It’s an exciting time to be an Onimusha fan, which is a weird sentence to write in 2025. The horror samurai series, sort of a demonic sword-fighting spin on Resident Evil, was first released in 2001, and then had several games that followed in quick succession until 2006, when the franchise practically went dormant. It seemed relatively popular, so much so that a live-action film was being discussed at the time with a budget of over $70 million, so the disappearance felt odd. Despite all of this history, Onimusha is back in a big way, with Onimusha: Way of the Sword set as a full reboot next year, and here, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny in all of its remastered glory – which is to say, it’s mostly the same as I remember it, for better and worse.

When you first load up the Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny remaster, a message appears noting that this is meant to be as faithful to the original as possible. This means that you won’t be seeing full remake-esque touches that have brought Silent Hill 2 and the Resident Evil series to the modern era here. Thankfully, Onimusha 2 was already a pretty solid adventure to begin with; it was one of the earlier gaming examples of incorporating blocking and parrying with a sword, and made smart updates to its predecessor, presenting a much more well-rounded experience overall.

Those fixed camera angles also mostly feel like a relic, now. The over-reliance on them can really get in the way, particularly with enemies that have ranged attacks (and some particularly frustrating bosses), able to attack you from off-screen, and samey-looking areas are quite easy to get turned around in.

These were similar knocks I had when playing through the Onimusha: Warlords remaster in 2019; it’s certainly fun to look back and take on a classic, but the commitment to retaining the look and feel of the original makes it tricky to recommend to new players, and I don’t think it paints the franchise in the best light, ahead of the big reboot in 2026.

Luckily, some smart improvements have been implemented. Auto-save is an easy quality-of-life addition, and being able to skip scenes is a godsend, particularly when you’re trying to take on a tough battle multiple times. I’d forgotten as well that the original Onimusha 2 was locked to the tank controls on the D-Pad, and while you can play it that way still to be authentic, using an analog stick makes a massive difference to movement and pace in general. Switching weapons on the fly, instead of jumping in and out of cumbersome menus, is another nice touch.

If it’s your first time tackling the Onimusha series, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny does feel like a better place to start than Warlords. There are glimpses of action games of the future here, where parrying and chaining together combos with multiple different weapon types to choose from are a standout. You can also unleash some magical attacks, including one that sends Jubei into overdrive, which you can trigger when you’re in a tight spot (in the original, it triggered automatically, so it’s another good change). Enemies are also weird and wacky, with odd-looking alligator-people, tentacle creatures and masked demons blocking your progress. Combat feels punchy and satisfying, particularly when dealing a death-blow to a downed foe.

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is also one of the earlier examples of relationship-building with your companions through the form of gift-giving. The system itself can feel random at times, and while some gifts are obvious (historical books for a history lover, for example), others are more obtuse to the point of almost feeling random, which irritates when you burn an item on somebody who didn’t even want it in the first place. Still, it’s fun to mess around with, and giving the right gifts means that your motley crew of samurai pals will pop up during key battles to help you, which gives a nice feeling of the cavalry arriving during crucial moments.

While it may be a little difficult to recommend to first-timers, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny does include some neat content that fans will surely appreciate. The remaster includes a Gallery mode where you can view over 100 sketches by the game’s character designer, Keita Amemiya, along with a new digital soundtrack selection with all 43 tracks from the original soundtrack of Onimusha 2. Iconic mini games are available to play from the beginning, too, and for those looking at a serious challenge, ‘Hell Mode’ difficulty has been added, triggering a game over if you take just one strike from an enemy, which… well, it’s in the name, and is not for the feint of heart.