Playing Onimusha: Way of the Sword recently was refreshing for two reasons: One, it’s been nearly 20 years since the most recent mainline entry in the series, and it was just nice to return to the once-hot Capcom franchise. And two, Way of the Sword is not a Soulslike, a genre that I love, but that is currently in overly abundant supply.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a samurai action game, but quite unlike Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the Nioh games in its pace and challenge level. There is depth to the swordplay and there are massive monsters to fight, but there is an easier difficulty and an overall more relaxed vibe. Of course, I was playing an early section of the game, so things may get much more complex and challenging, but I enjoyed playing something that was comparatively low stress.

What I played was a section in which protagonist Musashi Miyamoto approaches Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto. Standing between him and the temple are mostly undead grunts armed with sword, bow and arrow, or both. Musashi can dispatch these fiends quickly with his sword, deflecting attacks — including projectiles — with a pretty generous window. (On the easier story mode difficulty, the game even shows a button prompt that makes it dead simple to deflect.)

Image: Capcom

Musashi can also parry attacks. Against early-game grunts, this move staggers foes briefly, pushing them into walls or objects, or even their allies. Musashi can then counterattack, making some fights trivial. Pull off enough parries in a row, and Musashi will enter a Blazing State, giving him an offensive power-up.

There are riskier moves. If Musashi strikes his enemies just before they hit him, he’ll perform a high-power, high-reward Issen counterattack that unleashes more of the Onimusha series’ absorbable souls — which come in red, yellow, and blue flavors, each with its own benefit. Musashi also has the series’ trademark Oni gauntlet, which allows him to unleash devastating attacks when charged.

While much of the action was pretty easy compared to Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s Soulslike peers, the depth and challenge potential showed up when I faced my first boss, Sasaki Ganryu, another gauntlet-wielder who has history with Musashi. Sasaki was a relentless attacker, keeping me on my toes as I watched his attacks for tells. But he was likewise reckless and easy to bait; I had no problem parrying most of his attacks, dancing with him around the main stage of Kiyomizu-dera temple.

Story-wise, I didn’t get a strong sense of where Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s narrative was going, outside of “demons are bad, gotta kill these demons.” But the method through which the game’s story is told is intriguing. Using his gauntlet, which speaks to him with a woman’s voice (and which hates being addressed as “Gauntlet Lady” by our hero), Musashi can see visions of the past using Oni Vision. This special sight replays the tragic events that led to the demonic invasion, overlaying them with Musashi’s present place and time. It’s surprisingly effective.

What I did play of Onimusha: Way of the Sword I loved, and it left me wanting more. The vibes and visuals are sublime, and the swordplay feels solid. I will say that switching from the Japanese-language voiceover to English-language voiceover was jarring; I was not expecting British accents to come out of every Japanese character. But based on my hands-on time with the game, and this week’s reveals of new gameplay and disgusting new demons to fight in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, it’s quickly become one of my most anticipated games of next year.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is due sometime in 2026 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.