Onimusha

Onimusha (Japanese: 鬼武者, literally "Oni (folklore) Warrior") is a series of video games by developer Capcom. The series makes use of the historic figures that shaped Japan's history, retelling their stories with supernatural elements. Most of the games are of the action-adventure game genre, a combination of third person combat and puzzle solving, where the protagonist wields the power of the Oni enabling them to fight the Genma, the main enemy of the series.

Onimusha is Capcom's 5th biggest franchise as of May 2008, behind the Resident Evil, Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Devil May Cry series. The series has sold at least 7.8 million copies to date. A full-length full-CG film for Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams has been made as well, with the alternate title of Shin Onimusha.

Summary
Initially, Capcom began to develop a PlayStation action game software that utilized the Resident Evil engine, but eventually changed its hardware, including the game in the release of PlayStation 2. Afterward, Onimusha was developed as one of the PlayStation 2 debut contents. It sold over two million copies as PS2 software. The central character is based on Takeshi Kaneshiro, who was also a voice actor. Models of the characters include the late Yusaku Matsuda in Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny and Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. The series was initially planned to be a trilogy but a fourth installment, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams was released in March 2006.

Gameplay
The gameplay in most of the Onimusha series is roughly based on the mechanics from Capcom's horror survival franchise, Resident Evil. Although the protagonist changes in every Onimusha title, he is always a skilled swordsman who embarks on a set mission and journey, which involves slaying demons and fearsome enemies during the waning years of the Warring States Period in feudal Japan. In each game, the protagonist has the ability to absorb Genma souls from defeated enemies, which helps to restore health, infuse power within weapons and armor, and provide power for the elemental attacks of special weapons.

The control scheme of Onimusha resembles that found in the Resident Evil series. The player controls their character using the D-Pad (although later games such as Onimusha 3: Demon Siege and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams introduced analog stick control) and travels in a fairly linear method, able to rotate slowly with the input of an opposing direction. Characters tend to move slowly and can only slightly increase their speed with the dash maneuver by tapping twice in any direction. Unusually, actions common to many action-oriented titles, such as jumping, grabbing, and climbing over obstacles cannot be performed in Onimusha titles.

Unlike the Resident Evil series (with the exception of Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5 and possibly Resident Evil 3: Nemesis), Onimusha is very action-oriented with a heavy emphasis on combat, only employing a few horror-inspired elements. The player takes on the role of the hunter, deploying a varied arsenal of destructive weaponry, ranging from a regular katana to elemental-based broadswords. The player does, however, possess a limited supply of spiritual energy which can be used for magical attacks. These magical attacks, which vary depending on what weapon is equipped and other offensive attributes, can be raised throughout the game by accumulation of souls from defeated enemies.

Oni Gauntlet
Central to the first and third major chapters of the Onimusha franchise (and to a lesser extent, the fourth chapter) is what is known as the Oni Gauntlet. This is the Gauntlet that was given to Samanosuke Akechi in Onimusha: Warlords and was created by the power of the council of the twelve Oni Gods. It absorbs souls (see Nature of Souls), gives power to Samanosuke's weapons and changes the color of the orb in its center to match with that of the corresponding weapon, allows him to achieve an Oni Awakening, and is capable of functioning with other Oni items such as the Oni Army Orb.

Yagyu Jubei's mystical parentage through Takajo enabled him to use Oni power without the need for the Gauntlet. This was also repeated with Soki, who was revealed to be the reincarnated Oni God of Darkness. On the other hand, while Samanosuke and Jacques both had Oni Gauntlets, only Samanosuke could become the Ultimate Onimusha. It is likely that Samanosuke was chosen by the twelve Oni gods enabling this, while Jacques was granted power by only one of them, because of this he was only able to transform into one form. Additionally, Jacques' gauntlet began with a red sheen, turning to gold as it gained more power.

In the third game, Samanosuke had been sent to modern Paris and thus his Gauntlet had reverted back to its original bluish color and all of his previous weapons (Raizan, Enryuu and Shippu) were lost since he was in a different timeline. However, he was able to restore his Gauntlet to its true potential by reabsorbing more souls, regaining new weapons (namely Tenso, Kuga and Chigo). Later, he was able to fuse the power of his Gauntlet with the Gauntlet of his alternate deceased self when he returned to a slightly alternate timeline. This gave him two gauntlets, thus allowing him to achieve his Ultimate Onimusha form.

