Onimusha: Way of the Sword - Switch 2 Review
"free up your schedule and sharpen your swords, because there is Genma to slay!"
You probably haven’t heard the word Onimusha in quite a while now. In fact, it has been 20 years since the last installment! The highly anticipated title Onimusha: Way of the Sword has finally been released, and it is everything that a fan could wish for. Set in a fictional version of Kyoto during the Edo period, Onimusha: Way of the Sword follows legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi as he battles demonic forces and discovers what it truly means to be a great swordsman.
The Good
What doesn’t this game have going for it? The first thing you’ll notice is the quality of the visuals, particularly during the cutscenes featuring the characters. They are so incredibly lifelike that sometimes I forgot that I was playing a video game and not watching a movie. Every expression Musashi makes is conveyed so realistically that some moments had me genuinely laughing out loud.
Arguably, my favorite part of Way of the Sword is Musashi's character development. When the game begins, his primary concern is becoming the greatest swordsman he can possibly be. He is flippant, arrogant, and extremely confident in his ability to win any fight thrown his way. As the story progresses, however, Musashi begins to change. His experiences force him to reconsider what strength actually means and what he is willing to fight for. I won’t spoil where his journey ultimately takes him, but watching his personality evolve throughout the game was one of the highlights of the entire experience.
I found Way of the Sword surprisingly difficult to put down. The combat is intuitive enough to pick up quickly but has enough depth to keep fights engaging as the game progresses. Attacks feel responsive, enemies have distinct behaviors and weaknesses, and successfully executing a well-timed Issen or parry is incredibly satisfying. The progression system complements the combat system well, too. Gaining different abilities enables you to approach situations differently, allowing you to experiment rather than rely on the same attacks repeatedly.
Another area that this game deserves praise for is its accessibility options. There is a surprisingly generous selection of settings that let players tailor the gaming experience to their needs and preferences. As someone who tends to get motion sickness from some games, it was exciting to see plenty of settings that could be turned off to make it enjoyable to play. I’m looking at you, camera shake and motion blur.
of the Sword performs fairly well on the Switch 2. Keeping in mind how much detail there is in this game’s visuals, I was impressed by how smoothly everything ran throughout my time playing. There is an option to lock the game at 30 fps for more consistent performance, but I unlocked it and never experienced any lag or frame drops, which was impressive. There are definitely some visual compromises compared to other platforms, especially noticeable when coming out of a cutscene, but the fact that it is still visually beautiful while running on the Switch’s hardware is amazing in its own right.
Finally, I would like to give a special shout out to the Japanese VA cast. Their performances were phenomenal and added an incredible amount of personality to the characters. I was curious about the English voice acting, so I switched to it for a bit…and it was a bit lackluster at best. So, I recommend playing with the original Japanese voice acting if you want to have a more immersive experience.
TL;DR
- Stunning cutscenes
- Character development
- Smooth combat and progression
- Accessibility options
- Incredible Japanese voice acting
- Strong performance on Switch 2
The Bad
For as much as I loved Onimusha: Way of the Sword, it isn’t completely without flaws. The biggest issue I had was that some of the side quests began to get tedious. While they give some charms and other useful rewards, the activities didn’t feel as compelling as the main story. After completing the first few, I found myself wanting to ignore the side quests and continue with the main story… or find the rest of those adorable lion dogs.
The other minor drawback is one that is somewhat inevitable when playing on the Switch: the visuals aren’t quite as impressive as they are on more powerful platforms. The game still looks amazing, especially during the cutscenes, but when a cutscene ends, it is definitely noticeable that the game would look better on another platform.
Neither of these issues even came close to ruining my experience, but they are worth keeping in mind.
TL;DR
- Visuals are better on other platforms
- Side quests become tedious
Final Score: 10/10
Powerhouse Capcom has been knocking it out of the park with its releases this year, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword is no exception. This game has it all: stunning cutscenes and character models, phenomenal Japanese voice acting, impressive performance on the Switch 2, and an incredibly smooth combat system that makes it hard to put the controller down. So, free up your schedule and sharpen your swords, because there is Genma to slay!
Thank you for checking out our Onimusha: Way of the Sword Switch review, thank you to Capcom (via Five Star Games) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
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