Fear not, samurai masochists, Onimusha: Way of the Sword's flashiness hasn't replaced its challenge

Featuring biology chaos and the instrumentality of Issen counterattacks

Last month, I played an extended preview of upcoming enactment slasher Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and came distant impressed - if a spot sore successful the fingers. Though the samurai enactment genre is simply a crowded 1 these days, with Nioh 3 doing an fantabulous occupation of claiming the existent throne, Onimusha has much than a fewer intriguing tricks up its yukata sleeve.

The Onimusha bid - whose past instalment released successful 2006 for the Playstation 2 - began beingness arsenic a Resident Evil spinoff, and it showed. Katana fights replaced the ammo-scarce shooting, but the careful, methodical cadence remained. Slice down a spooky Genma (that's a demon) here, dodge an onslaught there, weave into different country arsenic the camera makes a jarring displacement to a caller fixed space supra you. Absorb souls into your gauntlet to summation caller powers, rinse and repeat.

Way of the Sword does an admirable occupation of replicating this vibe, with concessions acceptable for 2026. The fixed camera angles person been replaced with the behind-the-back presumption that Capcom's RE Engine has gainfully employed successful each Resident Evil remake (and a mates of mainline entries) frankincense far, but the battles inactive burst with a grade of intricacy acold beyond what Leon Kennedy and his peers are susceptible of.

Kill those demon bastards! Kill 'em with each the fervor of a franchise that's been locked successful stasis since 2006! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

The preview I played picks up soon aft Way of the Sword's demo, which is presently disposable connected Steam, if you'd similar your ain sensation of what Edwin called a "moody demon parry fest". Indeed, this crippled is engineered for Soulslike deflection sickos, but neither Sekiro oregon Nioh had a main protagonist modeled aft a young Toshiro Mifune, the legendary histrion who starred successful specified Japanese cinema classics arsenic Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo.

Onimusha's ever made it a constituent to diagnostic leads wearing the faces of fashionable stars, from Taiwanese/Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro successful Onimusha: Warlords to Jean Reno, of each people, for Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. It seemingly took 2 years for Capcom to unafraid the rights to Mifune's likeness for Way of the Sword, and he's a worthy Miyamoto Musashi, making contorted expressions astatine each of the yokai shenanigans surrounding him with a swagger that belies a amusive premix of assurance and the resignation of a antheral who knows he's going to walk the full pursuing time nursing a involvement bottle.

Musashi's got a batch of personality, arsenic you tin archer from the lukewarm words helium chooses for his opponents. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

This Mifune-faced Musashi besides deals with obstacles retired of the accepted action-adventure playbook, alternatively than the strict Soulslike blueprint. I traversed a little dungeon that felt similar Baby's First Zelda, with Musashi needing to sprout the close awesome connected platforms with his bow to marque them autumn down.

Then determination was the metropolis of Kyoto, which acted arsenic a hub with tiny missions branching retired wrong its borders, and a fewer NPCs who would connection up items if Musashi saved them from Genma attacks. Collecting items lets Musashi stitchery a assets called Favor, which helium tin past usage to upgrade his gear, truthful portion nary of these missions were peculiarly original, astatine slightest they had a point.

Some bowplay here, 1 oregon 2 NPC interactions there. Neither of these comparison to kicking Genma ass, but they assistance marque Way of the Sword a small much varied. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

Make nary mistake, though - Way of the Sword's beating, bloody bosom is its combat. Musashi moves and fights with a grounded fluidness that's arsenic satisfying to the eyes arsenic it is to the gamepad-grasping hands, and portion his moveset is Soulsy, there's a dash of Character Action Game chill origin successful present arsenic well, a la Ninja Gaiden. Most basal enemies spell down easy arsenic sacrifices to Mushahi's rad dude aura, and the parry model is much much forgiving than it is successful some Nioh and Sekiro.

Riposte play, successful particular, comes with immoderate fancy bells and whistles. As successful erstwhile Onimushas, Musashi tin propulsion disconnected an Issen technique: a counterattack delivered conscionable earlier an force strikes, perchance triggering an insta-kill. It seems similar you whitethorn beryllium capable to play done the full crippled lone relying connected Issen kills, a information that Capcom is already advertizing connected societal media. Also, if you win connected a prolonged parry, depending connected your timing, the camera mightiness zoom successful to item the dazzling sparks that erupt from crossed blades, and past swivel astir arsenic Musashi manoeuvres his hostile into a adjacent hazard.

In general, the situation is interactive to a large degree, arsenic if it's the 2000s again and Capcom conscionable started experimenting with the Havok Physics engine. Case successful point: 1 of my parries knocked a Genma into a adjacent rack, aft which a expanse fell connected its caput and blinded it, letting maine get the cleanable termination in. Other battlefields are littered with boards and carts, the second capable to service arsenic makeshift shields against arrow volleys, portion the erstwhile tin beryllium pushed into incoming opponents, scattering them similar demonic bowling pins.

This runaway cart is astir to sound each of those Genma goons skyward. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

"Cinematic" is 1 of the astir exhausted buzzwords successful games, but these zoom-ins and biology effects, combined with Mifune's hyper-detailed visage, each marque Way of the Sword genuinely much film-like than its chap swordswingers. This is particularly existent during the brag battles, which sometimes smash the camera into close-ups of Musashi's leaf smashing against his enemy's, oregon swoosh it astir the baddie arsenic they statesman unleashing their eventual attacks.

Some folks person been disquieted astir Way of the Sword toning down the trouble a small too much, since the demo is simply a comparatively breezy matter extracurricular of a conflict against Musashi's rival, the cackling, metal-hatted Ganryu Sasaki. They tin remainder assured that the 3 bosses that I faced successful my playtime were decently challenging, particularly a multi-armed asshole named Rasho-gan.

A sadistic trickster who manipulated Kyoto locals into sacrificing their assemblage parts, Rasho-gan battered maine with 2 forms. He possessed an onslaught wherever helium ripped up trees, rocks, and different parts of the arena to chuck astatine me, alongside a big of moves that could each beryllium parried, but required adept timing to bash so. If he's immoderate indication, the bosses successful this crippled volition so beryllium susceptible of putting up a Sekiro-level fight, though astatine slightest Capcom has the bully volition to insert a Story Mode trouble for those whose reflexes person dulled successful the intervening 2 decades.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword releases connected 4 September, and I fishy it's got a bully accidental of continuing the blistery streak that Capcom established with Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata. Whether it tin also conscionable Nioh and Sekiro's standards of Edo-era excellence remains to beryllium seen, and again, we've travel a agelong mode since the PS2 days - but either way, this is looking similar the benignant of franchise revival I tin get connected committee with.