Onimusha 3 takes place nine years after Jubei Yagyu defeated Nobunaga in Onimusha 2. The latest installment sees the return the franchises’ original hero, Samanosuke, to take on one final battle with Nobunaga and his demon friends. But it won’t be so easy this time thanks to demon scientist Guildenstern. He creates a time machine to send Genma to conquer different time periods. Samanosuke is transported to present day France (a new base for the demons), while a police officer named Jacques Blanc is beamed back to feudal Japan. The two heroes cross paths and have to team up in order to take down Nobunaga and return back to their respective times.

New to Onimusha 3 are two playable main characters, Samanosuke and Jacque. Each has their own set of weapons and techniques specific to the character. Samanosuke slices with new dual blades, a long sword, and an axe. Frenchman Jacque takes on a new play style with a whip, spear, and ball n’ chain. Jacque can also use his whip to latch onto orbs that swing him to unreachable locations. At the start, players will interchange between to the two characters as the story calls for it. But later players will need to manually time warp between present day and 1500 A.D. to fetch and transport items that will allow Samanosuke and Jacque to proceed in their times. Ako, a small fairy, helps them to transport the items to each character. She also provides added powers like HP regeneration when Ecospirit stones are found and added to specialized jackets.

The hack and slash gameplay is a little more varied in the third outing. The six different weapons between Samanosuke and Jacque all have their pros, cons, and strategies. Jacques’ whipping is especially different to the series and its fun when demons get thrashed around repeatedly. In addition to a charge move, both characters can now counter enemy attacks with the right timing. Attack just before an enemy hits or right after a block and the character will counter with a devastating slice.

The gameplay doesn’t add too much new to the final chapter, which is a bit confining in battle. Characters can strafe, but can’t jump, roll, or quickly evade enemy hits. At times there are tons of enemies on screen and no choice but to be surrounded by them. Enemies are similar to previous installments, with a few more than are fast and feisty. There are more flying creatures that need to be taken down with arrows or a quick whip. Bosses range from demonized samurais to two headed monsters that are the toughest in the series.

The time warping aspect adds more depth to the strategy of the puzzles and doesn’t get frustrating. There are times when the time hopping seems a bit more trivial than other times, such as heading to present day France to have Samanosuke tread hop on a boat and through a zoo for a key.

Onimusha 3’s visuals are very well done. The 3D backgrounds come close to replicating the astounding CG backdrops of the last two games and adds more immersion than before. Outdoor locations like the Arc de Triumph and a castle are immense and well crafted. Indoor locations like a watery palace and the gooey demon rooms look fantastic. Even with a swarm of enemies on screen, the frame rate almost never dips below 60 frames per second. With all the light sourcing, reflections, movement, and special effects, it’s an amazing feat.

The last Onimusha is the most cinematic. There are a lot of cutscenes to flesh out the story between Samanosuke, Jacque, his love interest Michelle, and Jacque’s son Henri. The story would play out much better in Japanese, as the English dub comes off like cheese in its more poignant moments. But in the character’s defense, all of their emotions are well acted with realistic polygon facial expressions.

Onimusha 3 is a fitting end to the series. Players get to slice through with two unique characters in a prime technical achievement for the franchise. The last entry could have been a less conservative on the fighting gameplay, but it doesn’t prevent players from having a good time.