Finally, after all this waiting, players can go hands-on with the upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword from developer Capcom, if only for a little bit. A demo for the game was released alongside its latest trailer during the State of Play event for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC, and I cut through it so you don’t have to (but you really should). The vertical slice of the game takes players to Kyoto, around Mount Otowa at the historic Kiyomizu-dera temple, where a demon claiming to be Shuten Doji has made their residence.
While you are hunting that demon, the player never actually makes it to them. If this game is anything like traditional Onimusha games, the road to any big boss will be long and winding with several challenges along the way, and this demo is pretty short in comparison to that. Not a bad length of time, and there definitely feels like there will be replayability, but my total run was about 35 minutes on the higher of the two difficulties.
This includes a lengthy section in which the player has a more linear path through the woods, as a tutorial gives you some idea of how to fight and some of the changes made. I was actually interested in the two controller schemes given to me prior, though I played using one, the aggressive one, for this demo. That was ok, since that was the one that matched my playstyle, but another, called the defensive layout, is available for players who don’t run headlong into confrontation.
Along this first portion, you deal with what I like to call fodder enemies. They look human but are demons, but they do wield katanas. They aren’t really hard and definitely will not get the best of you, even as you keep spamming block as you try to get used to attacking them, or maybe that’s just me. The cool part about the block is that three abilities stem from it, such as a controlled and fiery power block that knocks your enemy off balance. I thought that as the tutorials were all pop-up texts, the timing on these would allude me, but no, I was quickly getting the hang of controlling the flow, and it was fun to do so. There is also great animation for the block standard, watching Musashi get knocked back and stumble.
You also learn standard combat along this route against these enemies that you can pretty easily tear apart with a few slashes, but there is an emphasis on switching it up. One thing that occurs is a sword clash where you and an enemy keep doing exactly as the name suggests, which you can do by going low while they go high. The standard block can be gotten around by switching up your ability. What combat really comes down to is staggering opponents and then performing a finisher move, again using either attack, to brutally dismember them.
It took me a bit to truly appreciate the combat, but I am fully sold now. Attacking has a kind of weighted feeling, and despite not actually being slow, quickly slashing and then blocking is also easy to accomplish once you start to get the timing down. I was able to bounce out at will to reset myself. My biggest complaint here would be that locking on isn’t just a good practice; it can become mandatory so that Miyamoto Musashi doesn’t start just slashing the void. This happened multiple times.
Orbs also make a return here, with the player collecting experience orbs (which are red) and health orbs for much of the experience. The red orbs, to the best of my understanding, have no use in the demo overall, typically used to level up weapons or purchase things at shops, and obviously, there are no shops. The health drops are frequent, and as long as you learn how to apply your combat skills, they will drop everywhere, keeping you from feeling unable to engage with enemies or the boss (which we will get to in a bit). A complaint here is that you need to trigger absorption, still, of these items, which, for me on PS5, was L2. I never enjoyed this and was hoping for an auto trigger, but I’m clearly not getting.
This is a pretty barebones demo by the metric of other demos like The Adventures of Elliot, which I previously previewed. In that you get multiple weapons, are introduced to shops, and more. Obviously, since the title is Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the sword you have is the primary focus, with other weapons being more temporary. What this change does to leveling is the big question, and one we get no answer to. Barebones, by the way, is no insult here. This is a tight and simplistic demo that offers the core experience, nothing to dilute that. I like that core experience.
The demo of Onimusha: Way of the Sword really opens up when you actually reach Kiyomizu-dera temple, with at least a few branching paths to go. More importantly, though, still a more linear structure as to how to proceed. We also encounter shrines we can save here. These traditionally allowed for the player to introduce changes to their kit, but we see none of that in the Onimusha demo. We are again limited in some pathways, but you have a few paths to follow and fight. One had a cart I could push into enemies, which was actually a fun way to clear out that point.
Another new addition to the game is the ability to pull up cover for arrow fire, which, in theory, I liked, but in practice, was less than satisfying. Every time I thought I was pulling up cover with it aimed towards my enemies, there was always an exposed point they could easily hit me, then, by cover. He moves so slowly while holding it that adjusting the cover to remove that opening is also pretty hard with some clunky controls. Personally, I think Musashi knows where the danger is, so when you pull it up, he should just auto-adjust to cover where archers are.
The bigger thing upon reaching the temple is that it is here you fight the more powerful demons with actually robust movesets. One lizard looking one turns into a top and smashes you over and over again. A good block can deflect these hits, a good, perfect block, and throw the enemy right out of it. These guys, though, don’t get knocked back easily, so you can’t just flurry your attacks and then dismember; you actually need to watch what they are planning. Also, if you dislike gore, which this is definitely not as bad as what Wolverine showed us, you can disable it in the options menu. You can also change difficulty at the shrines if needed.
The temple portion eventually gives you the task of removing a string that is breaching a barricade. One thread is easy to find, while the other requires following a thread a pretty long way past a house and into a cave. Along this path, you get my favorite segment of the demo. In the courtyard of the house, you are jumped by a ton of enemies, making for the biggest and most intense fight of the whole thing, save maybe the boss. After this, in the cave, you cut the thread and get an ultimate ability that is dual swords; you can slash enemies without getting knocked back. They can also smash the enemy back pretty good and release a ton of health orbs. To charge this ability, you require the blue orbs, which now start dropping.
This puts you pretty close to the end, though you need to create a new path to get back. The location we were heading to is now open, so head there. As I said, you never reach Shuten Doji, but here you get an even better fight if you are a history buff like me. Famously, Miyamoto Musashi was considered a great strategist but also kind of a cheat. He would famously arrive late for duels, and, arguably, his most famous was the one against Sasaki Kojirō in 1612 on Ganryūjima Island. The entire third act of The Samurai Trilogy was focused on this fateful duel. That is your boss, billed here as Sasaki Ganryu.
This is the most punishing fight by far in the Onimusha demo, but it is actually not as punishing as I was expecting. If you let him, he will devastate you with a few power smashes that deal a lot of damage and knock you back, but by this point, I was pretty confident in the rhythm. I lost to him once, only once, before going into full rage mode in round two. What is full rage mode? Well, Ganryu is a swordsman, so his moves are pretty easily telegraphed. This led to me perfectly countering almost every major attack to open him up for a flurry of counter slashes. This isn’t to brag; if I can do it, so can you. You only get a small window, and it takes a lot to stagger him, so be prepared to go defensive.
He is the culmination of everything you have learned along the way, so as long as you mix in those abilities, you should actually do alright. Could the game be harder? Maybe. Onimusha: Way of the Sword didn’t offer as much pushback as I expected, but I’m not going to complain. Most demos these days take the most punishing point in the game and drop you into it with very little context, like fighting Lu Bu in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. I’m pretty happy to get a demo that lets me savor it, which Onimusha: Way of the Sword absolutely lets me do.
Now, I do think there are some issues here, though they are minor gripes compared to everything I enjoyed. I think this demo showcase works to entice, but nowhere near enough to feel satisfied, so I can’t wait for the full game to release. Speaking of, we now know Onimusha: Way of the Sword will release on September 25, 2026, and will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.
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