"Onimusha: Way of the Sword" Preview: Capcom still has it
"Onimusha: Way of the Sword" crowns an incredible year for Capcom. The wonderfully brutal sword adventure will be a feast for fans of Japanese action games.
What the hell is going on at Capcom? The Japanese studio has already released two GOTY contenders this year – "Resident Evil Requiem" and "Pragmata". In September, the company opens the gates of hell and unleashes all sorts of demonic scum upon the world with "Onimusha: Way of the Sword".
As part of a preview, I've already spent three hours slaughtering demons. I'm sure: "Onimusha" is Capcom's next big hit. Switch 2 players can also look forward to a nostalgic surprise.
Demon hunting with the soul vacuum cleaner
My preview build picks up where the already released "Onimusha" demo (for PS5, Xbox, and PC) leaves off. The protagonist Musashi beats up his arch-rival Ganryu in the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. After the work is done, I continue to explore the demon-infested temple complex and suddenly find myself in a nightmarish parallel world.
There, as befits an "Onimusha" game, the goal is to kill a lot of demons. "Onimusha: Way of the Sword" feels like an old-school action RPG. With sword and bow, I hack my way through hordes of enemies. I attack with quick or particularly powerful sword strikes, dodge with perfect timing, or parry enemy attacks with a counter. This way, I decimate the stamina bar of the ugly enemies – once it's empty, I unleash a devastating and wonderfully brutally staged finisher.
The Genma – as the demonic enemies are called – leave behind many colorful souls after their demise. Musashi sucks them up with his magical gauntlet. Red souls give me experience points, yellow souls fill my health bar, and I need blue souls to charge up particularly strong special attacks with my Oni weapon.
Sucking up the colored collectibles is very satisfying and makes my progress in the game more tangible. I think it's very cool that some bosses suck up swirling souls themselves if I'm not fast enough. This makes them stronger and stronger during the boss fight.
Is "Onimusha" too easy?
Even though all the souls and melee-focused combat inevitably bring Soulslike titles to mind, the game has little to do with the ultra-hard subgenre. There are no bonfires. The timing windows for blocking and parrying are surprisingly forgiving. I am not punished for my virtual demise – meaning I don't lose experience points and am completely spared from minutes-long walkbacks.
After the release of the "Onimusha" demo in June, some fans worried that Capcom's sword game would be too easy. The preview build initially confirms these concerns.
I play on the more difficult "Action Mode" (the easier difficulty is called "Story Mode") and easily hack my way through Genma hordes in the first half hour. The first boss fight, "Daidara, the Drooling Glutton," is also relatively easy. With the right strategy, the fat demon is history in no time.
After the boss fight, there are plenty of mobs again, which I fillet without problems. It takes about an hour and a half until I'm really challenged for the first time. I face a particularly nasty boss whose body consists of dozens of arms and hands: Rasho-gan. A disgusting and highly unpleasant fellow.
The difficulty spike is huge. I'm attacked with swords, projectiles, and magic, have to memorize attack patterns, and use my resources cleverly.
I die. And die. And die again, until I finally saw off the pathetic (pun intended) asshole with a spectacular finisher.
I feel similarly about the last boss fight of my preview demo. Byakue is a gorilla-like opponent with a giant axe. His grotesque fur consists of countless Japanese banishing slips and ritual papers, which become soaked in blood as he takes more damage.
Byakue also kicks my ass. From him, I learn how important it is to deplete enemy stamina bars with perfect counters. Wait, parry, counterattack. And repeat all of that until the finisher is unlocked.
Overall, my preview session was characterized by ultra-easy demon foot soldiers and challenging boss fights. I'm surprised by how big the delta is between the two enemy types. Will the regular enemies get stronger later in the game? Or will they remain cannon fodder where I can blow off steam after tough boss demons?
Even though the fluctuating difficulty still leaves me a bit puzzled, I'm confident that Capcom will find a good balance in the finished game. And the most important realization for me anyway is this: No matter whether I effortlessly hack through mobs or gnash my teeth on final bosses – every minute spent with the preview build, the successful combat system and soul-sucking are incredibly fun.
Linear Action and Sightseeing in Kyoto
Apart from the combat system, "Onimusha" follows the established formula that Capcom has already successfully implemented in "Resident Evil Requiem" and "Pragmata". The game offers mostly linear level sections with secrets hidden off the main path.
The puzzles are significantly simpler than in Capcom's zombie and sci-fi titles this year. Sometimes I activate switches with a bow and arrow, and sometimes I look for hidden items located in hard-to-reach places. The puzzles don't make your head smoke, but merely loosen up the pacing and action a bit.
I'm excited about the hub city of Kyoto in the finished game. There, in an open world, I'll complete smaller side quests for the residents in addition to my main mission. They suffer particularly badly from the demon plague. The further I progress in the story, the more city districts I unlock.
The city also serves as a stage for exciting stories that unfold step by step. For example, I learn that the demon Rasho-gan has corrupted a shrine. He appears as a deity who grants every wish expressed at the shrine – but in a terribly cruel way. A young girl wishes she never had to play the shamisen again. Thereupon, the demon chops off her fingers. An old man wants to be freed from his knee pain, so the demon takes his entire leg. I love such background stories and am curious to see what else the city will offer me.
Wii Nostalgia on the Switch 2
Note: All previous screenshots in the article are from the PS5 version. Below you will only see screenshots from the Switch 2 version.
At the end of the preview event, Capcom had a special surprise in store. I was allowed to test the Switch 2 version of "Onimusha: Way of the Sword" in handheld mode. If you've played "Resident Evil Requiem" or "Pragmata" on the Switch 2, you know what to expect. Capcom's RE Engine and Nintendo's handheld harmonize wonderfully.
In mobile mode, the game runs at 30 to 40 FPS and with upscaled 900p resolution. Capcom finds the right compromises to offer Nintendo fans an experience as equivalent as possible to stationary consoles. The visual identity of the title is maintained without major compromises.
In TV mode, "Onimusha" looks even better. Here too, the game runs at a lower framerate (also between 30 and 40 FPS) and resolution (1080p). However, if you don't look closely, you'll hardly notice any differences from the "big" PS5 version. It's amazing what's possible on such a small and comparatively inexpensive handheld.
Some impressions of the Switch 2 version (TV mode):
Apart from the graphical enjoyment, Capcom offers Nintendo fans a nostalgic control variant. The entire game can be played with motion controls. Yes, you read that right. The right Joy-Con acts as a sword. Depending on the direction I swing, I perform different types of attacks.
Playing it, nostalgic emotions wash over me. I feel transported back 20 years to when I first played "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" on the Wii. Oh man, I missed those waggle controls.
With the Joy-Con as a sword, the boss fights become even harder. Not because the controls are imprecise – the game reacts quickly and reliably to my inputs. The problem is that I need more time for attacks with the movements. Waggling just takes longer than pressing buttons.
So if you're afraid that "Onimusha" will be too easy, grab the Switch version with motion controls. I'm certainly looking forward to all the Joy-Con virtuosos who will unleash their rusty Wii waggle skills in crazy speedruns.
"Onimusha: Way of the Sword" will be released on September 4th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. Capcom invited me to the preview event in Hamburg and covered the travel costs. I played the PS5 Pro and Switch 2 versions.
My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
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