Preface: This demo content is from the development build of "Onimusha: Way of the Sword"version, demo platform PlayStation 5.
In recent years, chanbara-themed games have become a major trend. Both in Japan and overseas, a batch of excellent works has emerged. The gameplay paradigms and underlying logic they follow can be understood as whittling down health, blue-light parries, red-light flashes, breaking stance bars through parries, and then executing finishers.
Against this backdrop, the pioneers at the turn of the century"Onimusha" series, its revival seems only natural. ButRelatively speaking, we need to consider a question:Since there are so many choices with this gameplay style on the market, what reason do we have to pay again to play as Miyamoto Musashi, wielding Oni weapons to slash Phantoms?
In previous Tokyo Game Show interviews, CAPCOM explained to us thathigh-risk, high-reward"Issen" system, as well as the interaction with soul resources—this is undoubtedly a convincing answer.
But to be honest,this time2 hours of demo timeis not long, but the game's content volume is huge, so I found it difficult to clear the game using only these advanced techniques throughout—although the game allows relaxing the parry timing by choosing lower difficulties, under the Sword Fight difficulty I selected, the window is actuallythanthe previous installment from 20 years ago, "New Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams""> is even stricter.
Those who have playedDemo friends should know that the more commonly used technique in this game is Hua Jin (parry/deflect), which applies to almost 80% of situations in the demo. However, there is an exception: many enemies have grab attacks with super armor. Dodging is another option against these grabs, but dodging is far less effective than I expected.Therefore, Issen became a more practical and cooler choice. CAPCOM likely designed it this way because, although they are willing to lower the barrier to entry, they do not want "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> into a game focused primarily on defensive tactics.
Besides this, another mechanic inherited from the series is"Issen", defeating enemies with "Issen" drops more resources. These resources include Yellow Souls for health recovery, Blue Souls for Oni Arts, and Red Souls for unlocking new abilities or stat upgrades.I really like this combat design philosophy: it doesn't punish conservative players, butfor players who dare to take riskswill definitely be rewarded.
Furthermore,After this demo, I gained a deeper understanding of the previous question—the answer lies in the question itself. As the author of "The Book of Five Rings," Miyamoto MusashiHis greatest characteristic lies in his agile battle IQ. This is reflected in "Onimusha Way of the Sword"'s"Hua Jin," commonly known as parrying,. Musashi doesn't just defend and break the enemy's stance bar like in other games; he redirects their attacks, turning their force against them.
The most basic usage is to deflect incoming projectiles back at enemies. A more advanced technique is to catch and redirect an enemy's charge, sending them crashing into another group of enemies.
If there are environmental elements like walls or bedsheets nearby, you can use them to knock enemies senseless. When a bedsheet covers an enemy's vision, they panic and slash wildly, giving you an advantage in outnumbered breakout battles.
With this gameplay approach, "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> The biggest freshness it brought me lies in rewarding thoughtful players. Of course,Players who rely on mechanics are certainly cool, but those who play with their minds probably have a higher ceiling—the strongest warriors must be both ruthless and cunning.
Thus, the game also provides numerous environmental kill elements. A big kick can smash a wooden door, breaking the stance bars of a row of enemies, allowing for continuous executions and triggering Stagger Issen.
Or we push them like an old cart, sending those Phantoms flying into the second dimension.
Kick him squarely onto the railing, making him kowtow to the local residents.
"Isn't it funny how some monsters draw their bows without wearing aA hard hat?"
Rich environmental interactions bring more immersive gameplay fun. During the demo, whenever I struggled with controls, I would instinctively observe the battlefield. As long as I could utilize the battlefield mechanics effectively, I had a chance to break through.
For example, there is aBOSS, his attacks were fierce and unpredictable, with moves as agile and cunning as Musashi's. After I parried him away,, deliberately turns his back to expose an opening, but is actually preparing a backward thrust with a waist bend. He also has a move where he emits a huge, slow-moving wave, which is actually a decoy; he hides behind the projectile and sneaks toward us. Once the projectile is shattered, he immediately emerges for a lethal sneak attack.
These"dirty tricks" caused me quite a few surprise deaths, making me feel intellectually overwhelmed for a moment. But soon I noticed a chain wrapped around his body like an umbilical cord. I tried cutting it with my bow, and sure enough, it triggered a major stagger, significantly weakening his abilities.
AnotherBOSS named Da Tuola. Besides absorbing souls to strengthen himself when catching players,there is also a special mechanism that I couldn't figure out during the demo, but upon reflectionseems to require brainpower as well. This monster, based on the man-eating oni from folklore,wields a massive spiked club. Although his moves are simple and easy to handle, the scene is littered with the corpses of monks. Once his club swings and touches their blood, it feasts voraciously, upgrading his abilities.
