Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Remember when I said I’d cave in to the hype of The price is right? Well, I got this game for free. I bought a new graphics card, and the game came as a free bonus with it. My luck has been good lately, too. I found an open-box CPU and GPU for $100 less each. So I was able to significantly upgrade my PC at a sizable discount and get a free game on top of that. The prices of components are crazy nowadays, so any reduction in price helps.

Hype

After making my purchase, I discovered that Onimusha had been hyped to the heavens. Everyone is talking about how great it is and how it’s a glorious return for the franchise. I don’t see it. The game is good, but it’s not that good. It’s definitely a game I’ll play once, have some fun with, and probably never touch again. Then again, the combat is so good that I might replay it just for that alone.

Master Swordsman

You play as Musashi, a skilled samurai swordsman determined to prove he’s the best by defeating all his rivals. He’s brash, arrogant, and selfish. During a battle with a throng of sword-wielding demons, he is slain. His journey to the underworld is interrupted by a Yoshinotsu, who attaches an evil gauntlet with powerful abilities to revive him. It’s clear the act serves only his own ends, and Musashi refuses to be anyone’s tool, but he has no choice and is returned to the world of the living with the gauntlet permanently equipped.

Demon Slaying

Upon his return, he encounters Takamura, Shazuki, and Okuni, and learns about the Oni, a group of warriors whose mission is to protect the Earth from being overrun by demons. He also learns of Yoshinotsu’s plan to break through the gates that seal the demons in hell and flood the world with them, drenching it in blood. It’s a simple-minded story, but it’s effective enough to motivate me to go out and slay these demons.

Way of the Sword

The one key feature of this game that truly lives up to the hype is the combat. This may very well be the best combat I’ve ever experienced in any game. It’s seriously good. It includes the usual mechanics: strong attacks, weak attacks, blocking, bows, and parrying. That alone would already make for solid combat, but it also adds deflections, isson, reflex dodges, and blade barrages. Every action gamer already knows about blocking, attacking, projectiles, and parrying by now. What makes Onimusha stand out are the deflections, isson, reflex dodges, and blade barrages.

Masterful Combat

A deflection is similar to a parry. But where a parry completely stops an opponent’s movement and leaves them open to attack, a deflection merely deflects the blade, meaning the opponent may immediately strike again. The point of doing this is to drain the opponent’s stamina faster. Once that stamina is depleted, your opponent becomes vulnerable to a devastating attack. It’s actually my combat maneuver of choice.

Isson is performed by attacking an opponent right before their attack lands. Not only do you avoid the blow, but you also unleash a counterattack in the same instant, dealing devastating damage. A reflex dodge occurs when you dodge right before an opponent’s attack connects. This creates an opening for you to land a hit.

Finally, there’s the blade barrage. If you and your opponent attack at the exact same time, a minigame begins in which you must respond with the appropriate attack to gain the upper hand. So, if the opponent uses a strong attack, you must use a weak attack in return. Sometimes this back-and-forth has to be repeated several times during a single blade barrage.

This is without a doubt some of the most engage and well thought out combat I've ever played. It's worth playing Onimusha just for the combat alone.

Lame Enemies, Monumental Bosses

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the open-world setting. The overworld is just an empty, dilapidated town with a handful of demons. At first, they’re fairly weak and stupid. It’s awkward watching them stumble around, surround you, and then attack one by one in the most sluggish way possible. They do introduce stronger and smarter demons as the story progresses, but as long as you keep your cool, you won’t go down. These types of enemies don’t do a very good job of preparing you for the monumental boss fights.

Supreme Boss Battles

The boss fights are a sudden spike in difficulty compared to the regular enemies, and it’s rather jarring. You’re walking around town, killing demons with ease, and then suddenly a big, bad boss appears and stomps you. Despite that initial beating, it’s entirely possible to learn, adapt, and overcome each boss through trial and error. Like a classic arcade boss, you have to observe their patterns and plan your attacks and defenses accordingly. It may take several tries, but you’ll learn more with each attempt. Eventually, once you’ve identified the boss’s maneuvers, you can take them down without much trouble. It’s an art form, and I think the boss fights are very well done here.

Forgettable Side Quests

Another drawback of Onimusha is the side quests. They just aren’t memorable. They amount to little more than fetch quests and battles against micro-bosses at marked locations. I engaged with them quite a bit simply because I wanted to upgrade my items with the rewards they offered upon completion. In fact, it may even be necessary for players who want to improve their stats and strengthen themselves for the challenging boss fights. That’s really the only reason to bother with them.

This game could have been so much better if it had completely ditched the open-world elements, forsaken the resource gathering, and simply focused on combat in a level-by-level format. The best example of this is the mission in which you track down Ganryu and Dokyo. It’s a more condensed and focused experience, in which you navigate an apocalyptic feudal Japan and take down two major bosses using the highly engaging combat at your disposal. It’s classic video game design—timeless and awesome. If only the entire game had been like this, it would have been an absolute banger.