When debating the best video game to ever do hand-to-hand combat, discussions can often range over a plethora of titles, but surprisingly, Oni isn’t included. From PlayStation 2 era games like God Hand to modern games like 2018’s God of War, praises of these games’ combat system are echoed throughout time and memorium.
Combat action games are mostly designed with the console environment and the controller in mind, since the genre was revolutionized back in the day with titles like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden.
Keyboard and mouse for the PC platform is generally associated with either shooter titles or MOBAs like League of Legends. The thought of having to use anything other than the controller to engage in a third-person combat focused may feel hard to wrap heads around for some people.
But in 2001, Bungie West did it with their third-person action game called Oni. They designed a game that would make hand-to-hand combat feel incredible on a mouse and keyboard but behaved like a disobedient child on a controller, making it an anomaly.
The history of Oni
Bungie has been a phenomenal studio over the years. Influencing the first-person shooter genre with Halo: Combat Evolved, which redefined how shooters should work on consoles. They have had a part in influencing real-time tactics games with the Myth series on PCs.
A few years back, Bungie even influenced the looter-shooter genre with the Destiny games, bringing the format to console gamers. Bungie is considered by many to be the pioneers of what a lot of modern shooter games have to offer.
But Oni often skips everyone’s radar when talking about the studio. It is a title that helped influence a lot of the decisions taken behind Halo’s development. Unfortunately, the game’s history starts and ends with Bungie’s second studio on the West Coast, Bungie West.
Oni was initially conceptualized by developers Brent Pease and Michael Evans, with Pease especially being very influenced by the works of Masamune Shirow in Ghost in the Shell. This can be seen in the main character, Konoko’s design, which was heavily influenced by Motoko Kusanagi.
The art of Oni
The name ‘Oni’ was initially given to the project as a code name, which came from the misunderstanding that ‘Oni’ was the Japanese translation for ‘Ghost’. Thus, an indirect reference to ‘Ghost in the Shell’ intellectual property.
Using their experience from working at Apple, Pease quickly got to work on a new engine for the game that would help facilitate the kind of action-combat/shooter they were envisioning.
But they also needed an artist to conceptualize the designs for the game. Alex Okita was brought in to plan out the initial concepts of how the characters would look, along with some designs by Chris Hudges.
In addition to the obvious references from Ghost in the Shell, Alex Okita has even gone on record to cite shows like Akira, Bubblegum Crisis, and Trigun being some of the other influences behind the concepts of the game.
Later on, artist Lorraine McLees was brought in to finalize the designs for the game. She had cited Bubblegum Crisis’s Kenichi Sonoda’s works as her biggest influences on the designs. Almost all of the iconic 2D assets designed for the game, including portraits and splash art, were worked on by Lorraine McLees.
Oni’s not-so-smooth development
Bungie was two years into the development of Oni, with much work overdue. That is when they had to bring in Pac-Man World’s level designer, Hardy LeBel, who took the fractured works done for the game and put everything together with a feasible and working story.
Some of the initial concepts of the game, like our protagonist Konoko being a Cyborg, were thrown out for a more original concept like Daodan Chrysalis, which would enhance human hosts artificially in the story.
Vehicular enemies that looked like metal gear were scrapped for more grounded combat with humanoid enemies.
Initially, multiplayer for the game was shown off at press conferences and to journalists, and was supposed to be one of the biggest selling points for the game. But with no concrete work done in two years, and a Microsoft buyout looming over the company, Take-Two Interactive had to slap a deadline.
Even with an insane amount of crunch that made people in the development team pass out in odd places, Oni did not meet the deadline, but was able to release in January of 2001 with barely any marketing for the PlayStation 2 release.
The unremarkable release of Oni
Oni in modern day is considered a cult classic game, with many reviews citing it as a really good game for the time. But in reality, the release was not as favorable as one would think. Critics were unimpressed with having to learn a new kind of combat system that clearly smelled of rushed development.
