Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review

Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword delivers a demanding, parry-focused combat system and superb boss fights, though its side content feels like padding.

Capcom's Onimasha: Way of the Sword, a new action game based loosely on the life of legendary 16th-century swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, demands players master a reactive, parry-heavy combat system. According to a review by Eurogamer, the game can be completed in roughly 20 hours, or closer to 30 for completionists. For a deeper dive into the game's structure, you can check our fixtures page for related content.

A Philosophy of Combat

The game's combat is built around momentum and observation. Players perform an 'issen' counterstrike by readying an attack as an enemy strikes, which acts like a parry. Regular attack strings are described as under-powered filler moves.

Your most lethal attacks follow parries, deflections, or dodges. This creates longer, gruelling skirmishes where a single error can be fatal. The review states this approach fosters a more effective role-play of being a master swordsman than games like Nioh or Sekiro.

Capcom hired actual swordsmen to refine and motion capture the system. The reviewer notes it is a more effective role-play than anything encountered in Nioh or Wo Long or even Sekiro, describing it as more concerned with aptitude than acrobatics.

Demanding Visual Language

The game is described as hard. Enemy attacks are telegraphed with specific colours: red for undodgeable attacks, blue for dodge-only attacks, and flashes for deflect-only moves. The reviewer acknowledges some might dismiss these as simple 'Simon Says' cues. A more generous reading, however, is that Capcom uses this familiar visual language to craft high-stakes, fair, and tidal fights.

Success requires constant vigilance. Even basic enemies are animated with detailed telegraphs. The reviewer connects this to a maxim from Musashi's The Book of Five Rings: Pay attention even to trifles.

Pacing and Padding

When not fighting, players explore medium-sized areas and complete repetitive side missions. These involve finding items and hunting rogue 'genma' demons to empower Musashi, unlocking skills, weapon upgrades, and new skins. The reviewer argues the game would have benefitted from a more focused, linear approach, calling the side content dalliances and stating the legacy dungeons are more effective uses of time.

A 'Press R2 to see into the demon realm' button highlights objectives, speeding up exploration lulls. The reviewer suggests Capcom may have taken another Musashi maxim-Perceive those things, which cannot be seen-a bit too literally with this feature.

Story and Character

The game is driven by an intriguing story and compellingly watchable cutscenes directed in a style that tries to copy filmmaker Akira Kurosawa to great effect. The camera work, pacing, and timing are praised as superb. The reviewer also calls it one of the funniest games played in a long time, intentionally so.

The character of Musashi, modeled after the late actor Toshiro Mifune, is particularly praised. Capcom spent two years negotiating rights to use his likeness because he was considered the quintessential samurai action actor. The review highlights small character animations-a grimace, a sniff, a raised eyebrow-as contributing to an uncanny and believable portrayal of his charm and confidence.

For more on character details and development, visit our squad section.

Playtime and Value

The review provides the following estimates for completion time:

For the reviewer, 30 hours is the sweet spot for a combat system this demanding. Value is said to come not from breadth of content, but from the artistry of its fighting and boss design. A boss rush mode allows replaying fights with new gear, revealing new details. You can find detailed performance metrics and player stats on our stats page.

The review concludes that while some connective tissue is weak and pacing thin, Capcom has crafted a unique experience that insists on honest play and embodies Musashi's philosophies, merging narrative and mechanical storytelling.

Source: Eurogamer