Onimusha: Way of the Sword came out on 4 September and marks the series’ return, and it’s a game I loved as much as I hated. Capcom delivers a deliberately old-school action game, built around demanding combat and genuinely well-crafted bosses. The rest doesn’t keep up, with a Kyoto that’s narrower than you’d hope, enemies that repeat, and side quests that start to loop fast. How much you’ll enjoy it depends almost entirely on what you came for.
At a glance
Combat built on timing, parries and counters is the game’s biggest success.
Bosses demand you learn their attacks and deliver the best moments of the adventure.
A small bestiary, a compact Kyoto and repetitive side quests hold the whole thing back.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s combat rewards precision
The basics click quickly, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword gets genuinely interesting once you realise it values reading your opponent far more than aggression. You watch the incoming attack, choose between a parry and a dodge, and strike at the right moment. Everything comes down to timing.
And at the heart of the system sits the counter: land an action at exactly the right moment and you deal huge damage, bringing enemies down far faster than a string of regular hits would. That counter is what gives Onimusha: Way of the Sword its whole flavour. When it lands, every win feels earned, and precision really pays off.
On top of that foundation, Onimusha: Way of the Sword adds modern progression with weapons, skills and upgrades to unlock. The system is a familiar one, but it gives you a good reason to explore and to come back to fights with new tools.
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Bosses that justify the trip on their own
If I had to keep one memory of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, it would be the bosses. Each one makes you study its combos, spot its openings and use everything the combat system allows. You’ve got to learn their patterns and master the mechanics to beat them, and that’s what makes every win so satisfying.
Visually, the game’s solid overall, but it’s during these fights that the effects and animations get the most care. That’s where the game shows its very best.
Two difficulty levels for two kinds of players
Difficulty depends heavily on the mode you pick, which is good news if demanding games put you off. Story mode, as Game Informer explained in its piece on the easy mode, reduces the damage you take, widens parry windows and shows on screen which button to press and when. It’s a smart way to teach parrying to players who usually steer clear of it. Action mode, on the other hand, asks for real mastery.
Want even more? A tougher mode exists, but it only unlocks after you’ve finished the game once, as PC Gamer reported. So the starting choice is simple: Story to discover the game, Action to test yourself against it.
Kyoto looks great but feels too narrow
This is where my enthusiasm drops, because Kyoto boils down to a set of fairly compact areas linked by a few branching paths. The game’s very linear, even if some districts give you a little more freedom.
Exploring lets you pick up loot, upgrade your gear and take on side activities, but there isn’t much of it. Side missions are too alike, with several objectives built on the same mechanics, and eventually you end up doing them out of obligation rather than curiosity.
Even the setting sometimes lacks variety, with streets and props that keep coming back. Regular enemies go the same way: the bestiary is fairly small, and ordinary fights get repetitive well before the end.
Musashi and the Onimusha legacy
Where the game does hold firm is its identity, clinging tightly to the spirit of the older Onimusha titles in the tone, the combat and the demons, with more modern progression layered on top. For a longtime fan, that return feels comforting.
For its hero, Capcom picked Miyamoto Musashi and gave him the face of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune, a process the studio described in an interview with Game Informer. It’s a bold choice and the character has huge potential, but in my view his writing lacks depth, and his motivations aren’t always clear.
The storytelling is approachable, more direct than a soulslike, with supporting characters who get real screen time, so you can follow the plot without effort.
Who Onimusha: Way of the Sword is for
If you love action games where every fight is won by reading your opponent and nailing the timing, Onimusha: Way of the Sword gives you exactly what you’re after, especially in its boss battles. Fans of the older entries will also recognise an identity they know well, with weapons, skills and upgrades that bring the formula up to date.
And if you’re less comfortable with demanding games, Story mode, with its on-screen prompts and wider parry windows, lets you enjoy the adventure without hitting a wall, while Action mode is there when you want to step things up. If what draws you to an action game is exploring a big world and tackling varied quests, though, this one may well fall short for you. The structure simply wasn’t built for that kind of player.
A million sales and a strong Steam reception
Capcom announced on Steam on 8 September that Onimusha: Way of the Sword had sold more than a million copies worldwide on launch day. On Steam, the game showed 29,614 reviews on 17 October, 26,950 of them positive, which works out at 91% and a “Very Positive” rating. The store page also carries Metacritic’s score of 83 out of 100 for the PC version.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword costs £59.99 on Steam, where the demo is still listed for free. Capcom says keeping the demo’s save data earns a bonus in the full game, although your playthrough still starts from the beginning.
My verdict on Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a deliberately traditional action game, and its three pillars, combat, bosses and the series’ identity, all land, with the combat above all being what I liked most. Still, repetitive enemies and quests, limited exploration and an overly compact Kyoto keep it from being the big comeback it could have been.
In the end, I’d recommend it first and foremost for its combat and its bosses, knowing you’ll have to accept a world that’s narrower and more repetitive than you’d like. For anyone who lives for pure action, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is well worth your time.
| What we like | What we like a lot less |
|---|---|
| Combat that’s easy to pick up, built on timing, parries and dodges | A small bestiary and enemies that keep coming back |
| Well-crafted bosses that make you read their patterns | A compact, linear Kyoto where exploration stays limited |
| Two difficulty modes for two kinds of players, with a smart Story mode | A Musashi with huge potential but not enough depth in the writing |
| The identity of the older Onimusha games, with modern progression | |
| What might make you buy itThe counter system, which rewards every well-timed action | What might put you offRepetition: enemies, side quests and settings come back too often |
To see what’s landing over the next few weeks, the Hitbox release calendar lists every date with its official source.