As the first mainline title in the franchise in over 20 years and considering the story, it’s a little surprising that Onimusha: Way of the Sword has so little tying it to the previous games. Sure, there are the Genma that you’ll have to slay, the Oni Gauntlet, and Issen, but in terms of setting, characters, and narrative, you won’t find anything that directly connects.
It makes sense given how long the series has been dormant, and director Satoru Nihei wanting it to be more accessible for newcomers. However, fans will find some familiar traits in the enemies.
As he explained to Game Informer, “There’s no direct kind of connection to the old games in the game world, but we have tried to pay homage to some of the elements from those older games. So some of the enemies you’ll see, for instance, are based on some older enemies; that’s so fans of the series have something they can touch base with.”
Some examples include the Chijiko, which fights somewhat like Onimusha 1’s Reynaldo Genma. Much like the latter, the former also uses tentacles to attack, but it doesn’t multiply, instead splitting into two. While Musashi can prevent this process entirely, you won’t be quite as overwhelmed as in the classic. Then there’s an enemy that resembles Bazuu, which attacks while spinning towards the player.
And even if some enemies don’t exactly follow the same design, their appearances may remind you of older threats. For example, one resembles Gyaran, and shoots projectiles from afar rather than trying to extract Musashi’s soul up close.
Nihei notes, “All of the enemies in this game are brand new, so while we do pay homage to some of the older games, we’ve kind of taken elements from them and remixed them for the new Genma in this title.” Considering they’re the only thing really carrying over between games, it’s a solid approach and keeps things fresh.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches on September 4th for Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and PC. It was originally slated for September 25th but was recently moved up, likely to avoid Control Resonant, Silent Hill: Townfall and other major releases.
