The Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny remaster is a polished trip to the franchise's weirdest entry

We briefly stepped into the boots of Jubei Yagyu in his journey to fight and defeat Nobunaga in this remastered version of the classic.

With a new Onimusha game coming in 2026, Capcom is once again stirring interest up for the series, and a part of that includes bringing the classic games to new platforms. In 2019, we got a remaster of the original Onimusha: Warlords, and now, ahead of next year’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Capcom has remastered Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny. I recently got to try the early hours of the game and learned it’s more than just a fresh coat of paint. QoL and UI updates make Onimusha 2 Remastered an altogether better game.

A gathering of legendary warriors

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny has always been the weirdest, but also my favorite entry in the Onimusha series. In this game, a demonically revived Nobunaga Oda attacks Yagyu Village, home of the legendary warrior Jubei, and destroys it. Jubei returns to find his home ruined and an oni snake woman claiming to be his mother lends him the power to absorb souls and grow stronger with the power of slain demons. He then goes on a quest of vengeance that leads him to a town experiencing a gold rush. There, he meets other legendary warriors such as the gun-wielding Magoichi Saiga, the spear-wielding Ekei Ankokuji, the chief ninja Kotaro Fuma, and mysterious western armor-clad Oyu and can earn their friendship in the quest to defeat Nobunaga.

One of the things I noticed immediately is the adjustment of controls in Onimusha 2 for the better. The original featured classic Resident Evil tank controls where you would press right or left on the d-pad to turn, up to move forward, and down to back up, as well as weapon readying controls. The tank movement is still attached to the d-pad, but the remaster also adds the ability to move in any direction freely with the left thumbstick. Since Onimusha 2 is still a fixed-camera game with static scenes, it sometimes had trouble with movement direction remaining consistent on the stick, but that’s when having the tank controls available at any time is good.

There are other solid upgrades to the controls as well. They added a macro to be able to switch between your various ranged weapons and close-range weapons with just a couple button presses, meaning you don’t have to go to the menu to change gear anymore. That was great for keeping the action going without having to stop and re-equip for any given situation. There’s also an auto-save feature and the option to skip cutscenes from the start. All these little changes alongside a remastered HD style are making Onimusha 2 Remastered an enjoyable experience so far.

The combat still feels up to snuff as well. Onimusha 2 has a system where you can swing at enemies freely or lock onto a foe and square up with them. As you power up weapons in the game, they gain abilities that allow them to do bigger attacks, such as a repeating stab or an uppercut and stab on the ice spear. The combos and defensive moves are still satisfying, and I remembered there being a solid counter attack, which when powered up can allow Jubei to rush through nearby enemies killing them all on one counter. The timing is tight and challenging, but it’s still more than rewarding and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We got to play up to our meeting with Jujudormah in town, the third demonic boss in the game, and that means we got to play Onimusha 2’s strange trade and relationship system. Throughout the game, you collect items you can gift to the four other main characters in town, Magoichi, Ekei, Kotaro, and Oyu. Gaining their trust causes them to help you in battles and unlocks special scenes with each character.

Obviously, this has impact on events and endings in the game, but returning (and maybe even new players) will be happy to know that the gifts and their best recipients are mostly the same and old guides will work here. The only difference is the name of some items have been changed, but their descriptions often relate to the old names, so you should still be fine with any memories or notes you have from the original. Just be prepared. The grinding of gold for those items is also back and you’ll have to farm enemies at certain points if you want endings based on the characters liking you.

Unleash the power of friendship and souls

There’s still a lot I really want to see in Onimusha 2. The double bladed wind weapon was my favorite, and I can’t wait for battles with some of my favorite later bosses (the end boss mid-battle cutscene from the original is legendary and hilarious), but for what I played, I’m pretty happy with where things are for the remaster right now. Onimusha 2 is a wacky chapter in the franchise’s history, but it’s one I have fond memories of. This remaster makes the game easier to play, and you can still challenge yourself with new difficulty levels. I’ll be interested to see how the Hell Mode difficulty plays as we get closer to the official launch in May 2025, but for now, Capcom seems to be on a solid track for bringing this classic back.

This preview is based on a PlayStation 5 early version offered by the publisher. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered comes out PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on May 22, 2025.