i bought the playstation 4 port of onimusha: warlords on a whim sometime last year, i want to say, and recently booted it up for the third or fourth time with the intention of finally seeing the samurai-flavored resident evil homage through to the end. i found it to be a decently fun game with one very satisfying mechanic.

my blind playthrough of onimusha: warlords took a little over three hours. during that time, i fought off demons, solved puzzles, and tried to make sense of the game’s pseudo-historical setting. my favorite part by far, however, was sucking up the multi-colored souls monsters dropped with their dying breath.

early in the game, onimusha: warlords protagonist samanosuke akechi is gifted the oni gauntlet after getting his ass kicked by a powerful foe. the fashionable accessory allows him to absorb demon souls (wink wink), and from then on, defeating enemies will release red (upgrade material), yellow (health), and blue (magic) orbs into the air for the player to gobble up by holding the circle button.

i love when games do this. from vacuuming up health and ammo with samus aran‘s arm cannon in metroid prime to collecting mountains of experience orbs after a big fight in fable, this mechanic is never not fun. something about watching a massive cloud of resources rush towards your character with the knowledge they’ll top off your HP or give you more supplies to work with just feels good.

onimusha: warlords is fine, but i also know myself well enough to appreciate i might not have made it to the credits if the game didn’t scratch this weird itch.