Capcom reveals its interest in possibly revisiting the classic action-adventure seriesOnimushawith a revival of the franchise for the current generation.
During an online interview with the UK outlet Daily Mail, long-time video game producer forCapcom, Yoshinori Ono, discussed the likelihood of bringing back the fan-favorite and critically acclaimedOnimushaseries. When speaking about the issue, Ono said that the notion is attractive to him, but it’s only in the “discussion phase” at the moment.
For those unaware, it’s been roughly 15 years since Capcom released the first entry in theOnimushafranchise on the PlayStation 2 withOnimusha: Warlords. The samurai action-adventure title was a huge success for the time, as it became the first game to sell over a million copies for the Sony console, and it spawned a slew of sequels, with the most recent being 2012’s browser gameOnimusha: Soul. Regarding the series' prospective comeback, Ono said:
“I’ve spoken internally with people who madeOnimushawith me originally and talked about maybe how interesting it would be to revisit that series. But fans should know that we’re not further down that road than the discussion phase. Right now, I’m so focused onStreet Fighter 5that I’m not really in a position to start that same level of battle that I had gettingStreet Fighter 4made.
“All I can do for now is reassure fans that conversations are happening at high levels. We [Capcom] realize 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 variety of series that will keep the fans happy. [Fan’s] favorites are going to come back.”
Back in December 2015, Capcom registered a trademark forOnimusha, which caused many folks to speculate on the franchise’s revival with a fresh title, particularly due to the fact that it wasn’t a renewal, but a completely new registration. Now that Ono is assuring fans that talks about the game are happening in the upper echelons of Capcom, the chance of anotherOnimushahappening seems likely. However, it’s also possible that one of the releases in the series could just be getting a graphical update, for in May of last year, Capcom said a part of its development plans moving forward was to makeHD remasters of its games a priority.
Quite honestly, the chance of getting to play a contemporaryOnimushasequel is an exciting prospect. Of course, should Capcom initially decide to put out a remastered collection of the entire series to see if people are still interested in the franchise, it could lay the groundwork for anOnimusha 5later on down the line if it’s successful. Plus, with many arguing thatvideo games need single-player campaignsin order to effectively draw fans into their fictional worlds, a newOnimushastory mode could be just what the seemingly multiplayer-driven gaming landscape needs.
What do you think about the possibility of a newOnimushagame from Capcom? Does it excite you, or is it another classic case ofnostalgia stifling innovation for video games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
A forthcomingOnimushagame has not been officially announced, but should a sequel come to fruition, it’s likely to be available across all major platforms.
