With so many high-profile, major publisher games set in Feudal Japan these days, it’s actually quite hard to find a mechanic or a unique selling point to make them stand out from one another. Even though I absolutely love this premise, there was a point so many games were coming out with a similar premise, I couldn’t even bother checking them out. Case and point, Koei Tecmo’s Rise of Ronin. But we’re talking about Capcom, a company that is simply unable to make a game that isn’t an absolute banger. They had a perfect solution to make their own game in such a saturated subniche stand out: they just needed to bring their own Onimusha franchise back from the dead.

And so they did. The first brand-new game in the series in twenty years. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is yet another showcase from a company that can’t stop winning. It isn’t a sequel to the PS2 games, nor a blatant reboot of said story. It doesn’t retain the same gameplay as its predecessors, opting for something much bigger, much more ambitious. And yet, it 100% feels like an Onimusha game. Possibly the best Onimusha game ever made. We have another mandatory masterpiece you need to acquire in 2026.

Playing as Toshiro Mifune in a Japanese game is like if you could play as Marlon Brando in a Western game.

Your typical Onimusha game always revolves around fictional interpretations of real-life Sengoku-era personalities fighting against hordes of “Genma”, a bunch of zombie and/or demons hellbent on conquering the world of the living after managing to conquer hell itself. The protagonist is usually a high-profile hero from the Feudal era, bearing the likeness of a famous Japanese actor, who’s chosen to become an Onimusha: a demon hunter imbued with oni-like powers and a special gauntlet capable of absorbing and taking advantage of the souls of fallen enemies.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is basically that, but with a new protagonist and a totally new setting. Instead of Samanosuke Akechi or Jubei (or Jean Reno’s Jacques, for that matter), you play as one of the most important figures of Japan’s Sengoku era, the real life legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Moreover, this version of Musashi is fully inspired by the protagonists from Akira Kurosawa’s movies, such as The Hidden Fortress, The Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo. To the point that he bears the likeness of the man who actually starred in all of these films, the late Toshiro Mifune. Arguably the greatest actor in the history of Japanese cinema, this is basically the equivalent of having a gaming hero bearing the likeness of prime era Marlon Brando.

I mean… yeah, he’s not wrong, that’s a perfect summary of the game’s overall premise.

The game’s plot doesn’t revolve around Oda Nobunaga, the villain from the PS2-era games. It is set years after those titles, with Miyamoto Musashi becoming a reluctant hero after being killed by the aforementioned Genma during an ambush, and being revived after having the Onimusha gauntlet grafted onto his arm against his will. This is a story about a ronin figuring out his purpose in life, learning to understand the dangers his world is facing due to the Genma invasion, and understand the stakes and perils of his journey. A lazy bum of a protagonist at first, Miyamoto Musashi progressively grows throughout the game’s plot, in a likeable and incredibly well-performed manner.

Onimusha games have always had a complex story, but rarely have they felt anything other than an excuse for you to go out and kill demons with a katana. They have always had fantastic premises, but so-so plots and characters. Onimusha: Way of the Sword isn’t like its predecessors, or like most Capcom games in recent memory. This game is funny when it needs to be, it’s absolutely pants-ruining scary at the right moment, emotional at the right times, and incredibly action-packed throughout nearly most of its runtime. Its cast of characters is varied, well-written, and with each supporting member having his/her own time to shine alongside Musashi, as well as the story’s delightfully disgusting antagonists.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s cutscenes are just staggering.

This is a magnificent showcase of Capcom’s current artistic capabilities. I am convinced that, during its cinematic cutscenes, Onimusha: Way of the Sword features the most realistic character movements and facial animations in all of gaming. I cannot think of a single title with more realistic facial expressions. Voice acting is also sublime, and the same can be said about the score, which, as expected, features a plethora of traditional Japanese instruments from the time, such as shamisen and koto. The game also manages to blend traditional Feudal-era architecture with the occasional Oni world level, ensuring a constant stream of varied and original level designs, never feeling too repetitive, too dull, too realistic for its own good.

As a wise man once said, the best defense is a good offense.

That said, the jaw dropping cutscenes and the actual gameplay visuals aren’t quite on the same level. There’s a noticeable graphical downgrade once you’re given free rein to explore and slash to your heart’s content. This kind of disparity used to be completely normal in the gaming industry, but it’s become so rare nowadays that seeing it in Onimusha: Way of the Sword almost feels odd.

Don’t get me wrong, though. Even with the clear downgrade in lighting effects and facial animations during gameplay, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is still a gorgeous experience. It’s the kind of visual showcase that only a powerhouse like the RE Engine can deliver, even if the difference between its cinematic and playable moments is more apparent than I expected.

Some out-of-this-world facial animations.

But let’s talk about what really matters: the gameplay. Older Onimusha games were fixed-camera action titles inspired by old-school Resident Evil games. Despite the focus on fast-paced hacking and slashing, they have always featured cramped corridors and a sensation of claustrophobia when dealing against the Genma. As iconic as that gameplay loop was back in the day, it certainly hasn’t aged well. Devil May Cry used to feature the same gameplay style, and roughly a very similar combat system, and it was also able to evolve with its sequels. Onimusha: Way of the Sword does NOT follow the Devil May Cry formula, however. As for as much as I absolutely love that franchise, I feel like this is for the best. It is its own thing, and boy, is it FANTASTIC.

