Onimusha: Way of the Sword was one of my most anticipated games of the year, now it's one of my bigger disappointments for 2026.
With rare exceptions, Capcom has been on a wild streak of delivering games that cater to my taste since Devil May Cry 5 in 2019. I was excited for them to bring back a legacy franchise like Onimusha and seemingly add a bit of Sekiro flair to its combat design.
This sequel follows Miyamoto Musashi, a wandering samurai that is killed before waking up in Hell where he gains an Oni Gauntlet that will both keep him from dying to his wounds and make him stronger through the consumption of Genma Souls.
It didn't take long for me to feel invested in this protagonist. I kept finding myself comparing the arrogance of Musashi to that of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. Now take that Vegeta and give him a Goro Majima, because the special sauce that emphasizes my attachment to Musashi is how he interacts with his rival, Sasaki Ganryu. The dynamic between these two is used sparingly throughout the game, but those moments stand out amongst the rest of the story.
What this entry nails is the look, the sounds, and the feeling of its sword based combat. The feeling of satisfaction I got from landing perfect parries during enemy encounters on the streets of Kyoto was on the same level as Sekiro and Lies of P. I consider those two games the upper echelon of these third person action RPGs.
Parries aren't the only tool that you'll use to avoid enemy attacks, my favorite was the Issen. Instead of blocking right before an attack lands for a parry, Musashi attacks in an even shorter timing window to pull off a lightning fast attack that is great for damage, looks awesome, and feels incredibly satisfying to perform.
Onimusha as a franchise has the iconic mechanic of sucking in enemy souls. The twist that's been introduced in this sequel is that common enemies and bosses can now beat you to sucking up those same souls, which in turn will make them stronger and more aggressive. This change brings a neat sense of battlefield awareness I needed to maintain in order to keep enemies in a weaker state. I was never left wanting for tools at my disposal, only worthwhile opportunities to use them.
Perhaps the most glaring design choice I experienced is the lack of combat variety in boss and enemy encounters. A compelling aspect of difficult games, whether they're "Soulslikes" or not, is offering players different challenges to overcome along the way. Way of the Sword didn't test my ability to overcome new challenges, it tested my patience by reintroducing those I had already solved.
There are only two different bosses that can be encountered in the "open world" region of Eastern Kyoto. During my 30 hour playthrough, I fought each upwards of 5 times between the main story, side quests, and material farming for upgrades. The main story boss fights did little to break from this repetition as there are only 4 bosses that you won't be forced to fight again with slightly varied move sets. That same sense of repetition extends beyond combat and into Eastern Kyoto itself.
The manner in which the story approaches unlocking new sections of the map to explore just feels outdated when it's paired with the other shortcomings of the game. Kyoto feels like it only exists to have markers on the map. It doesn't feel like part of the story in a meaningful way. I'd even go as far as to say it pales in comparison to when I was able to explore the more linear sections of the game.
The side quests were perhaps the most disappointing example of how little is done with Eastern Kyoto. Side quests consist of 3 different objectives in the different zones, "go kill these enemies and then return", "go shoot these 5 enemies with your bow and return", and "use this picture with a red x on it to find a treasure chest".
Way of the Sword asks players to run around the fairly empty zone of Eastern Kyoto to ping Oni Vision (a scanning ability that reveals UI markers for items and chests) hoping to find chests that have the materials needed. If that doesn't sound like something that's frustrating, these chests are random for which ones respawn with more materials and most of the time those aren't the ones that will contain the later upgrade materials.
While I enjoyed the new wrinkle Way of the Sword adds to soul absorption during combat, I was far less enthusiastic about how it handles souls as a progression system. It felt like the red souls that are used as currency in the franchise were neutered in lieu of other currencies. I found myself pretty frustrated toward the end of the game when I was trying to fully upgrade my equipment and I couldn't use the souls to buy the materials I needed nor use them on the remaining skills in the skill tree.
Something that I admire from Capcom's game design is their emphasis on replayability, typically paired with shorter length titles apart from the Monster Hunter series. One of my favorite things to do in Resident Evil is replay the campaign with infinite ammo weapons or different character skins, it only provides the latter.
I spent 10+ hours completing side content for the purpose of maxing out Musashi's equipment. After defeating the final boss, I started New Game+ only to discover that my equipment upgrades would be reset, while my skills and healing pouch upgrades carried over. This entry not only lacks incentives to come back for another playthrough, it's begging me not to by punishing my effort with even harder to find upgrades on the hardest difficulty.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a frustrating disappointment because the foundation for something great is already here. Musashi is a protagonist I enjoyed spending time with, his rivalry with Ganryu gave me some of my favorite moments in the story, and few games can match the satisfaction of landing a perfectly timed Issen.
Capcom gave me a combat system that I wanted to master, but rarely gave me the encounters to make that mastery feel worthwhile. By the time the credits rolled, repetition had worn down much of the excitement I had going in. Bosses I had already beaten returned again and again, Eastern Kyoto gave me little reason to enjoy exploring it, and hours spent grinding upgrades ultimately left me with even less motivation to start another playthrough.
That's what makes Way of the Sword such a difficult game for me to walk away from. I don't think Capcom failed to understand what makes Onimusha's combat satisfying; if anything, the swordplay proves the opposite. I just wish the game surrounding it had shown the same confidence and creativity.
I was excited to see Capcom bring Onimusha back with modern sensibilities. I just didn't expect to finish its return wishing it had given me more worthwhile things to swing my sword at.