They were not ready to be impressed with the level designs, considering most of the game takes place in empty office space structures. Critics were also not happy about the missing Metal Gear that was shown off in one of the early trailers.
To top things off, it did not help considering how most of the promised elements of the game were missing. Notably, the big hype around the LAN multiplayer mode was that the initial builds of the game showcased it.
The PlayStation 2 port of the game did come out, and it was fully developed by a Take-Two Interactive studio, with Bungie West barely having any influence. But on release, it was considered as one of the worst versions of the game one could play.
Oni’s controls were specifically designed with first-person shooter turned hand-to-hand combat gameplay for PC in mind. Translating that to a controller needed time, but that’s one thing the Take-Two didn’t have.
Bungie was bought out by Microsoft, with Bungie West merging with the main studio, and a lot of the staff moving on to work on a game that would prove historical for Microsoft: Halo.
Why was Oni a cult classic?
Oni’s release was marred with problems, the reception was problematic, and the PlayStation 2 port had hammered nails in its coffin, making it one of the worst games on the console. Generally, games that end up like this are forgotten forever, but some find a loyal following, and Oni was one of the few.
Oni gradually grew up to find love among a small community of PC modders, that have now grown into a full-fledged community. Currently, there are modders working to develop tools for the game to be played in newer ways, and even releasing their own bug fixes and patches.
The reason simply being, Oni strikes a chord with most people playing the game for the first time; it is unforgettable because it is unlike any other action game.
Completing the game once may provide a nice new experience, but the possibilities of having played some parts of the game differently keep lingering in the mind, harkening back to the unique combat system that was designed around mouse and keyboard.
Oni had a one of a kind of combat system
Oni uses controls that one would find in a shooter game: you use WASD to move, spacebar to jump, shift to crouch and sneak, left click for punching and shooting, and right click for kicks.
But the game was designed to be hand-to-hand combat first, so why would such a control scheme be so much special compared to other action games built around controllers, one might ask, and here is the part that is an even bigger shocker.
Purely based on assumptions, Hardy LeBel had a history with Namco, who are known for the Tekken fighting game series. Hardy, in an interview with ‘CryMorGaming TV’ had expressed his enthusiasm for the Tekken franchise prior to knowing that he would be working on Pac-Man.
In the interview, he also stated his distaste for console action games that go for the chain combo systems without expanding in other ways. So it is very plausible that a bit of Tekken’s DNA rubbed off on Oni.
Looking at Oni’s gameplay and general systems in older trailers, it is very clear that even before Hardy LeBel joined the team, the game was being built closer to how fighting games work rather than the general action games of the time.
For those who aren’t aware, fighting games follow a very different combo, defense, and movement structure when compared to other action games.
These combat similarities can be identified as influences from games like Street Fighter and Tekken. Which makes perfect sense because Oni was made with multiplayer 3D fighting in mind.
Oni had the DNA of Fighting Games
Aside from the regular punch and kick combo strings, Oni utilizes something fighting game players refer to as command normals, which are attacks that are performed while pressing a directional input.
This realistically gives players eight different types of attacks they can use to initiate combat with each attack button, thereby expanding the repertoire of regular attacks beyond just combos.
Other mechanics include being able to slide that has a hitbox, a dive roll while jumping that can be used as an attack. Beyond these, with each completed level in the game, players unlock new moves that can be performed with completely unique input methods.
Oni developers had thought of ways to make players defend as well, and instead of relying on a guard button, the game takes guarding from Tekken, where players can auto guard against incoming attacks by standing still.
Oni also implemented highly damaging special moves that involve pressing the required buttons exactly while letting go of crouching. This is something that the Tekken games also use and is called a while-rising input.
Oni had an incredible AI
Beyond just having access to a plethora of combat maneuvers and movesets, Oni’s gameplay is not complete until we discuss the incredible AI of the enemies. Albeit it’s not devoid of problems, as the enemies constantly tend to drop off ledges while trying to chase Konoko.
