Onimusha WotS dev asks you to "keep an open mind" about its modernized design

It's been a hot minute since we last visited Onimusha's Genma chop shop; 20 years, in fact, by the time Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches. Game design has evolved greatly since Dawn of Dreams arrived in 2006, and Capcom's latest hasn't shied away from modern sensibilities. Considering the series was originally left to wallow due to poor sales, there's a huge amount of pressure on newcomer Musashi to cut through a busy market. Speaking to Lauren about how the studio's managing expectations at Gamescom, producer Akihito Kadowaki and director Satoru Nihei acknowledge that this is a different Onimusha than what many are used to in some ways, but remain firm that the series' DNA is very much intact.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword has already got me excited. I can tell from the expressiveness of its animations that Capcom's been putting in the work, and I can't wait to go blade-for-blade with historical antagonist Sasaki Ganryu, who for me has stolen the show every time he's popped up in trailers. It's classic Onimusha, complete with Issen counters and its trademark high skill ceiling; something that's resulted in players erroneously thinking it's FromSoft-adjacent (it's an action game, besties, you will not find it on our best soulslike games list, I promise you).

Onimusha: Way of the Sword has however received a few modern design switch ups. Most notably, the fixed camera that punctuated its predecessors has given way to something more dynamic. Though many fans have lamented our loss of the OG perspective, Kadowaki and Nihei say the fixed angles were "a way things were often done at the time, and the world has largely moved on." Expanding on this, they say "it's not something we felt was core to the title and something we had to bring forward," and that the studio's picked the camera "that works best."

In their words, Way of the Sword's roving camera "greatly increases the immersion," which tracks considering the focus is now squarely on its protagonist, rather than its boxed-out environment.

The overall online sentiment towards Way of the Sword has been, by large, overwhelmingly positive. The main grumbles have come from a perceived shift towards soulsy combat, though outside of battles, it's worth remembering Onimusha was doing much of what From ended up channeling long before Dark Souls was ever conceived. The pair note that "some people have played it and said 'this isn't necessarily what I wanted from Onimusha,' or 'this isn't Onimusha the way I remember it.'"

While there'll always be purists longing for the nostalgic feel of a bygone era, I do think this mislabelling reflects the broader issue we seem to be currently facing whereby every challenging action-RPG is automatically deemed a 'soulslike' - Silent Hill f has, bizarrely, also fallen foul of this. I get it, the subgenre's become oversaturated to the point that a new contender for the throne is popping up seemingly every month. But we do need to be more mindful about how we throw the designation about.

Regardless of how you feel, Kadowaki and Nihei ask that you "keep an open mind" about this new-look Onimusha. "There was Onimusha 20 years ago, and we loved that, and this is the modern Onimusha, and we hope that [players] can really enjoy that."

The Onimusha: Way of the Sword release date is slated for 2026, so keep an eye on our everything we know guide to stay in the loop. In the meantime, check out more of the best samurai games that you can get your Genma-slaying reps in with now.

How are you feeling about the next Onimusha? Let us know your thoughts on Way of the Sword over in our community Discord server.

Additional reporting by Lauren Bergin at Gamescom.