Thanks to the wonderful team at Capcom, I was given the opportunity to watch some gameplay with Onimusha: Way of the Sword. My initial impression is simply that Onimusha is back, and better than ever. As a huge Onimusha fan, this game will do the franchise justice. Let’s dive into what I saw during this preview.
We first begin the demo with our protagonist, Musashi, who we were told had the Oni gauntlet forced upon him. For what reason? We have no clue. However, he does understand that his destiny is to get rid of the Genma. His appearance is very cool, to say the least. He looks like a samurai, but mysterious in his own way. He hides his gauntlet under his cloak, as I got the impression that he does not want anyone to know about it (is this true? Time will tell). One thing was clear during this demonstration, and what was told to us is that Musashi is opposed to having the Gauntlet and utilizing its power. He only uses it as he needs to.
We then encountered some enemies, in which the battles took place. The battle is smooth as butter and very refined. Also, the visuals match it. During battle, Musashi would attack the enemies, where both his arms were exposed to see the gauntlet clearly as day. Classic moves like the Issen attack (the instant-kill quick move) make a return, and it moves smoothly as well. There is even an evolution to this as well, which is the Issen combo, where players can chain together Issen attacks for enemies close by one another.
While we did not get any hands-on time, the RE Engine does Onimusha justice. I was genuinely flabbergasted as to how good the combat was in this game. Additionally, the team that was playing the game was doing their best to show off all the combat mechanics. They did a fantastic job.
As the demo continues, the players are introduced to a new mechanic in the Onimusha games. This is known as the dark mass. Musashi uses his gauntlet to absorb the mass, which shows him the past events. During these past events, players will learn the story of the past, and the horrors that the Genma inflicted upon the land. This motivates Musashi to continue in his quest to stop the Genma. This happens at least one more time in the demo. From here, there is more combat that takes place. So, fighting enemies, absorbing their souls. That kind of cool stuff.
As the Dark Mass is absorbed, the spirit within the Gauntlet awakens slightly and talks to Musashi about events. She then eventually fades away. Eventually, we got to a point in the demo, which was the end area. A boss fight took place against Musashi’s rival. His name is Sasaki Ganryu. He also dons an Oni Gauntlet. However, there is a distinct difference between Musashi and Ganryu. While Musashi is opposed to the obtaining power from the Gauntlet, Ganryu embraces the power given to him.
During this battle, all the mechanics were shown as Musashi defeated his rival. Following this, the demo goes to one more area, which leads to another boss fight. After this boss fight, the demo ends.
In short, Onimusha is back, and from this gameplay demonstration, it is better than ever. Look forward to more news as it drops up until its release date in 2026.
Until next time, mgs2master2 out!
Once again, special thanks to the team at Capcom for inviting me to see the gameplay demonstration.