Given that it’s been 20 years since a mainline Onimusha game was released, it’s understandable when fans say that a lot is riding on the success of Onimusha: Way of the Sword. While the recent playable demo does little to flesh out the narrative (Capcom seems to be saving that for the full release), it gives players a good idea of how combat will play out.
Offensive moves focus on dealing health and stamina damage
Offense is largely composed of one-handed (fast but weak) and two-handed (slow but strong) attacks. Both attacks deal regular health damage as well as stamina damage, the latter of which chips away at your opponent’s stamina gauge (two-handed attacks deal more health and stamina damage). When an opponent’s stamina is depleted, you can perform a Break Issen by pressing the associated prompt on the screen. This plays a flashy animation followed by an instant kill.
Defense is where combat really shines
You have three core defensive options: parrying, deflecting, and dodging. Parrying involves pressing an input just before an opponent’s attack makes contact. If done properly, you’ll avoid damage and be awarded an opportunity to counterattack. Parries also fill up your Blaze Gauge, which, when full, unlocks the Blaze State, temporarily increasing your attack power.
Somewhat similar to parrying is deflecting, which requires you to hold the parry input and press another input at the right time. A successful deflect does not guarantee a counterattack, but it deals more stamina damage, which can lead to future beatdowns. Deflecting also allows you to fire opponents’ arrows back at them.
Lastly, dodging can be used to avoid all sorts of attacks. Avoiding attacks with a properly timed dodge fills up your Reflex Gauge, which, when full, can be used to execute a Reflex Combo. What you really want to watch out for, however, are enemy grabs. While attacks that can be parried and deflected have no visual indicators, grabs are denoted by a glowing blue light. Pressing the dodge input at the right time triggers a grab reversal and is the only way to avoid taking damage.
As with previous Onimusha titles, the best way to get good at combat is to learn your opponents’ attack patterns and adapt your defense accordingly. You can still wail on enemies by mashing the attack inputs, but taking a moment to understand when they are vulnerable and exploiting those weaknesses yields more Souls and faster progress.
Unlike Soulslikes like Lies of P and Elden Ring, the windows for parrying, deflecting, and dodging in the Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo are quite forgiving. Save for the series’ infamous Issen and Chain Issen counters, which require you to commit to them by properly timing an attack input just as an enemy hits you, you won’t have a hard time defending yourself.
The demo isn’t that difficult
For all this talk of attacks, parries, deflects, and dodges, the demo itself isn’t that hard. You have the option of choosing between the Story or Action difficulty levels (the latter of which is supposed to be more challenging), but the damage you do to enemies, and their seemingly passive nature in the harder difficulty, don’t pose much of a threat.
There are several instances where you find yourself facing more than two or three enemies. Rather than attacking you simultaneously, foes charge at you one or two at a time while the others wait on the sidelines. Though combat in past Onimusha titles typically veers towards one-on-one or two-on-one battles, the way crowd fights are presented in the demo feels a bit underwhelming.
A lot was teased in the demo that hasn’t been fully explored yet
These issues with the difficulty may very well change upon the full release. Previous Onimusha games featured a variety of difficulty levels, ranging from easy to extremely difficult. To face these tougher challenges, the demo introduces several features that seem optional at first but become more important later on.
From interacting with objects in the environment (flipping a tatami mat to block enemy projectiles, only to kick it at them afterwards, is a stroke of ingenuity) to Blade Locks that have a chance to occur when parrying or deflecting, the demo doesn’t even let you touch its upgrade system.
While the demo can be completed in less than an hour, the many ways in which you can approach combat will have you playing it more than once. With only three months away until the full game’s release, this is a great way to plan your samurai playstyle.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is set to release on September 25 for Windows (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
