Onimusha: Approach of the Sword evaluate

Revealed: August 31, 2026

Between the promise of utmost mastery espoused by the likes of Sekiro and Nioh, and the sprawling open-world narratives of the Ghosts collection and Murderer’s Creed: Shadows, college students of the digital blade have arguably by no means had it so good. When Capcom introduced that Onimusha would lastly return after 20 years, it was prepared to string the highly-competitive subgenre’s needle. The eyelet, I can affirm, is completely match for Onimusha: Approach of the Sword. Its approachable but fulfilling fight system, horror-filled, wide-linear rendition of Edo interval Japan, and frontman, bona fide sword saint Miyamoto Musashi, make for a potent mixture. 

Approach of the Sword takes place in the course of the fledgling years of the Tokugawa shogunate, as Musashi first reaches Kyoto to problem the top of the well-known Yoshioka college, Yoshioka Seijuro. Having traditionally notched up a flawless dueling document, Musashi is successfully the Mayweather of the samurai world, so, unsurprisingly, his in-game counterpart makes mild work of this introductory bout. Lower than enthused by their grasp’s defeat, Seijuro’s seething college students pursue the younger ronin in an amusingly animated avenue chase – the exaggerated expressions of the long-lasting Toshiro Mifune, Musashi’s silver display screen facesake, on full show. Onimusha has by no means didn’t impress with its opening segments, and Approach of the Sword continues the development. 

Unluckily for Musashi, he runs into rival swordsman Sasaki Ganryu. Much more sadly for the pair, they’re run via by the demonic Genma, sending them right down to Hell. Upon arrival, Musashi is plucked from the bloody river by a mysterious man in white, forcibly outfitted with an oni gauntlet – an artifact that pulls energy from the souls of the departed – and zipped again as much as the world of the residing. Upon returning to Kyoto, Musashi is led to grasp swordsman and fellow gauntlet wielder Takamura, alongside his dancing disciple, Okuni. We rapidly be taught that Takamura’s been preserving the gate to Hell locked up tight for some 800 years, preventing the Genma day-in, day-out. Approach of the Sword maintains a few of Demon Siege’s anachronistic power on this sense, albeit nothing practically as off-piste as Samanosuke cruising alongside within the Blanc-mobile.  

Busy preserving the hellish legion and their ringleader at bay, Takamura enlists Musashi’s assist to cope with Kyoto’s rising Genma drawback. The town and its surrounding areas have turn into swamped in malice, offering the right storm for rifts to kind and demons to spew forth. Musashi, nonetheless, is reluctant. Whereas the fledgling legend now possesses the facility of the onimusha, and with it the means to battle the Genma, he instantly rejects it, wishing solely to depend on his personal power to win battles. Because it transpires, the gauntlet’s the one factor preserving Musashi alive, so he ultimately yields and agrees as a way to probably discover a solution to get shot of it.

A lot of Approach of the Sword’s narrative issues itself with the true that means of energy, and it does nicely for instance its myriad kinds, in addition to the darkish temptations it brings, via some superbly produced cutscenes. Musashi wrestles with these complexities all through, studying the arduous means at occasions that his spectacular talent and unwavering confidence aren’t all the time sufficient to get the job achieved. Although the essence of Musashi’s character stays constant, he progressively turns into extra co-operative, not solely with the gauntlet and its religious denizen, Shizuka, however with the allies he makes alongside the best way. It is a pretty typical hero’s journey, however Capcom’s execution is stellar, deftly spinning in heartbreaking moments and comedic aid as Approach of the Sword progresses.  

Approach of the Sword’s early recreation is pretty pedestrian, getting you up to the mark with Musashi’s new methods. It is largely a cycle of discover rift, kill Genma, revenue, with the odd boss thrown in right here and there to be sure you’ve cemented the fundamentals. It’s kind of of a sluggish burn for the primary couple of hours, and your capability to understand every part Kyoto has to supply is hamstrung by a fringe of intense malice, but it surely’s interspersed with some well-placed narrative beats to maintain issues ticking over. It is not lengthy, nonetheless, earlier than issues actually begin to ramp up.

I am notably keen on how Capcom has nestled in its aspect quests and collectibles, attractive you to retread outdated floor because the malice begins to clear, and extra traversal mechanics are progressively unlocked. The developer-publisher manages to squeeze every part it could possibly out of its linear sections, showcasing, as it has been doing for years, that you do not want an enormous sandbox to facilitate discovery. It additionally stays congruent with the collection’ roots, with loads of tight encounters round each bend. Aesthetically, Approach of the Sword attracts from the historic and the religious. It is not a horror recreation as such, however my favourite areas had been the place it was at its most horrific – the extra grotesque, the higher. 

That being mentioned, it feels as if a couple of of Approach of the Sword’s smaller corners have been minimize. Kyoto’s inhabitants has the density of my hairline, and there is little or no ambient chatter outdoors of the occasional cry for assist as a resident flees from the Genma – a recurring encounter that is not the solely instance of copy-paste being deployed (my apologies to the native artisans for the hundreds of fully equivalent pots I carved up looking for supplies). The town feels empty in consequence, although, in Capcom’s protection, if Hell rifts had been opening up left, proper, and heart, I in all probability would not stick round, both. It is the identical case with puzzles. Onimusha has by no means been Resident Evil with regards to difficult conundrums, however bizarrely, I solely counted a single really distinctive one, the satisfaction of fixing which was spoiled by Shizuka chiming in with hints. These gripes solely barely detract from how glorious Approach of the Sword is total, but it surely does really feel prefer it’s missing in components.

