Onimusha: Way of the Sword has so many gameplay options that you might find yourself overwhelmed at the start. While the beauty of gameplay lies in developing your own playstyle, here is a quick guide to help you learn which defensive options to use for certain attacks.
Blocking is the best all-rounder at the beginning
The basic defensive option. Holding the Block input prevents you from taking damage from nearly everything, save for grabs and certain special moves. However, blocking too many attacks drains your stamina gauge and opens you up to counterattacks when it is depleted. Though you can fall back to blocking while in a bind, there are better ways to defend yourself once you get the hang of combat.
Parrying provides several benefits in addition to preventing damage
Executing a successful parry drains a regular amount of stamina from an enemy, fills up your Blazing State gauge, and opens a parried foe to a counterattack. Once the gauge is full, your attack power temporarily increases, and any successful parry while in the Blazing State deals more stamina damage.
Considering the advantages it brings for such little risk, parrying serves as a better alternative to blocking. With its sizeable timing window, you can sometimes spam the parry input on repeatedly attacking enemies and get multiple parries in a row (it is still a better practice to learn their moves, though).
Deflecting is best for enemy projectiles and whittling down an enemy’s stamina
A Basic Skill that can be unlocked early in the game. Deflects have a similar timing window to parries and can even throw projectiles back at enemies (which is their main use). Unlike parries, deflects don’t provide you with an option to counterattack. To make up for it, they deal more stamina damage, so much so that you can Break Issen bosses with just a few well-timed deflects.
If you find that an enemy has too much health, try deflecting their attacks to reduce their stamina and force a Break Issen. This will let you do a large burst of damage without having to enter the Blazing State, which requires successive parries and attacks.
Reflex Dodging is the only way to avoid grab attacks and get a quick burst of Souls from a Reflex Combo
Reflex dodges have a similar timing to parries and deflects, and are best used when facing either a physical, non-bladed attack (such as a punch or kick) or an unblockable grab (colored blue). Performing a dodge at the right time deals stamina damage to the attacking enemy and gets them off your back.
Successful Reflex Dodges fill up the Reflex Gauge, which lets you perform a Reflex Combo when it is full. Reflex Combos do a burst of damage and cause an enemy to drop Souls, which can be useful if you’re out of healing items or are trying to use an Oni Armament. Unless you’re on the verge of death, try to limit dodging against physical attacks and grabs. The enemy stamina drained from a Reflex Dodge and the damage from a Reflex Combo are negligible, and there are other defensive options that can lead to more combat opportunities and advantages.
The regular Issen is flashy, but not mandatory
One of the defining mechanics of the Onimusha franchise, the Issen has a very strict timing window, with the payoff being a strong counterattack which can be chained to more enemies with a Chain Issen (the damage can be upgraded by purchasing associated skills). Unlike the previous defensive options, which are mapped to either the block or dodge inputs, performing an Issen requires you to press an attack input right before an enemy attack lands. This means that failure will always result in you taking damage.
As strong as the regular Issen can be, it isn’t required to progress through the game. The best advice I can give is to get the hang of the timing windows for blocking, parrying, deflecting, and dodging first. Once you’ve mastered them (or if you just want combat to look flashier), you can practice refining your Issen timing with armed lesser enemies before moving on to projectiles (which require purchasing the Issen: Range Special Skill) and bosses.
While this guide gives a general overview of the best ways to deal with different types of enemy attacks, don’t let it stop you from getting creative. For example, you can choose to ignore parrying completely and focus solely on perfecting your Issen timings. Those who want to play it safe can stick to blocking for an entire playthrough, though they might need to make some adjustments to account for unblockable attacks.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available for Windows (Steam, Microsoft Store, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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