REVIEW: Onimusha: Way of the Sword (PS5 Pro)

Capcom‘s samurai action series has been dormant for two decades, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the game tasked with bringing it back. This time you play as Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary swordsman drawn into Kyoto’s fight against a demonic scourge called the Malice.

It’s built on the same RE Engine that’s powered Capcom’s recent Resident Evil games, and on PS5 Pro that engine gets to show off. This is a solid, largely satisfying return for the series, even if it doesn’t quite match the tightness of some of Capcom’s other recent releases.

Story

The setup is straightforward on paper. Musashi is pulled into Kyoto’s demon problem and sets out to eradicate the Genma, humanoid demons born from the Malice corrupting the city. What elevates it is Musashi himself.

He plays his sense of honour close to the chest, hiding behind dry sarcasm and pragmatic violence, and his cutscenes have a habit of making him look like he’s bumbling into fights before somehow walking out as the most dangerous person in the room.

Capcom also weaves in other historical figures and rivals as the plot develops, which gives the story more texture than a simple revenge tale.

Where the story runs into trouble is pacing. The narrative doesn’t always move at the same clip as the combat, and there are stretches where the plot slows to accommodate the game’s open-world structure.

It’s not a bad story by any means, but it’s clearly working within a bigger, baggier framework than earlier entries in the series, and that shows.

Gameplay

Combat is the reason to play this game, and it’s genuinely excellent once it opens up. Way of the Sword builds its systems around parrying, which is far from a new idea in this genre, but Capcom does something interesting with it here.

Landing a well timed parry sets up counterattacks called Issen and Break Issen. Issen demands pinpoint precision, while Break Issen is the more forgiving option once you’ve worn an enemy’s stamina down, letting you land brutal finishers.

Between the two, the game manages to reward players who want to master its timing without shutting out anyone who just wants to hack through demons.

The catch is that it takes time to click. Early hours can feel repetitive, since enemy variety doesn’t really kick in until you’ve unlocked more tools and techniques.

Once it does, though, the combat holds up well, and the boss fights in particular are a highlight, with some genuinely inventive enemy design behind them. Demons built from twisted human remains and armoured variants that curl into spinning blades are the kind of thing that gives the game its own identity rather than just riding on nostalgia.

The open-world structure is the more divisive addition. It gives you room to explore and pick up side content, but it also introduces some of the padding that this style of design tends to bring with it.

Fans who came for a tighter, more linear action game may find themselves wishing Capcom had trimmed things down.

Visuals

On PS5 Pro, this is one of the more technically accomplished games Capcom has put out. You get the choice of a Quality mode, a Performance mode, and the option to uncap the frame rate up to 120 frames per second if your display can keep up.

Performance mode holds up well too. Even with the frame rate pushed, details like blood dripping off a blade stay visible rather than getting smeared away, which isn’t always a given in this genre.

Kyoto itself is rendered with a real sense of atmosphere, corrupted by the Malice and populated by demons that lean into body horror rather than generic fantasy design.

The RE Engine continues to be one of Capcom’s biggest assets, and it shows here in the lighting, the environmental detail and the way the Genma designs blend traditional Japanese folklore with something more unsettling. The DualSense’s speakers are put to reasonable use too, adding a bit more immediacy to combat feedback.

Conclusion

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a good comeback for a series that’s been away far too long. The combat system is the clear standout once it finds its rhythm, the boss fights are memorable, and the presentation on PS5 Pro is genuinely impressive.

The open-world padding and a slow story stretch here and there keep it from being a total triumph, and newcomers should go in expecting a bit of a slow start before things click. Still, for a franchise that’s been dormant for twenty years, this is a confident and mostly successful revival.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Pricing & Availability

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available now. The physical PS5 version starts at €69.99 from Smyths, while the physical Xbox Series X|S version is priced at €74.99. On PC via Steam, the game costs €69.99. On the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store, the digital version is priced at €79.99.