After defeating Nobunaga, he absorbed the Genma Lord's souls. Unlike the souls of other Genma, these were a dark-hollow, green color that gave the Gauntlet and its gem a dark red sheen. This symbolized that the gauntlet had sealed away the essence of the Genma Lord. This was also the reason he had to seal the Gauntlet away. Years later, as the God of Darkness was reincarnated as Soki, Samanosuke lost most of his power as the Onimusha and thus the Oni Gauntlet lost all its potential, turning his hair grey within a short period of time after losing part of the Oni Mystic Power. The only power that remained in the Oni Gauntlet was the sole power of the Genma Lord retained from Nobunaga.

In the fourth game, Tenkai/Samanosuke utilized this power against the Genma Army and even achieved an Oni Awakening with it, before it was transferred to Soki. At that point, Nobunaga's power was unsealed in the final duel against the resurrected Fortinbras. This Oni Awakening was a result of the Genma Lord's power since that was the only power left in the Gauntlet, explaining why he wasn't able to use the same moves or the same weapons that he did in the previous games.

Onimusha vs. the Genma Lord
Another central theme to the series involves the main protagonist as the Onimusha fighting against the forces of the Genma Lord. Both personages are polar opposites of each other and represent the unending struggle between the Genma and the Oni Clan. Many of the main Genma are named after characters in Shakespearian Plays.

In the fourth game, it was revealed that the God of Light Fortinbras created the Genma and while God of Darkness produced the Oni. Though he died in Onimusha: Warlords, Fortinbras acted through Oda Nobunaga when then Hideyoshi before fully resurrected. The God of Darkness was the first Onimusha and each subsequent Onimusha is a being who channels his power. In the second game, Yagyu Jubei was able to use five special orbs created by the Oni to transform himself into an Onimusha. When Jubei underwent an Oni Awakening, he was able to shoot beams of light. These abilities were transferred to his Onimusha form as Jubei used the arm cannon formed on his left hand.

Samanosuke was spirited away by the Oni following the death of his alternate self at the hands of Nobunaga. By combining the gauntlet of his alternate self from the other timeline, he was able to become another Onimusha with a gauntlet on each of his hands and absorbed souls through an orb on his chest. In the fourth game, it is revealed that Soki, unlike the other Onimusha, was a reincarnation of the God of Darkness. Hence his title "Black Oni". In order for him to achieve his Ultimate Onimusha Mode, he awakened the sealed power of Nobunaga, the deceased Genma Lord’s power which was held within Tenkai's Oni Gauntlet. In his Onimusha Mode, Soki wears shining armor with dark colors beneath it while flying in combat and wielding two broadswords to attack Fortinbras.

Film adaptation
In May 2003, Paramount Pictures, Davis Films, and Gaga Productions announced its joint venture to adapt the action-adventure game series into a $50 million live-action feature film. According to Paramount Pictures and Davis Films' Samuel Hadida, "It's samurai fighting against demons – it's very close to this simple pitch. There's also a love story woven in. It's a big adventure movie with lots of special effects." Hadida also proposed the possibility of a film franchise. In December 2006, director Christophe Gans said that he had Onimusha lined up to film. The film, budgeted at over $70 million, was to begin production in China in February 2008 for a December 2009 release. In a June article by movie site Ain't It Cool News, it was revealed that Takeshi Kaneshiro will be in the movie, reprising his role as Samanosuke.

Hadida had to delay the filming of Onimusha, which has resulted in the film's Japanese cast working on other film projects during the delay, and being unavailable to start filming Onimusha. These factors were enough that French director Christophe Gans will now direct an adaptation of Leo Perutz's novel The Swedish Cavalier first, taking over the reigns from Gilles Mimouni. Satomi Ishihara and Tsuyoshi Ihara remain attached to the project.

Reception
The Onimusha series has received overall positive reviews with most of the main games on the PlayStation 2 receiving average scores of more than 80%. On the other hand most spin-offs from the series have not been as successful.