Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review – A return to form

Today I bring an Onimusha: Way of the Sword review, I didn’t expect Capcom would revive this series, but it is a surprise I appreciate. From the first time I laid my eyes upon the game I really wanted to play it, and I’m glad to have been able to try it out on PC. For people who are new to the series, this has been a project that started way back in the PS2 era, and it was meant to be a take on an Ancient Japan Resident Evil type of game. Without going into many specifics, the series changed a lot each time it got a new entry, and it could never find stable footing.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is meant to be a simple introduction that does not require you to play the other ones. If you have never played an Onimusha game, worry not, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a great way to start this amazing series and many elements from the past managed to get well translated to the new one. The original PS2 entry was a fixed camera tank control game like classic Resident Evil games, and it had a pretty good reception because the story was quite intriguing. This one plays more like a Souls-like game with parries, dodges but in a more fluid way than the average Souls game, the sword fighting feels insane.

One thing I noticed in this one is that the tutorial was really well handled and woven into the plot, and its great for people who are new to the series. Perhaps it can overstay its welcome between all the cutscenes and things that happen, but the action really ramps up after that and the game lets you be yourself. While this might not be a game that I recommend for beginners, it also offers a difficulty mode for people who wish to only experience the plot. The plot is often one of the most important aspects of the series, and for those who might have noticed already we are playing as a new character.

Onimusha used to have a continuity of sorts, playing as Samonosuke, but now we are playing as Musashi, which may or may not be related to the Musashi we see in the Netflix show. Without going into details, the usual thing happens, after a fierce battle with demons we end up getting slaughtered and sent to hell. Yet that’s not the end of the journey, as we are giving a very powerful tool that will make our journey start, the Oni Gauntlet. The Oni Gauntlet is a constant in this series and it has taken over every character so far, and it also happens to be the way to devour Oni souls.

In Onimusha: Way of the Sword, despite playing some things safe with it, the Gauntlet brings more utility overall than in other entries, as it really feels like the strongest version yet. Slaying demons becomes a possibility for Musashi once he wields it and through our journey we will find other wielders of different Oni Gauntlet’s. Our mission? Defending Kyoto from the Genma Invasion that is about to break out, even if we have to put our humanity on the line, great power doesn’t come for free after all.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword plays like a character action game, but that does not mean you are someone invincible that cannot be defeated, there will be bosses that will stand in your way and can prove to be quite difficult but also the most rewarding part of the game. Since we are slaying Oni, popular figures like Shuten Doji and others will stand in our way to make our mission impossible, as Kyoto is filled with tons of malice that attracts these demons. Thankfully, we have a wide array of upgrades we can use, weapons, and also moves in our arsenal that will help us topple the mightiest of foes.

I personally didn’t feel like I struggled much, even if I was playing in the intended difficulty, the Hozuki acts as an Estus, and provided you keep a safe distance from your enemy you can outlast them. If you managed to live through games like the first Dark Souls, then this one might be more of the same for you aside from its story and mechanics. However, if you are someone new to gaming that needs a challenge I genuinely recommend you getting Onimusha: Way of the Sword. There’s too much to love, respect towards the older games in the series too, and while the game has FSR/DLSS enabled by default you can disable it and it runs well.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is truly an impressive creation made with RE Engine, and it feels like this time they managed to optimize various quirks the engine dealt with. Considering the current state of game releases, I thought it would be neat to mention this in the review. I run an AM4 build, and if I disable AMD FSR the game still runs well for me, although I wouldn’t say my build is bad, I would neither say that it is some top of the end machine. I’m happy that the team at Capcom managed to pull this off.

Speaking of graphics, the game’s photorealistic aesthetic looks impressive, and Capcom keeps surprising us with their expressive 3D models with high polygon count, along with textures and lightning that really feel amusing, although it does kinda look like most modern games. The artists behind Onimusha: Way of the Sword should be proud of what they have accomplished even if it could have been a bit more. I got surprised multiple times through the game at the level of expression some characters managed to show, and even if it might feel a bit uncanny it still is a mind blowing display of tech and artisan skill.

It is quite a long game however, don’t expect to finish this one in a sitting, which makes the value proposition even more tempting, and considering Capcom has been on a hot streak of great releases there is not many reasons on why you would skip Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Even if it felt more like an action movie with a bit of substance, the Onimusha series never really had this grand lore and genre defying characters, but it does not need to have them. Onimusha at its core always felt like an action movie, no matter if it was originally constrained to tank controls or still camera angles with pre-rendered graphics.

We could call Onimusha: Way of the Sword a true evolution in the series, and speaking about that, another great thing to note is that it really has many accessibility features, such as adjusting color palettes for people with Color Blindness, among others. Not many games do this but the fact that it is becoming a trend means that more people can have access to great titles like this. Despite some minor issues with a bit of uncanny valley, and the fact that this game also has Denuvo, I would consider it one of Capcom’s great releases this year.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review – Verdict

[Editor’s Note: Onimusha: Way of the Sword was reviewed on PC and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]