Onimusha: Way of the Sword (PS5) hands-on – Capcom’s samurai comeback is far stranger and more ambitious than I expected

August 6, 2026 - 22:42

Capcom's long-dormant samurai series is back, and the early hands-on impressions for the PS5 version of Onimusha: Way of the Sword are turning heads for a reason nobody saw coming. Most people assumed this would be a straight-up Sekiro clone with a katana and a grudge. Instead, the demo reveals a game that is far stranger, more experimental, and more ambitious than the marketing suggested.

The combat is still the core hook, and yes, it borrows the parry-and-punish rhythm that made FromSoftware's ninja epic famous. But that is where the comparisons end. The real surprise is the structure. The opening hours are not a linear corridor or an open world. They are a series of haunted dioramas, each one a self-contained puzzle box with its own rules. You are not just fighting demons; you are manipulating time, swapping between two playable characters with different ghostly abilities, and even rewinding a boss fight to change its outcome.

The tone is also off-kilter. It is not grim and gritty. It is eerie, almost dreamlike, with sudden shifts into surreal horror and even a touch of dark comedy. One moment you are slicing a giant spider, the next you are solving a riddle about a crying stone. It feels like Capcom took a big risk, and for now, it is paying off. The demo ends on a cliffhanger that suggests the full game will be a much weirder ride than the trailers promised. If this is the new direction for Onimusha, count us in.