It’s such a easy choice – in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, urgent the block button permits you to deflect or parry assaults from any course. Your character, Musashi Miyamoto, will seamlessly pull his katana into simply the proper place, generally readjusting for a number of strikes on the fly. It’s a single gameplay selection that claims a lot about this sport, and gives a lot to the participant – constructed to dominate greater than wrestle. Plus, performing a no-look block simply feels excellent.
The long-awaited follow-up to Capcom’s grimdark feudal fantasy collection sees you play as a grasp swordsman, who positive factors the talents of the Oni gauntlet that’s hooked up itself to every of the collection’ principal characters, and is charged with taking down invading demons by any means vital.
At first blush, you may count on this to be one other entry in the burgeoning soulslike style however, in a first hands-on, I found a sport that, whereas not with out problem, was way more keen on making you’re feeling good than making you get good. That is a consummate motion sport – one which consistently rewards you for experimenting with its programs, and feels nearly incapable of trying dangerous, even in a non-expert participant’s fingers.
A lot of that is all the way down to animation. Each strike, dodge and, sure, no-look block, feels as if it’s reacting to the scenario you’ve discovered your self in, all the time trying pure. Preventing common enemies hardly ever has the start-stop rhythm you might need come to count on – as an alternative, you glide via these fights, dispatching demons, deflecting arrows (notably pleasant whenever you realise you’ll be able to parry them again into the enemies round you), and ending skirmishes with the collection’ signature, instant-kill Issen assaults.
In these common fights, offence is usually the greatest defence – overwhelming smaller enemies with blows will deplete their stamina, opening up alternatives to unleash an Issen (with an appropriately over-the-top animation). Stronger enemies will pressure you to dodge a little extra usually (which may set off a Bayonetta-like slow-mo), or parry extra successfully, full with beautiful visible results and beneficiant stun home windows.
The message is obvious – you’re not taking part in as a character studying the ropes. That is already a grasp of their craft, they usually act prefer it. For Musashi, these fights ought to really feel easy – problem is extra all the way down to the way you handle a crowd, than the way you cope with the particular person fighters in it.
However when the sport pits me towards a fellow Samurai, Sasaki Ganryu, it’s a swordfight worthy of the basic films the builders have drawn from (even the principal character’s likeness relies on legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune). You may count on the sport to all of a sudden embrace that soulslike comparability right here, but it surely resists – it’s not straightforward, however you get the impression that Capcom would favor you to have the ability to choreograph your personal film-like encounter, resisting the impulse to actually cease you in your tracks with a struggle that must be discovered, repeated, and mastered.
Therapeutic gadgets are restricted by your stock house, however comparatively plentiful, making certain you’ll be able to high up in tough spots. Pulling off an Issen towards Ganryu offers you an in-built gamble – do large injury, or earn extra Souls (used as foreign money and extra). And the sport prioritizes pace over precision – each you and Ganryu will buzz round the enviornment, dodging, lunging, and clashing in showers of sparks. It’s completely thrilling, that includes some of the smoothest, best-looking fight I’ve seen from an motion sport this technology.
As a taster of what’s to come back, it’s completely piqued my curiosity. This looks like a basic motion sport ready to emerge.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives for Xbox Sequence X|S in 2026.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
CAPCOM CO., LTD.
Battle via bloodstained battlefields of intense swordplay motion. Discover the historic Japanese capital of Edo-era Kyoto, twisted by malevolent clouds of Malice.
With each stage cloaked in thriller, hazard and intrigue. Battle towards monstrosities from the underworld referred to as Genma in a story of darkish fantasy.
Comply with the story of a samurai who wields the Oni Gauntlet, a mystical artifact that grants its bearer the energy to slay Genma.
Via gritty, blood-soaked brawls, he searches for his cause to struggle. What destiny awaits at the finish of his path?
Notice: this content material has not but been age-rated. Age rankings data will probably be revealed at a later date.