Graphics
I was instantly captivated into the games visual art style.It has that perfect samurai tone look to it, the fiery flakes rushing across the screen, the glaring sunset coming from the background that connects through objects flawlessly. It has to be up there with some of the best 2D games out there. The flames through out the game is captivating along with the animations. The main character is moving flawlessly. All his attacks are made very realistically. The frame rate did drop sometimes when some of the environment came into play. The levels have a mix of some platforming with running, jumping, and timing your movements. Style meter (reminds of Devil may cry).
Story
There is a simple story to the game that flows through text only. It tells of a samurai who has kill demons and monsters so they do not escape and destroy the living world.
Sound music and voice
The sounds from the weapons are amazing with the echoes of clank coming off a bad guy's shield that you can actually notice a difference if you are attacking the correct way or the wrong way. This is the type of thing that makes a 2D game much more enjoyable these days.The music is wonderful! Simply amazing, its upbeat and captures the quickness of the game effortlessly. Sometimes the music would stop playing or start over usually when I died, not sure if that was a bug or intended. Either way it would have been better if the music just kept flowing. One thing to notice is that there is no voice, just text. Sort of reminded me of how Zelda games do it except without all the HUH HUH HIYA sounds.
Gameplay
Onikira is a 2D game where you run through levels, leap across obstacles while you face numerous enemies until you get to the boss with your few arsenal of weapons. The game is not easy as you are graded on combos which aren't the easiest to pull off! Sure you can button smash the same move for some parts, but you will get a weak ass score at the end leading to less points and not much to spend on new moves. The weapons are fucking awesome and there are different combinations of combos for each one. I just wish there were more weapons, or specific reasons to use some for certain enemies. Would have given the game a different spin it could have used. The weapons are instantly switchable which is nice as they give you different situations for your combos. The more you progress the more moves you get and you can raise your health bar. There is another mode of the game called the battle arenas to kill enemies as fast as you can enough to make your fingers want to fall off.
Difficulty
I couldn't find an option to save? Just some check points here and there that if you die you can return to, but if you wanna leave the game you must start the level from the beginning! Not sure if its intended to annoy the living hell out of you or the developers never heard of the idea.
There is a cool Dodge move similar to DBZ where you flash passed your enemies. Enemies can be in the air or on the ground. Some have different abilities such as shields that you must get around. Animation for dying is lame as there is none.When you run out of health the screen just fades to black and returns to the previous checkpoint.There are also dragon fragments you can collect that can increase your vitality. Some of the platforming is fun like wall hoping, but for me it was too minimal. It felt more constant hack and slash on the ground. The occasional wave of flames will come after you in which you must avoid quickly or burn alive. This game is difficult for even a hack'n'slash. I died multiple times on the first level and I'm not just an average gamer. The game does get easier after you get this dragon companion dude early on where he will collect red souls from fallen enemies that will revive some health (although in my opinion it starts to make the game too easy).
The biggest flaw of the game for me was the small bugs and the crashing! I couldn't get through one sitting without at least one crash. The game would crash on the boss causing me to restart the entire level! A lot of times when I came back to the game and wanted to select the 2nd or third level I was on It would just freeze on me forcing me to start from the first level again. My rig is more then powerful enough to run this game and I tried it on my other PC. Maybe I'm missing a patch update? I don't know, but from a clean install I had issues.
There's a soul portal where you can use skill points to purchase different moves. This gives the game some more depth to the hack and slash instead of only constantly smashing one button. An example is the gaping maw that instantly closes with distant enemies and unleashes a devastating quick draw attack that knocks back smaller enemies.
More weapons become available as you progress in the game besides the starting katana. Such as the testsubo, which is sort of like a large red powerful paddle. The naginata is a large spear with a blade at the end which is grants longer distance in your attacks. The kama blades are two rogue like blades on the sides of your wrists attack extremely fast and look awesome.
The bosses add something different and the art on them is beautiful. Unfortunately, they are as easy as the rest of the enemies and have simple patterned attacks. Usually you just continually move away and easily hack and slash the same spot.
Despite its flaws, this game kept me very entertained, especially for a 2D one. It's not easy to make a wonderful 2D side scroller these days, let alone a hack'n'slash. No matter how many times I kept dying or the game kept crashing, I still wanted more. I had to reach the next level or get enough points to obtain that new skill for my other weapons. There is a good balance of difficulty and reward with the stylish points that you get to spend on new moves. Sometimes it felt too easy while other times it was frustratingly difficult. For me this game is a buy at 13.99$ on Steam because it is just pure fun. You will get lost in this world if you let it take you.
Pros
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Captivating gorgeous art style visuals
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Phenomenal sound, top notch sound track
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Different combos that you can buy keep fresh
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Wonderful character animation
Cons
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Too many bugs and crashes
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Needs a patch to fix it's issues
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Soundtrack bugs out and restarts
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Cannot customize your controls.
