ONINAKI

About

ONINAKI is a single-player Anime Action-RPG with an exceptional story and ingenious visuals. As a Watcher, guide wandering souls to the next life while battling enemies in fast-paced, real-time combat, and customize your character with a variety of weapons. The game offers a wholesome story about the importance of life, dealing with grief, and the role of Watchers as they navigate the emotions of the living and the dead.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 368 reviews

story134 positive mentions

grinding37 negative mentions

The game features a compelling and dark storyline that explores themes of death and reincarnation, which many players found engaging.
Combat is enjoyable and offers a variety of playstyles through the Daemon system, allowing players to customize their experience.
The visuals and art style are praised for their beauty, contributing to an immersive atmosphere.

The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and enemy design, leading to a lack of variety and excitement as players progress.
Controller support is problematic, with many players experiencing issues that hinder gameplay, making it frustrating to control.
The pacing of the story is inconsistent, with some characters and plot points feeling underdeveloped or rushed, which detracts from emotional engagement.

story
446 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
63%
7%
The story of "Oninaki" has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its dark themes and emotional depth, particularly regarding death and reincarnation, while others criticize its pacing and execution, describing it as slow and at times disjointed. Many reviewers noted that the narrative struggles with character development and plot coherence, leading to a lack of investment in the story. Overall, while the game offers intriguing concepts and moments, it often falls short of delivering a fully engaging and satisfying narrative experience.
- “The mature storytelling (whether it is the main story or the side-quest stories of the lost souls), captivating art and excellent music soundtracks had me entranced and self-reflecting most of the times during the gameplay.”
- “I particularly appreciate that the story is willing to go places that other stories won't, and there are some pretty powerful scenes as a result.”
- “The story is compelling, original, and quite emotional.”
- “The story really does not get going until the second half... it's a really slow build-up.”
- “The plot points that supposedly impact the story are laid out, but the journey to get to each plot point feels rushed, and a lot of the events and characters' actions do not make sense.”
- “The overall story feels poorly written to a point where it seems like it was written by several writers and mashed together.”
gameplay
119 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
61%
18%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and lacking depth, often comparing it unfavorably to older titles. While some appreciate the fun mechanics and customization options, others criticize the clunky combat, simplistic mechanics, and reliance on a world-swapping feature that feels underutilized. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a significant drawback, overshadowing the otherwise engaging story and atmosphere.
- “Really fun gameplay! I love the spirit RPG mechanic, leveling them up and changing the gameplay so dynamically.”
- “Great atmosphere, smooth gameplay, and great music.”
- “Oninaki, a game that's between good and great (in numeric points, I'd give it either a 7.5 or 8), due to its rather great gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is the main problem with the game.”
- “The gameplay loop is always the same and combat is fairly simple.”
- “The story is ok, starts good then goes to shit and goes back to ok at the ending; now the gameplay is total crap, you just fight the same enemies over and over and over ad infinitum. At the ending of the game, I was just running past all those critters because I was bored to death of combat.”
graphics
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
39%
5%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their artistic style and vibrant visuals, with many reviewers highlighting the unique Japanese aesthetic and beautiful artwork. However, some players noted that the photogenic visuals can detract from the studio's original charm, and there are mixed opinions on the overall graphical quality, with some describing it as decent but not exceptional. Overall, while the visuals are appreciated, they are accompanied by criticisms regarding their impact on gameplay and the need for more graphical options.
- “The game has nice visuals and very interesting VFX; the combat is more or less entertaining, but it gets repetitive very easily. I liked the story, but I agree it's not for everyone (it has some nice twists).”
- “This game has some stunning visuals, gorgeous music, and a creative story that will most probably have you in tears at some points.”
- “A rather slow-paced but still enjoyable action RPG with wonderful character design, art, and graphics.”
- “The photogenic visuals they've adopted completely wash out this studio's graphical style and charm.”
- “- visuals can seriously hurt your eyes.”
- “The graphics, at first, might look bad; I mean, we are having portable console graphics?”
music
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
53%
12%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its quality and emotional impact, while others criticize its lack of presence and repetitiveness. Many players noted that the soundtrack does not live up to the high standards set by previous titles from the same developer, leading to a feeling that the overall experience is diminished. Overall, while some tracks are appreciated, the inconsistency and occasional absence of music during gameplay detract from the game's atmosphere.
- “The OST for I Am Setsuna was literally peak and I still listen to it to this day, and that game was released like a decade ago.”
- “The mature storytelling (whether it is the main story or the side-quest stories of the lost souls), captivating art, and excellent music soundtracks had me entranced and self-reflecting most of the time during the gameplay.”
- “This game has some stunning visuals, gorgeous music, and a creative story that will most probably have you in tears at some points.”
- “And the music... it's literally almost non-existent.”
- “In comparison to that, this game's music is probably less than mediocre most of the time.”
- “The lacking part of Oninaki... is its soundtrack, where it has some okay tracks, to some soundtracks where it feels like it's about to pick up... it just simply fades there.”
grinding
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, requiring players to engage in extensive grinding to level up daemons and obtain necessary resources. Many reviewers noted the lack of enemy variety, which exacerbates the monotony of grinding, making the gameplay feel bland and slow. While some players enjoy the mechanics of leveling up their daemons, the overall consensus is that the grind detracts significantly from the experience.
- “The best way to effectively defeat enemies quickly is to stagger them, but to stagger them you have to hit a certain threshold of damage which can only be obtained by grinding until you are over-leveled.”
- “Sure, you can level them up, but the lack of variety in enemies means you're just going to be grinding the same enemies forever, and it gets boring, fast.”
- “We unlock 10 daemons as we progress through the game, but realistically we will only really be able to play with 3 of them as it is super grindy on how they level up.”
emotional
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing; while some players find the story compelling and deeply emotional, many criticize its lack of character investment and insufficient buildup to key moments, making it hard to connect emotionally. The pacing issues and technical glitches further detract from the intended emotional impact, leading to mixed feelings about the overall experience.
- “Very emotional game with a unique art style and combat system.”
- “Awesome game, deep emotional story.”
- “The story is compelling, original, and quite emotional.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some players report no glitches or bugs, others experience issues with unresponsive input commands, particularly for critical mechanics like crossing between planes, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.
- “On top of that, it fails to register inputs for certain commands during the game, such as a command that lets you 'cross' between two planes, which should be pretty responsive, but it isn't; it is a buggy, unreliable mechanic.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its immersive quality, complemented by smooth gameplay and an excellent soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
- “Great atmosphere, smooth gameplay, great music.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development in the game is noted to be slow-paced, yet it remains enjoyable, complemented by impressive character design, art, and graphics.
- “A rather slow-paced but still enjoyable action RPG with wonderful character design, art, and graphics.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews indicate that the game's replayability is a significant feature, with players finding multiple pathways and outcomes that encourage them to revisit the game. Many appreciate the variety of choices and challenges that enhance the overall experience, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.