resident Evil) to 3D ones, the game feels much more polished and realized than it’s predecessors.
+ Challenging and fun boss battles that are the series’ best.
+ The old, dowdy control scheme from the days of the original Onimusha have been replaced with full analog control. Yay!
+ The music, while not something you’ll be running out and buying the soundtrack for, fits the moment appropriately.
+ A decent length that will take you anywhere between 10-12 hours to complete.
+ Plenty of extras such as secret costumes, unlockable weapons from Onimusha 1, a 4th playable character, mini games, and additional difficulty levels.

The Bad:
- Occasionally cheesy dialogue with some spotty voice over work.
- The camera angles can lead to cheap shots from enemies who are off-screen.
- The story, while not bad by any means, is pretty predictable. No surprises here.
- Playing as two characters can have its drawbacks as you’re twice as likely to get lost. It doesn’t help that the next thing you’re supposed to do isn’t always clear either. This leads to wandering aimlessly through levels before switching to the your other character and doing the same thing until you either happen upon that elusive key that you’ve needed or you consult an online FAQ. Brain teasing? No. Annoying? Yes.
- Some serious slowdown rears it’s ugly head when a large number of enemies and enemy souls are onscreen.
- The game doesn’t end as well as it could have but it’s alright.

Overall Rating: A-