*Light spoilers for Onimusha: Way of the Sword are contained within.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword gives players several combat tools to help Musashi come out on top in the many sword clashes he faces throughout the game. One such tool is the Issen counterattack that the player will unlock when they reach Kyoto, as part of the main narrative when being introduced to unlocking skills. Among the many trophy/achivements based on the usage of abilities, Brutalist requires you to get 50 kills with this skill.
What is Issen?
The thing is, you can get this throphy/achievements fairly early on. Right after you unlock the Isshen skill, you have access to a more open area in Kyoto with plenty of enemies to hunt down and do this too. It is easy to forget about Issen, as the skill requires more technical precision than other abilities like the perfect block, which has a far more forgiving window. Because of this, it is easy to push this ability to the side in favor of the easier abilities to land, which was my issue. Right when an enemy attack is about to hit, use either of the two attacks to see Musashi teleport out, then hit back with a quick slash.
There is a white indicator that flashes to let you know you can perform an Issen attack, but I am going to be honest, it blinks fast and can be very hard to see. This can make performing the attack more of a feelings-based endeavor, but one worth learning, as even on bosses it can deal some serious damage. Getting the Brutalist trophy thankfully doesn’t really require any form of mastery of the skill overall, so I recommend getting it early and then spending the time learning how to really perfect it only if you want to.
How to Unlock Brutalist
Once you can explore Kyoto to your heart’s content, you might stumble across enemies hanging around, wandering, or attacking citizens. These enemies will keep respawning, so you don’t need to worry about running out. The best enemy to do this again, at least I found, is the basic Hitotsume Gasa enemy. More specifically, the sword enemies. You can do it against the shield types of these characters once you remove the shield, but the bow-type enemy will not be as effective. This is because the bow enemy doesn’t have the specific move we want.
Any sword-based attack can work, but the piercing attack and side slashes have a fairly fast attack pattern that requires practice to get the timing down. There is an attack that is very easy to get the timing correct for, though, and it involves a very clearly projected move in which this enemy lifts their blade over their head and runs at you. They then, upon reaching you, come to a stop and do a downward slash. The sweet spot for this move is around halfway above you as they bring the sword down, making for an easy Issen counter and insta-kill. This is the main and most effective way to do it, though obviously prepare for some grinding. This works well even if you are struggling to add the skill viable to your roster of attacks.
After having unlocked the Issen ability, you can also invest in the Issen chain ability to make this process easier by allowing a successful Issen to be followed by up to two more instant ones. After you perform the counter, you will see enemies glow for a moment, at which point follow up with another attack to see them perform the attack again. In groups of three or more Hitotsume Gasa enemies, this can clear them all in quick succession.
Once you do this 50 times, the Brutalist trophy/achievement will pop, and you can bask in the sweet glow of victory. Something to note, though, at least on PlayStation 5, is that there can be a delay of a few seconds between when you earn a trophy and when it appears for you.
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