Hi I'm Onimusha 2, I'm unbeatable. (contains spoilers)
There isn't much that has changed since the first Onimusha. By this I mean you still have the terrible targetting system, collect orbs, upgrade your weapons, run around, solve puzzles & puzzle boxes, etc. What is different is now you can upgrade your armor, you get more weapons, and you get allies! AND ALLIES THAT CAN COLLECT SOULS YAY! Thats right, when you first go to the market town you meet 4 different people - Oyu ( a girl), Ekei the fat spear wielder, Magoichi the gunsman, and Kaoto the ninja - and depending on who you trade with more, that person will help you out a lot more. For example, I traded a lot of Ekei, so every once in a while he would come running into a room to fight by my side. There are 4 different endings from what I learned.
For those of you who loved Onimusha 1 you'll be happy to know you go back to the castle in Samurai's Destiny... only thing different now is it is completley owned by demons. So you'll be feeling some nostalgia..I know I did.
The fighting is exactly the same as the first game. You run up, press R1 to "aim", mash the attack button, and when the Genma fall just press the attack button to slaughter them. Triangle performs magic attacks, L1 blocks... nothing new.
To be honest, this game is hard but is surley easier than the first. In Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny you get a lot of health, the enemies die pretty easily, your weapons are stronger, and you turn into your Oni form a lot.
The graphics and music were excellent. Each character looked real, and the monsters looked terrifying as well. The music was your basic feudal Japanese tunes, but it sounded great. The voicing was good for the most part.. except Jubei. Jubei's VA just couldn't make me believe in the game.. he sounded too....... western? The sound effects, especially when you use magic or the "Earth Hammer", sounded brutal and felt as if they packed a true punch.
What really killed this game for me was the fact that the last fight was nearly impossible and the Genma archers. Nobunaga has three different forms, but his first form is so hard that you'll be discouraged to actually force yourself to beat it. Now about the archers... they are annoying. Most of the time there will be 3 or 4 in a room, all around you.. shooting...and you could block one thats in front of you, but the one behind you hits you.. its just aggravating.
I'm ending this. If you like slashing things, solving puzzles, or like either Onimusha 1 or God of War (both huge button mashers) then you gotta play Samurai's Destiny.