Samanosuke and Jacques can gain elemental weapons, changing their fighting style and allowing access to magical attacks. Defeating enemies reaps souls, which when absorbed can restore health and magic, be used as currency for purchasing ammunition and health items, and allow Samanosuke or Jacques to enter a more powerful Onimusha state for a short time. If the player collects certain items during the game and completes it, Samanosuke will be able to use his weapons from the first game in the next playthrough. Armors with different properties can be obtained in the game but they require some items in order to work. During certain portions of the story, players also get to control Michelle, who relies on firearms. Another minigame gives the players control over the lance fighter Heihachiro. Unlike Samanosuke and Jacques, Heihachiro and Michelle do not possess upgradeable weapons and cannot enter the Oni mode. New to this game is a focus on time travel when solving puzzles. For example, if Samanosuke comes across a door in the present that has become too withered to open, Jacques will need to open the door in the past so that it will stay open for Samanosuke to progress. Things Samanosuke does in the present will not affect things in the past. However, Ako is able to transfer some items between both timelines. Plot Having returned from mastering his newfound abilities as an Onimusha, Samanosuke Akechi returns to battle the Genma army in Japan 1582 as he fights his way to Honnō-ji Temple to finally put an end to Nobunaga Oda. Although Nobunaga was defeated by Jubei Yagyu years earlier, due to the fact that Jubei did not possessed an Oni Gaunlet to seal Nobunaga away, this allowed the Genma to revive him. Though Samanosuke defeats Nobunaga's ward Mori Ranmaru, he is defeated by Nobunaga. Before the Genma Lord can kill him, he ends up being pulled through a portal that opened below him. Samanosuke awakens in Paris in the year 2004 where he aids a man named Jacques Blanc in fighting the Genma army that has begun its invasion near the Arc de Triomphe. The time portal reappears and teleports Jacques to feudal Japan. Samanosuke then meets Michelle, Jacques' girlfriend, near the Arc and makes his way towards the roof. Across his fights, Samanosuke briefly meets an old enemy: The Genma scientist Guildenstern. Guildenstern recovered a device from Oni ruins