Why Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the Best Game in the Franchise
Twenty years is a very long time in video game history. It’s the equivalent timespan between the end of the dinosaurs and the rise of furless bipedal apes with car keys watching the latest Jackass movie. That’s how long it has been since Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, the fourth mainline game in the series. Ages ago. An entire human generation.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is hands-down the best in the series. If you doubt my premise, go back and play Dawn of Dreams or Onimusha 3 without the rose colored glasses of nostalgia (The Rose Colored Glasses of Nostalgia, +12 to defense against poison). Postage stamp-size arenas, choppy animations, poor controls, the list goes on. Now, there are those of you who will steadfastly maintain that the games of your youth are better than versions of those games today. With the exception of 2020’s Warcraft III Reforged, I can’t think of an example. Contrary to what your grandpa says, things get better.
Best Story and Acting
Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s narrative is centered around the real-life 17th century swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi was famous for winning dozens of duels to the death. In the game, Genma kill Musashi. Facing eternal damnation, Musashi is rescued from the river to Hell, given a powerful Oni gauntlet, and tasked with stopping the Genma corruption spreading through the land. Musashi becomes a classic unwilling hero character.
The game’s story has it all, from a satisfying redemption arc to moments of drama, pathos and humor. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is incredibly well written and acted. The game somehow balances laugh-out-loud humor and dark themes in a way that makes sense. For games like Onimusha: Way of the Sword the stories rarely matter as much as the action. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is an exception. I’d go so far as saying that not only does Onimusha: Way of the Sword have the best narrative of the series, but it’s better than many action games this year.
Fluid Action
Sure, the story is great, but Onimusha: Way of the Sword is an action game first. The game’s combat is an extension of the franchise, plus influences from games like Sekiro, Nioh, and many others. It all comes together in a very satisfying way.
In Onimusha: Way of the Sword, perfect parries and dodges are at the heart of combat, joined together with Musashi’s Oni growing gauntlet powers. Which, by the way, the game does a great job of introducing at a non-overwhelming pace. At hard difficulty, the game demands great timing and mastery of Musashi’s moves and abilities. Story mode difficulty dials the difficulty way back, with far more prompts. Even then, the combat is still fun. As the game progresses, combat becomes deeper, giving the player a real feeling of growing mastery.
If there’s any doubt that Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a vast improvement over the prior games, go spend some time with Onimusha 3 or Dawn of Dreams.
Open Fields to Explore
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not an open world, but “open field,” so that missions take place in discrete areas of cities and the countryside. Exploration is rewarding, both for the resources and upgrade materials, but discovering short side quests. Musashi can easily jump between missions and locations.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword has been criticized for “open world bloat” and there is a bit of validity to that. Sometimes the main story gets pushed aside for side content, and clearing the world of repeated enemy types can feel grindy at times. However, some of the most entertaining and poignant moments come courtesy of side quests, so one hates to ignore them.
As is so often the case, we’ve had several weeks of outstanding game releases like Blood of Dawnwalker, Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Mortal Shell 2. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the best of all worlds. It boasts finely tuned, deep combat systems, an engaging story and lush graphics. Look for it on many “best of” lists later this year.