That said, it is deeper than you may think, the combat does have a lot of different elements to it, making it far from than just a mash the buttons type of game (though there is plenty of that too). With four characters that can be switched on the fly and with each carrying two weapons there are plenty of combo opportunities. And although I say its “deeper than you may think”, bear in mind my thoughts of what the series is were rock bottom. So it’s still not exactly the high tier of action games.
On top of your usual attacks, as the ridiculous story progresses you’ll also get the opportunity to transform into, well, to be honest it’s something for the furries out there. As a meter fills a click of the LS and RS causes your character to now grow animal like qualities (yes, even a tail). Don’t worry though, if it’s not to your liking you can still change the outfits at the main menu with new costumes being unlocked as you progress.
I think the main problem is the action for the most part is just hammering the same combo over and over again. This despite being able to purchase a good amount of different combos in the store. Playing on the Normal difficulty there were a few moments where I had to switch characters as they were about to die, but for large stretches it didn’t require much in the way of skill.
Like Dynasty Warriors, a bunch of mindless zombies come rushing at you, and while there is some variety in the enemy types (particularly later on) they don’t really require much thought. There are, at times, patterns to memorise, but once you’ve got that down it’s just a simple dodge and attack, rinse, repeat. That is until you reach the final section of the game where the difficulty ramps up exponentially as you’re forced, for pretty much the first time, to spend the points earned to acquire new weapons, items and combos.
Unfortunately the enemies are just mindless idiots. Most action sequences in the game require you to dispatch everyone before you can move onto the next section. And unless you’re close up to them they won’t bother coming to attack, with the last enemy usually just hanging out in the corner waiting for you to kill him. Or more often than not stuck on the geometry. Yes, they are zombies so mindlessness is pretty much par for the course, but I still expected them to come after me and not wait for me to trigger them once I come into contact. The game is very low budget in that regard, which also comes across in the graphics department. Graphically it very much lives up to its b-movie stylings. There are very basic character models and environments, at a glance you could easily mistake it for a last gen game.
But unlike say an Earth Defence Force, it’s neither funny nor entertaining. The story is just nonsense, which I honestly can’t remember unless I look at the Wikipedia page, and the voice acting is excruciating. Cut scenes either portrayed with in-game graphics or comic book style panels can thankfully be skipped so you can quickly get back to the action.
With numerous items to be bought, a story mode that’s perhaps the right length for what the game is, and having to manage characters and weapons (which degrade over time) it’s clear that there is a lot of thought gone into Onechanbara. It’s just a lot of content that’s begging for a better game.
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