The great war between the Genma and Oni has been raging for millennia, often with the Oni themselves being on the losing streak. In each of the Onimusha titles, these tables frequently get turned with a great warrior, typically based indirectly on a historical figure who acquires a powerful Oni Gauntlet during their journey. In Onimusha: Way of the Sword, it’s time to step into the Edo era as one of the most famous swordsmen who ever lived.
Still something of a mythological character himself, players now find themselves in the role of Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary Sword Saint of the early 1600s and eventual master of a two-sword fighting style. To bring this hero to life, Capcom is utilizing the face likeness of the late Toshirō Mifune, whom players might instantly recognize from some of the greatest samurai films of the 50’s and 60’s. In the English dub, Musashi’s voice takes on an almost Cockney accent, and I would be curious to see who they cast for the Japanese dubs.
This version of Miyamoto Musashi is that of a prideful warrior in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. For reasons unknown, he’s been forcefully bestowed with the gift of the Oni Gauntlet and is on a mission to rid himself of its supernatural powers. However, in a land thick with malice and Genma that would see to bring devastation across the land, he might have to put his pride aside and embrace the power of the Oni in his adventure.
As one of the most legendary samurai of all time, it would make sense for Miyamoto Musashi to bring a few new abilities to the table that previous Onimusha protagonists couldn’t accomplish. He can dispatch enemies stealthfully (it’s rare for a 3D action title to not feature a stealth system in some way in this day and age), but just as easily defend himself against enemy attacks. An innate sense of clairvoyance allows the player to block attacks and guard in any direction, even from behind, while perfectly timing the guard results in a parry that can knock enemies back or even deflect arrows and other projectiles back at their sender.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s combat has also been drastically changed to be more in line with your modern masocore adventures. Both players and enemies have a couple of status bars to track their current constitution: one in yellow for their health and one in red for their stamina or posture, depending on your preferred term. Dealing enough damage to their red posture gauge will result in breaking their guard for a variety of counterattacks. Musashi himself also has a posture gauge, and he can’t guard an infinite number of hits before his poise is broken. By breaking an enemy’s guard, there are a variety of differently colored nodes that Musashi can strike: hitting red deals massive damage, while a purple Issen break yields more souls to be collected by the Oni Gauntlet. These souls are what refill Musashi’s health and spell potential, but blue souls also fuel a different set of unique skills, such as transforming his weapon into a pair of dual daggers.
It wouldn’t be an Onimusha title without the signature Issen strike that can usually dispatch a foe in a single blow. These high-risk, high-reward moves are typically accomplished by either pressing the attack button just before an enemy blow lands or by parrying at the last possible moment. First introduced in Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, some Issen attacks can be chained together into an Issen Dance and destroy multiple Genma nearby. In the hands-off demo, the developer guiding our demo was able to pull out a chain of four Issen moves in a row, with the game slowing down and letting him target another enemy between each slash.
Our demo ended with a duel between Musashi himself and Sasaki Ganryu, who, while he isn’t a historical figure himself, might be based upon Musashi’s rival Sasaki Kojiro and their duel on Ganryu Island, if the legends are to be believed. Ganryu is a fellow wielder of the Oni Gauntlets but has embraced its powers and taken on superhuman strength and dark abilities for himself. It culminates in a duel between two master swordsmen, both using the powers of the Oni Gauntlets to augment their distinct fighting styles, with Miyamoto Musashi ultimately being declared the winner. However, it certainly seemed like that wouldn’t be the last we’d see of Ganryu.
In wrapping up our preview of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the lead developer made a point to showcase how Capcom had worked directly with Kiyomizu-dera to recreate how the temple would have looked in that area. They even introduced their twists to the mythology surrounding the temple, such as Genma forcing humans to throw their loved ones off the side of the temple as sacrifices in a nod to the mysterious bodies that were once found around the temple.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is currently only listed as a 2026 release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and Steam, although a public demo will be available at Gamescom 2025. If the trend continues from some of Capcom’s earlier titles, players might see Miyamoto Musashi make his Onimusha debut sometime in the first quarter of the new year.
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