I will preface this piece: yes, I am a massive Capcom fan. Some might say shill, but the caveat here is I don’t get paid for being a fan, I’m just… a fan. It started with Street Fighter, grew with Resident Evil and with that, every (well, most) games that span off from that wave of creativity. One of them being the Onimusha series.
Onimusha is a series that started way back in 2001, and for all intents and purposes, was “Resident Evil gameplay but demons and samurai”. Well, the broad strokes anyway, we’ll get into what made it special. It was a glorious time of creativity, and Capcom were certainly riding it.
Now, after a much-anticipated return, Onimusha is coming back. After the latest trailer above, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming in September this year. Is it something to be excited about, when you think about it, or is the spin-off style of gaming nostalgia running thin? Join me, as we do a little deep diving.
Big Trouble In Ancient Japan
There are some readers who perhaps weren’t really aware of Onimusha and its place in Capcom’s vault. Or, you might be too young to played it when the first game came out. Well, put down your brainrot and pay attention, here’s a little retrospective for you.
After the release of Resident Evil, it proved to be a very popular type of game to try and emulate. Alone In The Dark had a go at it, Sony tried it Extermination, not to mention Capcom themselves having a go. One of which was the popular Dino Crisis… whatever happened to that?
But at the turn of the century, Capcom gave us Onimusha: Warlords. Yoshiki Okamoto initially pitched it as “Sengoku Biohazard”, a game similar to Resident Evil that involved trapped houses and ninjas. Whilst that didn’t happen per se, a few staples did carry over: fixed camera images, prerendered backgrounds and tank controls.
But instead of guns, it was swordplay, magic, and a soul-collecting leveling systems for weapons and armour. It was, in many regards, a spiritual spin-off to Resident Evil, much like Dino Crisis was.
What Do Samurai Have To Do With Jean Reno?
It’s fair to say that the first game did well. Let’s not mince words, it sold one million units alone in Japan. Remember, this was a time of innovation, not dog-piling on every new game for being “X but different setting”. With that success game the first sequel, Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, which I reviewed the remaster of last year.
It also did well, but the real standout was its next game, Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. Returning to original series protagonist Samonosuke Akechi, that wasn’t the only surprise. No, it decided to mix in a time travel/time split mechanic with legendary French actor, Jean Reno. Yes, the lovable titular hitman of Leon fame.
It also had one of the best opening FMV’s ever, which I strongly urge you to watch. Anyway, it did well by critical standards, yet didn’t sell as well as the previous titles. Nonetheless, it was a marked improvement on the gameplay that the first two games built.
So, what happened?
The Dawn That Didn’t Break… The Bank
Well, what usually happens when sequels come out in a routine fashion? That old favourite: the law of diminishing returns. By 2006, we were approaching a third sequel in Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. It was at this point that attention was starting to wain. Even yours truly didn’t really bother with it until years after its release.
Whilst it’s nice to see franchises change tack occasionally, the changing of a new protagonist again, as well as a new story arc didn’t really gel with fans. Not to say it was bad, it just felt too radical of a change. Remember, this was a time when people didn’t take to new things. Just look at Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, a game using concepts we see so often in Soulslikes and rogues nowadays, yet killed the franchise in 2002.
Anyway, barring a few mobile and browser games, Dawn of Dreams was the last entry in the Onimusha series. It seemed like all was dead and buried, much like… well, Dino Crisis, another beloved series killed by a massive tonal shift.
The Remaster Revival
For many, we just naturally assumed that time had done its thing and let Onimusha slip into the annals. For the most part, it had. That was until 2018, seventeen years after the original game’s launch that a remaster was coming. That’s right, twelve years after the last main entry, we were getting it back.
Released late 2018, the remaster saw the nostalgia wave ride high. Featuring visual upgrades, as well as Quality of Life improvements we tend to see in remasters, Onimusha Warlords’ release reignited that interest.
So much so that we got remaster of the second game, albeit seven years later. Still, it didn’t dampen the spirits of the fans, even if it did have some of its edges trimmed. Nothing too major, just some bonus features from the original that were strangely omitted.
But it was in between that seven year gap that something really set the fans off. The announcement of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and the whole point that this little piece is getting too.
The Light That Doesn’t Go Out
So, where do you go with a new entry in the Onimusha series? Do you just make something that looks new, with “original” gameplay, or do you reinvent? But with that, do you keep it tastefully modern like the Resident Evil 2 remake did, or go too drastic and do an Alundra 2? That is: make something so different than the first it may as well be a new IP.
Well, it did what most action-adventure games did: copy Dark Souls. Okay, that’s not fair, and don’t run off before I’ve had a chance to elaborate. But go and play the new demo, then come and tell me I’m not wrong.
Yes, from an outside perspective, Way of the Sword has cribbed a few mechanics from Dark Souls… and Sekiro. On the surface, it’s a game of third person, free camera combat. With a souls-as-currency system, health potions that refill at checkpoints and bosses with health bars. But before you cry afoul, that it “besmirches the original”, let’s look at what’s going on.
Old School, New Tricks
So, as we learnt from Dawn of Dreams, the Samonosuke/Nobunaga arc is over. There is no time travelling to Paris, no Jean Reno with a demon-slaying whip. From the press email:
“Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the latest instalment in Capcom’s classic Onimusha™ series. The first entry in 20 years, the all-new action game returns to a dark fantasy Japan where samurai clash with the supernatural. The story fuses history and myth, following the journey of Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai armed with a mystical Oni Gauntlet, as he battles demons invading Edo-period Kyoto. Onimusha: Way of the Sword features intense action that combines the series’ signature Issen and Soul Absorption mechanics with exhilarating swordplay that takes combat to new heights.”
A new hero, a new time period, yet that familiar gauntlet gameplay from the early days. Swordplay takes centre stage (as it should, it’s in the name) and, having played it, it’s fantastic.
It can be played all Souls-y, if you’re happy with that. Enemy lock on, pick them off then on to the next. Or, if you fancy, as I did, play without locking on and it feels like the old ways. Full 360° combat, parrying and attacking whichever way you choose.
There’s no jumping, nor was there originally. The only thing that really feels different (and this is just from the demo) is the camera shift. Yeah, I love the original fixed camera gameplay, but I accept that this new choice benefits a game like this.
Show Us The Way
My point, then, in what is basically an elaborate press release is: Way of the Sword is shaping up to be a very exciting return to the series. It’s like Capcom know what we like, still riding high from the Resident Evil remakes, announcing Code: Veronica and off the back of new IP like Pragmata. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should, as evidenced in Miles’ review.
The excitement it seems doesn’t just lie with me, if forums are anything to go back. What with Capcom’s current resurgence, there’s no better time to get back into one of the worthy successors to the Resident Evil imitators. Even if you haven’t played any of them, but like your Souls and/or action-adventure titles, this will scratch that itch.
For the old heads like me, it’s got that series charm with new stylings. For youngsters and newcomers, it’s a gorgeous looking slice-and-dice adventure with demons and demon-bosses. September may be packed with big titles, but for me, this is the biggest.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available from 25th September 2026. The Standard Edition will be available both physically and digitally, while the Deluxe Edition and Premium Deluxe Edition are available via digital stores. The Deluxe Edition includes the base game, plus cosmetics and charms for Musashi. In addition to this, the Premium Deluxe Edition packs in additional cosmetics for Musashi, outfits for his allies, and an in-game digital soundtrack.