It’s been twenty years since we got a completely new Onimusha game, and action-adventure games have changed quite a bit during that time. Bigger worlds, more systems, more things to collect and usually a map filled with icons telling you exactly where all of it is. Onimusha: Way of the Sword could have followed that same direction for its return. Instead, Capcom has made the kind of action-adventure I used to play all the time. There’s a story to follow, new locations to explore, plenty of demons standing in your way and some fantastic boss fights waiting at the end of it all. Simple? Maybe, but boy, am I glad Onimusha is back.
It helps that Miyamoto Musashi is such a fun character to follow. He finds himself caught up in a fight against the demonic Genma and receives the Oni Gauntlet, giving him the power to absorb their souls and fight back. The funny part is that Musashi doesn’t exactly behave like someone who has been waiting his entire life to save the world. He has a very dry sense of humor, regularly comments on the ridiculous situations he ends up in and has absolutely no problem shittalking the monsters he’s about to fight.
Musashi really doesn’t want this job
I liked Musashi almost immediately, and his animations deserve a lot of credit for that. His facial expressions are excellent and even small reactions during conversations can be funny. There’s something entertaining about watching everyone around him treat another supernatural disaster with the seriousness it deserves, only for Musashi to look like he would really prefer to be somewhere else. His companion adds a lot to those moments as well. Shizuka accompanies Musashi through the Oni Gauntlet and regularly talks to him during the adventure. Their conversations gave me some of the same feeling I used to get from companions in older Zelda games. Musashi is physically travelling alone, but there’s always someone there to react to what is happening, offer some guidance or simply give him someone to argue with.
That relationship became one of the reasons I enjoyed following the story as much as I did. Way of the Sword can get pretty dark, which isn’t surprising when Kyoto is crawling with Genma, but Musashi keeps things from becoming miserable. He is capable of taking a situation seriously when he needs to, yet he’ll happily start talking shit again once another gigantic demon appears in front of him, and there are a lot of gigantic demons.
Bring on the next boss
You’ll fight your way through hordes of enemies but the bosses are easily among my favorite parts of Way of the Sword. Capcom has clearly put a lot of work into them, both in terms of design and how they fight. Seeing a new one for the first time was often enough to make me wonder how I was supposed to kill the thing, and actually figuring that out became one of the highlights of my playthrough. Those fights are also where the combat gets most serious and you’ll really need to pay attention. Musashi has his katana, a bow and the Oni Gauntlet, with additional Oni powers becoming available as you progress. Your basic attacks are easy enough to understand, with light and heavy strikes doing most of the work, but blindly attacking isn’t going to get you very far once stronger Genma start showing up. Timing is incredibly important. You need to know when to dodge, when to defend and when you can risk going for a parry. Get it right and you can create an opening to punish an enemy. There are also moments where a button prompt appears during an encounter, and reacting quickly can result in Musashi dealing a ridiculous amount of damage. The classic Issen attacks return as well, rewarding you for attacking at almost the exact moment an enemy is about to hit you.
I also noticed how differently I approached fights later in the game. Early on, I played it safe and waited for obvious openings. After a few hours, I started recognising attacks I could counter and was much more willing to take a risk instead of immediately backing away. The basics are easy to understand, but getting the timing right takes some practice, especially once the tougher enemies and bosses start testing you. The bow is useful whenever something decides to stay out of sword range, and the Oni powers add more options later in the adventure. I never felt like Musashi needed fifty different weapons strapped to his back since he’s a samurai. Give me a katana, something horrible to use it on and I’m already pretty happy.
An adventure with somewhere to go
Another thing I really enjoyed about Way of the Sword is simply how it is structured. This is an action-adventure with an actual journey pushing you forward. You have somewhere to go, something happens along the way, you explore, fight Genma and eventually find yourself staring at another boss, after playing it It became clear that I really missed games like this. There is room to explore Kyoto and there are things to find along the way, but the story never disappeared behind a mountain of optional distractions for me. I always knew why Musashi was travelling somewhere and usually had a clear idea of what I needed to do next. That helped the adventure move along nicely, because Capcom can go from exploration to combat to another big encounter without constantly sending you off to clear icons from a map first.
It also gives the bosses a proper place in the adventure. You travel through an area, deal with everything standing between you and your destination and eventually meet whatever horrible Genma Capcom has been saving for the end. Musashi usually has something to say about that. I usually had something considerably less polite to say once the fighting started. Way of the Sword may use a structure that reminds me of older action-adventure games, but it never looks like one. Musashi is incredibly well animated, the Genma can look wonderfully disgusting and the environments give the journey plenty of visual variety. The facial animation deserves another mention too, because Musashi’s dry humor would lose a lot if his expressions couldn’t keep up with what he was saying. Small reactions during conversations regularly made me laugh.
Twenty years was long enough
Bringing Onimusha back after twenty years could have gone in a dozen directions. Capcom chose to make a focused action-adventure with a clear story, strong sword combat and a ridiculous amount of bosses, and that turned out to be exactly what I wanted from it. I kept wanting to see where Musashi was heading next. Part of that came from the story, part of it came from wondering what new Genma was waiting around the corner, and a big part came from simply enjoying the fights. Landing a good parry or Issen after getting the timing wrong several times never got old for me, and the bosses regularly pushed me to use those mechanics better. But Musashi himself is probably the reason I remember the adventure so fondly. His dry comments, the conversations with Shizuka and the fact that he really doesn’t seem interested in becoming anyone’s great savior give the story a lot of personality. I often found myself waiting to hear what nonsense he was going to say when another enormous demon appeared in front of him.
Conclusion
Twenty years is a long time to wait for a new Onimusha, but Capcom gave me the return I was hoping for. Musashi is funny, the sword combat feels great and the bosses were some of my favorite parts of the entire adventure. I also really enjoyed playing a focused action-adventure again, one that sends you somewhere for a reason and keeps the story moving without burying it under endless side activities. I had a great time with Way of the Sword, and I really hope Capcom doesn’t leave Onimusha on the shelf for another twenty years.