Onimusha: Way of the Sword Preview - A familiar but exciting looking action-RPG

Capcom may just be the gold standard video game publisher right now. The Japanese company has a fantastic array of unique titles that frequently arrive in a typically high quality, which has been enough to lead to successive growth for almost a decade straight and also a top position on Metacritic's aggregate publisher rankings (second in 2025 and first in 2024). It's because of this success that I find myself constantly looking forward to Capcom games, regardless of what they are and what genre they slot into. 2026 will be no different, as Resident Evil Requiem will kick things off, before being followed by Pragmata (catch our recent impressions here) and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. The latter is particularly interesting as Onimusha has had a minor space in the games sector for almost two decades, with recent memory made up of remasters and VR alternatives. This will change in 2026 as Way of the Sword arrives with the intention to remind us why Onimusha was once an action staple.

To begin with, anyone who has seen a recent trailer may be of the impression that Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a Soulslike action-RPG. That isn't quite true from what I saw of the game as part of a recent trip to Capcom's UK headquarters. It's certainly an action-RPG, but it seems to lack many of the tendencies of the Soulslike formula for it to fall into that trap, and this includes what looks to be more forgiving combat designed around attacking and being aggressive first and foremost. Yep, there's no need to cower in a corner in this game, constantly dodging or parrying until you find a one-second window to deal a bit of damage before fearing for your life again. In Way of the Sword, you lead the combat, attacking and finding ways to get past threats by striking in a multitude of ways and using the protagonist's skills to your advantage.

What are these skills you ask? Onimusha: Way of the Sword revolves around Miyamoto Musashi, a swordsman who wants nothing more than to be classed as the best to ever do it. As part of this quest, he finds and decides to wear a powerful Oni Gauntlet that grants him immense power, but soon he regrets the decision and wants to achieve his goal the authentic and harder way, without the aid of the supernatural, and this leads to a quest where Musashi must figure out how to remove the Gauntlet all while dealing with any Genma (demon) threats that cross his path.

It's a pretty straightforward general premise from what I could see, but there are many ways to deviate from the beaten path. The demo I witnessed included heading to a temple near Kyoto, Kiyomizu-Dera by the looks of things. It's important to note the real world location name because many areas and places are authentic depictions of the real world, all with an Edo-era and demonic twist. As for why Musashi ventured to this temple, there was a demonic threat calling him, a threat that looks to expand on the traditional Onimusha souls system with a new colour to master.

On top of the familiar red souls that constitute experience points, the blue souls for mana/ability points, and the yellow ones for health (yep, even health bars are yellow in this game for some completely counterintuitive reason...), there are now black souls too, with these acting as grief memories and small story beats that tell part of a wider tale. The example in the demo saw humans being enslaved and manipulated by Genma, all before eventually being slaughtered, something Musashi understands as he follows the black souls to their source. It should also be noted that these stories are based on Japanese folklore, giving them even more of an authentic feel.

Beyond this, it's a very traditional Onimusha and action-RPG that is being presented by Capcom. You follow a linear level structure, encountering unique types of Genma along the way that want nothing more than to see Musashi bleed. Using the simple to pick up, hard to master combat suite, you have to block attacks, parry blows, evade hits, and all while striking back when the moment calls for it to defeat each threat and then to harvest the coloured souls each Genma leaves behind. The catch is that many of the Genma have special skills or stylings, like some that can body shift or attack at bracing speed. Fortunately, Musashi can use Issen attacks (and other skills) to his advantage to deal massive and heavy damage to opponents, assuming you have built up enough blue soul energy in the first place of course. These dismember and leave Genma completely devastated and they can be chained between multiple threats. It's also quite easy to know if you have the energy to use Issen attacks, or to whip out dual blades as part of Flame Spirit State, as the HUD has a dedicated diamond shape icon that fills up over time all while Musashi's sword has a visual que effect that sees the blade glow luminous blue too.

Talking about the HUD, this does feel very action-RPG with its setup, but it's also very straightforward and seems to lack any fluff, which is certainly a positive. And this even extends to the visuals and the graphics, as Way of the Sword seems to be quite the stunner, as you'd hope for a true current-gen project.

Otherwise, it's worth noting that Capcom has baked in environmental puzzles in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, puzzles that can be solved by destroying blockages for example, all by using an Oni Vision skill to trace the block to its source. The example I saw was very basic, but Capcom did tell me that variety and difficulty will significantly ramp up as the game progresses.

A few additional things I noticed was that throughout the story Musashi and the Gauntlet will communicate with one another, and while it does look like this will lead to some witty back and forth, it doesn't seem to nearly be as cringey as what was presented in Forspoken. There is also fully voiced and localised dialogue that gives an extra dimension to the overall narrative, and there's a degree of environmental interaction too, in the form of being able to pick up and kick tables at enemies, for example. You'll even somewhat know which direction to follow for the story as striking and clearly inclement weather conditions will depict where Malice and Genma infestations lie, and typically this will, as was the case in this demo, lead to a boss fight. Or even two...

Yep, as a final point, I got to see not one but two boss encounters, one against Musashi's rival Ganriyu, another Gauntlet-wielding swordsman best defeated by skilful parries leading into Issen strikes, and the second against a Malice entity known as Byakue, with this being a demonic monster that had the intricate mechanic of getting stronger should it be coated with its own blood. Gnarly, right? Byakue seemed best to be avoided until it was tired out or until Musashi managed to whittle down its stamina bar by perfectly landing parries, all to open the monster up for a heavy and indefeasible strike. Defeating Byakue did drop something, but this was where the demo ended so I cannot comment on what exactly the item was nor what it does.

So, all in all, Onimusha: Way of the Sword seems to be an absolute dream come true for action-RPG fans. It doesn't seem to be as demanding as some Soulslikes, or even games like the Nioh series can be, but it certainly won't be a walk in the park either. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the game soon, as I'm looking forward to seeing if between this, Resident Evil 9, and Pragmata, if Capcom can deliver a 2026 for the ages.