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Oni

PlayStation2 » Third-Person » Rockstar Games

User Review: review this item | see game reviews
Date Released: Jan 28, 2001
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Description

Although it's somewhat rough around the edges, Oni is an innovative third-person action-adventure title that won't disappoint hard-core gamers. Set in the cyberpunk future of 2032, the Japanese anime-influenced Oni casts players as Konoko, a spunky government agent on a mission to bust up a criminal organization known as the Syndicate.

While the game's free-roaming 3-D environments may not be much to look at--they're understated to the point of seeming bland or unfinished--Oni's real beauty is in its mix of hand-to-hand and weapons-based combat. The game's characters have their own distinct fighting moves and can disarm their opponents, making the arsenal of available weapons fair game. Admittedly, the controls (which utilize everything but the L3 button) are quite a handful and take a lot of getting used to, but the payoff is quite a kick.

Those who are easily frustrated should be warned that the action in Oni is fast and furious, and it's easy to get killed again and again at times--with each death followed by an annoyingly slow reload time. This is especially true when fighting multiple opponents who have the advantage of not being distracted by disorienting camera angles. --Joe Hon

Pros:

  • Fast-and-furious mix of hand-to-hand and weapons-based combat
  • Silky smooth character animations; stylized, effective onscreen displays
  • New special moves are "learned" as the game progresses
  • Japanese anime-influenced cyberpunk story line
Cons:
  • Understated 3-D environments
  • Not for those easily frustrated by complex controls

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User Review
  shawn, September 20, 2009

oni rocks for pc!

well let me just say i love this game! it's ten times more fun than doom 3 in my opinion. the graphics aren't as good but the game play is amazing. that being said i have oni for the pc and i am thinking about getting it for the ps2 because i upgraded my pc and got a 64 bit os and now oni no longer works on it. my biggest fear is that the controls on the ps2 will really suck like they do on so many games. (medal of honor frontline) ect. but i have found here on amazon pretty cheap and i'm still deciding weather or not to buy it. anyway it is a super fun game with a great story that keeps you guessing.. :oP
  Vocaloid, April 26, 2009

Average

This game had some good ideas going for it but the lack of tweaking of controls and laziness of the graphics lowered its chances.

First off there are many, many control schemes which takes time getting use to. Learning certain techniques and quickly learning how to maneuver that pesky camera-angle is a task in itself.

The storyline is pretty linear here. 'Enhanced' police-girl who has been trained in the company of those she trusted finds out she was adopted. Her "father" (who simply wanted to use her for power) and the entire organization that she worked for turns on her and tries to destroy her. Blah blah blah. Pretty much along the lines of Ghost In The Shell. It's also funny how the cut scenes look completely different from Konoko in the game. The cutscenes Konoko has big, poofy outstretched hair while the in-game Konoko's hair is more short and curved upwards.

Be aware of the lack of items and the difficulty of the game play itself. It appears that this game has tried to take a Metal Gear Solid approach, with enemies that are able to hear footsteps and alert other enemies. But that's no good when items are so rare that it's literally a survival from one level to another to the dismay of the player. The scattered inconvenience of invisible auto save-points do not restore any health whatsoever. So if your out of ammo or health-packets good luck trying to finish the rest of the level without being plucked off by an enemy. And if you do perish, then you'll have the start off from the last save-point. The levels in this game are very long and this can sometimes make playing unmerciful. Konoko can get a "boost" in both her strength and her health, but only when her health is maxed out by a health-breathalyzer. These can take time to restore her health while in meantime the healing process can be interrupted by enemies.

Now the villains themselves are cheesy. They say cheesy one-liners like "CANNONBALL!" so does Konoko. There are really no bosses except for 1 or 2, the rest is fighting through the toadies. The more levels you go up, the more difficult they become. Weapons become stronger, and their health is increased. On the flip-side you can steal their stuff. Just be warn your own weapons can hurt you, especially the life-stealing ones.

The background graphics look unfinished. Un-explainable gaps of doom outside buildings and the inability to really explore your environment is restricting. You are not able to go back to any previous level in the game-play unless you have beaten the current level. Fighting is judged by three colors, blue, orange, and red. Blue being the most basic attacks that can be easily blocked, orange is more tricky, and red is special attacks, which can't be blocked.

The 'boss battle' with Konoko's pink-haired android friend was one of the most annoying battles within the game. There are so many red lasers moving about that its nearly impossible to avoid being hit by them. Not to mention the lack of cover to hide from them. There are only a couple of computer towers that you can try to angle yourself behind, but don't expect the game to be friendly. It cheats. They'll go right through and you'll have a swarm of constant machine-guns and soul-draining weapons mercilessly on your heels. And don't try to go into the far-side of the area with the prison where you think your out of reach, they can get you there too. Be careful not to plummet down into the depths below the platform either.

Finally I was able to finish the very last level of this game, where the "real" bad guy was located in the snowy base. Unfortunately I could not go any further as so many enemies inside the building ambushed Konoko to the point where she moaned and flipped over in expiration.

If you like extremely difficult games with beta-type PS1 backgrounds, than this game is a good choice at the used priced.
  P. Rozsa, July 14, 2007

BUY IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

this game is fun not only do u fight using a hot chick with martial arts u get to fight with weapons each weapon serves their own purpose you can fire poisonous gas into a room and u can run away and wait for ur enemies to die you can shock someone you have a 45. that fires just like a real gun ofcourse it feels real and yes it hard and the controling isnt too bad at all .. to all the haters rating this game its because they have no skillz ... ooo and the cheats are awesome u can shape shift into the guys are u are fighting soo soo cool def. not very replayable but for 2 or 3 bucks of buying this game ITS DEF. WORTH IT !!!!!!!!!!!
  Kearney J. Taaffe, December 22, 2006

Only fun if you cheat

OK. This game is very difficult if you try to use the PS2 controller. I bought this game new, and after hating it for the first 6 hours, tried to sell back to a gamestop. They offered me 50 cents! So, I kept it. On a shelf collecting dust. This was back in 2005.

