A number of years in the past, the thought of samurai video games – or certainly any motion video games set in historical Asia – felt like a just about unexplored idea. Fashionable or futuristic shooters, the place we spent half the sport crouching behind knee-high partitions, had been way more frequent. Japanese builders fell barely behind as Western studios innovated and superior gaming expertise to a degree by no means earlier than seen. Having performed Murderer’s Creed II in 2009, I felt the apparent path for a sequel could be to look in direction of feudal Japan, however Ubisoft selected as a substitute to go in the other way on the globe. Ninja Gaiden II, which by itself deserves was a wonderful motion sport, wasn’t fairly sufficient to fulfill my starvation for extra historic samurai gameplay. Fairly merely, that wasn’t the path the gaming trade was heading in on the time.
However tendencies, as we all know, come and go, and the scenario appears to be like very completely different at present. Asian sport growth might be extra vibrant than ever, and that urge for food for samurai video games I discussed, it has been sated greater than sufficient to final a technology. We have seen this form of sword-swinging Asian motion not solely from Japanese, Chinese language, and Korean builders, but in addition from Western studios equivalent to Sucker Punch, which has given us its tackle the idea, impressed by basic Akira Kurosawa movies like Seven Samurai. Lately, I really feel a bit the identical means about these video games as I did about these “sit-in-cover shooters” fifteen years in the past: new ones are introduced seemingly each different week, and the thought does not excite me in the identical means because it used to, in a world the place we have been handled to Ghost of Tsushima, Murderer’s Creed Shadows, Nioh, and what I contemplate to be the idea at its very best, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Regardless of this, I used to be nonetheless actually eager on the return of Onimusha as Means of the Sword drew nearer, and the explanation for that’s, fairly merely, “Capcom”. For my part, they’re at the moment the world’s finest developer and writer of AAA video games. After a darkish interval of id crises and missteps, they have been an extremely sturdy drive within the gaming world for nearly ten years, delivering one good sport after one other in an period the place just about all their opponents are making fools of themselves with huge monetary investments in video games no person desires, obscene growth occasions, and an unsustainable chase after tendencies. This 12 months alone, they’ve managed to squeeze out a extremely sturdy Resident Evil Requiem in addition to the shocking Pragmata, and it is with nice pleasure that I can let you know Onimusha: Means of the Sword can also be a cracking sport properly price your time, for those who’re prepared to miss a number of flaws.
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If there’s one factor I really like doing in motion video games, it is parrying assaults with pinpoint precision to show an enemy’s momentum in opposition to them. The sound of swords clashing, the moment gratification of a well-timed parry, it does one thing to me, tickling my reptilian mind in a means that makes my mouth water. Onimusha: Means of the Sword is a sport all about that form of fixed dopamine rush, and it contains a very good fight system that lets me do it in additional methods than I’ve seen in any comparable sport earlier than. To start with, it is stored pretty easy, and the sport teaches you to parry sword assaults, which throws the enemy off stability and offers you the prospect to land your personal sword strikes, and to fully dodge unarmed assaults, which in flip expenses up a gauge that, as soon as full, lets you unleash an extra-destructive counter-attack. Simply as in Sekiro, the thought is for the participant to deplete the enemy’s stamina gauge by way of each sturdy defence and daring assaults, and as soon as that gauge is empty, your opponent is left fully open to a “finisher” that often leads to instantaneous dying. The animation work is great proper from the beginning; your character has completely different parry animations relying on the path the assault comes from, finishers are delightfully satisfying, and the enemies’ assaults are intuitively readable so to counter them in probably the most acceptable means.
It does not take lengthy, nonetheless, earlier than the sport reveals increasingly of its depth in fight. I used to be delighted to find I might incorporate the environment into my technique, parrying enemies in order that they collide with one another or with objects within the surroundings is a fast technique to deplete their well being bars. Previous picket tables can be utilized as cowl in opposition to arrows after which hurled at any creature of your selection, and for those who spot an deserted cart, you should utilize it as a battering ram, usually leading to a string of crushed monster skulls. The sport’s most rewarding assault can also be its riskiest; so-called “Issen” assaults are carried out by urgent the assault button on the actual second an enemy assault is about to hit you. The timing is strict, and also you’re left fully uncovered to break for those who miss, however for those who succeed, you land a devastating blow that may cleave abnormal enemies in two. All in all, Means of the Sword presents mechanically intricate but intuitive fight that, even in its most elementary type, by no means turns into tedious.
