Future Capcom games are set to benefit from the advanced combat animations and technologies pioneered in the recently released Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Director Satoru Nihei highlighted that the game's fluid and natural-looking combat animations, particularly the dismemberment effects, were a primary focus from the project's inception six years ago.
Nihei stated that Capcom's extensive asset library and available technology were key strengths that allowed the team to elevate the action game genre. He credited the programmers for their work in integrating motion capture data and physics-based calculations to achieve smooth transitions between animations. "It was a big team effort in getting the animations to look how they do," Nihei remarked.
A significant advancement for the RE Engine, exclusive to Onimusha: Way of the Sword, is its dynamic dismemberment system. This technology allows enemies to be cut precisely where the sword passes through them, a feature that remains functional even as enemies animate their deaths. Nihei contrasted this with older implementations where characters might freeze upon being cut. "We had to have the programmers add to RE Engine to be able to enable that to really sell the impact of moves like the Issen," he explained, referring to a lightning-fast sword strike that can sever opponents.
While other action games offer more freeform dismemberment, the Onimusha team deliberately chose a more reactive approach. Nihei clarified that the goal was not to allow players to cut anything at will, but rather to showcase the power of the characters' abilities through reactive combat feedback. This design choice aligned with the desired tempo and style of the game.
The successful integration of this dynamic dismemberment technology into the RE Engine suggests it could appear in upcoming Capcom titles. The article speculates that this could lead to even more impactful and visceral combat in future installments of franchises like Resident Evil, enhancing the visual feedback of powerful attacks.