Capcom has undergone a powerful interval of rejuvenation over the past decade. The upside of successes with Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Road Fighter, and Satan Might Cry is that the developer is now reviving extra legacy franchises for brand spanking new initiatives. One such revival is Onimusha: Method of the Sword, the upcoming reboot for the samurai action-horror collection that made Capcom’s first step into the next-gen period of the early 2000s a memorable one.
At Summer season Recreation Fest 2025, we received an early have a look at the primary gameplay for Method of the Sword and interviewed recreation director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki about their creation, which ended up being probably the most talked about video games from the showcase. Seeing the reboot’s new fight and visible fashion in motion, we talked about how the most recent expertise from Capcom was instrumental in bringing the collection again to life.
A New Samurai’s Future
“We began fascinated about this new recreation in 2020, and one of many issues that we actually wished was to have a deep concentrate on extra cinematic and satisfying swordplay for the collection, and we’ve higher expertise to make the most of for this contemporary model of Onimusha,” Nihei stated. “We additionally put lots of effort into the story, the setting, and characters as properly—we’re constructing one thing totally new for the collection.”
The unique Onimusha was initially conceived as a PlayStation 1 spin-off for the Resident Evil collection, aiming to take the survival horror expertise to Sengoku-era Japan. It will definitely grew to become its personal venture and went on to grow to be one among Capcom’s early technical showpieces for the PS2 in 2001. With its trendy fight, sturdy environmental design, and reasonable facial and efficiency seize—that includes actor Takeshi Kaneshiro because the protagonist, Samanosuke Akechi—the unique recreation grew to become one of many PS2’s early breakout hits.
The reboot for Onimusha carries an analogous promise of a rousing samurai motion fantasy boasting spectacular character and environmental visuals. Seeing the prolonged demo at SGF, the venture seems to be an worthy showcase for the RE Engine, which has powered latest video games like Monster Hunter Wilds, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem.
Within the reboot, the story is centered round historic Japanese swordsman Musashi Miyamoto (modeled after late actor Toshiro Mifune with approval from the Mifune property), who turns into an unwitting proprietor of the Oni gauntlet that grants him the energy to face off in opposition to invading demons and take up their souls for extra energy. Armed together with his trusty sword, a demonic gauntlet, and a mysterious companion guiding him by Oni-infested Feudal Japan, Miyamoto will tackle harmful monsters and even rival swordsmen who search to stake declare to a rustic in chaos.
There’s a powerful degree of element inside the design of the setting evident within the demo, which takes place in a crumbling village earlier than transferring in the direction of a fort overrun. The builders at Capcom labored extensively to recreate Feudal Japan, together with real-world areas resembling Kiyomizu-dera temple—which was crafted from enter from native historians.
In response to Nihei, one explicit space of focus for constructing a brand new Onimusha motion recreation was to convey a way of realism and cinematic shine. This was current within the unique, however the reboot leans into this additional, with the protagonist being each a exceptional and emotive swordsman in addition to a reluctant hero who navigates encounters with a resolve that is nonetheless being hardened.
“By way of the cinematic really feel and every thing, we put lots of effort into the facial seize for the characters,” stated the sport director. “We paid lots of consideration to the wrinkles on the faces and completely different options of those characters, like once they scrunch up their faces and emotive particulars, [especially] throughout fight encounters. We actually targeted on the animation of fight and character expression, and the several types of terrain within the setting that the characters are in.”
RE-defining Samurai action-horror
The fight and normal construction of Method of the Sword go for a extra story-driven development, which is an fascinating departure from the collection’ Resident Evil roots. The devs said that it is primarily a linear expertise, however the recreation will nonetheless supply alternatives to discover, work together with townspeople, and tackle non-compulsory actions.
Fight is way extra deliberate and methodical with its swordplay than it was in earlier collection entries. It is much less about utilizing combo assaults to whittle down enemy well being and extra about being environment friendly, cleaving foes in half with one or two strikes. Nevertheless, one factor that the builders have been clear in stating was that the fight was not impressed by Soulslike video games, which have had a big affect on the motion style over the last decade.
“We did not actually take note of different motion video games like Darkish Souls and Sekiro after we have been growing our tackle an Onimusha recreation,” the director stated. “What was most vital for us was how we introduced the collection and its concepts again in a compelling manner. What really makes an Onimusha recreation, and how are you going to make the most of the most recent expertise to convey the appeal and attraction of the collection to fashionable players? These questions have been what was most vital for us after we have been constructing the sport.”
The final stream of fight focuses closely on partaking a number of enemies and anticipating their actions to reveal their weaknesses. Parrying enemy assaults will open up their protection, permitting you to launch a counterattack. If you happen to use an Issen method to strike an enemy proper earlier than their assault hits, you’ll deal an immediate demise blow.
Miyamoto can be a scrappy fighter and may use grabs and contextual abilities to counter enemies. In a single amusing encounter, Miyamoto snatched up a desk to make use of as a protect from enemies firing arrows and instantly tossed it again at them when a gap got here.
Witnessing fight unfold with fantastically designed animations was spectacular—particularly Musahsi’s particular demonic weapons that pierce the veil between realms. Capcom’s RE Engine tech continues to be an amazing showcase for detailed character animations and conveying sheer scope.
In response to Nihei, the crew’s explicit imaginative and prescient for Onimusha: Method of the Sword would solely have been doable with the present expertise on the developer’s disposal.
“With the brand new expertise we’ve, we have been in a position to form of convey out the very best of our particular results and character definition within the recreation, particularly in the course of the battle scenes that you simply noticed from the presentation,” he stated. “We even have a boss encounter that may do assaults that may break up the bottom. These sorts of particulars and degree of high quality that we’ve for this recreation was one thing that we are able to solely do with the engine expertise that we’ve now, and that is what is going to make this entry [of] Onimusha really feel actually particular.”
