Zombie killing bikini samurai action is back!
Onechanbara Origins is a remake/reimagining of Onechanbara 1 and 2. The story centers around Aya and Saki, two zombie killing sisters that hate each other but overcome their differences to unite against a common enemy.
The last Onechanbara game, Z2 Chaos, featured different primary protagonists and a kind of realistic graphical style. Origins has a really nice cel shaded style for the characters and they look great. The colours and shader really pop. The backgrounds are low detail and often recycled but the characters look great.
This is a less frantic game than Z2 Chaos. The combat is slower paced and not a whirlwind of death. There's also less enemy variety and fewer levels. They have definitely stuck too close to the original Onechanbaras and it really feels like a step back. The normal combat is here, Square attacks, Triangle does a ranged attack or can combo with Square. Comboing with Triangle can stun enemies allowing you to do a Cool Finish, sending Aya through a crowd with sword drawn, slicing eveything in half. There is a parry on Circle and parrying some enemies stuns them for a unique kill anim. Charing up your blood meter allows you to go berserk to inflict more damage and continuing to kill in berserk mode unlocks Vo'Ga mode. You turn into a demon and inflict a lot more damage but your health continually ticks down. Fortunately inflicting damage in Vo'Ga mode regenerates health. There is also a near insta kill attack triggered by pressing Triangle and Circle when a meter is full. And finally you must occasionally hit L1 to flick the blood off your sword before it gets fully caked in blood and slows your combo speed. And finally, finally, there is a dodge on R2. Performing a perfect dodge helps fill your special attack meter and allows you to hit back with a counter.
The campaign is largely unexciting without any set pieces or interesting enemy combinations. The bosses are a highlight, dodging and countering feels great and they're engaging fights. Once you complete the campaign (5-6 hours) you unlock infinite survival mode and the combat gets more fun. You're in an enclosed space fighting wave after wave of enemies. They spawn more enemies in a small area in better combinations than they do anywhere in the story and infinite survival is a lot of fun.
You can level up your character and carry unlocks into new game+. You level up like crazy in infinite survival so if you want to do multiple playthroughs there's good incentive to playthrough, level up and then new game+ your way through the other difficulties.
The bottom line: mediocre game with great looking characters that is not worth £60 but gets better after you complete the game.
Onechanbara Origins is a remake/reimagining of Onechanbara 1 and 2. The story centers around Aya and Saki, two zombie killing sisters that hate each other but overcome their differences to unite against a common enemy.
The last Onechanbara game, Z2 Chaos, featured different primary protagonists and a kind of realistic graphical style. Origins has a really nice cel shaded style for the characters and they look great. The colours and shader really pop. The backgrounds are low detail and often recycled but the characters look great.
This is a less frantic game than Z2 Chaos. The combat is slower paced and not a whirlwind of death. There's also less enemy variety and fewer levels. They have definitely stuck too close to the original Onechanbaras and it really feels like a step back. The normal combat is here, Square attacks, Triangle does a ranged attack or can combo with Square. Comboing with Triangle can stun enemies allowing you to do a Cool Finish, sending Aya through a crowd with sword drawn, slicing eveything in half. There is a parry on Circle and parrying some enemies stuns them for a unique kill anim. Charing up your blood meter allows you to go berserk to inflict more damage and continuing to kill in berserk mode unlocks Vo'Ga mode. You turn into a demon and inflict a lot more damage but your health continually ticks down. Fortunately inflicting damage in Vo'Ga mode regenerates health. There is also a near insta kill attack triggered by pressing Triangle and Circle when a meter is full. And finally you must occasionally hit L1 to flick the blood off your sword before it gets fully caked in blood and slows your combo speed. And finally, finally, there is a dodge on R2. Performing a perfect dodge helps fill your special attack meter and allows you to hit back with a counter.
The campaign is largely unexciting without any set pieces or interesting enemy combinations. The bosses are a highlight, dodging and countering feels great and they're engaging fights. Once you complete the campaign (5-6 hours) you unlock infinite survival mode and the combat gets more fun. You're in an enclosed space fighting wave after wave of enemies. They spawn more enemies in a small area in better combinations than they do anywhere in the story and infinite survival is a lot of fun.
You can level up your character and carry unlocks into new game+. You level up like crazy in infinite survival so if you want to do multiple playthroughs there's good incentive to playthrough, level up and then new game+ your way through the other difficulties.
The bottom line: mediocre game with great looking characters that is not worth £60 but gets better after you complete the game.
Comment