Video Games Samurai!!

I just got Samurai Warriors for the PS2 ($58 at Walmart ... take that EB). From the makers of Dynasty Warriors (Koei Games), you can pretty much tell what kind of game it is ... ACTION!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF ACTION!!
Basically, you play a samurai (or in some cases a ninja or another kind of warrior) and go on a whole campaign for various reasons (the story is different for each character) through Japan.
The way characters work, at least with selection, is more reminiscent of Dynasty Warriors 2 than anything else: you start of with very few, each from a different side, and you earn new ones by completing the campaign for a related character, usually an ally or someone else of significance. Weapons work in a similar way as well: there are three weapons for each character, and you find them in the levels instead of gaining weapon levels up.
The game is based on some historical Japanese setting (but coming from Koei, I assume that history is right out the window), with characters like Nobunaga running around. My sister said she recognized a lot of the names from Flame of Recca, I think. Anyway, I don't know much Japanese history, so I can't really comment.
Character growth is much different from in the Dynasty games. You still have your basic stats (Attack, Defense, HP, Musou, Speed, etc.), but they increase based on your performance in the mission. You also gain skill points which are used to gain new abilities, like double jump distance or automatic counter attacks. Basically, all your advancement is based on experience points, gained through things like completing special objectives, stage clear time, number of kills, items gained and kills using your Musou.
This game is pretty much an improvement on the other ________ Warriors games, except for one thing: multiplayer. The two-player co-op play works basically the same as it always has, except for one HUGE drawback: neither player can use their Musou unless both have a full bar. This is particularly annoying when one character is dying and the other is just fine, or when one character is not near any enemies and thus has to stand there like a moron charging their bar in order to help their teammate.
Overall, though, it's a cool game. Worth a rental if you're not a huge fan, but if (much like myself) you have been longing for some DW-style action set somewhere other than China, I suggest you pick it up.

 

Yeah, it was fun for a while, then got a bit repetitive. A noticed alot of characters. Nobunaga Oda, Ranmaru Mori, Hidemitsu Akechi, Mitsuhide Akechi, Noh Hime, and a few other characters from the past are also in Onimusha. And Hattori Hanzo is a character I recognized from Kill Bill. Masamune Date and Keiji Mauda are my best characters though.

 

I got this game recently and am loving it (makes me want to consider giving the Dynasty Warriors games another chance). Right now my favorite, and best, character has to be Saiga Magoichi (the Lone Gunman ). Though he's only at level 15 right now, heh, though all but two of his stats are maxed. Hattori Hanzo is high-up there, too.

Oh yeah, I'm sure you probably know this by now, Novus, but each character has five weapons (Though from what I can tell the fourth and fifth weapons for the characters are a pain in the *** to get).

For the most part, yeah, it seems a lot of the historical bull was tossed out the window but there's still plenty present there (IE I think the real Shingen and real Kenshin were truly rivals, etc.). And as far as I can tell every character in the game is based of a historical character (the only difference that I know if being Kunoichi; though she's, supposedly, supposed to be the personification of a group of female ninjas that the real Yukimura Sanada used to have as bodyguards. Or, so I read at least. ).

It's a pain some times trying to unlock and beat both paths for the characters (or in Magoichi's case, you have to do certain things throughout the first four stages to get to the fifth... THAT was a pain >: ).

But, overall.. yeah, fun game.

 

what kinda missions does hanzo do? it sounds pretty good. better than i expected.

 

Did any of you guys create a samurai? I did and he is a master with a Naginata.

 

I have a CAW Sword, and to be honest, training a Sword up is pretty frustrating, as he has the least reach. I did it to get Provisions from Hanzo, and that's really about it.

Hanzo has a balance, I believe between Infiltration and field missions, though most of his field missions are to kill officers rather than eliminate enemies. I believe he also has the only castle mission that's nearly empty, except perhaps Kunoichi's Rescue from Ueda, which I haven't done yet, heh.

Nobunaga, Mori, and other characters are in Onimusha because both are real historical Japanese people - it's not like there's any ripoff going on, since they are real people.

4th weapons aren't hard to get - they ARE random drops. 5ths, however, are the hard ones, since they are the ones requiring specific objectives to be done.

Certain second paths are hard to get, but the only one that may pose as irritating is Sanada's - took me 3 tries until I found out that you had to beat Shingen's story first. -_-;;

 

Woo, it is time for the harvesting of 5th weapons!

...

...

...God dammit, is Akechi's 5th even possible without 2 players?