Onimusha: Way of the Sword Hands-On Preview

It’s been 20 years since the last Onimusha mainline game and it’s now coming back with Onimusha: Way of the Sword. This is going to be a standalone entry to the series since it’s been so long since we last had an Onimusha game and there will be a lot of newcomers to the series, including me!

I got some hands-on time with Onimusha: Way of the Sword and was kind of skeptical at first. I hadn’t been convinced by the trailer that I’d like the gameplay or feel connected to the main character, Miyamoto Musashi. My first impression was that the combat seemed too easy and that Musashi’s personality was a bit dry.

But after playing through a small segment of the game and experiencing a boss fight, my mind was completely changed. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is one of those games you need to experience to fully understand why it’s considered one of Capcom’s legendary game series.

The Combat

I was surprised by how snappy the combat mechanics felt and how the game rewards you for trying riskier techniques. You can parry, block, and dodge or you can choose to execute an Issen move.

Capcom

Issen has been around in the previous Onimusha titles and it stands for Critical HIt which will insta-kill an enemy if executed properly. In order to use the Issen, you have to press the attack button a half-second before an enemy’s attack hits you. It requires incredibly precise timing and is very easy to miss, but if you do end up pulling it off, it’s a huge reward.

Of course, you can perfect parry and perfect dodge which both feel equally as satisfying but nothing really hits that same dopamine release as getting an Issen. If an enemy is throwing projectiles at you, you can block and redirect it back at them and instantly stagger them. Onimusha’s combat focuses on breaking the enemy's stamina to then do significantly more damage against them when they’ve lost that poise.

This also means you have to maintain your own stamina use and decide which maneuver you want to commit to in a fight. Blocking will drain your stamina faster and parrying will drain enemy stamina quicker.

Along with your sword and bow, you have a magic Gauntlet attached to your arm that comes in very handy during fights. The Gauntlet gives you the ability to absorb souls that charge your supernatural abilities. If you parry or dodge perfectly in a row, you’ll be able to speed this along. Blue souls will fill your Oni Power Gauge which grants you access to using Oni Armaments while red souls act as upgrade currency and yellow souls restore your health.

Capcom

In the demo I played, the Oni Armaments were a pair of daggers that would deal a heavy amount of damage. This can be a very powerful tool but if you’re not nailing your combat moves and parries or dodges, then you’ll be fighting for a while without that Oni Power so the gameplay really rewards you for being accurate and assertive.

The demo showed me that Onimusha: Way of the Sword isn’t as easy as the gameplay capture player made it look. Understanding timing and combination attacks is challenging but very rewarding and I personally really want to nail the Issen timing.

The Story

Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s story follows Musashi who is a samurai with a sentient Gauntlet attached to his arm. Musashi visits an early Edo period kyoto and finds that it’s overrun by Genma, evil spirits and creatures, and is determined to free the land. While the Gauntlet grants Musashi great power, he doesn’t want it attached to him forever so he also seeks the ability to remove the Gauntlet from his body.

Capcom

From the trailer and gameplay reveal, I didn’t really like the tone of Onimusha and thought the dialogue was very stilted in attempting to be overly seerious. After actually playing the game, it was pretty clear that Onimusha was leaning more into the campy aspect of its story and characters.

Musashi has some really funny comments and moments that I wasn’t expecting. I thought Onimusha would be taking itself too seriously but I was happy to see that the characters have a lot of personality which allows Capcom to have a little more fun with the story. The slightly stiff delivery in lines almost makes sense when considering the campiness of Onimusha.

Musashi has a moment when he’s in a boss fight and says “Well shit” when the boss lifts a little shrine above his head and slams it down on him and there are quips from other characters that had me giggling. 

Capcom

I did, however, think the English dub wasn’t the best. Some of the accent choices for the characters revealed were jarring since they didn’t really fit the characters. Musashi’s English voice has a British accent as does Izumno, a character you meet fairly early on in the story. There was also a random civilian who Musashi saves that had the most jarringly American accent that made a few people laugh to hear.

I’m talking about an American accent that seems so stereotypical it almost sounds like it’s being put on by the actor. This ultimately isn’t a huge deal to me since I’ll be playing Onimusha in the native language with English subtitles, but I did find it kind of amusing to hear the different accents for the characters.

Verdict

Capcom

Onimusha: Way of the Sword seems like it’s going to be a fun experience and I really can’t wait for it to come out on September 25th this year. This really was not a game I was even thinking about for my roster of titles I want to play this year but the demo changed my mind.