Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review (PS5)

It's become very difficult to doubt Capcom and its ability to craft incredible action games. So when Onimusha: Way of the Sword was first announced back in 2024, I couldn't help but think that it was destined to be a banger.

And a banger it is. A full-on revival of the developer's once beloved demon-slaying series, Way of the Sword is one of the best combat-focused outings I've played in years.

Capcom seemingly set out with one simple goal: to make a game about doing absolutely sick stuff with a sword. Everything that happens here is in service of an outrageously refined combat system, and it all revolves around your trusty blade.

I suppose the subtitle gives it away, but rarely do games stay so true to their name.

In traditional Onimusha fashion, Way of the Sword twists a period of Japanese history into a story of man versus demon. The monstrous Genma are somehow escaping hell and leaking into the mortal realm, drowning the capital city of Kyoto in blood and despair.

When protagonist Miyamoto Musashi is struck down by these nightmarish creatures in the prologue, he's plucked from the afterlife by a mysterious benefactor, who then fuses a magical gauntlet to the once great swordsman's arm and sends him back to the living world.

Naturally, the gauntlet allows Musashi to go toe-to-toe with the otherwise insurmountable Genma hordes, granting him inhuman strength and reflexes.

This poses a problem for our reckless hero, however. Musashi has dedicated his life to mastering the sword, and so to him, suddenly acquiring such power is a betrayal of his code.

He's got no choice, though. The gauntlet's the only thing keeping him alive, and it needs to feed on Genma souls in order to sustain its restorative properties.

And so Musashi is moulded into a stereotypically begrudging lead, forced to ally with a fellow gauntlet-wearing warrior and obey the wishes of the noble spirit that resides in his own armament.

But even though Musashi plays a fairly cliche role, he does it brilliantly. He's an endearingly honest and expressive protagonist, and his often abrasive personality plays off the surrounding cast really well.

In particular, his relationship with the aforementioned spirit — a prim and proper woman by the name of Shizuka — always entertains. She sees him as a ruffian, with his crude mannerisms the cause of much comically-tinged friction.

It's the antagonists that really sell Way of the Sword's storytelling, though. They're proper villains — proper bastards. The big bad is especially excellent in just how unapologetically evil and unhinged he is, stealing every scene in which he appears.

Speaking of, the game's cutscenes are superb, packed with charm and cinematic flair. This is big budget Onimusha, and honestly, it's just nice to see Capcom pour so much effort into reviving such a fan favourite franchise decades down the line.

That said, I don't think the game's marketing has gone hard enough. Capcom's shown plenty of gameplay up until now, but you've got to trust me: you ain't seen nothing.

Perhaps that's the point — the developer doesn't want to spoil anything beyond the adventure's opening hours. But Way of the Sword genuinely wowed me on more than one occasion, and the jaw-on-the-floor moments only become more frequent as you progress.

I'm not saying this is a spectacle on the same level as something like Final Fantasy 16, but when Way of the Sword kicks into gear, it's riveting.

It's the boss fights that are the game's greatest achievement. They're outstanding examples of memorable combat encounters, and there are loads of them. For me, many of these boss battles are up there with the best in modern gaming.

Of course, such praise wouldn't be possible without an unshakeable combat system holding everything together, and as alluded, the new Onimusha's nailed that aspect.

On paper, Way of the Sword is your standard modernised action title. Light attacks, heavy attacks, dodging, blocks, parries, and special moves that require some kind of resource.

But in practice, the game's distinctly tactile feel, bolstered by some incredible animation work, elevates it well above the vast majority of its peers. Every swing, every stab, every last-second deflection — they've all got that signature Capcom weightiness to them, and it makes for pure satisfaction.

My only qualm with the combat is it takes a little while to get going. Initially, skirmishes can seem a touch too slow and methodical, and the enemy variety's a bit lacking across the early hours.

But once you start pushing through the skill trees and Musashi's techniques grow increasingly effective, the system truly starts to sing.

