After a 20-year hiatus, Capcom’s samurai motion collection Onimusha is again. Effectively, nearly – the following installment, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, launches next month. Forward of its launch, I traveled to Capcom’s Osaka HQ in Japan to play never-before-seen components of the sport and interview the group making it for Game Informer’s latest cover (and you can read the cover story right here). I’ve been writing unique options, interviews, and extra from my time with Capcom, and you may learn all of them within the Onimusha: Way of the Sword hub.
Regardless of having performed the demo a couple of occasions and taking part in by way of roughly three hours of the sport inside Capcom’s foremost improvement constructing in Japan, I nonetheless wasn’t fairly positive what the Genma, the demonic enemies that plague early Edo-period Kyoto, have been as much as in Means of the Sword. So, I requested lead author Hiroshi Yamashita.
“To set the scene, we clearly have the Genma in [this game’s] Japan, however now we have the opposite realm in Hell, which is dominated by the Oni,” Yamashita says. “And inside that area, the Genma additionally exist, and the Oni have saved them in place, however within the residing world, from individuals killing one another and committing crimes, it generates this unfavourable power, this malice that you simply see within the sport, and [that attracts] the Genma to the residing world.”
Yamashita says the Oni are supposed to comprise the Genma, however due to the rising malice taking place on Earth, “and for sure causes” he didn’t share on account of spoilers, mysterious rifts seem in Kyoto that enable the Genma to seep into the actual world and invade.
“So, for the Genma, at a really primary stage, their goal, their motives are just about simply killing and consuming – that’s what drives them,” Yamashita continues. “They’re these menacing invaders, however they’re solely pondering on intuition. Inside the Genma ranks, although, there are particular Genma who’re possibly slightly totally different and do have their very own motivations and targets. So, while the principle Genma may not likely have a selected goal as a result of they’re simply killing and spreading chaos, these others are extra like scheming Genma.
“What do they get out of the Genma invading and doing all this chaos? Killing does create extra malice, and because the malice builds up, it’s constructing towards permitting these particular Genma to do one thing. That’s going to be the principle driving pressure for Musashi – working to try to cease them from finishing this goal.”
Sadly, Yamashita wouldn’t spill any extra on what that goal could be, however I did be taught on this journey that Nobunaga, a recurring villainous determine, isn’t returning… so it’s secure to say the Genma aren’t attempting to resurrect him (once more).
Beforehand showcased Genma that rank greater than the usual killers embody Dokyo and Rasho-Gan, pictured under. Dokyo, particularly, is in a Genma league of her personal. Not solely does she have a terrifying display presence backed by a standout voice efficiency (from what I’ve heard thus far), however she has a “particular” and “distinctive” place within the wider story of Means of the Sword. However Yamashita says we’ll have to attend till the sport’s launch subsequent month to be taught extra.
I’ll proceed diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as a part of Sport Informer’s month of Means of the Sword protection. We’ll be publishing unique gameplay and behind-the-scenes movies (together with a Fast-Hearth Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as properly. Regulate the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so that you don’t miss any of it.
Within the meantime, right here’s some further Onimusha: Means of the Sword studying for you:
What do you suppose the Genma are as much as in Onimusha: Means of the Sword? Tell us within the feedback under!