A Delicate Dance on the Edge of a Samurai’s Blade
What’s left to say about Capcom at this point? The studio has been on a pretty massive win streak ever since Resident Evil: Biohazard and the introduction of their RE Engine. Their games have been technically impressive but above all a ton of fun. So seeing Onimusha, a fairly obscure series by all measures, getting the full revival treatment was quite a surprise. Given we’ve had a myriad of samurai games over the last five years I wasn’t entirely sure going into Onimusha: Way of the Sword what we could expect. I’m therefore very happy to report that this is one of the most fun AAA action games I’ve played in quite some time. Even better? The Switch 2 version met all my expectations and more.
The wandering samurai, Miyamoto Mushashi, is looking for a way to increase his strength. After challenging the head of a Samurai clan he gets more than what he bargained for and is killed by creatures from hell called Genma. However, death seems to not be the end of his story as he wakes up with a mysterious gauntlet on his wrist that keeps him alive. By draining souls from the Genma, Mushashi sets out to find a way to get rid of the gauntlet and recover his humanity. As the story progresses he meets a band of Samurai that are trying to protect the world from the invasion from Hell by using their Oni-powers. The story takes quite a while to kick into gear, but by the end I came to adore Mushashi and his friends. His cocky attitude slowly making way to realize his place in the world and how he finds strength is an old story, but it is told quite well because of its slower pace.
That slow pace is something you will not find in combat, where Onimusha truly excels. The game focuses on melee swordfighting with a combination of light and heavy attacks. The real trick is getting the timing of your blocks, parries, and ‘Issen’ correct. A well placed Issen functions as a slicing counter before your opponent’s attack can connect while dealing massive damage to both their health and stamina bar. For each hit you are also given souls that can increase your special attacks, like the oni garments, that can bring down an enemy’s stamina bar. For bosses this is the moment to unleash a devastating attack for either damage or replenishing your souls. As you time your parries better later on, you can enhance your blade with a burning attack. Combat becomes a dance of reacting to your enemies while also keeping an eye on these meters at once. It is without a doubt overwhelming at first, but once the muscle memory kicks in it is simply exhilarating.
That is best demonstrated by the amazing array of boss fights. Monstrous in their design, but deadly in their flurry of attacks. Some are massive hulking beasts that run at you and you’ll need to dodge out of the way. While others are more precise and require their armor to be knocked off. Their creative designs and varied attacks always kept me on my toes. I was certain that some would be unbeatable. But learning their patterns, timing my attacks right and slowly chipping away at their health bars was where the game undoubtedly shines the brightest.
I should also give any newcomer the immediate advice of enabling the ‘action prompts’ in the menu, regardless of which difficulty you choose. By default these are disabled unless you play on the easier ‘story mode’ of the game. They show you which attack to perform to break the defense of your opponent. At first this feels overpowered. Knowing immediately how to get past a one-on-one encounter. But in truth, the difficulty ramps up fairly quickly and this system gets you adjusted much easier. By the end it didn’t feel like an easy mode whatsoever but rather the best way to play the game.
In between all these action moments you get plenty of time to explore the Edo-era of Kyoto. None of the glamorous temples and buildings are there, given the sheer destruction from the Genma forces. But don’t be misled, because the art direction is fantastic. There is some phenomenal body horror on display here. With blood splashing from the screen and dismemberments as far as the eye can see. From the gruesome towers of corpses to literal rivers of blood, until you purify certain areas of Kyoto there is not a moment of respite for Musashi and his allies. Using spirit mirrors you can not only upgrade your gear and abilities, but also travel to other areas. Trading in Kyoto for creepy woods, stunning mountain vistas, and an underground imperial palace filled to the brim with monstrous creatures, Onimusha upstages modern Resident Evil in its horror for me.
Switch 2 owners can sigh relief, because all these elements are rendered pretty wonderfully on both the big screen and in portable mode. With the framerate unlocked I always felt like the game ran a little bit smoother but didn’t really compromise on its fidelity. Details like hair and facial features, in particular those of non-vital NPC’s have been hit the hardest, but while playing it all feels and looks so good. I didn’t bother with the Switch 2 exclusive motion controls, where a horizontal swipe is a light attack and a vertical shake is a heavy attack. But gyro aiming is here for controlling the bow, which is quite helpful. I played about an equal amount of the game in both docked and handheld and I genuinely had a great time either way. Simply put, this is another fantastic Capcom port that if you’re bound to the Switch 2 does not disappoint in the slightest.
If anything, my biggest gripe is that the game’s pacing takes quite a long time to get in gear. The opening saw me watching over twenty minutes of cutscenes for characters I didn’t connect with. The explanations of mechanics like the Issen aren’t done wonderfully, forcing me to rely mostly on parries and blocks for the first half of the game. And I think that while there are a lot of side-activities, some of them simply resolve by going in a very linear fashion from point A to B to C. With how engaging the main missions and combat mechanics are, it can sometimes feel like the developers were stretching how many hours you can put into the game. In that sense I preferred the more limited, but more rewarding side stories from Pragmata earlier this year.
I cannot describe Onimusha: Way of the Sword as anything other than a massive surprise. While I have dabbled in the occasional soulslike-action game, Onimusha’s mechanics feel rewarding whether you are a newcomer or expert in this particular genre. Overall it leans more towards the Jedi: Fallen Order scale than Sekiro, but Onimusha’s unique blend of horror, Japanese mythology and visual style absolutely set it apart. I kept coming back for more battles and pushing myself to beat the bosses even though I fell over and over again. Onimusha has found its way of the sword by balancing on the edge of this phenomenally well crafted blade. It once again shows that Capcom remains on top of its game.
