Capcom is feeling the pressure to maintain its impressive release streak this year, according to producer Akihito Kadowaki and director Satoru Nihei, who acknowledged the success of Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata. With Onimusha: Way of the Sword marking the franchise's return after many years, the team aims to meet fan expectations. Based on a recent preview, they may well succeed.
The game features a fictionalized Miyamoto Musashi, modeled after actor Toshiro Mifune, who is unwillingly bound to a talking heirloom called the Oni Gauntlet, voiced by Shizuka. Together, they must combat the Genma demons invading Kyoto.
The preview session dropped players into the middle of the adventure, with Musashi encountering a seemingly helpful blind woman near a village. This village, bathed in an unsettling golden light, is populated by unnaturally cheerful residents who recount wishes granted by a mysterious deity—a man's leg replaced with an amputation, a couple transformed into dolls. Musashi and Shizuka quickly discern that something is amiss. Shizuka suggests seeking the aid of Yorimasa, a heroic oni, but his grave offers no answers. The next step involves finding the missing brethren of the Eight Stout Pillars, ancient talking statues.
Evolved Combat Mechanics
Exploring the village for these statues provided ample opportunity to engage in combat, showcasing the evolution of the game's action since an earlier preview. The combat remains a deliberate yet flashy affair, with a strong emphasis on countering and parrying. Enemies possess health and stagger meters, with successful parries draining their health and opening them to powerful counterattacks. These counters are fluid and impactful, featuring smooth animations such as dismemberment or cleaving foes in half, a result of motion capture with a sword expert. Projectile attacks, like energy balls from floating demonic heads, can be deflected back at their source, causing explosive results.
Auto-directional blocking covers all angles of attack, while perfectly timed dodges allow Musashi to reposition behind enemies for counter opportunities. Building up parry or block meters culminates in Musashi's sword glowing with a blue aura, enabling rapid multi-foe takedowns. Similarly, a full dodge meter unleashes a devastating multi-hit attack. Director Satoru Nihei noted that player feedback has further enhanced the impact of "Break Issun" attacks, the game's flashy finishing moves.
Defeated enemies yield souls that must be manually absorbed into the Oni Gauntlet. The player's tendency to engage enemies head-on, rather than utilizing stealth executions, highlights the enjoyment derived from the combat system and the desire to master its parry mechanics. After collecting the three missing Stout Pillars, their combined power condenses the area's malice, pinpointing the Genma responsible for the village's twisted miracles.
Confronting Rasho-gan
Returning to the village, its golden glow has faded to an ashen grey. A flashback reveals a woman praying to the Genma known as Rasho-gan. She expresses her despair over being forced to play the Shamisen daily and facing her mistress's scolding. Rasho-gan offers a horrific solution: severing her fate by amputating her fingers with large scissors, a brutal act Musashi witnesses in shock. The woman, seemingly unfazed, offers her hands, and the gruesome act concludes, leaving her pleased to be free from her musical torment.
Rasho-gan then directly addresses Musashi, attempting to trick him into surrendering the Oni Gauntlet, even offering to take his entire arm. Musashi is momentarily charmed until Shizuka’s outcry breaks the spell. This confrontation culminates in Musashi catching Rasho-gan's massive blade, initiating a challenging boss battle.
Rasho-gan reveals its true form: a grotesque humanoid entity composed of numerous human arms and hands. Wielding a large sword and connected to its surroundings by spectral umbilical cords, direct attacks prove largely ineffective. The key to victory lies in parrying Rasho-gan's complex attack patterns, which significantly depletes its stamina and creates openings for retaliation. This intense swordplay draws comparisons to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, praised for its challenging yet rewarding deflections.
Some of Rasho-gan's attacks, such as using its cords to hurl environmental objects like boulders or entire buildings, cannot be blocked. However, Musashi can sever these connections with his bow, causing the projectiles to crash down on the boss. Despite the chaotic nature of the fight, finding a rhythm with parries and ranged interruptions eventually brings Rasho-gan to its knees. The boss attempts to flee but is met with a fatal intervention from an unrevealed character.
Nihei explained that Rasho-gan's design is intrinsically linked to its battle location, the real Yasui Konpiragu temple in Kyoto, which features legends of bonding and separating fates represented by threads and cords. This thematic connection informed the boss's creation.
A Promising Outlook
The preview concluded with this exhilarating boss fight, leaving a strong positive impression. While not a direct replication of Sekiro, Onimusha: Way of the Sword appears to capture a similar level of intensity and satisfaction in its combat, all while retaining its unique identity. The dynamic between Musashi and Shizuka also adds significant entertainment value. Players can anticipate facing the corrupted Kyoto when Onimusha: Way of the Sword releases on September 25.
