GENRE
	Strategy-RPG
	DEVELOPER
	Capcom
	PUBLISHER
	Capcom
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

GBA owners can’t seem to get enough of strategy games. The Advance Wars series, Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance all come to mind when we think of excellent GBA strategy games. In addition to being well-reviewed, these games have all sold fairly well in the marketplace. So is it any surprise that more and more developers are releasing strategy titles for our favorite handheld?

To be honest, the industry actually was a bit surprised with Onimusha Tactics, which seemed to come out of nowhere. It’s very similar to its strategy-RPG cousin Final Fantasy Tactics. In fact, it’s really the same thing but set in the Onimusha universe, which is a strong-selling adventure series on the Playstation 2.

For those who don’t know, Onimusha takes place in feudal Japan. A race of demonics beings called Genma invade Japan and samurai must defend their homeland against this threat. I haven’t played that much of the PS2 Onimusha series, but that is more or less the basic premise of the entire series.

So is Onimusha Tactics worth buying whether you’re a strategy or Onimusha fan? Grab hold of your katanas and let’s find out!

visuals

Onimusha Tactics features a graphical style and GUI very similar to FF: Tactics Advance. Not only does it sport the same isometric view, but even the characters and battle animations look alike. Onimusha has its own flavor, of course. Its visuals are a fair bit darker than Tactics Advance. It is slightly less cartoony than Tactics, but not by much.

On its own, when compared to all other GBA games, Tactics looks decent. The animation, sprites and backgrounds are nothing special, but they certainly aren’t ugly. But if you’ve played Tactics then you just won’t be able to shake that feeling of déjà vu while playing Onimusha. Also, the facesets are quite bad and emotionless because it looks like they are trying to be realistic.

In the end, graphics won’t be a turn-away or selling point of the game. They are fine, but the extra mile would’ve really helped this game’s look a lot.

audio

Simply bad. The music is easily forgettable and doesn’t even seem to convey mood very well at all. The sound effects are well done, but they definitely don’t make up for the disappointingly boring tunes. I can’t even remember a single BGM from the game. All I recall is that I certainly wasn’t impressed with the audio job.

gameplay

No one plays strategy games for the presentation, or at least the visual part of the presentation. What matters is the core gameplay, and in the case of a strategy-RPG like Onimusha tactics, the story as well. And this is the game’s biggest downfall. The interface is clunky, originality is non-existent and the entire feel of the game is just half-assed. This game might as well have been a regular RPG instead of a strategy one. You’re essentially moving around a field ordering your lifeless party members to take turns whacking at Genma troopers.

The battle system is so basic, in fact, that it’s actually a step backwards from FF: Tactics Advance. There are no direction bonuses here, a huge strategic factor in Tactics. Class system? Forget it. You can’t target magic areas adjacent to enemies, even though the area of effect damage would affect them, which is just frustrating. The AI is poorly programmed and there is absolutely no variety.

I could go on but you should get the point by now. There are a trillion much better designed and much better playing strategy titles than this. The gameplay is just so dry that you are almost compelled to turn the game off. There’s not even an addiction of building up your characters like many other RPG’s offer, mainly because all of the characters are so similar.

Which brings me to my next complaint: the story is extremely boring, especially because this game is supposed to be half RPG. The characters are shallow; you end up not caring about them. This is probably the biggest blow to the game. Had the story and characters been decent, it probably would have made up for the lackluster battle system.

multiplayer

Even if there was multiplayer, which there isn't, I doubt you'd want to inflict this upon your friends.

overall

Onimusha Tactics wouldn't be that bad if there weren't so many strategy games already available to the GBA. But there are. And compared to the rest of the flock, Onimusha sucks.

3.5/10