Way of the Sword preview — Dark fantasy meets honored tradition
I have never played an Onimusha game. Given the games came out before I turned seventeen, I wasn’t allowed by my parents to try them. Even as I got older, I wasn’t really interested in going back, especially as they hadn’t necessarily aged well. Our own Joe Morgan took a look at the recent Samurai’s Destiny remaster, and the update for Warlords, and was impressed with both. After Capcom took the stage to show a stunning new trailer for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, my interest was peaked, and after a presentation at their booth, I’d certainly like to give it the old college try.
What all of us in the room saw was the first live gameplay demo for Way of the Sword. For those unfamiliar, there’s a new protagonist in town. Miyamoto Musashi is a samurai coming to the aid of Edo-era Kyoto that has been overrun by the Genma, hell-dwelling fiends who are murdering the people of the city. While Musashi prefers to show his prowess with the sword, his acquisition of the Oni Gauntlet changes things… especially as it’s not easy to rid yourself of it.
As soon as the gameplay started, the beauty of this dark fantasy version of Kyoto was on display. While the team isn’t going for realism, I’d almost look at the graphical fidelity, especially the detail to the environment, as somewhat of a AA Ghost of Tsushima. The rocky, wooded area where the demo took place, littered occasionally with homes left by civilians who have perished in the fight, have a somberness to them. These atrocities are prevalent, with blood soaked soil presenting a grim picture.
This tone is perfectly matched by the swordplay of Musashi. It’s heavy and methodical — leave your button mashing at home. The precision you watch as Musashi slashes, parries, and demolishes the Genma in front of him is outstanding, a ballet of violence that proves brutal in every battle. One of my favorite parts was watching Musashi deflect ranged attacks back at his foes, but the best is when you get an Issen dodge in and cut your enemy in half. Musashi looks pretty dang cool doing his thing, exuding all the aura as he rips through these basic grunts. After defeating them, you’ll pull the souls into the Oni Gauntlet, something vets of the series will be familiar with.
There are some new enemies in Way of the Sword, and these ninja-esque, cloaked Genma weren’t pushovers. Still, Musashi had plenty up his sleeve, pulling out some dodging where it looked like he phased to another spot, along with an intense cinematic finisher, where he chopped multiple Genma in half. There were also a few spots where the environment gave the player a hand, as Musashi picked up the top of a table to block incoming arrows, only to forcibly throw it into the archer. As heavy as the combat seems, if you find the flow, you’ll mow through your enemies.
In a few instances, Musashi had to use the Oni Gauntlet to access what I’ll deem “shadow echoes”. These show Musashi visions of the past, heart wrenching moments where the Genma terrorize the locals. A particularly harrowing scene played out where the Genma forced them to throw their family members to their deaths. If this kind of storytelling continues throughout the entire game, I get the feeling I’ll be quite invested in Musashi and his mission. There are also a few puzzle-y elements where you’ll have to focus with “Genma” vision to figure out how to pass areas that shouldn’t be blocked… except by supernatural means.
About this time, he runs into Ganryu, a rival who also possesses an Oni Gauntlet. Where Musashi doesn’t desire the responsibility and power of the gauntlet, Ganryu has given himself over to it. This has caused him to be somewhat corrupted by it, and also leads to a confrontation.
It’s here that we learned about another new system, targeted blows. Once you build to these moments from parries, you have the chance to choose a spot on your enemy to open them up to further damage or inflict a devastating hit. Taking off armor or unleashing a stab into the head of your opponent is an incredible sight, although none were as vicious as Musashi breaking Ganryu’s arm. After all was said and done in this duel, however, Ganryu vanished, and I highly doubt we’ve seen the end of him.
The demo ended on one more big encounter, and this time with the main boss. A large, bipedal creature emerged named Byakue, wielding a large axe and ready to cut Musashi down. All of the previous combat elements from the Ganryu fight came into play, especially the targeted blows. The first was to Byakue’s head, proving quite brutal from the bloodspray. The dev also brought our attention to the souls themselves, and how different ones fuel different meters, which will open up different abilities to be used, like a savage break Issen.
Finishing off Byakue, it was time to close the rift that brought torment upon this village in Kyoto. One of the more interesting tidbits is that a lot of what you’ll see in Way of the Sword is inspired by real Kyoto folklore, along with Capcom trying their best to build this version of Kyoto to be as close to the original as possible. Not only does Onimusha: Way of the Sword look incredible, but the attention to detail and respect to what they’re inspired by is great to see.
Leaving this demo inspired me as well. Mainly, that I’d like to pick up the remasters to get ready to play Way of the Sword myself. I may not have ever played this series, but Capcom has managed to intrigue me with this presentation. Onimusha: Way of the Sword releases in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles.
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