Capcom's revival of the Onimusha series, titled Way of the Sword, is set to diverge significantly from its PlayStation 2 predecessors when it launches on September 4 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. While the original games were survival-horror titles with fixed cameras, Way of the Sword adopts a modern third-person hack-and-slash format. A recent two-hour demo provided a deeper look at the game's structure and mechanics, revealing a greater emphasis on skill tree progression and open-ended missions.
The initial segment of the demo featured a more linear level, guiding players through a maze-like environment as they pursued a Genma named Daidara. This section served to reintroduce players to the game's combat, which involves slashing, blocking, guard breaking, and executing finishers. Environmental hazards, such as shooting a floating rock to crush enemies, offer tactical options. This straightforward approach also included looting treasure chests and light puzzle-solving, such as manipulating a platform by shooting a hidden eye. The segment culminated in a challenging, two-phase boss fight against Daidara that tested mastery of the combat system, underscoring the necessity of learning defensive maneuvers.
However, the demo then shifted to a more open-ended structure within a small village. Here, players were tasked with closing demonic rifts in any order they chose, allowing for exploration, treasure hunting, combat encounters, and rescuing villagers for rewards. This area, described as a more compact version of the village from Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake, offered opportunities for players to engage in grinding for souls to upgrade gear. While this provided some agency in objective selection and exploration between markers, the narrative moments within these open areas were not emergent, with repeating enemy encounters in the same locations.
The expanded play areas also showcased Way of the Sword's RPG progression systems. Players can collect various resources to enhance base stats, improve charms, and unlock new combat moves via a sizable skill tree comparable to that in God of War. The demo allowed for the unlocking of new abilities, such as a more potent parry and the ability to chain kills after a finisher, suggesting a deep system designed to maintain combat engagement. Despite the variety of enemy types and the potential for environmental interactions like using stray carts or makeshift shields, the core combat loop of successive attacks, guard breaks, and finishers remained consistent until new skills were acquired.
The demo concluded with a challenging, two-stage boss fight against Rasho-gan, a sequence that also appeared in a previous Summer Game Fest showing. Following this encounter, players progressed to a more demon-infested area to close additional rifts, leading to a final boss that felt more manageable after the experience with Rasho-gan. Lingering questions about the balance between linear levels and open-ended stages remain, particularly concerning whether the village structure represents the entirety of the game's larger beats. Nevertheless, the demo suggests that Capcom's momentum will continue with this revitalized samurai series.