Onimusha: Way of the Sword Stretches a Great Concept Past Its Breaking Point
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword successfully revitalizes the classic samurai series with intense combat, but its bloated 25-hour runtime and recycled boss fights drag down the experience.
Capcom is breathing new life into a classic franchise with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, shifting the legendary samurai series away from its traditional fixed-camera horror roots and into modern action RPG territory. Starring a fictionalized Miyamoto Musashi bound to a demonic gauntlet, the game trades early franchise tropes for intense, demanding duels that draw obvious inspiration from soulslike combat and character action giants. It is an ambitious pivot that gives players a striking visual and mechanical showcase, especially when the tightly choreographed swordplay clicks into place.
Yet, as Polygon points out in their review, the ambition comes with a pacing cost that turns a tight adventure into an exhausting endurance test. While the combat system encourages close observation through responsive parries, last-second dodges, and guard breaks, the 25-hour runtime is weighed down by repetitive busy work. Players are subjected to recycled boss encounters, sparse enemy variety, and incremental RPG upgrades that fail to make your growing power feel impactful. Even the game's hub village and emergent side activities eventually reveal themselves as mechanical loops designed to pad the clock rather than deepen the world.
Ultimately, Way of the Sword asks players to embrace a philosophy of suffering, matching its protagonist's internal crisis about the nature of strength and honorable dueling. When the challenge becomes too punishing, dropping the difficulty to Story Mode offers a necessary reality check about working within your limits. Set to launch on September 4 across current platforms including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, the revival delivers thrilling highs for action fans willing to wade through a noticeable amount of padding.
Tags: Onimusha, Capcom, Action RPG, PlayStation 5, PC Gaming
Original article: Polygon