I’ve been lucky enough to play through Onimusha: Way of the Sword ahead of launch and, among its incredible boss fights and fabulously grimdark story, one thing shines through above all else – for me, this is about as good as swordfighting has ever felt in a game.
In part, that’s down to animation – Miyamoto Musashi feels alive in your hands, able to seamlessly and beautifully move from attacks to parries and back again, even in fights against multiple enemies. But it’s also down to the number of options at your disposal at any given time – within the first couple of hours, Way of the Sword lives up to its name by giving you multiple ways to tackle anything from a lowly Genma footsoldier, up to the cruellest multi-stage boss.
Most unusually, it’s in how it makes defending from attacks feel not only fun, but vital, a means of turning any moment on the back foot into an opportunity to end the fight in a few strokes. To give you a sense of how much you have to work with, here are the many ways you can deal with opponents and take control.
Your first line of defence should usually be your last resort. Holding LB lets Musashi block most attacks (including ranged) from any angle, but every hit costs you stamina – run out and you’ll lose your stance and a healthy chunk of souls (particularly galling when you’ve been patiently building up a special attack gauge). Whenever possible, you should be aiming to do something else from this list.
If you’ve played most modern action games, you’ll know how to parry – hit block just as an attack lands, and Musashi will sweep it away, usually leaving an enemy defenceless for a few precious seconds. Way of the Sword further incentivises parrying with the Blaze Gauge – parry enough attacks and you’ll enter Blazing State, which can result in more health and stamina damage, nets you extra souls, and looks extremely cool.
Oh, you want another way to parry? Try Deflect – rather than a standard parry, this involves blocking and hitting A as an attack lands instead. A deflection won’t break an enemy’s stance, but it does a huge amount of stamina damage (even more if you’re in the Blazing State as you do so), eventually letting you perform a Break Issen – a special attack that kills most weak enemies and can cut down bosses far faster. As an added bonus, Deflections can send enemy projectiles back at whoever fired it towards you.
Your ultimate risk-reward ability, Issen involves starting an attack in the precise moment just before an enemy lands their blow – with an even smaller window for success than a regular parry. When you pull it off, Musashi effectively teleports to the side and lands one of his most powerful blows. It looks incredible, but you’ll need to master the timing to get it right consistently.
Barrages and Locks are rarer events with major potential upsides. If you land an attack at the exact same time as an enemy, you’ll enter a Barrage – effectively a mini-duel. Your job is to pay attention to what you were doing just a second before – if you entered the Barrage with a light attack on X, hit the heavy attack on Y to dodge the enemy and land a heavy blow (and if you entered with heavy, hit light).
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/09/03/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-tips-guide-combat/