But when it comes to combat and stealth detection, the enemies in Oni can give enemy AI in some of the modern games a run for their money. Enemies will perfectly telegraph their attacks when engaged in combat, blocking and dodging the player’s movesets, making mashing incredibly useless.
Oni can be a ruthless game when Konoko is engaged by multiple enemies in combat. There are combat abilities that allow for crowd clearing, but the enemies in this game are not dumb enough to stand still and take an incoming attack right in the face.
Also, unlike modern action games like the Batman Arkham series or games alike, a crowd of enemies in Oni will not stick around to watch Konoko beat up each one of them at a time. Multiple enemies will go after the player at the same time without remorse.
Mashing out of combat was futile in Oni
When engaged in gun combat, unarmed enemies will cleverly try to dodge gun trajectories and come at Konoko, and might even disarm the player and grab the gun. If a weapon is lying around, an enemy will run or roll over to grab it and actively use it while engaged in combat.
All of this might make players rethink decisions about checking out the game, but these incredible systems is what make Oni so special and why so many people stick to it.
Players can not simply mash a few combos out of their way to win every fight in this game. They will have to actively think and anticipate enemy interactions, dodge or defend, and then go for the attack.
One can approach a combat encounter with gunplay, stealth to lure the enemies out, or take them out one by one. But if skilled enough, one can go full charging into combat.
This makes every combat encounter throughout the game unique, opening up several ways to approach each one of them. Making every new playthrough of Oni a different experience.
Cheat Codes for Replayability
Although they are scorned at by most gamers these days for making the enjoyment of progression through games trivial, Oni comes from an era when games and cheat codes for them went hand in hand.
In the original release of the game, cheat codes could be accessed only after completing the game once. These consisted of the usual cheats that are seen in almost all kinds of video games, allowing players to turn on invincibility options, unlimited ammo, and some developer debug tools.
Some of the cheat codes bring comedic customizations to the game, including an all-time classic big head mode, the ability to shrink down Konoko’s size, or make are gigantic.
But the one the one cheat code that we want to bring everyone’s attention to is something that is rarely seen in games these days. Or if we do in a modern game, then it is probably going to be a paid DLC addon.
Play as anyone in the game
We are talking about ‘shapeshifter’, the cheat code that allows players to switch to any of the character models available across the game. Even that one civilian with a plain white shirt from that one level, yeah, they are all playable.
Although the cracks of Oni’s problematic development cycle seem to show, with some of the characters having repetitive move sets, and some taking animations from Konoko, it does not cut short the fact that most of the characters have their own programmed move sets that feel unique to play with.
The reason why this exists echoes back to the early development ideas for Oni, and how it was originally meant to be a multiplayer fighting game. Even though the mode was scrapped, the developers were genius enough to allow players access to all the characters throughout the game.
Players can choose to play through the whole game with that one early level warehouse thug, or they can pick from any of the game’s bosses and feel absolutely overpowered while experiencing a new way to play through the game again.
Oni’s influence on Halo
The release of Oni may have been marred by inconsistencies and failure to meet hype expectations. But the game did manage to end up being influential. Especially for Bungie’s Halo project, which directly preceded the development of Oni, and went on to become one of the biggest video game releases for Microsoft ever.
Halo wore the influences of Oni extremely well, but people fail to notice. When Oni crashes on PC, a message ‘Blam! Oni has crashed’ is displayed. Coincidentally, the codename for Halo during development was also ‘Blam’.
The shield system in Halo, even though it regenerates, is often cited to be inspired by Oni. In the game, Konoko will often pick up shield gels lying throughout levels, which can be used as a perishable defense against gun damage, similar to Halo’s shield.
Halo also takes a similar-looking cloaking system from Oni. Konoko can go invisible for a limited amount of time, enhancing stealth in the game by picking up the Phase Cloak. Master Chief gets access to one such item in Halo as well.
