Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Review - Die By The Sword... In The Best Ways Possible
Everything Capcom touches right now is turning to gold. Since the launch of Resident Evil VII almost a decade ago, we’ve seen almost every game to come out of the publisher release to widespread acclaim, and the fortunes of Capcom, which had been struggling optically leading into that 2017 release, completely turned around for the better. In that time, as well as the successes experienced by some of their biggest IP like Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter, Capcom delivered exceptional new IP, like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and Pragmata, and have also blown the dust off others, leading to the return of Mega Man, Ace Attorney, Dragon’s Dogma, Devil May Cry, and now, Onimusha. Onimusha: Way Of The Sword marks the franchise’s first new entry in two decades and takes bold steps in a new direction, both narratively and in gameplay. In doing so, Capcom has developed yet another hit; Way Of The Sword is an exemplary example of what the beloved PS2 action-adventure games could be in the modern day. Capcom, you’ve done it again.
For those who were previously unacquainted with the franchise, Onimusha: Way Of The Sword is the ideal jumping-on point. While the easter eggs and references through enemy types and key items are present, Onimusha: Way Of The Sword is otherwise a completely fresh take on the franchise, and the reboot that the franchise absolutely needed. Players assume the role of Miyamoto Musashi, a young, arrogant samurai, who enters Kyoto to find challenges to improve his swordsmanship, and finds those challenges, but not in the way he had expected. After being comprehensively bested in combat, Musashi awakens to find that he had died, been reborn, and is now outfitted with a special gauntlet that possesses incredible power. The demonic object that he must now carry keeps him alive, but also needs feeding, and so the souls of the demonic Genma will do nicely. It’s also home to a mysterious woman named Shizuka who changes thes the newly reborn life of Musashi forever. As his story collides with greater powers that seek to unleash complete destruction upon the world, it becomes clear to Musashi that he must now abandon his own wishes, for the sake of something much greater, setting the stage for an expansive 18-20 hour adventure that will leave the player hooked.
Although the dialogue isn’t exceptional, often dropping language in unnecessary and forced places, and including some clumsily written other components, the overall direction of the game’s plot is absolutely on the money. Well-written games present a tension for the player, where they’re fighting between exploring the world, its side-quests, and other objectives, and constant being tempted to return to the golden path – Onimusha: Way Of The Sword does this extremely well.
But that isn’t all to say that the world doesn’t hit the mark either. While not a full-blown open world, Onimusha: Way Of The Sword presents the player with a range of engaging side-quests and a large, non-linear playspace to explore them in. It is a well-balanced world, one that places its primary objective just slightly ahead of your nose to tempt you to see what comes next, but also drops some smaller, quite accessible, and equally fascinating side-missions to complete, or combat encounters to partake in to provide you with something else to dabble in.
Ultimately, no matter the direction you go in, almost every choice you make steers you towards combat with the Genma, and it’s the aspect of the game where Way Of The Sword shines its brightest. No matter what difficulty level you choose to set the game to, players will ultimately still need to meet the game at its level, learning to parry, mastering your various other skills that are slowly drip-fed into the mix as the game progresses, all with the goal of smiting as many Genma as you can. Standard encounters can be mashed through in relatively quick time, but should you find yourself tackling a few waves of enemies, spawned by a nearby rift, or in a boss encounter, you will need to take a more balanced approach. Raw aggression will be punished, but so will poor timing, so each encounter requires the player to learn the movement patterns of the opponent and step in and out of the fray with careful consideration. The feeling of sticking the timing, breaking through the defences, and cashing in on the opportunity is immensely satisfying but is equally matched by the piercing feeling of your own defences being penetrated. Like previous Onimusha games, sucking up the souls of fallen Genma is the key to replenishing health, stamina, and even some of your additional abilities, so pulling those souls to you, while navigating an encounter, can also be another challenge, where the distraction or desperation can also be punished. The game is constantly asking you to walk the line of choice and consequence in combat, and is quite happy to punish you for making the wrong decision.
The range of enemy types is admittedly quite limited, with some small variations giving you some mildly different ways to engage with the smaller enemies, but it’s with the game’s bosses where the enemy design is at its best. Each boss throws some different curveballs at you, and throughout the different stages of the encounter, they evolve to test you and your stamina in different ways. Upon besting them, the game will offer you the opportunity to revisit these bosses to tackle them at different difficulty levels and for fresh rewards. All of this is done from your base temple in Kyoto, where you can also upgrade your charms, utilise one of the many fast travel spirit mirrors to upgrade your weapons, armour and skills, or replenish your health items and other resources before returning to the heat of combat once more.
The dilapidated and overrun world of Kyoto and its adjacent zones is something to behold. Once again, the RE engine is on full show, with stunning art design pairing with incredible technology to leave you in awe of the Onimusha: Way Of The Sword experience. Even in the destruction, there is beauty to be found around every corner. The explosions of colour from erupting souls are striking against the broken-down world, while interior environments still evoke a warmth that shouldn’t be there given the dangers that lurk menacingly around every corner. One element that falls a bit flat is in the game’s voicework. When you’ve had the opportunity to play games like Ghost Of Tsushima/Yotei, and you hear the quality of the voicework, you’ll find it hard to adjust to the English accent hoisted upon the Japanese samurai that is Musashi. Pair that with the aforementioned writing, and you’ll feel like Capcom could’ve done a lot more to immerse the player in this aspect of the experience. Beyond this, though, all other elements of the audio experience are fantastic, from the sound effects that reflect the clashing of swords or the piercing of a blade through skin, to the breeze and other remnants of an untainted nature that remain; all are fantastically realised.
Onimusha: Way Of The Sword might be your first opportunity to check out this 20+ year old franchise, but I can recommend it to you as highly as I would recommend it to pre-existing fans. Capcom has once again delivered another exceptional gameplay and narrative experience, and while there are still some small rough edges present, it’s a game I kept thinking about constantly when I wasn’t playing, and felt eager to go back to, just to see what would happen next, and to bust through the next wave of Genma. Musashi’s story is an enthralling one, and one I cannot recommend much higher.
Onimusha: Way Of The Sword was reviewed on PS5 with a code kindly provided by Capcom.
