*Light spoilers for Onimusha: Way of the Sword are contained within.
Upon reaching Kyoto in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Musashi unlocks a skill tree that can be used to gain new skills and abilities. One of these skills you can unlock is the Assassinate ability, which grants the ability to stealth-kill enemies you encounter. That said, using the technique isn’t so hard, but it can be more technically limited based on how the ability works.
Musashi doesn’t have a crouch ability, meaning that, for starters, you will need to walk up behind enemies slowly, taking care not to take a step too far and alert them. When you see the shuriken-like icon, you can hit the attack button to finish them. Enemies share sort of a hive mind, so alerting one enemy will cause the entire nearby group to engage you. This can be trickier when you factor in enemies like the Kubi Akari, which stay out of reach but overlook enemies that might be distracted. Since arrows will alert these groups anyway, it’s best to avoid them.
Typically, you want to find a group of Hitotsume Gasa sword-type enemies on the Eastern Kyoto map, as they are easy to sneak up on and are often found distracted, dragging or poking dead bodies. Take a second to make sure you can approach them, then do so to get the kill. Several mission areas will also have one or two enemies distracted, but since the game guides you heavily towards combat, it is easy to forget about this skill.
There are a few abilities in Onimusha: Way of the Sword that bolster the effectiveness of the assassination skill, but one skill should be noted for what it doesn’t do. The Petrify ability has a chance to make enemies recoil in fear from you, with a shuriken icon similar to the one used to instantly kill them. These finishers do not count as assassinations.
Upon completing this 20 times, you will receive the Silent Violence Trophy/Achievement. Word of note: at least on PlayStation 5, it can take a bit before the trophy pops. Looking for more help in Onimusha: Way of the Sword? Check out our guide to unlock the Pinch Hitter trophy/Achievement here.
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