Instead, Onimusha: Way of the Sword opted for a more “traditional” action-adventure movement and exploration system, coupled with a unique combat mechanic that reminded me of a few other games. Ultimately, it ends up acting like its own thing due to the sheer amount of elements borrowed from elsewhere. It has a bit of Sekiro, a bit of Ghost of Tsushima, a tiny bit of modern Resident Evil, as well as bits and pieces from old-school Onimusha. The result: something new, something else, but still pure bliss.

What if I told you this one of the easier bosses.

I am not exaggerating when I say that Onimusha: Way of the Sword has one of the most entertaining combat systems I have ever experienced in a video game. It’s a mixture of parrying, dodging, reading your enemies’ moves in a split second, using their attacks against them, and occasionally just being aggressive like a complete lunatic. The game actually rewards you for taking the initiative in a duel, so aggression can be just as important as patience and timing. The parrying and balance systems from Sekiro are present, but this is not a Soulslike. It’s tough as nails like one, for sure, but the combat has a different rhythm and feel altogether. There’s an incredible sense of weight behind every slash, arguably even more so than in FromSoftware’s title, making every successful strike, counter, and parry feel immensely satisfying.

You can, and will be incentivized, to finish off one enemy after the other, in succession, after depleting their stamina through a combination of arrow shots, magical Oni weaponry, crowd control movements, items scattered on the floor, and your own sword combos. The fact that you can actually parry an attack not only by pressing the block button at the right time, but also by pressing the ATTACK button at the right moment, means that both aggressive and methodical players can have a blast with Onimusha: Way of the Sword‘s mechanics. There’s even a bit of stealth, but I don’t think that it’s anywhere near as rewarding as just picking a fight face-to-face against a Genma with a big katana.

I’m not the biggest fan of this open world setting, but it does have quite a lot of things to do.

In true Onimusha fashion, regular mobs are easy to kill, but bosses are infuriatingly difficult. The funny thing is that, once you learn their attack patterns and figure out the right moments to strike, dodge, or block, a battle that initially felt downright impossible can suddenly be beaten without you taking a single hit. The bosses themselves are quite varied, both in terms of design and how you’re expected to deal with them. My only real complaint is that one or two of them make a few too many comeback appearances throughout the campaign.

However, I do have a qualm with the game’s campaign. There is one thing about Onimusha: Way of the Sword that feels completely pointless. You see, once the game starts, you are directly thrown into a series of linear levels which are incredibly well-designed, beautiful to look at, and perfectly paced, with the right distribution of checkpoints, increasingly difficult enemies, and one or two bosses you have to deal with before the end of the chapter…

You can tone down the level of blood, gore and dismemberments, or even turn them off. But for real, why would you?

Once that is over, however, you’ll realize that Onimusha: Way of the Sword is actually an open world game. Miyamoto Musashi is sent back to Kyoto, and you can (and will be told to) explore the city, looking for side quests, hidden treasure, an optional boss here and there, and a bunch of enemies scattered through the streets, as if they were urban ruffians. You have to go through a series of canonical sections set in this somewhat repetitive open world before being transported back to yet another absolutely perfect linear level.

Now, I ended up learning to like Kyoto, as it’s filled with secret items and puzzles to unlock, as well as tons of interesting fights. Some of the best bosses in the game are actually set in this open area, so Capcom was actually able to make this bloated mess of a map interesting and worth your time. The thing is… I honestly feel like Onimusha: Way of the Sword could and should have been even better had it been a more straightforward, linear game, maybe one with the occasional slightly more open ended area before the end of a chapter, like how Capcom does with most modern Resident Evil games.

One of this game’s main side-quests is searching for and rescuing sacred lion dogs. I’d never be able to say no to such a task.

Make no mistake, though. This is annoying, sure, but nothing I could actually call a deal-breaker. As previously mentioned, most of my issues with this game are qualms. The striking difference between cutscene and gameplay graphics is noticeable, but the game is always beautiful, no matter the situation. Likewise, I wish it wasn’t open ended, as its linear sections are just too good, but there’s enough to do in Kyoto to make it worth exploring. I don’t think I will ever bother going for a 100% achieve rate, as many side quests only grant you with crafting materials or cosmetics, but there’s always something interesting to unveil in this game’s unnecessarily big map.

And it sure is, Musashi! It sure is!

I haven’t embraced its open world map quite as much as Capcom probably hoped I would, but those are minor issues. All in all, despite my already sky-high expectations, Onimusha: Way of the Sword ended up being even better than I could have anticipated. By borrowing elements from pretty much every acclaimed samurai game out there, it somehow manages to create a gameplay loop that feels entirely like its own thing. It’s got heart, it’s a feast for the eyes, and it boasts one of the best combat systems I’ve experienced in recent memory. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is yet another successful hit from Capcom, a company that, at this point, seems downright allergic to churning out anything but a banger.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available now on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Onimusha: Way of the Sword was provided by the publisher.