Discussions are “happening at high levels” for an Onimusha revival

Remember Onimusha? I only ever played the third game in the series, but it’s the only game I ever needed to play. Because at that time, I had an oddly-specific need to see more video games starring French actor Jean Reno playing second fiddle to a magical samurai who was cutting his way through various demons.

Anyway, it’s been ten years since an Onimusha game hit shelves, in the form of Dawn of Dreams. Ten years of a video game landscape devoid of any of the hack ‘n slash sorcerrific gameplay that made Onimusha so great. A decade without digital Jean Reno dammit. And that’s odd. While it may not be on the same level as Street Fighter when it comes to sales, Onimusha was still a consistent chart-topper for Capcom.

It’s the kind of franchise that is due for a reboot. And at least one of its producers is keen on reviving it. Speaking to The Daily Star, Capcom’s endless fountain of energy and former producer on that dead series Yoshinoro Ono discussed potential resurrection plans for Onimusha. “Capcom as a company know we have many brands, IPs and series that are beloved by players around the world, and we always have fans asking when is this or that coming back,” Ono said.

I’ve spoken internally with people who made Onimusha with me originally and talked about maybe how interesting it would be to revisit that series.

Here’s the catch though. According to Ono, a new entry in the series hadn’t exactly progressed past the early discussion phase. That, and Ono is busy with this other small indie game called Street Fighter V right now.

“Right now, I’m so focused on Street Fighter V that I’m not really in a position to start that same level of battle that I had [to have to get] Street Fighter IV made,” Ono explained.

All I can do for now is reassure fans that conversations are happening at high levels. We realise the need for different series to maybe come back into the forefront and although there’s nothing to talk about right now, I’m sure in the future there will be news on a variety of series that will keep the fans happy.

Fan favourites are going to come back.

Capcom is clearly interested in protecting their previous franchises at least. Back in 2015, they registered a new trademark for Onimusha, sparking new discussions on the game that everyone had forgotten about. Except for Jean Reno, who is presumably still waiting for a chance to work on Onimusha 5. Probably.

Last Updated: February 9, 2016