To be clear, Way of the Sword is not an eye-watering hack and slasher. It remains quite technical throughout, encouraging a cautious but opportunistic style of play.

It's very deliberate but it's not a Soulslike (just as Capcom has stressed numerous times). In a nutshell, it's a generally slower-paced action title with explosive moments. Honestly, the rhythm's not far off something like Resident Evil Requiem, but if Leon came equipped with a katana.

I should also note that there's an easy 'Story' difficulty setting — which can be switched to at any time — for those who want a less punishing playthrough.

This isn't a brutally difficult game by any means, but it can kick your arse on occasion. Parry and deflect timings can be deceptively tricky on the default 'Action' setting, and for many players, some boss fights will demand at least two or three retries to get right.

The Story difficulty makes these defensive windows much more forgiving, and there's also an option to show button prompts ahead of your opponent's attack (which can also be used on 'Action' mode).

While the icons don't tell you the precise timing of the incoming strike, they do prepare you for what's about to happen, so that you're not having to watch enemy movements like a hawk.

As such, the button prompts can actually be a great way for less experienced players to wrap their head around the game's fundamental mechanics. They're perfect for simply learning what a boss, for example, actually has in its arsenal.

But what about those who want a stiffer challenge? Well, unfortunately, this is one of those instances where you only unlock the hard difficulty by beating the game — and that takes a good 30 hours or so the first time around.

'Carnage' is unlocked alongside New Game+ after the credits roll, and it's merciless, with Musashi barely able to tank two or three hits from most enemies.

The mode comes with exclusive cosmetic rewards, so it's worth giving it a shot — but hardcore players will undoubtedly be disappointed in the fact that it's locked behind a full playthrough.

So, when you're in the thick of it, Way of the Sword is a class act — but outside of its largely linear level structure, there's actually room for a bit of exploration.

Kyoto acts as a kind of hub, with the city's main temple being your base of operations. However, in between key story beats, you're free to wander the mostly deserted (but now stalked by Genma) streets, in search of equipment upgrade materials and even side quests.

When I first got to the "open world" stuff I feared the worst, like Capcom was about to murder the game's pacing for the sake of filler — but it's actually quite well implemented.

Kyoto's plight ends up weaving in and out of the main narrative, with the map expanding as Musashi deals with powerful Genma. It gives the game a better sense of progression, although some of the side quests (there aren't many) do teeter on the edge of being tedious.

Oh, and if my brief mention of "open world" design has made you question the game's performance, I've got good news. Unlike Capcom's recent performance-related fumblings across Dragon's Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter Wilds — all built on the company's in-house RE Engine — Way of the Sword is practically flawless.

On PS5 Pro in particular, the title is immaculate on a technical level. You can cap the frame rate at 30 or 60 frames-per-second, or uncap all the way to 120 (assuming your TV is up to the task). You can enable ray tracing individually, which, in my experience, has no noticeable impact on the frames.

It's super smooth at 60fps and above, even when the sword sparks are flying and there are a dozen enemies on-screen.

And it's a similar story on the base PS5 when using performance mode. The resolution takes a bit more of a hit — things get slightly blurry — but not to a point where you're going to prefer switching to 30fps in a game where combat is everything.

I will say, though, despite the title being really well optimised, the visuals are somewhat disappointing. It reminds me of the previously mentioned Monster Hunter Wilds, where finer environmental details sometimes go missing, and the lighting just looks off.

Obviously you won't really care about that when you're sweating yourself silly in a boss fight and all the accompanying effects look great anyway, but it's worth pointing out. It just appears flat every now and then, especially when you're milling around Kyoto.

And finally, a shoutout to the soundtrack, which almost exclusively features traditional Japanese instruments. These aren't the kind of tunes that'll stick in your head after a session, but they usually ramp up in really intense ways, lending a creepy, otherworldly vibe to the action.