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The legendary Onimusha series is making its return with Way of the Sword, and we recently had the opportunity for a 20-minute hands-off preview of what’s shaping up to be a compelling new chapter. This time it’s telling a different kind of story. Instead of focusing on Musashi’s famous battles, this game takes us back to his early days when he was still young, proud, and trying to prove himself as a swordsman.
Story
The story centers around a younger Musashi who believes in earning his strength through hard work and skill alone. So when he gets stuck with an Oni Gauntlet – a demonic weapon that gives him incredible powers – he’s not happy about it. To Musashi, using this kind of power feels like cheating, and he wants nothing more than to get rid of it.
His quest to remove the cursed gauntlet leads him to Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto. But this isn’t the peaceful temple you might visit in real life. Dark energy called Malice has twisted the location, and Genma demons have taken over. The dark moments in the game are based on real historical legends from Kyoto, making the story feel both supernatural and grounded in history.
Combat
The fighting in Way of the Sword builds on what made previous Onimusha games great while adding new layers of strategy. When you defeat enemies, they drop different colored souls – red ones give you experience points, yellow ones heal you, and blue ones power up your special abilities. But here’s the catch: these souls don’t stick around forever, so you have to decide quickly whether to keep fighting or dive in to grab them before they disappear.
The blocking system has been improved too. You can now guard attacks from any direction, which feels much better than before. But if you block too much, Musashi’s guard will break and leave him open to attack. This means you can’t just hide behind your defense – you need to actively fight back.
Two new defensive moves add even more depth to combat. Redirect lets you parry enemies and throw them into things like torches to set them on fire. Deflect works against both thrown weapons and regular attacks, and if you deflect enough hits, Musashi enters a powered-up state where his attacks do more damage and create more blue souls for special abilities.
The real heart of the combat system is something called Issen, which returning fans will remember. If you hit the attack button at exactly the right moment when an enemy is about to strike you, Musashi performs a devastating counter-attack that kills the enemy instantly. It looks amazing and feels incredibly satisfying to pull off.
The new Chain Issen system in Onimusha: Way of the Sword takes this even further. After landing one perfect counter, you can immediately follow up with more perfectly-timed attacks on other enemies. When you get good at this, you can clear entire rooms of demons in a spectacular chain of instant kills.
Boss fights use a similar but more complex system called Break Issen. Each boss has a stability meter under their health bar. By deflecting their attacks, you can drain this meter until the boss staggers. Then you can choose which part of their body to target for your finishing move, with different body parts giving different rewards like extra damage or more souls.
Memorable Encounters and Haunting World
The boss fights themselves sound particularly interesting. One standout is Sasaki Ganryu, who was Musashi’s real-life rival and also has an Oni Gauntlet in this game. Their battle isn’t just about sword skills – it’s about two different ways of thinking about power and honor. Visually, the game looks impressive. The developers worked with staff from the real Kiyomizu-dera Temple to make sure their digital version was authentic, even placing some buildings where they actually stood during the historical Edo period. But they’ve given it a dark, twisted atmosphere that fits the supernatural story.
The Malice corruption hanging over everything serves as a constant reminder that something is very wrong with this place. The demons themselves range from purely monstrous to tragically human – some are corrupted samurai who represent what Musashi could become if he takes the wrong path.
Looking Promising
Based on what we’ve seen so far, Onimusha: Way of the Sword appears to be shaping up as a worthy return for the series. The combat system rewards skill and timing while offering enough depth to keep things interesting. The story takes a fresh approach by focusing on a younger, less perfect version of Musashi, and the mix of historical detail with supernatural horror creates a compelling atmosphere.
The updated mechanics, environmental combat options, and creative boss fights all suggest that Capcom is treating this revival with both respect for the original games and a willingness to try new things. If the full game lives up to this early promise, Onimusha could be making a comeback as more than just a nostalgic throwback – it might just be one of the year’s best action games.
