Onimusha: Way of the Sword, while still quite a bit away with its 2026 release window, has had more details about it revealed thanks to a post on the official PlayStation Blog. In the post, details about the upcoming title’s gameplay were confirm, including how core mechanics like light and heavy attacks, and even deflection will work when the title comes out on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S next year.
The upcoming title will make use of a more classic combat system, with light and heavy attacks getting their own buttons – square and triangle respectively on a PlayStation controller. L1 works as a defensive button, causing the player to parry enemy attacks and causes damage to their stamina. Hitting L1 and X together, however, gives an added benefit of also throwing the enemy off-balance, and an Issen counter can be pulled off if the player nails the timing of the parry.
When it comes to boss fights, the post describes one usch fight against a character named Sasaki Ganryu, who acts as a rival to protagonist Musashi. Much like the player’s character, Sasaki is also armed with an Oni Gauntlet, which allows him to pull off powerful attacks after gathering up souls of defeated enemies. The boss fight is seemingly designed to test the player’s own sense of timing when it comes to parrying and blocking attacks.
These details come shortly after Onimusha: Way of the Sword got its latest trailer during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event earlier this week. The trailer focused on showcasing the various Genma that players will have to take on as play through the story as Miyamoto Musashi. Along with regular swordsmen, players will also have to fight grander enemies, including legendary Yokai like Nue, who can raindown lightning.
The trailer also showcased the fact that swords aren’t the only tools at Musashi’s disposal. He can also take on enemies from a distance by making use of a bow. When it comes to up-close and personal combat, Musashi can also switch to a twinblade staff to create fiery whirlwinds to take down several foes at once.
Back in June, director Satoru Nihei confirmed that Onimusha: Way of the Sword will not feature an open world. The title will instead offer a more linear experience. Nihei has also saaid that the game “isn’t a punishing die-and-retry” one. Instead, the studio was more focused on providing a fun experience even for players that might not find themselves proficient at action games.
“Onimusha: Way of The Sword isn’t an open-world game, and it certainly isn’t a punishing die-and-retry (Soulslike) game either,” Nihei explained. “While there’s no doubt seasoned action-game players will be able to enjoy it, our goal was to make a game which gamers who don’t consider action games their forte will also have fun playing. In Way of The Sword, our main focus was to express the clashing of blades through the action.”
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a return for the franchise after the series had been left behind in 2006’s Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. The franchise also got a remastered release of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny earlier this year. Check out our review for more details.
