Oninaki

Oninaki is a gorgeous and entertaining, if slightly clunky, RPG that isn’t afraid to explore some heavy themes in novel ways.

Oninaki is a game that frequently sabotages itself. Its beautiful environments and mood are dampened by annoying hordes of samey enemies. Its amazing concept and world design are wasted on a story that's poorly paced and doesn't give you an adequate reason to care. Its varied and interesting combat styles get dragged down by the need to grind Daemons and uneven difficulty overall.

A brave choice at something different by Tokyo RPG Factory finds a game that’s good but crying out for new ideas.

I'm emotionally torn on Oninaki because there's so much to like here: it has a lot of great ideas, it just doesn't execute them all as well as it should. Maybe Tokyo RPG Factory should look at changing their formula and scaling down to tighter 10 hour adventures. By cutting down the scale they can focus on what they do best.

Oninaki is a heartfelt mess. Its unique world and challenging themes are more memorable and moving than anything Tokyo RPG Factory has done before, but it’s hard to fully recommend the game given its humdrum action and strange design choices. Depending on how much frustration you're willing to put up with for a good story, Oninaki may be worth owning, or perhaps better left beyond the veil.

Forty hours for an action RPG seems like it would offer a decent value for your dollar, but because the latter half of the campaign feels sluggish and utterly repetitive thanks to unwavering scenario makeup, it only devalues it. You should never have a game where you’re just rushing through the final dungeons because you don’t want to deal with the same old enemy encounter it has been throwing at you for so long. Tokyo RPG Factory appears to have one goal: remind us of the Golden Years of RPGs. Unfortunately, Oninaki captures that era of gaming and does nothing remarkable with it.

One good idea isn't enough to make a good game - not unless you put a bit of love in the building blocks that surround it. Many JRPGs have that heart, the same one that mellows you even to their most ridiculous qualities. Oninaki, on the other hand, comes across as loveless.

When all is said and done, I’m torn on Oninaki. It’s close to being greater than the sum of its parts, yet it falls apart in its execution. A lot of Oninaki’s mechanics sound great on paper and the game never manages to fully realize them in a cohesive way. I think there are parts of Oninaki that are enjoyable to play and those don’t surface until much later into the game. My playthrough lasted roughly 25 hours long and it never manages to shake off the slow combat flow. Oninaki’s story initially starts out as its compelling saving grace and Tokyo RPG Factory sadly botches it down the line. It's frequent and long loading times doesn't do it any favors either. There’s a bundle of good ideas in Oninaki that could’ve made it a great game… and it was almost there. Almost.