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Onimusha: Way of the Sword Wins Early Praise for Combat in First Reviews

Strong early praise for its timing-based parries and boss design positions the reboot to revive the Onimusha franchise, strengthening Capcom’s 2026 momentum.

Overview

  • Early reviews published Monday, Aug. 31 place Onimusha highly on aggregates with strong Metacritic and OpenCritic scores across PS5, Switch 2 and PC.
  • Critics single out the game's timing-based systems—parry, deflection, posture management and the Issen counter—as the core strengths that make boss fights feel weighty and cinematic.
  • Several reviewers warn that semi-open hub areas and repetitive side missions pad the campaign and create pacing problems between the standout encounters.
  • The game layers modern progression systems, using red, yellow and blue soul currencies plus Oni Armaments and skill trees to shape builds and upgrades.
  • Onimusha launches Sept. 4 with a playable demo already available, and critics say a strong reception could re-establish the series as an active Capcom IP and add to the publisher’s successful 2026 run.