Onimusha: Way of the Sword Is the Comeback Capcom Needed to Get Right

Bringing Onimusha back was never going to be as simple as giving an old series modern graphics. More than two decades have passed since its most important games, and action games have changed dramatically in that time. Soulslikes transformed how players think about melee combat, character action became faster and more technical, and enormous open worlds became almost impossible to avoid.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives on September 4 facing an awkward question: what is Onimusha supposed to look like in 2026?

Capcom's answer is surprisingly straightforward. Keep the demons, sword fights and supernatural samurai fantasy, modernize almost everything around them, and don't pretend the series needs to become Dark Souls to remain relevant.

Musashi Gives the Series a Fresh Start

Way of the Sword doesn't require players to remember characters or events from games released more than 20 years ago. This is effectively a new beginning, with legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi taking the leading role.

His appearance is modeled after Toshiro Mifune, immediately giving Capcom's Musashi the visual presence of a classic samurai-film protagonist. But he isn't presented as an untouchable legend. The Oni Gauntlet drags him into another supernatural conflict with the Genma, and much of the appeal comes from watching a famous swordsman deal with increasingly ridiculous monsters.

That makes Way of the Sword accessible to newcomers without completely cutting itself away from the identity of the older games.

The Old Onimusha Is Still Underneath

Longtime fans will recognize plenty. The Oni Gauntlet returns, defeated enemies still provide souls, the Genma remain wonderfully unpleasant, and Issen once again rewards precise timing with devastating counterattacks.

But combat is much more fluid than it was during the PlayStation 2 era. Musashi can deflect, dodge and pressure enemies in fights designed around constant movement, while different opponents force players to adjust rather than rely on the same defensive technique.

The bosses appear to be where this approach works best. Some encounters reward confident parrying, others make evasion more important, and recurring duels gradually demand better understanding of the combat system.

Capcom has modernized how Onimusha plays without removing the things that made it recognizable.

Bigger Isn't Always Better

Way of the Sword also expands beyond the relatively compact structure associated with the older games. There is more exploration, optional content and considerably more to do between major encounters.

That extra scale isn't universally successful. Some reviews have criticized the open-area activities for slowing the pace, especially across an adventure that can stretch toward 30 hours. It is perhaps the clearest example of modern design making Onimusha bigger without necessarily making every part of it better.

But there is something refreshing about a major 2026 action game that still understands where its strengths are. The exploration supports the sword fighting rather than replacing it, and the game doesn't appear interested in becoming another enormous map filled with hundreds of icons.

Twenty Years Later, Onimusha Still Feels Like Onimusha

The critical response suggests Capcom has largely succeeded. The combat and boss battles are repeatedly singled out as highlights, while criticism tends to focus more on the story, pacing and some of the additional activities surrounding them.

That is probably the best outcome a revival like this could hope for. Way of the Sword isn't successful because Capcom discovered a completely new identity for Onimusha. It works because the studio figured out which parts never needed replacing.

After more than two decades, Onimusha hasn't returned as a Soulslike wearing samurai armor or an open-world RPG chasing current trends. It has returned as Onimusha. It just finally plays like an action game made in 2026.