Good enough to maximize gameplay experience.

User Rating: 8 | Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams PS2
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams is definitely not stunning enough to be a game that goes down in history. But, this new addition to the demon-slashing series is definitely good enough to maximize game-play experience for every player.

This title depicts an ancient Japan heavily infested with demonic energy, and it is up to a young man, Soki, to save the people. The story is not exceptionally unique, but it can engage the player enough to make him/her sit in front of the PS2 for several hours.

While playing the game, you'd realize that you are keeping your fingers really busy. As the player advances in the story, the character acquire new skills with a "point-adding" system, in which the player acquire points by fighting the Genma soldiers, which are found almost everywhere, and other different monsters in specific encounters. Making use of almost every single button on the controller to make different combinations will allow the character in the game to perform various attack styles and skills. It is all up to the player's preference on what skill to upgrade, what skill to use and when to use it. Also, with the ability to use two players at a time, one being controlled by the player and the accompanying one follows the orders of the controlled character, and to change the accompanying fighter at save points, the player finds himself making use of each character's unique abilities to solve various puzzles and gain access to areas certain characters are unable to reach. Strategy plays an important part in the whole game. It is all up to the player to utilize the various ways to get around each scenario.

The game allows the player to re-access the areas they've been to, to obtain any items they had missed out during the actual mission and to use a different character to gain access to a secret area to obtain item(s). As certain characters are only available after the player goes way into the story, this feature of allowing the player to revisit the places, makes sure nothing is missed. Most maps are explorable and the player should make it a point to revisit the places more than once in order to gain all available items. During a "revisit", the player can challenge a mini-game known as the Test of Valor again, regardless of whether they passed or failed in the initial mission, in which the character must defeat the stated number of enemies within a certain time limit. Each Test is graded with a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal, in which each grade signifies the quality of the item the player will receive after each attempt. A Fail does not award the character with anything.

The animation and graphics in the game can be considered brilliant, marked improvement can be seen from the previous titles in the series. All character and camera movement is smooth and synchronizes perfectly with the player's intention. Cut-scenes are beautifully rendered and as usual, the superb Voice Acting just goes on to prove that all the cut-scenes are wonderfully crafted. However, during normal dialogue where there is no voice-over, the movements of the speaking character are actually programmed in a loop. For example, if the dialogue's mood is angry, the character will perform actions in the "angry loop", if the dialogue's mood is normal, the character will perform actions in the "normal loop". The character's actions will repeat after one round, and it doesn't fit with the words in the dialogue box. Sometimes, the character movements are too exaggerated and seems a bit unnatural and unreal. For example, when Soki's dialogue shows that he's angry, Soki seems to be shivering too much with rage.

The music does not really fit with the time-line of the game's story, but it fits the game ambience totally. Traditional music instruments are used sometimes to combine with the pop/rock music in the arrangement. With this kind of arrangement, the music cannot fit with the story's time-line, and only serves as a simply "fit-with-the-player'' music. The music will be good enough to the target market, which are the teenage gamers, as the rock/pop music is what these people of this age group are fairly interested in. However, as perfect as milk goes well with cereal, the rock/pop -style music fits with the game ambience perfectly.

Although there may be some weak points in certain areas, this game is still worth-playing, and with an open-mind, a player can be totally immersed with the game. It is undoubtedly another great addition to the series. The future still looks bright for upcoming Onimusha titles.