Onimusha Way of the Sword Hands-On: Back to the Demon-Killing Samurai Grind

It has been 19 years since Capcom launched one other sport progressing the story of its samurai motion horror franchise, Onimusha — however in 2026, Onimusha: Manner of the Sword will arrive as the subsequent sport within the sequence. Forward of Gamescom, Capcom gave US media a preview of the sport with a brief 15-minute demo, a mere style to point out us the place the subsequent sport goes within the twenty years because the final mainline Onimusha.Onimusha: Manner of the Sword continues the franchise’s custom of basing characters on historic figures after which having them combat demons. Gamers tackle the function of Miyamoto Musashi — some of the well-known swordsmen in Japanese historical past — tasked with destroying the Genma, a military of demons plaguing the land. You may hack, you will slash, you will parry, you will kick ass.The Onimusha video games have at all times been one thing of an arcade hack-and-slash with parrying mechanics, a novelty when the sequence debuted within the early 2000s, however which different video games have adopted within the many years since. Interval samurai video games have been in vogue in recent times, from 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima (and Ghost of Yotei releasing quickly) to this yr’s Murderer’s Creed: Shadows.  CapcomWhile my demo with Onimusha: Manner of the Sword was transient, it looks like Capcom has resisted mimicking the stealth and hyper-mobility of these extra trendy samurai video games and preserved the idiosyncrasies of the originals. Musashi receives the ability of the Oni gauntlet, by which he can take in orbs of the hordes of demons he slays — and no, you continue to cannot leap.Many of the modernizations to Onimusha: Manner of the Sword is thru the parry system, which has 4 alternative ways to deflect enemy assaults, presuming you time it appropriately. But it is nonetheless a sport about slicing aside demons together with your sword in frankly brutal trend, depleting their block meter to get in a remaining slash that may regularly slice them in half in a gruesomely satisfying trend.  CapcomA brief slice of Onimusha: Manner of the SwordThe demo opened up with the participant as Musashi strolling down a forest path to get to a temple, passing fleeing villagers and sword-wielding demon troopers pursuing them. Killing them was simple — the sport was on the Motion issue (with a good simpler Story issue if I needed), and even with my middling Sekiro and Elden Ring abilities, it was a breeze, so I am hoping for a harder possibility when the sport releases.A darkish fog gathered across the temple, which Musashi referred to as Malice, which feels like a focus of demonic presence (however what do I do know). As I strategy the temple gates, the Oni gauntlet, the soul-gathering demon armor piece that is iconic to the franchise, speaks to Musashi. When he strikes to the touch a glowing orb, ghostly reminiscences of villagers march into the temple. To enter myself, I had to make use of Oni Imaginative and prescient — mainly a Batman-style detective sight — to search out the suitable non secular binding to chop.Naturally, extra demon troopers await me within the temple, giving me an opportunity to make use of my particular weapons — a pair of dual blades I can summon after I’ve revved up sufficient power within the Oni Energy Gauge utilizing my common sword. Presumably, I am going to get to make use of quite a lot of magical arms this fashion within the full sport, however it does seem to be a lot of the fight shall be utilizing my trusty katana (and numerous parrying).  CapcomI lastly entered the primary sanctuary of the temple overlooking the valley under, which had one other ghostly reminiscence for me to observe — recalling the corrupting Malice convincing aged villagers to toss their youngsters into the abyss. Grim stuff. However I used to be shortly shaken out of my reverie by an outdated good friend of Musashi’s who greeted him with a blade. There’s some unstated historical past between your legendary swordsman and the seemingly unhinged newcomer (named Sasaki Ganryu), however he is bought an Oni Gauntlet too, and a want to chop you down.In contrast to the fodder I would fought earlier than, Ganryu as a boss was a satisfying and prolonged combat, requiring loads of counters and measured assaults to interrupt your opponent’s stance. While you do, you are given a selection of the place to land your crucial hit — within the boss’s physique for further harm, or in his Oni Gauntlet to get extra orb foreign money.  CapcomWhile you might have some therapeutic gadgets to make use of usually, I could not apply them throughout the boss battle — however successive assaults will make therapeutic orbs come out, rewarding exact play whereas forgiving missteps. It is a promising different to different punishing slash-and-parry video games, like FromSoftware’s Souls titles and their imitators. With the boss defeated, the demo ended, and thus our first take a look at a brand-new Onimusha sport in twenty years. Whereas Onimusha: Manner of the Sword comes within the wake of a number of different motion video games set in historic Japan, Capcom’s contribution has the arcade really feel and brutality, mixed with demonic thriller, that would set it other than extra grounded and real looking samurai simulators.Onimusha: Manner of the Sword is popping out in 2026.