Review: Onimusha – Way of the Sword

I went into Onimusha: Way of the Sword with two glutinously conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I have a lot of affection for the Onimusha series, with Onimusha 3: Demon Siege being one of my favourite experiences on the PS2.

On the other, I haven’t played one in years, and after spending hundreds of hours around samurai settings in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ghost of Yotei, plus a few frustrating hours with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty before giving up on it, I was worried I was heading straight into some serious katana fatigue. Thankfully, Way of the Sword is very much its own thing.

ONIMUSHA GAMEPLAY

The biggest compliment I can give Way of the Sword is that it remembers that games are supposed to be fun. It has the dark fantasy setting, supernatural enemies and serious moments you’d expect from an Onimusha game, but it also embraces a degree of campiness that stops everything from becoming too heavy and dreary.

The combat can be demanding, but it never slips into the punishing Soulslike territory that put me off Wo Long. The two difficulty levels also make it more approachable than something like Nioh, which I also quit after a few hours. If you have read a few of my reviews, you will probably notice a trend: I am here for a good time, not a hard time.

I also do not see much value in going into the story here, beyond saying that it is engaging and easy to follow even if you have not played the earlier games. So if you missed the previous Onimusha titles, you should not feel locked out.

I recommend choosing the Japanese voice track. The English delivery did not quite work for me and occasionally pulled me out of the moment. The Japanese cast fits the setting and tone much better. It also helped me concentrate, which is no small thing because I am very prone to second-screening these days, usually while playing the thrilling side quest called “delete photos and videos because my Android is out of space”.

GRAPHICS

Way of the Sword looks lovely on my base PS5. Capcom has used the RE Engine to give Kyoto an impressive mixture of historical detail and supernatural corruption, while the character work and facial animation help sell the game’s more cinematic moments.

Miyamoto Musashi’s appearance is based on actor Toshiro Mifune, which gives the protagonist an instantly recognisable old-school samurai-film presence. It’s not the best-looking game out there but it never needed to be and what is there complements the gameplay and performance well.

It also feels like a proper modern revival rather than an old franchise being dusted off for a nostalgia cash-grab. The presentation, animation and spectacle are far more ambitious than I remember from the original games. Back on PS2, the gap between gameplay and computer-generated cinematics was much wider, which is why those pre-rendered videos made such an impression.

Tekken Tag Tournament still stands out for me as one of the clearest examples. Playing Onimusha on current-generation hardware makes me feel that gap has almost closed.

VALUE FOR MONEY

At the time of writing, the local PlayStation Store lists the standard PS5 edition at R1 499, while BT Games has it for R1 299. The game is also available on Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. I am particularly chuffed that there is a Switch 2 version, and it is great to see Nintendo’s little powerhouse continuing to get these triple-A releases at launch.

While it is not cheap, the roughly 20-hour campaign, replay options and quality of the core gameplay make it a reasonable proposition if this is your type of game.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and never felt it overstayed its welcome or padded things out like a Greek salad with too much lettuce and only one piece of feta. Give me 20 great hours over 100 bloated ones any day.

FINAL VERDICT

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is exactly the kind of revival I was hoping for. It feels familiar without trying to recreate the past, modernises the series without stripping away its personality, and delivers combat with enough depth to stay interesting throughout. More importantly, it does not take itself so seriously that the inherent silliness of demons, samurai and supernatural chaos starts to work against it. After my recent run of samurai-heavy games, I expected to be a little tired of the whole setting.

Instead, Way of the Sword reminded me why I enjoyed Onimusha in the first place. It isn’t perfect, and there is a little repetition, but the combination of excellent combat, creative enemies, memorable bosses and unapologetically old-school charm makes this one of Capcom’s better revivals.