by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $17.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
… a dynamic and original horror/samurai hybrid.
Of all Capcom’s many and varied franchises – your Resident Evils, Monster Hunters, Devil May Cries and so forth – none are bloody weirder than the Onimusha games. Beginning in 2001 with Onimusha: Warlords, the series combined a historical Japanese setting with hideous demons, light puzzle solving under duress and engaging combat mechanics. It was a fun franchise overall, particularly for the Resident Evil faithful, who wanted something a little more exotic, but it seemed that after the third entry, 2004’s Onimusha 3: Demon Seed – which co-starred Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional) for reasons that can only be explained as “very early 2000s” – the whole caper lost steam and in 2006 it was pretty much done and dusted, with only the odd remaster or VR game to keep fans happy. Now, in 2026, that has finally changed with the release of soft reboot Onimusha: Way of the Sword. And you know what? Capcom has done it again because this thing’s a belter.
Onismusha: Way of the Sword is set during early Edo period Japan and tells the tale of legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. When we meet Musashi, he’s embroiled in all sorts of violent shenanigans after a duel goes wrong. He escapes one fight only to land in another, this time with genuinely psychotic swordsman Sasaki Ganryu. However, before the fight can properly kick off, the pair are slaughtered by invading demons known as Genma. Musashi wakes up in Hell where a dapper fellow in white shoves a metallic Oni Gauntlet onto his arm and kicks his arse back to the land of the living, sending him on a mission both violent and terrible. Can Musashi dispatch the evil that spreads across the land? Will he finally best Ganryu? And can the gauntlet ever come off his arm, before it changes him forever?
The biggest surprise about Onimusha isn’t the rock solid combat and hideous monsters to fight, that’s been a series staple since 2001. The real surprise here is that the story is so compelling. Musashi, very Toshiro Mifune-coded here, is a lively and engaging protagonist who oozes roguish charm and reluctant heroism in equal measure. The quest that he embarks upon goes to surprisingly dark places, and the entire art team should be given a raise as some of the creatures you face are genuinely creepy in an aesthetically original way. The combat also provides plenty of slowly mounting challenges, with deflection, timing and positioning being of utmost importance, particularly when facing off against the game’s many daunting bosses.
On the slender downside, the game runs a slightly too long 20-30 hours, with some of the minibosses and locations being repeated. It really feels as if the team should have followed their Resident Evil stablemates and had the thing come at a respectable 10-15. Short and sweet, no fat.
Still and all, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a fantastic reinvention of a quirky and much-missed series and continues Capcom’s frankly absurd winning streak with a dynamic and original horror/samurai hybrid. Let’s hope this leads to a revamped trilogy and we can dust off Jean Reno for another run!
