Ludography
69/100
Players7 ratings
60/100
Critics1 review

Where to get it

Onimusha Tactics cover

2003 · Capcom · Role-playing · Strategy

Onimusha Tactics

Nintendo exclusive

Onimusha Tactics is a turn-based strategy game between the player's side and the enemy's side. In each level you can bring a squad of no more than 10 people. There are no items to buy or sell, however equipment is available and customizable. Upgrades of existing weapons and armor can be done using the defeated souls of enemies absorbed into the Oni Gauntlet.

Released
25 July 2003
Platforms
Game Boy AdvanceWii U
Genres
Role-playingStrategyTacticalTactical role-playingTurn-based strategy
Developers
Capcom
Publishers
—
Modes
Single-player
Country
Japan
Age ratings
PEGI 7ESRB TCERO AACB PG
Languages
English, Japanese
Time to beat
30hwith extras
Composers
Keiji Yamagishi

About

Onimusha Tactics is a 2003 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Capcom for the Game Boy Advance. A spin-off of the Onimusha series, it was the first game in the series to be released for a Nintendo system. It does not follow the storyline of the previous PlayStation 2 games and is considered a side story, but it features a similar plot: a samurai who possesses the Oni Gauntlet can become the Onimusha and fights against Nobunaga and his army of genma.

›Story

Young warrior, Onimaru is given the Oni Gauntlet as he rushes to defend his village from the demon hordes of Nobunaga Oda. Onimaru soon discovers from the old man Sandayu, that although he has been living in the peaceful province of Iga, he is of the Oni clan and had been secreted away. Additionally, with the power of the Oni Gauntlet, he can absorb the souls of enemies and use the demon Genma stones to recreate lost weapons and armor. With this new knowledge of who his is and of his destiny, he assembles a hasty squad of fighters including his sister Ororo and sets off to avenge his province and stop Nobunaga's demonic war upon the land.

Keywords

  • turn-based
  • death
  • grid-based movement
  • feudal japan
  • tactical turn-based combat
  • bow and arrow
  • unlockables
  • real-time combat
  • historical figures in fictional settings
  • cross culture language skills
  • character models based on actual people
  • western published japanese games

Media

Onimusha Tactics screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player is presented with a 3/4 camera view of a detailed gridded battlefield. The point of the game is to defeat the opposing team of opponents and improve the player character with experience points gained in battle by defeating enemies. Such statistics include strength, which dictates attack power, speed which decides turn order, and others. The game allows the player to equip their warrior with katanas, spears, and other weapons.

Reception

Onimusha Tactics received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40. S. release date.

Rice Burner of GamePro was positive to the game's item generation system, the story and a characters. His reaction to the gameplay was mixed: while he noted that the players who are unfamiliar with strategy games will find the title easy to play and enjoyable, he also said that its simplistic game mechanics and a minimal learning curve will leave more experienced players "bored", in addition to his criticism of inability to customize the characters in the game. He was also critical of the cartoonish graphics that contrasted with the dark story. The reviewer ultimately called Onimusha Tactics a solid title and recommended it to the players who like casual strategy games.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Game Boy Advance25 July 2003Japan · North America 11 November 2003 · Europe 5 December 2003
Wii U6 August 2015North America · Europe 16 December 2015 · Japan 24 February 2016

Games like this

Collections5 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.