If you’re at the center of the Venn diagram comparing Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny fans and masochists who prefer their protagonists go down in one hit, rejoice: a new developer diary trailer for the game’s remaster debuted at the Future Games Show today, and it shows off the appropriately titled "hell mode."
As game director Motohide Eshiro puts it in the trailer: "the name says it all." Hell difficulty is all about pushing your Onimusha skills to the absolute limit, and a single point of damage will send you back to the last checkpoint. Eshiro concedes that while some of Capcom’s staffers have gotten through the game this way, it as of yet eludes him, and is “not for the faint of heart.” Because he’s some sort of misery vendor, he goes on to mention that everyone should try it.
The trailer also finally reveals Onimusha 2's much-anticipated release date, which is pretty darn soon considering the game was revealed only a month ago: May 23. It’s only two months until the number of Onimusha games on Steam positively doubles, six years after the original game came to the platform. This should tide fans over for a bit, at least, while they wait for the series’ newest installment to arrive in 2026.
Eshiro reflected on the road behind in the FGS trailer, saying: "The original game was the first time I was in charge of the direction so it has a special place in my heart … I’d love everyone to experience the world of Onimusha and explore every nook and cranny." To this end, the remaster packs a slew of quality-of-life features, like autosaves and smoother weapon switching.
It’s hard to say how drastic an improvement the game will end up being, but fans don’t have much longer to wait; simply having these games on PC is a win for the series long-term, as it’s a little harder to get a PlayStation 2 these days. If you’re coming from souls-likes or a different hack-and-slash series like Ninja Gaiden and have never played Onimusha for yourself, maybe you can start out with hell mode and everything will feel nice and familiar.
Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is available for pre-order on Steam.
