Onimusha: Way of the Sword was unveiled during The Game Awards late last year. Just six months later, Capcom invited us to check out a behind-the-scenes demo of the game, and it’s really shaping up to be another hit.
If you read my review of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, I mentioned that while it’s admirable that Capcom elected to stay tried and true with a 1-for-1 remaster, it would be tough to bring in new fans with that release simply because a lot of its issues, such as prerendered backgrounds, were a product of the times. Right off the bat, I can tell you that Way of the Sword is a much more streamlined experience that isn’t held back by having to transition from screen to screen.
The demo immediately showed off its depth at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, taking place in third person with the camera positioned behind the protagonist Musashi, who’s modeled after the late Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. As Musashi ventures closer to the temple, a red looming cloud can be seen in the distance, and the only way to get rid of it is to defeat all the demons, known as genma in the game.
Way of the Sword is looking quite slick in the RE Engine.
This is where the gameplay in Way of the Sword was shown off. Soul absorption, guarding, skills, and the Issen one-hit counter all make a return in the game, and they all look the way we’d expect them to look in modern AAA title. For those unacquainted, every time you kill an enemy in Onimusha, colored orbs called souls are available to collect by holding onto a face button. They come in three colors — blue for power skills, yellow for health, and red for experience points. Not only can souls disappear after a period of time, new to the game is enemies’ ability to absorb those souls too and use them for their own advantage, which can be a problem, so it’s usually best to suck the souls up (assuming they’re yellow), as soon as possible.
Not surprisingly, the person playing the demo was quite smooth, guarding, dodging, and countering enemy attacks rather flawlessly. There was no real reason to even use the protagonist’s powered up state. The one ability in basic combat that looked unfamiliar was the redirect. When used against ranged attacks, projectiles can be reflected, which can be used to bring down an enemy’s guard significantly, making them even more vulnerable to the various combos you’ll have in the game.
Way of the Sword also looks to have a bit of puzzle solving, which shouldn’t be a surprise when you consider all the puzzles in previous Onimusha titles. In Way of the Sword, you’ll be able to look into the “Dark Mass” which allows you to look into the past when you’re at a tough spot. When looking through the Dark Mass in the demo, we saw instances of citizens walking to their deaths because they’d end up thrown off the temple or some other sense of mass murder. As we’re guided through this rough-but-old situation, we see the path blocked by a rope that could been taken care of in the present world.
Sasaki Ganryu is shaping up to be quite a menacing boss in Way of the Sword.
After seeing Musashi plow through the path to the temple, we were treated to a boss fight against a samurai that looked quite conniving in Sasaki Ganryu. Again, the person handling the demo was quite smooth with Musashi’s defense, but we did catch a pretty cool detail as Ganryu dropped his guard. When you stagger a boss, you have the option to focus on specific parts of the enemy’s body, which affects the way the boss handles fighting you moving forward. I’m unsure if going after one or the other really adds a noticeably difference when compared to each other, but it was definitely a wrinkle I’d like to see more in action.
We did see more against another monster of a boss in Byakue, but it was still difficult to see if there was a reason to attack one part of the boss or another. The bottom line is the boss is weakened, and it leads to a decisive victory, and it’ll definitely be something we’ll play close attention to once we get our own hands on the game.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is planned for a release next year on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. We’ll definitely have more on the game as move forward.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword was unveiled during The Game Awards late last year. Just six months later, Capcom invited us to check out a behind-the-scenes demo of the game, and it’s really shaping up to be another hit.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword was unveiled during The Game Awards late last year. Just six months later, Capcom invited us to check out a behind-the-scenes demo of the game, and it’s really shaping up to be another hit.
If you read my review of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, I mentioned that while it’s admirable that Capcom elected to stay tried and true with a 1-for-1 remaster, it would be tough to bring in new fans with that release simply because a lot of its issues, such as prerendered backgrounds, were a product of the times. Right off the bat, I can tell you that Way of the Sword is a much more streamlined experience that isn’t held back by having to transition from screen to screen.
The demo immediately showed off its depth at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, taking place in third person with the camera positioned behind the protagonist Musashi, who’s modeled after the late Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. As Musashi ventures closer to the temple, a red looming cloud can be seen in the distance, and the only way to get rid of it is to defeat all the demons, known as genma in the game.
Way of the Sword is looking quite slick in the RE Engine.
This is where the gameplay in Way of the Sword was shown off. Soul absorption, guarding, skills, and the Issen one-hit counter all make a return in the game, and they all look the way we’d expect them to look in modern AAA title. For those unacquainted, every time you kill an enemy in Onimusha, colored orbs called souls are available to collect by holding onto a face button. They come in three colors — blue for power skills, yellow for health, and red for experience points. Not only can souls disappear after a period of time, new to the game is enemies’ ability to absorb those souls too and use them for their own advantage, which can be a problem, so it’s usually best to suck the souls up (assuming they’re yellow), as soon as possible.
Not surprisingly, the person playing the demo was quite smooth, guarding, dodging, and countering enemy attacks rather flawlessly. There was no real reason to even use the protagonist’s powered up state. The one ability in basic combat that looked unfamiliar was the redirect. When used against ranged attacks, projectiles can be reflected, which can be used to bring down an enemy’s guard significantly, making them even more vulnerable to the various combos you’ll have in the game.
Way of the Sword also looks to have a bit of puzzle solving, which shouldn’t be a surprise when you consider all the puzzles in previous Onimusha titles. In Way of the Sword, you’ll be able to look into the “Dark Mass” which allows you to look into the past when you’re at a tough spot. When looking through the Dark Mass in the demo, we saw instances of citizens walking to their deaths because they’d end up thrown off the temple or some other sense of mass murder. As we’re guided through this rough-but-old situation, we see the path blocked by a rope that could been taken care of in the present world.
Sasaki Ganryu is shaping up to be quite a menacing boss in Way of the Sword.
After seeing Musashi plow through the path to the temple, we were treated to a boss fight against a samurai that looked quite conniving in Sasaki Ganryu. Again, the person handling the demo was quite smooth with Musashi’s defense, but we did catch a pretty cool detail as Ganryu dropped his guard. When you stagger a boss, you have the option to focus on specific parts of the enemy’s body, which affects the way the boss handles fighting you moving forward. I’m unsure if going after one or the other really adds a noticeably difference when compared to each other, but it was definitely a wrinkle I’d like to see more in action.
We did see more against another monster of a boss in Byakue, but it was still difficult to see if there was a reason to attack one part of the boss or another. The bottom line is the boss is weakened, and it leads to a decisive victory, and it’ll definitely be something we’ll play close attention to once we get our own hands on the game.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is planned for a release next year on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. We’ll definitely have more on the game as move forward.
by Danreb Victorio
