Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Alien Isolation, and Dead Space get all the credit, but if we’re talking about the history of horror games, it pays to remember Onimusha Warlords. It’s creepy, gory, and exploits the same fixed camera as its spiritual predecessors, but it’s also faster, more energetic, and more combat driven – its Sengoku-era castle is an imaginative far cry from the horror genre’s standard haunted towns and spaceships. Remastered and re-released back in 2018, while Capcom is focusing on Monster Hunter Wilds and, we hope, Resident Evil 9, it hasn’t forgotten Onimusha. 24 years since the game originally arrived, it’s just been updated with a punishing new difficulty mode.
Until now, the greatest challenge in Onimusha Warlords has been the Dark Realm, the level-based monster-rush mode where you have to battle through 20 floors of increasingly tough genma to acquire the Bishamon Ocarina. A test of your endurance as much as your swordfighting skills, the Dark Realm is best attacked in the later stages of the horror game, when you’ve poured plenty of souls into your weapon upgrades. But it pales in comparison to Onimusha’s new difficulty. Whether you’re a veteran of the original 2001 version or a relative newcomer via the remaster, this is Capcom’s biggest, toughest challenge since Resident Evil 4 Remake’s borderline-broken Nightmare difficulty.
It’s called Hell Mode, and it’s aptly named. Any attack, from any enemy, at any stage of the game will kill you instantly – no matter how upgraded you are or how weak your opponent, you die in one hit. If you have a talisman in your possession you will still be revived on the spot, but otherwise, well, let’s hope your blocking and parrying reflexes are samurai-sword sharp, otherwise you’re unlikely to make it past the prologue.
With the Onimusha Way of the Sword release date on the way, Hell Mode, which is available now for free, is a solid excuse to return to the series and hone your abilities. There’s also the remaster of Onimusha 2, which is due to arrive on Friday May 23.
Otherwise, you might want to try some of the other best survival games, or maybe indulge in some nostalgia with the best old games you can still run today.
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