Capcom hasn’t made a new Onimusha game since 2006. That ends September 4, when Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 — and early reviews suggest the wait actually paid off, with a Metacritic score of 85 and the franchise’s first-ever perfect review from IGN.
The game puts players in the sandals of Miyamoto Musashi, Japan’s most famous swordsman, reimagined as a demon hunter wielding the series’ signature Oni Gauntlet against supernatural enemies in a haunted, meticulously recreated Kyoto. It’s the sixth mainline entry in the series and the first since Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams — a 20-year gap that makes this one of the longest-dormant franchise revivals in recent gaming history.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword — platforms, price, and what you get
Way of the Sword launches simultaneously across four platforms on September 4: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), and Nintendo Switch 2. There’s no platform exclusivity and no staggered rollout — everyone plays on day one.
Pricing comes in three tiers. The Standard Edition runs $69.99. The Deluxe Edition, at $79.99, adds cosmetic outfits and charms. The Premium Deluxe Edition tops out at $89.99 with the fullest set of bonus content. None of the higher tiers touch the core campaign — they’re purely cosmetic add-ons, so budget-conscious players lose nothing by sticking with Standard.
Nintendo Switch 2 owners aren’t getting an afterthought port, either. Capcom didn’t start that version until partway through development, but producer Akihito Kadowaki says the gap barely shows: “you may not even be able to feel a difference” versus PS5, he told press, though he admits close inspection reveals some gap in image quality and frame rate.
Why Capcom waited 20 years
According to producer Akihito Kadowaki, the appetite for a new Onimusha was never the problem — staffing was. Capcom ships a dense release calendar every year, and the internal teams capable of building a AAA action game were perpetually committed elsewhere. It wasn’t until 2020 that Capcom finally assembled a dedicated team for the project, building it on the company’s proprietary RE Engine — the same tech behind the modern Resident Evil remakes.
The game was formally announced at The Game Awards in December 2024, alongside news that work had begun on an Okami sequel — suggesting Capcom is now willing to revisit more of its dormant back catalog after years of leaning almost entirely on Monster Hunter and Resident Evil. The RE Engine choice matters here too: it’s the same tech powering Capcom’s recent Resident Evil remakes, and it’s part of why Way of the Sword’s Kyoto looks as detailed as it does at launch rather than years down the line.
The reviews are in — and they’re strong
Outlets published their verdicts starting August 31, ahead of the September 4 release, and the consensus is emphatic. Metacritic has the PS5 version at 85 across 82 reviews. OpenCritic is even more favorable, rating it “Mighty” with an 86 average and a 94% critic recommendation rate across 83 outlets. IGN went further still, awarding the game a perfect 10/10 — the first time any Onimusha title has hit that score from the outlet.
What’s driving the praise is fairly consistent across reviews: a parry-focused combat system that critics describe as tightly tuned, meaningful variety across the different Oni weapons, and boss encounters built around that parry timing rather than generic damage sponges. Musashi himself lands well as a protagonist, and Kyoto’s recreation gets singled out repeatedly for its visual detail.
Not everything is unanimous. Critics are split on whether the roughly 25-hour campaign earns its length — some outlets argue the combat stays sharp throughout, others feel the back half repeats itself. It’s the one real point of friction in an otherwise lopsided reception.
What this means if you’re deciding whether to buy in
A day-one Metacritic 85 with a 94% critic recommendation rate is a rare combination — most action games either split critics or clear the bar without excelling. If you’ve been burned by long-dormant franchise revivals before, the review consensus here is about as reassuring as it gets before you’ve played it yourself.
If parry-driven combat is your thing, Way of the Sword lands in good company this year. Lies of P: Complete Edition made a similar jump onto Switch 2 recently with its own punishing, precision-timing combat, and the broader souls-like genre keeps pulling players toward that same risk-reward rhythm — Onimusha’s Oni Gauntlet just wraps it in a different mythology.
Full platform details, editions, and the developer’s own pitch for the game are on Capcom’s official Onimusha site. Way of the Sword goes live September 4 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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