Onimusha: Way of the Sword, releasing in 2026, will be the series’ first new mainline entry in 20 years, featuring legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi as the protagonist. The game has been in production since early 2020, with Capcom taking 2 years just to get permission to model the protagonist after a famous late actor Toshiro Mifune. In the meantime, trends have changed, and open-world games and soulslikes have become a strong presence in the video game market. We asked Onimusha director Satoru Nihei how much the game will be incorporating these trends after 20 years, and what changes it will bring compared to past titles.
“Onimusha: Way of The Sword isn’t an open-world game, and it certainly isn’t a punishing die-and-retry (soulslike) game either,” Nihei remarked. “While there’s no doubt seasoned action-game players will be able to enjoy it, our goal was to make a game which gamers who don’t consider action games their forte will also have fun playing. In Way of The Sword, our main focus was to express the clashing of blades through the action.”
In their pursuit of realistic sword-on-sword combat, the devs implemented two new actions as key mechanics of the game – Deflecting and Redirecting. According to Nihei, Deflecting is especially effective in boss fights, as it depletes a special stamina gauge of the enemy which, when completely emptied, “allows you to trigger the Break Issen and destroy parts of the boss.” Break Issen is another addition to the series, but it will not be replacing the good old Issen veteran players are expecting.
“Being able to insta-kill weaker enemies with the regular Issen is one of the series’ representative game elements, and it also appears in the new title.” It seems the series’ trademark Issen will still be as difficult to pull off as it was in the past entries – and that is where the new Break Issen could come in handy. By repeatedly using Deflection, you’ll be able to deplete the enemy’s gauge and thus easily trigger the Break Issen. Nihei explains that the Onimusha team created Break Issen as a new mechanic to help make defeating bosses feel more rewarding. “Other actions that we decided to keep as-is were those related to the Oni Gauntlet. The soul absorption ability appears in Way of the Sword as well, […] and as a part of the series’ identity, we consider it to be very important,” he adds.
Despite introducing a bunch of new mechanics, it seems like Onimusha: Way of The Sword will be retaining many elements that are traditional to the series. Previously, Kadowaki had also confirmed that the game will be sticking to the series’ roots, embracing a linear story and stage progression rather than opting for an open-world exploration format. As a new mainline entry after 20 years, Way of The Sword seems to continue honing the spirit of Onimusha – and while it technically is a reboot, it looks like it will have enough to offer to both newcomers and longtime fans of the series. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is scheduled to release in 2026 for the PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X❘S.
