Onigiri Review

Onigiri is an action massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by CyberStep. It is set in a fantasy land reminiscent of ancient Japan in which humans and non-humans such as Oni and other Youkai coexist.

The Plot

Onigiri is set in a fantasy version of ancient Japan that is filled with creatures of myth. Ages ago the terrible Kamigui wreaked trail of death and destruction across the land before being stopped by the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu Oomikami. The goddess places three great Seals that forced the Kamigui to retreat. Now one of the Seals has shattered.

The player character is an Oni whose peaceful life in the Western island of Onigashima is disturbed by the revival of the Kamigui.

The Gameplay

My experience with this game so far has been simply astounding. From the visually appealing color schemes to the amazing soundtrack everything fits in perfectly for a MMORPG. You start out by creating your character, firstly getting to choose from a variety of eye colors, body sets, hair styles and even choosing your name!

Leveling up is easy at the start, going through multiple dungeons and beating the boss (offering a large sum of exp) in reward, thus allowing your health and stamina to increase tremendously! I’m a level 44 character right now and my skill sets are high in damage, but as you progress and travel through the monumental maps you’ll start to notice a significant change.

Enemies become harder to beat, food (Nigiri) becomes scarce especially with those that give you a higher amount of health, and dungeons are placed at higher levels, forcing you to travel back ultimately grinding to level up becoming stronger and better in the process.

When creating a character, you choose one of five traits that will determine which weapons you may use. The traits are Power (Axe, Oodachi, Spear, and Sword), Defensive (Spear and Staff), Kind (Staff and Wand), Daring (Axe, Oodachi, Dual Swords, Bow, and Sword), and Cautious (Dual Swords, Bow and Wand). You level up five basic stats: Power, Vitality, Wisdom, Mind and Dexterity.

In Onigiri you have eight NPC partners that each have distinct personalities and abilities which can be improved as they gain more affection for the player. Affection levels can be raised by giving the companions gifts such as goldfish, a model kit, a pendant, paperback and others that they prefer.

Onigiri is filled with a remarkable rate of quests, not surprising however for a MMORPG. They vary from killing a certain amount of creatures (such as the Punk Kappa, Pain Daruma or Luck Daruma) to even getting ink!

In general, this game is solid.

What I hated

• The frame rate can be horrifyingly terrible playing with friends. In my definition, a lagg fest (but I would just assume that this is because i’m playing a MMO on the Playstation 4).
• Redundant content. It doesn’t really make sense, but for a MMORPG there’s too much going on at once for the player to catch up. I’m currently stuck in Kyoto and there’s 11 quests along with the main story popping up on my screen filling up what’s already a small map.
• Dated graphics. The point explains itself, I however wasn’t expecting the game to look like Grand Theft Auto 5.
• Pay 2 Play Get New Clothes. I hated this in general. The clothing options are small and limited, offering only a few choices to make, and the developers could’ve done so much more to make it better. If you pay, you can get new clothes, food, accessories and more but at what cost? Nothing. Clothing offers nothing more other than looking cool. No health attributes or anything close. I’ll pass.
• Hack n’ Slash. You will at times find yourself using the same move sets over and over. I use the Oni’s Dagger, a sword given to the player at the beginning of the game, and as I’ve been using it to complete and pass every dungeon so far everything is the epitome of repetitive.
• Dialong, I mean Dialogue. The dialogue in Onigiri is long, and I mean having to click skip 10 times long. This especially coincides with side quests that have nothing to do or contribute with the main story at all.

What I liked

• Music. The music in this game are by far the best I’ve ever heard in a video game period and the music in Onigiri play a huge part in my love for it. I’ll post three down below to give you a short perspective of what I mean.

• The loading screens are surprisingly short and nice.
• It offers an amazing amount of content, and even if I did list it as one of the things I hated about the game having content in general is still a plus!
• Parties. Now while there’s no mic talk in the game it does however offer text chat (a feature I actually love).
• EXP Boost. If you ever need to rack up experience for leveling up these do and will absolutely help. I recommend using the +200% and the +100%.
• I loved the durability add ins to the game. It offers a sense of realness (even though the game is fiction) and using a weapon does wear out, unless you use a default one (like my own) and it’ll need to be repaired.
• Menu screen. The menu is easily accessible, allowing you to access your inventory, quests, the bestiary, skills, clothing, forming parties and more!

Final Verdict

3 OUT OF 5

While Onigiri is an amazing game in its own right, it just doesn’t hit home and can lose its appeal quickly. Do I recommend it? Yes. Will I be playing it 3 years from now? No.