Onimusha: Means of the Sword is at its finest in its boss battles, as that is the place its fight system actually comes into its personal. The repertoire of eccentric swordsmen, lumbering naginata warriors, and grotesque monsters that make up the sport’s roster of bosses are all memorable, flawlessly animated, and skilfully designed. They as soon as once more recall to mind Sekiro, the place I work tirelessly to ship the fitting counter to the fitting assault so as to slowly however absolutely chip away at not solely the well being bar but in addition the aforementioned stamina bar. As soon as the latter is depleted, time stands nonetheless for a second, revealing a number of weak factors, colour-coded for various functions. Successful on a pink level offers a hefty quantity of injury to the boss, while a blue level provides you additional souls to scoop up, which, amongst different issues, is nice for replenishing your personal well being when the going will get robust. The sensation if you realise you’ve got lastly acquired the cling of a boss’s motion and assault patterns, when it is actually second nature, it is deeply thrilling.
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The story begins with the introduction of our protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi, an honour-bound and expert swordsman whose life involves a sudden finish when he encounters a horde of monsters that don’t belong within the human world. In hell itself, he meets a gentleman wearing white who provides him a magical fight gauntlet able to absorbing souls like a Dyson hoover, permitting Musashi to return to the world of the residing to proceed his bloody journey. It quickly turns into clear that the seemingly beneficiant previous man from hell is not the kind who bobs in a rocking chair and arms out sweets, however relatively the kind who’d fortunately chop your head off and gleefully dance in your corpse. Alongside the best way, Musashi meets new allies and much more enemies, and is pressured to return to phrases along with his personal shortcomings. So, fairly customary stuff.
Sadly, I am unable to say I am as enthusiastic in regards to the story as I’m in regards to the sport’s fight. The characters are typically forgettable, their motivations and backstories relatively banal, and the execution of the premise is as tried-and-tested and hackneyed because it will get at this stage. Proper initially of the sport, you get a glimpse of a playfulness and cinematic edge that then fully vanishes from the narrative till the ultimate third of the journey, and I am unable to assist however want the sport had held on to that playfulness a bit extra firmly than it does, as a result of there is no attention-grabbing substitute when it is absent. However positive, the narrative serves completely properly as a driving drive for the participant to push ahead, and the principle villain is suitably despicable to the extent that you simply not less than sit up for seeing him get a superb old style thrashing, and when that confrontation lastly occurs, I am not left upset.
Onimusha: Means of the Sword is not structured like an open-world sport or a strictly linear one, however is someplace in between. It is open however sectioned, with japanese Kyoto serving as the principle hub world to which you will return repeatedly all through your journey to undertake aspect quests, develop the explorable space and seek for improve sources on the planet’s many nooks and crannies. It is considerably harking back to the extra open ranges in, say, Resident Evil Village, although on a barely bigger scale. Often, Musashi is shipped out to different, extra linear ranges, and generally the participant even has to unravel the odd puzzle right here and there. Sadly, nonetheless, there is a lack of significant gameplay moments that do not contain fight. The very fact there are literally a number of puzzles within the sport has the unlucky impact of highlighting simply what’s lacking; I discover it unusual there’s been no ambition to spherical off the sport’s fantastic sword-fighting motion with tougher problem-solving parts.
The aspect quests are one other weak level right here, because it’s uncommon for them to contain something extra thrilling than backtracking to beforehand explored areas and slaying new enemies which have appeared there since your final go to. Onimusha: Means of the Sword is undoubtedly at its weakest if you’re not actively following the principle storyline, and this turns into an issue as round half of the 30 hours it took me to succeed in the sport’s finish credit had been spent on aspect actions. Nearly all of the sources you should unlock new and thrilling talents are earned by way of these, so it by no means seems like an inexpensive choice to ignore them. Sadly, the sport as an entire is characterised by relatively repetitive design, and this even extends to the sport’s strongest side: the bosses. You may face a few of them so many occasions that you’re going to be taught to beat them in your sleep. It is simply as properly that the bosses are completely good, as a result of while there is no denying that Capcom has reused them extensively, I by no means as soon as acquired uninterested in giving them a correct battering.
The central basis upon which Onimusha: Means of the Sword is constructed – the fight system on which your entire expertise is predicated – is as strong as bedrock, however the whole lot else, together with mission design, enemy selection, world construction, development, and degree design cannot fairly compete with the titans of the style. Sadly, the sport finds itself in a gaming panorama the place this form of expertise has been in abundance, and so it actually wanted to be distinctive in additional respects.
That mentioned, it is by no means really dangerous, and at its finest, it is completely incredible. I definitely want Capcom had managed to ship an entire package deal that measures up throughout the board, however I actually admire the strengths they show right here and may say with certainty they’ve created one of the best fight system in any sport I’ve performed thus far in 2026. For folks like me, that goes a really great distance, and Onimusha: Means of the Sword is a kind of video games I really like regardless of its apparent flaws and points.