Fast Forward to Oct 2006. While searching online for a joystick for my PS2, I found the MaxShooter keyboard adapter for the PS2. You plug a keyboard and mouse into this little box, and it [the box] emulates the PS2 controller. So, I bought this little device ($20). You have to program it, but that takes all of about 2 minutes. Anyways, I'm getting a little off subject. The point is I bought a MaxShooter mouse and keyboard adapter for the PS2, and programmed it to play ONI.

OH WOW! It this game ever fun now! HOLY COW, The graphics are awsome, Konoko's moves are mind blowing. The fluidity of her moves are so amazing. This has to the best game ever! The story is unparalled to anything I've ever watched. There are entire cities that you can walk around in!!!

I MEAN, THIS GAME ROCKS...so long as you don't use the PS2 controller.

So, if you have this game and hate it, invest the $20 in the maxShooter mouse and keyboard adapter for your PS2, and I guarantee that this game will knock your socks off.

PROS: Huge levels, lots of puzzels (you have to lure your enemies otherwise they overwhelm you), great use of weapons. Konoko's fighting style is totally awsome. You have an advantage in that you can see around corners which makes sneaking up on enemies so much easier. Riveting story. With friggin' awsome cutscenes. AND, some people have been giving this game smack about being so realistic...well, now the realism is the best thing about it. I especially like how you can side step enemies, swirl around behind them, and beat the living snot out of them. OH, AND SPOILER. YOU LEARN A TORNADO KICK THAT IS SO COOL

CONS: There is one level where you are at an airport, the poor PS2 can barely handle that level. Everything moves more or less in slow-mo because the PS2 is having to render the airplanes. its just too much for the PS2 to handle. Sometimes the screen gets really dark. I mean, I have to turn off all my lights just to see what's on the screen. But that only happened twice

BIGGEST CON: the game is udderly impossible with a regular PS2 controller. You have to buy this MaxShooter adapter

So, with that being said. I hope more people try this game (with this Max Shooter). If you have trouble programming the device, I can email you the instructions on what I did. You can try it out and if you like it fine, else, also fine. So, here's my email. kearney_taaffe@hotmail.com
  Kazuo, May 18, 2005

Fun? No. Really f*cking frustrating? Yes.

Before Bungie made Halo (the most overrated game of all time, aside from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), they proved that they most definitely were NOT the "greatest developers of all time" (as any ignorant XBOX fanboy will tell you) with this little-known blunder of a Third-person-shooter/fighter. Little known for a good reason, it seems.

This is one of the most aggravating games I've played in a long time. Not the "good" type of aggravating that you get from playing a game like Contra, where it's fun as hell, even if you die (and which results in that ultimate feeling of "awesome" when you finally DO beat it). Oni is the type of aggravating where 75% of the frustration and difficulty comes from the game itself, not because you aren't good at it.

Games like Oni are why I have very little respect for most American developers. "Hey guys, I have an idea! Let's forget about making a game that's actually FUN, Let's concentrate instead on making a game as realistic as possible. SO realistic in fact, that it greatly hinders the gameplay, and defeats the main purpose of playing a video game! Oh sure, some people may say it's boring, but who cares? They'll be too blown away by the fact that the game is just like real life!"

That forumla does not work at all in making a good game. Let's list the reasons why:

-The movement controls are designed to be like a first person shooter, with the left stick for movement, and the right stick for turning. That would be cool if this was a first person shooter. But in a third person game with much faster action (not to mention jumping and fighting game moves too), this just becomes ridiculous. People with less than 4 hands will find this game's controls poorly designed and nearly impossible to master.

-You can only carry one weapon at a time. How lame is that? Some may say this makes it more strategic, but take a look at Half-Life: You can carry as many weapons as you want, and it's still full of strategy.

-Hypo Sprays, the game's way of recovering your health, don't have an immediate effect. Instead of having your health meter instantly rise to full, it sloooooooooowly works it's way up to the top of the meter. If you get attacked while you're recovering, you've lost it all. Bye bye.

-There's no block button. Blocking attacks supposedly occurs when you face the enemy and don't press anything, but 9 out of 10 times, this won't save your ass.

-The game goes WAAAAAY overboard with weapon limitations. The Mecury Bow, for instance, has a 5 second recharge time and fires a whopping...2 rounds before it's out of ammo. Even though it kills most enemies in one hit, it still isn't enough to justify
something like that.

-You can only jump from about 10 feet off the ground before you take damage from falling. Once again, this is just going way overboard.

-You have to press a button to pick up items on the ground instead of just walking into the item and getting it. Need I say more?

-There's a HUGE gun in the game which one of the bosses weilds. Once you beat him, you can use this weapon for yourself. The problem is, you (literally!) can only run about 1 mile an hour while you're wielding this thing. It makes getting from one end of a hall to the other feel like a drive across the country.

There are some good things about Oni, like the good voice acting, the stylish cel-shaded graphics, and the comic book feel of the game, but it's overshadowed by all the horribly annoying gameplay flaws. Not worth it.

Additional info for Oni