Fixed camera angles, a 3D character against a 2D background, and tank controls. While this style of video game was popularised by Capcom’s early Resident Evil titles long before the third-person genre became mainstream, another of the studio’s classic franchises did the same thing, but in a very different light – Onimusha.

Debuting in 2001 with Onimusha: Warlords (known simply as Onimusha in Japan), the action-adventure franchise had to make use of the limited hardware available at the time, choosing to place its focus primarily on refining its sword-based combat, resulting in deliberately slower, skill-based encounters where positioning and studying enemy attack patterns were paramount, a pseudo-precursor to the modern Soulslike formula.

Now, 25 years following the release of its first game, the franchise, which had four main games and several spin-offs, is back with a vengeance and is set to redefine its close-quarters combat with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, as Capcom brings the series to the modern gaming age while still retaining its heart and soul – deliberate and reactive swordplay.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword had already given us a taste of what’s in store thanks to two previous gameplay demos, with the first shown off at Gamescom 2025 and a free demo that came after, which expanded upon the segment shown in the first while introducing protagonist Miyamoto Musashi’s staggering line-up of at least five different ways to counter attacks (Parry, Issen, Blade Barrage, Deflect, Grab Reversal). Now, thanks to an extended two-hour-long look at the game during a preview event at Capcom’s Singapore office, we were able to get a better understanding of the title’s overall gameplay structure.

Kicking off immediately after the demo ended, the preview session started with Musashi discovering an Oni Glyph, mysterious rifts hidden throughout the world that can be revealed using his Oni Vision ability. Stepping into the rift leads our hero into a distorted version of the world, one filled with floating buildings and, of course, no shortage of Genma (demons) to dispatch, and also leads him to the discovery of a new tool, the Oni Bow.

Apart from being able to deal damage at range, this Bow also seems instrumental to the game’s environmental puzzles, as Musashi is able to shoot highlighted parts of certain doors or objects to open and move them. In addition, players will also need to pay careful attention to Musashi’s gauntlet while exploring, as when it lights up, it means there’s a hidden Oni Glyph nearby, which, once activated, can cause environmental objects to spawn and open up a way forward.

Puzzles aside, the Oni Bow can also be used in combat to activate destructible objects and gain the upper hand on foes, such as causing a massive boulder to come crashing down on everyone standing below.

It’s not long before the preview introduces one of Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s many boss encounters in the form of Daidara the Slavering Glutton, a massive Genma who wields an equally large club. While standard enemy encounters up until this point have largely been manageable, sometimes even allowing players to power through with mere button mashing, everything changes once a boss fight kicks off.

With their lengthy health bars and hard-hitting attacks, such encounters demand that players stand their ground and learn attack patterns as each successful parry or deflect depletes the boss’s stamina bar, and breaking it completely opens them up for a powerful counter blow, where players will be able to choose different parts of the foe to target, each with their own reward. Targeting a limb with a red icon, for example, deals massive damage, while targeting a blue area does less damage but spawns a large amount of souls for Musashi to absorb.

Speaking of souls, here’s where the game throws a wrench in the works – bosses can absorb them too. If a player isn’t able to absorb floating souls in time, this can sometimes lead to their foes re-absorbing them, powering up in the process and gaining increased damage.

While Daidara’s slow-moving nature was relatively straightforward to adapt to, depleting his initial health bar didn’t defeat him, instead kicking off the second phase of the battle. Here, Daidara isn’t just in an enraged state, but allowing him to absorb souls results in the transformation of his club into something more akin to a polearm, giving him a sweeping attack that can deal damage across almost half of the arena if not countered properly.

Daidara isn’t the only boss in the preview to have multiple phases in their fights either, as both of the preview’s two other bosses – Rasho-gan, a multi-armed Genma armed with a sword and ranged attacks, and Byakue, a beast-like Genma who overwhelms with a flurry of blows with his giant axe – each activated their second phase mid-encounter, and each time, their weapons transformed into a different form that switched up their attack patterns.

This way, boss fights are not just a test of a player’s reaction and skill, but also one of their endurance, as they would need to manage their limited healing resources or powerful Oni Armament abilities – such as the health orb-spawning Two Celestials dual blades seen in past previews – deciding when to use them at the perfect time to last through the multiple phases and attack pattern changes. While the preview only showed off three new bosses, hopefully the full game can introduce much more challenging foes to encounter, each with their own transforming weapon, to keep every boss encounter fresh and unpredictable.

Combat aside, the preview also offered our best look yet at the game’s overall “wide linear” structure. Like its name suggests, Onimusha: Way of the Sword mostly plays out in a linear fashion, with Musashi always having a specific goal to achieve, but his path isn’t always a straight line.

The second half of the preview dropped us into the large semi-open area of Kyoto, alongside the Rokudo-chinnoji temple, which serves as the game’s hub area of sorts. Within the temple, players can prepare for the journey ahead by upgrading their stats and abilities, buying new charms, or engaging in training bouts.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s character upgrade system is split into two main components, the first being general stat improvements such as those to health, damage and ability charge speed, each requiring different materials that can be found in chests throughout the world or when defeating foes, and the second being purchasing new abilities (like the ability to deflect projectiles or charging up an enraged “Blazing” state by performing successful parries), which can be done by spending souls absorbed from fallen enemies or Power Stones, rare components found in specific hidden chests or dropped by bosses.

Players can further boost their abilities in combat by acquiring charms, equipable items found in the world that provide useful bonuses. In the preview, we were given access to one that improves the recovery gained from health items, and these charms can be further upgraded at the hub area using materials. Finally, the hub area also offers a training ground where players can hone their skills and practice the game’s multitude of ways to counter enemy attacks, alongside the ability to replay boss fights.

Whilst exploring the world on their way to quests, players might also chance upon random side encounters where they need to save civilians from Genma. These quick skirmishes will award them with valuable items, which can then be traded in for materials to upgrade their charms. Within the preview session alone, we already started to see repeats of such events, so hopefully the full game will provide more variation when it comes to such encounters.

Finally, the preview also teased Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s Metroidvania-esque exploration. Those who played the free demo would no doubt remember that some paths were blocked by a massive growth, and the preview finally gave us the tool to deal with those obstructions. Following the defeat of Rasho-gan, Mushashi gained access to Oni Strength, a demonic set of armour that allows him to rip apart said growths. 

As the growths seen in the demo were in a completely different area than the preview, it’s highly likely that the game will feature optional backtracking as players acquire new abilities, allowing them opportunities for additional exploration and rewards, such as new charms or maybe even new Oni Armaments, which offers an enticing prospect for completionists. Apart from opening new areas, Oni Strength can also be used in combat to break an opponent’s block or shields, giving them even more ways to deal with threats, so it will be interesting to see if other Oni abilities unlocked down the line will continue in this pattern and offer more than just new ways to interact with the world.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s past two demos were already strong showcases of the game’s highly reactive combat system, but this latest look only serves to up the ante while offering a taste of the game’s world that seems ripe for exploration. This latest Onimusha entry has big shoes to fill, but at least from what we have seen so far, it’s certainly up for the challenge.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches on 4 September 2026 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.