Why was Onimusha Dawn of Dreams so different from the other games? A different team made it.

[regnor]

Some fans of the Onimusha series wonder why Dawn of Dreams is so different from the first three games. I've been playing through all of the games myself lately and have been enjoying them, including Dawn of Dreams. It's a fun but also flawed game that probably was rushed at some point.

I decided to look up the credits of the game on Mobygames and clicked on the names of some of the planners (game designers) and programmers. You can see what other games they worked on and most of the developers had worked on Chaos Legion and the Onimusha Blade Warriors spinoff game before making DoD; but they aren't credited on the first three games. Interestingly, the director of the game was from cult developer Treasure.

If you then examine the credits of Onimusha 3 and look at the credits of the planners and programmers you can see most of them had worked on Onimusha 2 or Onimusha 1 before. Most (none?) seem to have been involved with Dawn of Dreams. Instead they went on to work on Shadow of Rome or Lost Planet.

So this explains why DoD ended up being so different...anyway just some random observation I made and wanted to share somewhere.

 

[.arkasth]

I thought that was the case. DoD is just not on par with the rest of the series, it just feels like, a watered down, souless (pun intended) version of any other game in the series.
I like it, tbh, but i don't love it.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sneedolphus]

Be sure to check out the Japanese version. It has dual audio and an English text option in game without any need for patches. This was the era when the western divisions of Capcom fiddled with the original Japanese game design (like they did with Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and others) and this game wasn't spared from it either.
They bloated the enemy HP (the bosses are most obvious) and reduced the amount of red souls you get which made the game incredibly tedious and boring while the original JP version has quite a fast pace to it.

I thought that was the case. DoD is just not on par with the rest of the series, it just feels like, a watered down, souless (pun intended) version of any other game in the series.
I like it, tbh, but i don't love it.
Thanks for sharing.

I think that DoD is incredible. The playable characters are fully fleshed out unlike the basic characters that you got in 2 and even Jacques in 3, with all kinds of different combos and properties on their moves and there are hundreds of unique weapons with unique 3D models to collect.
The graphics and the character designs are incredible and the music is as good as any other Onimusha game.
The harder difficulties also serve as a nice challenge if you want to bother doing the 100 floors Dark Realm (per character).
Another change is that the story resembles a 24 episode anime series instead of classic Chanbara movies (like 1 and 2) and an action sci-fi blockbuster like 3.
It's really interesting for a replay now, as well, as it is a very unique action RPG game (unlike the other games in the series which don't lean heavily on RPG elements, so that is also a point of contention between fans).
So if there are any new and older Onimusha fans that overlooked this game, please try the original JP version, you just might end up liking it.

 

[Felipe]

Finished them all. The best game is the 1st one and the worst was the 2nd one for me. Onimusha 4 was good for me, specially because of the "Issens" that were easier to make now.

The only problem with Onimusha 4 was its length, around the same as a big RPG and the fact we cant save in the 100 floors of the demon realm which is also way too big.

 

[regnor]

Be sure to check out the Japanese version. It has dual audio and an English text option in game without any need for patches. This was the era when the western divisions of Capcom fiddled with the original Japanese game design (like they did with Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and others) and this game wasn't spared from it either.
They bloated the enemy HP (the bosses are most obvious) and reduced the amount of red souls you get which made the game incredibly tedious and boring while the original JP version has quite a fast pace to it.

I think that DoD is incredible. The playable characters are fully fleshed out unlike the basic characters that you got in 2 and even Jacques in 3, with all kinds of different combos and properties on their moves and there are hundreds of unique weapons with unique 3D models to collect.
The graphics and the character designs are incredible and the music is as good as any other Onimusha game.
The harder difficulties also serve as a nice challenge if you want to bother doing the 100 floors Dark Realm (per character).
Another change is that the story resembles a 24 episode anime series instead of classic Chanbara movies (like 1 and 2) and an action sci-fi blockbuster like 3.
It's really interesting for a replay now, as well, as it is a very unique action RPG game (unlike the other games in the series which don't lean heavily on RPG elements, so that is also a point of contention between fans).
So if there are any new and older Onimusha fans that overlooked this game, please try the original JP version, you just might end up liking it.

Well I like the music of the older games better

IMO the DoD OST doesn't compare to this though it's not too shabby either. It's true you have many weapons now but at least in the international versions you can't upgrade them all.

I already beat Disc 1 of the international version so I'm not sure about switching...

 

[.arkasth]

Be sure to check out the Japanese version. It has dual audio and an English text option in game without any need for patches. This was the era when the western divisions of Capcom fiddled with the original Japanese game design (like they did with Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry 1 and 3 and others) and this game wasn't spared from it either.
They bloated the enemy HP (the bosses are most obvious) and reduced the amount of red souls you get which made the game incredibly tedious and boring while the original JP version has quite a fast pace to it.

I think that DoD is incredible. The playable characters are fully fleshed out unlike the basic characters that you got in 2 and even Jacques in 3, with all kinds of different combos and properties on their moves and there are hundreds of unique weapons with unique 3D models to collect.
The graphics and the character designs are incredible and the music is as good as any other Onimusha game.
The harder difficulties also serve as a nice challenge if you want to bother doing the 100 floors Dark Realm (per character).
Another change is that the story resembles a 24 episode anime series instead of classic Chanbara movies (like 1 and 2) and an action sci-fi blockbuster like 3.
It's really interesting for a replay now, as well, as it is a very unique action RPG game (unlike the other games in the series which don't lean heavily on RPG elements, so that is also a point of contention between fans).
So if there are any new and older Onimusha fans that overlooked this game, please try the original JP version, you just might end up liking it.

The Japanese version was the only one I ever played; I still have my old copy .

The graphics are good, and so is the music (although I prefer the music from Onimusha 1).
The variety of weapons is really unnecessary, as most are useless or don't that difference.

The characters do have a bit more depth (because we can talk to them), but they're still shallow and forgettable. They're like a diverse group of clichés you might find in a shonen, each with a different personality and style, but all following a stereotype and a common quality: they're all boring.
The characters in Onimusha 2 are MUCH MORE charismatic, and you care about them much more.

Speaking of anime, this is one of DoD's biggest problems: it tries too hard to resemble an anime, with edgy, flashy characters who try to be funny. All that makes DoD diverge too much from the earlier games in both gameplay and tone. While the first three games felt like an epic event, DoD feels like an episodic filler, with none of it feeling urgent. It tries too hard.

Honestly, this game just feels like an onimusha cash grab.

 

[regnor]

"Cash grab" to me seems unfair it was made by a less experienced team and probably had a smaller budget because Capcom wanted to focus on next gen.

Also I can recommend the manga it's pretty good!

 

[.arkasth]

"Cash grab" to me seems unfair it was made by a less experienced team and probably had a smaller budget because Capcom wanted to focus on next gen.

Also I can recommend the manga it's pretty good!

You're right, i'm just heated. But DoD could have been so much better! haha

 

[DanCalibur]

By that time the development focus was already on Xbox360/PS3, I barely remember seeing it in any magazine.