Onimusha: Way of the Sword feels like a victim of all the games that its franchise originally inspired.
There’s a reason fans were so excited when it was announced the series would return after so long in the wilderness. While never a mainstream hit, the Onimusha games on the PS2 were classics for fans of the genre. Not only that, it clearly inspired action developers worldwide, meaning echoes of Onimusha can be found everywhere.
Perhaps because of this, elements of Onimusha: Way of the Sword feel so dated. What doesn’t, however, is a rock-solid combat foundation, which means even if the missions you’re taking on are repetitive and overlong, the big blockbuster fights are some of the best around.
The game follows Miyamoto Musashi as he seeks to rid Kyoto of a looming demonic invasion. The city is teeming with demons, and most of the roads and pathways have been blocked off. By defeating a killer’s row of baddies with multiple arms, heads, and weapons, Kyoto is restored, and Musashi learns more about his new powers.
The story is not memorable, though some smaller side quests have interesting throughlines and some witty dialogue. What I’ll remember most is the pantomime dame-level performances from some of the main enemies. They’re camp, full of menace, and add a bit of levity when you’re really dialing in when to make your move during their boss fights.
Musashi’s combat is sword-and-bow-based; however, you’ll spend the vast majority of the time using the sword. Musashi also has a gauntlet which gives him access to supernatural powers, and the ability to regain health and more from enemies he defeats in battle. Actually absorbing things into the gauntlet requires Musashi to slow down, making it a risk-vs-reward question of how badly you need the health, and if it’s worth leaving yourself open to attack.
You can block, you can parry, but if you’re looking for an extra challenge, you can perform an Issen. This last-second counterattack, which is triggered by attacking an enemy at the last possible second before their attack connects, is a key tenet of the franchise and is the best thing in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Dialing this in, to the point where almost any enemy would melt in front of me, was a lot of fun, and a great skip gap for players to reach for.
However, this also leads to another one of my problems with the game: once you nail the Issen, you’ll virtually never die. Sure, you might lose a few lives during a boss fight when you’re working out timings, but battles with grunts and subbosses become so by-the-numbers that I began expecting them to just leave me alone.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-review/