Oni and The Golden Triangle
Granted, not all of these systems are original to Oni, so an argument can be made that these are not constructive influences for Halo, as a lot of video games already use these.
But the fact that both the shielding and cloaking mechanics look so similar between these two games really lends solid proof to the statement, also considering the fact that these games were being developed back in the late 90s and were practically evolving ideas.
However, the most glaring influence has to be early Halo’s combat system rule, or as the community calls it, ‘golden triangle’. Oni is designed to work on a dual rule combat system, which involves melee, which comes first, and gunplay that players can use around it.
In both games, players can carry a limited number of weapons. In Oni, the number is just one. Players will have to play around this rule, which makes for an engaging combat without bloating it with access to too many weapons of the same type.
Similarly in Halo: Combat Evolved and most of the other games in the early Halo franchise use the golden triangle rule of gunplay. Guncombat, melee, and grenades, with gunplay being the priority, it played around with grenades and melee combat.
This serves as an evolving strategy in combat, keeping firearms to a level where it is incredibly satisfying to play around in actual gameplay, especially prevalent in Halo multiplayer.
Cancelled Sequel to Oni
When the compliments end, the fact will still stand that Oni failed as a video game on release and the IP is now in a limbo with rights belonging to Take-Two Interactive. Which was initially not completely in vain, because despite the game being a failure, Take-Two did greenlight a sequel titled Oni 2
But unfortunately, the game was cancelled with only a little work done. Oni 2 was reportedly in development around 2001-2002 at Angel Studios, which is currently Rockstar San Diego, and was being developed for the PlayStation 2
A playable build of the game can be found online, which plays very differently from the original Oni, but it would have been interesting to see in which direction the game could’ve gone.
A fun trivia regarding Oni 2 is that the codename for the game, which is found in the playable build, literally calls it ‘Oni 2: Death & Taxes’, which is supposed to be an inside joke.
But the original name found in the internal game files is ‘Oni 2: rebirth’. Whether it is the real title or another working title for the game, we will never know.
On the other side of these interesting facts, Bungie West once again was working on a spiritual successor to Oni in 2001, headed by Hardy LeBel in the design team.
The cancelled game was reportedly called ‘Monster Hunter’, which would have been an interesting thing to see in the history of video games, since years later, Capcom used that same name for one of their biggest games.
The game that Oni is influencing
Even though the IP is pretty much dead, as Take-Two refuses to do anything with it. The original PC game has survived through its community. As already said, Oni is the kind of game that might not be for everyone, but if it clicks, it will linger in the player’s memory, making them want to come back to the game.
Such is the story of indie studio Nekki, which is working on a single-player Gun-fu combat action game titled ‘Spine’. Which follows a similar premise of a female lead playable character in a Cyberpunk futuristic world.
The developer have gone out of their way to wear their inspirations proudly, citing Bungie’s Oni being one of the games they want to recapture with this new and upcoming title.
Oni’s influence isn’t completely forgotten as evolving technology in game development is becoming more easily available, and more independent developers are turning up to work on their own games inspired by titles of yesteryear.
Forever survived by the incredible Oni community
At the current date, Oni is successful as a cult followed game, garnering several communities of players, who are constantly discussing the lore and every detail of the game on social platforms. So much so that they might know more than the people who made the game, even.
Since 2010, the community has been responsible for releasing countless modding tools that allow everyone to significantly mod each and every aspect of the game, increasing endless replayability.
The community keeps releasing new maps to play on, new platforming courses, and even assets from the cutting room floor. The game is survived by its incredible anniversary edition, which is the present best way to play Oni, crafted by the modders through years of hard work.
Oni AE keeps receiving patches, updating the game frequently for new Operating Systems like Windows 11 and the current macOS. These patches also work to fix bugs and glitches that were around in the original game.
In general, the Oni Anniversary Edition Project had its final iteration released, and the project is currently decentralized with an active community on Reddit and Discord, making sure new players finding out about the game are warmly welcomed to this gem of an action brawler.
