"If you're a fan of the series then you won't be disappointed and this is without doubt a very enjoyable and compelling action game - however, I think some more innovative and radical changes are needed if a fourth in the series is to materialise."

This is what I had to say about Onimusha 3 when I reviewed it. I don't have ego enough to think that Capcom took those words to heart, but innovative and radical is definitely how you could describe the changes in Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, and boy is this series back with a bang!

It's possible that nothing will ever better the CGI opening movie of Onimusha 3, which is the finest thing I've ever seen in a game; truly, incredibly, mind-blowingly awesome. I watched and rewatched that sequence again and again and again and… well, you get the idea! If you never owned the game it's worth Googling it just to see if that video is available online anywhere, because it is so worth a watch. The opening sequence to Dawn of Dreams isn't quite as jaw-dropping, but it's still pretty damn excellent, with gorgeously rendered, fully CGI graphics and a host of beautifully directed shots as, in the first sequence, the warrior monk known as Tenkai battles with a grey-skinned villain of the stereotypical moustache twiddling variety, as they exchange words and blows on the rooftops before one prevails over the other. In the second part, a lively and bustling market town is reduced to rubble as a tower explodes in light and Genma swarm across the land. Coming to the rescue of a young girl, a mysterious blue-clad warrior storms in, laying waste to a horde of Genma footsoldiers, before powering up to take down a foe so huge that it towers high above the cityscape. It's spectacular stuff, and as with all great opening sequences, almost a bit of a comedown when you see the in-game graphics and begin playing!

It's not much of a comedown though, because although the graphics can be a little grainy at times, they are highly detailed throughout and there's no disputing that this is the prettiest Onimusha title yet. Dawn of Dreams retains part of the series' legacy by presenting certain locations from the set camera viewpoints, both static and moving, but in some areas it also frees up the camera and for the first time in the series it follows around behind you and you can spin it at will with the right thumbstick. This is fantastic, because it gives you that extra freedom to let loose, while also admiring the scenery - and you will admire it too, because it's looking lovelier than ever, with endless detail and variety to each of the locations of the game, which keep on changing and just get better and better as you progress, from the ruined market town of the opening level through to the various Genma fortresses you come across, underground tunnels, luscious forests, and the Daigo Blossoming Festival, which is one of the most visually striking parts of the entire game.

Of course, your right thumb is busy bashing the shape buttons to attack your foes, but if you hold down R1 for the lock on mode, a quick flick of the right thumbstick moves you from one target to the next with ease, and you can block with L1 while you do this to ensure you don't take a beating in that split second target change. I read in a magazine preview that the control system was clumsy and awkward, but I found it to be highly intuitive, and I adapted to the controls without any conscious effort on my part.

Unfortunately, what I haven't yet adapted to (and I've racked up a good few hours of playtime) is the art of getting deflects and criticals. Occasionally I fluke a critical hit and wonder how the hell I did it, but for the most part my attempts to get one just result in me getting whacked! What is a critical, you ask? Well, if you land a blow at just the right moment, right before your enemy hits you, the screen darkens, your character brightens, and you speed like a bullet past your foe, slicing him through with your sword (or attacking with whichever weapon you have) and often killing him in one blow. If you continue to time the hits on the attack button correctly, you'll chain criticals together, hitting every enemy in your vicinity. It's a truly spectacular effect and I guess if it was too easy to pull off then the game would be far too easy, but the fact that I can't figure out how to do it is very frustrating.

Fortunately, when you charge up your Musou magic attack, you also freeze time, so I perfected a technique of hitting the charge button just before an enemy strikes, only holding it for a moment to get level 1 magic, then hitting attack and watching my character perform his or her chained critical attack on all surrounding bad guys, which worked almost every time. Because your magic bar is limited you can't do this constantly, but you can do it enough to be a big help when there are multiple foes around, and you can always use an Oni medicine from your inventory to boost your magic levels back up.

The story of Dawn of Dreams is the finest yet in an Onimusha series and it twists and turns very nicely. Of course it involves the fate of the world and a plan to overrun it with the demonic Genma by Japan's leader gone power mad, but the way various events pan out makes for great viewing. While the dialogue in Onimusha always has been very cheesy, daft and quite stilted at times, there's actually some quite good stuff in here and it's pretty well acted too - yes, there are some camp, over the top performances from the villains and very staunch, heroic speeches from the good guys, but it's entertaining and highly enjoyable to watch the many cut scenes as the dialogue and story unfolds. The main character you play is a man who goes by the name of Soki of the Oni - his real name you'll discover later on, and I won't spoil it because it will give away his connection to one of the bad guys. As Soki, you soon meet up with a teenage girl by the name of Jubei Yagyu. If this name sounds familiar, it's because it's also the name of the main character from Onimusha 2 - she's his daughter, and carrying on the legacy of the family name.

At first you have to fight Jubei, and once defeated she joins your team (realising that you're not a demon after all!) and then tags along in-game. To begin with all you can do is issue commands - there's all-out attack, where your partner attacks relentlessly regardless of health concerns, follow and attack, where your partner takes a little more care to block and dodge attacks, wait and heal (they can heal up to half their energy bar by meditating) or special, which in Jubei's case is to dance around provocatively and distract the enemy. No, I don't mean sexy provocative, I mean taunting provocative. Besides, she's clearly underage!