The place Approach of the Sword actually makes up for its shortcomings is in its fight, which is much extra redolent of the unique video games than Daybreak of Goals. “Should you reside by the sword, preventing is every part. Or, to place it merely, as a result of it is enjoyable.” Takamura’s philosophy is not something notably enlightening, however the imposing swordsman completely encapsulates the way it feels to cleave via Genma. Musashi was already an achieved fighter by the point he reached Kyoto, having received his first duel with a picket quarterstaff at simply 13 years outdated. Unsurprisingly, he is a dab hand at demonic demolition. 

Musashi makes liberal use of sunshine and heavy strikes, however the principle heft of his moveset lies in defensive manoeuvers. Timing a counter-attack on the good second initiates a basic Issen, which might be upgraded within the talent tree to rapidly dispatch a number of enemies directly. Whereas holding down the block button will not do a lot, you may be rewarded for efficiently parrying or deflecting blows. 

The previous builds up the Blaze Gauge, empowering Musashi with additional well being and stamina injury when full, whereas choosing the latter nets a larger discount of your goal’s stamina bar. This distinction entices you to modify up your protection, and the delight present in triggering a quick-time duel, a slow-mo deflection, and even filling up your Reflex Combo Gauge by completely dodging grabs greater than matches that of a well-weighted strike hewing hellspawn. I might’ve preferred to have seen extra of the dual-wielding Niten Ichi-ryū type Musashi famously developed, however his shortsword does no less than make an look throughout sure ‘Break Issen’ executions. I did discover a scarcity of total animation selection for every motion, however what’s there’s suitably flashy.

Breaking the stamina bars of mini-bosses just like the Byakue, in addition to these of main encounters, triggers a special sort of Break Issen. Right here, you are provided a selection of a number of weak factors to strike. One sore spot spills out souls – good when you’re working low on assets. One other offers devastating injury. In sure fights, a 3rd choice, one which removes a pesky appendage solely, might seem. That is one other stable strategic addition, one which bailed me out on a couple of event.

As an onimusha, Musashi has quite a lot of powers obtainable to him. Whereas the choice to shift the standard arsenal of oni weaponry to a bar charged with souls might not sit nicely with some vets, it was the best name. Not solely is that this thematically according to Musashi’s choice for the blade (it is known as ‘Approach of the Sword,’ not ‘Approach of the Superpowered Oni Weapons,’ in spite of everything), however the fundamental swordplay is so good that having them there as a strategic choice appears like a far stronger design selection. The Two Celestials yield extra yellow soul orbs, which is ideal when you want a fast well being injection. Wind-Whipper, in the meantime, is improbable for coping with teams. There have been a few choices I did not get probably the most worth out of, however the eye take a look at might have let me down when gauging their precise power. 

Naturally, shoving a sword within the designs of the damned is a surefire solution to deliver some critical warmth, and Onimusha’s massive bads do not disappoint. Each boss has its place thematically, with each offering an additional tier of problem over its predecessor. It is not lengthy earlier than Musashi encounters Daidara, a hulking meat slab that demo gamers (or OGs Osric slayers) will already be nicely acquainted with. Pork chop comes at you with broad, clearly-telegraphed assaults; barely a problem. A duel with a revived Ganryu provides a greater indication of how Approach of the Sword’s extra frenetic encounters will go, which is barely cemented when going through off in opposition to Rasho-gan, a terrain-tossing fiend who’d been suckering the locals into giving up physique components as a way of fulfilling their needs. Taking pictures the Sukuna-like Genma’s tendrils with the Oni bow mid-animation disrupts his throw, and I admire how sure fights had been designed with Oni weapon utilization in thoughts.

The principle criticism stemming from the demo is that massive bouts had been too straightforward. Clearly, this can be a subjective stance that can differ from participant to participant, however I perceive the sentiment. Approach of the Sword presents two base problem choices: Story and Motion. The previous is extremely forgiving, with bosses being notably much less resilient and dealing much less injury, whereas parry home windows had been significantly bigger. For the typical participant, Motion mode ought to present a cromulent degree of problem – I averaged a couple of deaths per try of the late-game fights. The hardcore soulslike sickos on the market in all probability will not break a lot of a sweat, however when you’re coming into the sport anticipating to rumble with Isshin, then that is not a difficulty; that is an iss-you. Approach of the Sword is not attempting to be cruel, it is attempting to be approachable and enjoyable… that’s, till you end the principle recreation as soon as.

A closing space the place Approach of the Sword will get it proper is within the efficiency division. The RE Engine is at its finest when utilized in additional contained video games, and I can fortunately report a buttery easy expertise on my Ryzen 5 3600 / RTX 4070 Ti rig. Taking part in at 1080p with Extremely settings and DLSS set to ‘High quality,’ I did not fall foul of stutters or something of the kind. Its system necessities are modest by fashionable requirements, so you possibly can anticipate related outcomes with a weaker GPU (as you possibly can think about, the bottlenecking on my finish is actual).

Onimusha: Approach of the Sword is a stable return for the storied franchise. It feels as if Capcom has caught to the basics, specializing in delivering a compelling story and satisfying fight, reasonably than getting slowed down within the bells and whistles. It is materialized fantastically, reintroducing us to a collection that clearly has far more to provide. Whether or not or not that is the final we see of Musashi and Co., Approach of the Sword has solely made me extra excited for Onimusha’s future.