Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Genre: Action

Players: 1

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Review:

After a 20 year-long hiatus (the last new entry in the Onimusha series came out in 2006 on the PlayStation 2), Capcom has revived the Onimusha series from the dead with the release of Onimusha: Way of the Sword in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, but far from a throwback to those decades-old games, this feels like a blend of old and new.

I always felt like the original Onimusha was something of a halfway point between the Horror-focused early Resident Evil games and the action-focused Devil May Cry series (indeed, both Onimusha and Devil May Cry were originally conceived as Resident Evil games), and I think that may have been to its detriment – those players who wanted Horror would generally be better-served by the Resident Evil games, and those who wanted Action would likely gravitate toward Devil May Cry… so where does that leave Onimusha?

It seems that Capcom may have finally hit on an answer with this revival of the franchise, because it takes that blend of elements and adds a third ingredient: a healthy helping of “Soulslike”-style combat. The result is something that now feels distinctly different from its two sister series, while still feeling like an extension of the earlier Onimusha games.

Set in feudal Japan, Onimusha follows a fictionalized version of real-life swordsman Miyamoto Musashi who is revived from the dead by a magical gauntlet that can sap the souls of defeated “genma” monsters, and is enlisted to fight these monsters. Of course, it’s a bit more complicated than that, with a mysterious man involved with some ulterior motive, as well as a vicious rival swordsman also gifted a gauntlet.

Gameplay involves players working their way through mostly-linear environments with occasional hidden secrets and branching paths, mowing down monsters they encounter. This is done with combat that seems slower than past entries in the series, but feels more methodical, with a heavy focus on blocking, deflecting, parrying, and dodging to tire enemies before taking them down with your attacks.

Players can generally button-mash their way through standard mooks, but the moment you first encounter a significant enemy or especially boss, you’ll need to show more restraint and economy with your moves, as attacks can leave you open for retaliation if you don’t prioritize exhausting enemies first. Once you get a feel for this, combat becomes much more tactical in a way that’s really satisfying, though it can be frustrating when you’re still trying to figure out the timing, or how to respond to a new enemy’s attack.

While players may have some concern as to how well this game manages to hold up on Nintendo Switch 2, being released day-and-date with versions on other modern platforms, and I can tell these players they needn’t worry – the Nintendo Switch 2 version of this game looks fantastic, and doesn’t show any obvious signs of being a compromised port at all. This is an absolutely gorgeous game with detailed environments, beautiful lighting, atmospheric fog, wonderful visual effects, extremely detailed and well-animated characters… this is one of the best-looking games on Nintendo Switch 2 so far.

By default, the Nintendo Switch 2 version is locked to 30FPS framerates, but going into the options menu and unlocking this seems to result in much smoother framerates the majority of the time, with only the briefest of dips at busy moments. The only real complaints I have here are I think the water could stand to look better, and I noticed a tiny bit of pop-in every now and then… but honestly, these are minor nitpicks in a game that looks stunningly good.

The sound here is great too. Musashi has a wonderfully sardonic attitude that really shines through his voiced dialogue, and although he occasionally utters some out-of-place anachronisms, he overall gives the impression of a highly-skilled warrior who knows he outclasses his opponents. Other characters here are similarly well-voiced too, with rival swordsman Ganryu sounding particularly unhinged. Players looking for something more authentic-sounding have the option of swapping to Japanese-voiced dialogue, but honestly I found the English voices to be great, personally. And all of this is backed by a soundtrack that goes back and forth between atmospheric and cinematic, with an appropriate amount of traditional Japanese instruments to ground it in the game’s setting – everything here is well-done.

In terms of complaints, I do feel like the restrictive environments can make the camera frustrating at times, and on occasion it’s not completely clear where you’re meant to go. And I’ve already mentioned how new enemies and bosses can be frustrating to tackle when it’s not clear at first how you’re meant to counter their attacks. Finally, I think the Nintendo Switch 2 release botches a great feature – you can opt to use gyroscopic motion control for aiming your bow and arrow, which is fantastic… but doing so means you also have to enable gyroscopic motion control for sword attacks. Yeah, you can’t use gyro aiming without turning on “waggle”. Thanks, I’ll just go without.

Overall, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is an excellent Action game. I definitely don’t think it’s going to be for everyone, and less-skilled players or those who balk at “Soulslike”-style combat will probably find this one isn’t to their liking. But overall this is a brilliant revival of this franchise, and one that truly shines on Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – Onimusha: Way of the Sword revives the long-dead Onimusha franchise with a new entry that infuses “Soulslike”-style combat into the gameplay, and the result is a game that truly stands on its own as a great Action game, and one with absolutely stunning graphics and presentation on Nintendo Switch 2. It’s not without its flaws, and this style of gameplay won’t be for everyone, but if you’re a fan of tougher Action games, this is definitely one you’ll want to pick up.

Grade: B+

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