Excellent environmental interaction: two corpses fall off the club
In other words, if I guess correctly, in high-difficulty challenges across multiple playthroughs, my Musashi must try to keep the battlefield confined to a small area, avoiding contact with monk corpses to prevent them from gaining enhancements.And this forms a kind of interaction withBOSS's implicit mind games. If this level of combat design can be consistently maintained in the final release,Thenunderstanding the battlefield and finding countermeasures will be one of "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> One of the joys that distinguishes it from other chanbara games.
Feeling thisAfter experiencing the charm of "battlefield IQ," looking back at "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> The combat presentation became a joy for me. For large enemies like Da Tuola, Musashi deliberately lowers his center of gravity, lying on the ground to parry and deflect. Against human-sized enemies like Luo Zhangyuan, during blade-lock clashes, he extends his leg to sweep low, disrupting the enemy's balance.
It can be said thatCAPCOMIn "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> embodies another style of action design philosophy. It doesn't emphasize flashiness as much, but is rough yet refined—reasonable, cunning, and deadly with every strike.
However, innovation always comes at a cost. During the demo, I still noticed a few imperfections. First, when facinglarge enemy Da Tuola, the impact feedback of the katana was somewhat unsatisfying. Second, in a narrow battlefield environment, when I was cornered by another largeBOSS Bai Hui into a corner, causing visibility issues due to surrounding obstacles.
This is understandable, because in the past"Onimusha" uses a free camera typical of traditional action games, while "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> has a wider field of view than "Resident Evil4"> features a slightly wider over-the-shoulder POV than "Monster Hunter," but its action interactions are slower than those in "Devil May Cry." However, the weapons don't feel as heavy and impactful as those in "Monster Hunter.", with elongated weapons, delivering powerful and heavy strikes that pack a punch every time.
Slash downward from the front,the BOSS was falling backward
In other words, "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> The combat presentation, even for the Action God, represents a relatively new domain, so there may be areas that aren't perfect. But in fact, the game has already surpassed most similar titles. However, given everyone's expectations for CAPCOM, they could undoubtedly do even better.
But overall, I greatly enjoyed "Onimusha Way of the Sword"> The interactive experience is rough yet refined. CAPCOM has elevated the fluidity of movements to another dimension through motion capture technology. For instance, the parry-and-counter after a dodge is executed in one seamless motion, showcasing the aura of a grandmaster.
Looking at it this way, I can understand why the development team chose Mr. Toshiro Mifune to portray Miyamoto Musashi. This hall-of-fame actor, unlike the polite and elegant samurai in traditional Japanese period dramas, exudes a primal wildness. This naturally aligns with the legendary Musashi's unconventional fighting style, which is also reflected in the gameplay, requiring adaptability andbreaking the rules.
In this game, more screen time is given to civilians. In fact, the demo even provided a semi-open sandbox for us to explore andandNPC dialogue. Taking the Luo Zhangyuan chapter as an example,The game layers the narrative by showing how civilians make wishes to him and ultimately suffer the consequences, gradually revealing the BOSS's evil and cunning.Luo Zhangyuan is a"Faustian" demon; while Miyamoto Musashi scoffs at the greed, anger, and ignorance of civilians, his tone cannot hide a trace of sympathetic frustration, which left a deep impression on me. In my memory, Mr. Toshiro Mifune on screen was adept at portraying extreme eccentricity and rudeness, while simultaneously endowing his characters with a natural chivalrous spirit.If CAPCOM can maintain this high standard of dramatic presentation in the final release, it will undoubtedly have ample expressive space to recreate the spiritual essence of this legendary star.
Originally, casting celebrities as character models isone of the core charms of "Onimusha." Stars like Takeshi Kaneshiro, Yusaku Matsuda, and Jean Reno have all played important roles in the series. This time, the game boldly enlisted the late legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, and his essence is already subtly restored in the demo version. So, can CAPCOM more fully capture the charisma of this king of chanbara films in the final release? This is one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to "Onimusha: Way of the Sword."
And as a Chinese player, I can't help but think of the famous martial arts superstars in Chinese cinema—Jackie Chan's acrobatic style, Jet Li's broad and open movements, Donnie Yen's sharp and swift strikes. If there were a game that deeply recreated the move sets and acting styles of these actors at their peak, it would in itself constitute an extremely rich and self-consistent combat mechanism and visual language. Toshiro Mifune's action scenes in chanbara films were always filmed with the principle of "still as a maiden, moving like thunder"... Thinking about it this way, he is indeed the best actor in my mind to embody the "Issen" martial arts system.