Anyway, having Jubei there with you on the screen is great, because she backs you up until her health gets low, then you command her to wait and heal (blocking constantly while she's doing this) and then she can go again. Better yet is when you come to the next level and you can now switch between controlling the two characters at any time, as often as you like. You'll soon get into the flow of getting one character to wait and heal their wounds while the other one kicks some serious ass, swinging away with their weapon and trashing their foes, before the other one's healed and you command them to come back in with a vengeance (commands are issued instantly via the d-pad, so no faffing around in menus!) You can also perform team attacks, although they're expensive from a Musou perspective, so you probably won't activate them that often. This system really does work well and it's great to have two characters battling together on screen, switching control between them while the computer competently controls the one that you're not using.

Jubei is in fact the first of four partner characters you gain access to in the game. Soki himself (who is your main character and is always in play) is a master with the blade and has some very nifty sword moves, while Jubei uses dual weapons, dodging and attacking with superior speed. Tenkai joins the group next, and he's a master with his spears, giving you access to some seriously deadly moves. Roberto is a hulking Westerner, quietly fuming with rage against the man who experimented upon him, and he wears metal gloves that give him incredible power, using his fists like a boxer to beat up anyone who dares to get in his way. The final character, whose name I won't reveal as it'll spoil the plot a little, uses guns, from the standard rifle they start off with through to a powerful grenade launching number, amongst others. Having a second character to join you could have been nothing more than a gameplay gimmick, but because each character has such a unique style of fighting and different type of weapon, it's a very strong new element to the game and works a treat.

The level designs incorporate many areas that require the co-operation of two characters as well - early on, as you climb the scaffolding of the warehouse that holds the mysterious Cherry Trees (they're more sinister than you'd think!) one character has to switch a platform that blocks them off, but allows the other character on the level above to pass by and find an item that's needed. As you progress, these puzzles get more complex to carry out and it really is a great new dimension that adds to the gameplay and gives you a break from the hectic, but very satisfying, combat.

As well as this, the game is now split into distinct stages, with most stages featuring a hideout section in between. From this hideout you can head back to any previous stage and replay it - and right from the beginning, you'll notice areas that you can't access without the help of a companion character, so the incentive to go back and replay those levels is high. Gaps that only Jubei can fit through and narrow beams only she can balance across, areas that can only be reached by the character with the grappling hook, massive stone blocks that only Roberto can move and steel doors that only he can punch open, there's a whole range of new areas to access with extra items just waiting to be found with the repeat play of a stage - it's a superbly implemented idea that really adds to the longevity of an already long and epic game.

Back at the hideout, your various energy bars are fully restored (for all characters), you can talk with your comrades about various topics, combine items that you've found to create a range of different items and weapons, save the game, buy stuff from the shop (sold by one of those weird guys that hangs upside down from the ceiling on a rope!) and enhance your skills, weapons and armour. There sure is a lot to Dawn of Dreams, and it now has strong RPG elements far beyond the primitive enhancement of previous titles.

As you enhance the armour of each character, it unlocks extra equipment slots that you can fill with a multitude of rings and necklaces that you find or purchase, which have a range of effects from increased HP or MP to extra defence or attack against a certain elementally aligned type of enemy. Enhancing your weapons, of which there are many for each character, unlocks new Onimusha levels and gives the bearer new advantages too, again like an increase in attack, defence, HP, MP or elemental-based enhancements. On the skill points front, as you increase the power of each attack type, some new attacks are revealed that, when activated, put some extra spice into the combat combo mix.

The combat isn't tremendously deep, but there are enough moves here to keep the variety in place as you battle the hordes of intricately detailed and beautifully animated Genma that come your way, ranging through all shapes and sizes. Each enemy has a distinct feel to it, be they the sword fodder Genma footsoldiers or the rock hard troll demon things, the swift Ninjas that leap about the place or the spider mutants that speed around even more annoyingly, the heavily armoured knights that explode when they die, the axe warriors, the charging spearmen - and these are just the standard Genma from early in the game. The enemy variety is superb and every foe, old or new, looks suitably twisted and demonic.

Meanwhile, the boss battles are frequent and they range from encounters with the many foes you have (each character has their own nemesis) to Genma monstrosities that are impressively huge in their scale, with multiple attack patterns. These battles can be frustrating, because you usually have a partner but can't switch control, meaning that you keep having to instruct them to wait and heal whenever the boss attacks, if you want to ensure they're not caught off guard and hit by an attack that knocks out most of their health. But you can always heal your partner, or just let them get knocked out and finish the boss on your own! It's entirely up to you.

Aurally, the game remains faithful to the series, with all the distinctive Onimusha sound effects intact, for charging your Musou, swinging your sword, the sound when you open a chest, gain an item, and so on - it's like having an old friend back. The returning enemies all sound the same too, and that's like, well, like having an old enemy back! Best of all is the music though - some grand orchestral scores, some more chilled out themes for the hideout and areas of exploration or with puzzles to solve, and great mixtures of modern and ancient, with authentic sounding string and wind instruments playing catchy or haunting melodies, backed up with a modern sounding drum or bass beat. The music is spot on, and does nothing but enhance the game.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams is a triumphant return to top form for the series and a very successful reinvention, making it arguably the best Onimusha yet. All the elements of the old game are here, but with a host of new enemies, dual characters in play, many secrets to discover as you replay levels, and loads of new RPG aspects, this really does have it all. And I haven't even mentioned the skill challenges that pop up every now and again to test you against the clock, or the various extras you can unlock, or the Onimusha powers, or… oh, just go out and buy the game and find out for yourself! Whether a newcomer to the series or a long time fan, you'll be pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).