— Santa Monica Studio – God of War Laufey (@SonySantaMonica) July 25, 2026
God of War Laufey was revealed during PlayStation’s Summer State of Play event, where Santa Monica Studios shared roughly 23 minutes of the game. The adventure follows Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother, Laufey (or Faye), after her death and arrival in the afterlife of the gods, known as the Everywhen, according to Laufey’s talking gelatinous cube and sword ribbon partners. The concept is novel for God of War and seems to take place during the events of God of War (2018), but considering the world is called the Everywhen, it’s hard to say exactly when the game takes place on the God of War timeline.
God of War Laufey releases February 16, 2027, on PlayStation 5. You can read more about the game here and here.
A staple of all four Onimusha games – Warlords, Samurai’s Destiny, Demon Siege, and Dawn of Dreams – they were curiously absent from my three hours of hands-on time with Way of the Sword. When I got the chance to talk to director Satoru Nihei about the game, I had to ask if I had missed any. It turns out, I didn’t – there just aren’t any in Way of the Sword.
“As you observed, it’s not really the same kind of puzzle elements we had like usual, like the puzzle boxes,” Nihei tells me. “As you observed, we have puzzle elements in the actual stage, and we’ve introduced those as a way to break up the action.”
What Nihei is talking about there is an environmental puzzle I had to solve about halfway through my demo in Dokyo’s underground lab. Hidden beneath the imperial castle in Kyoto, the evil and demented genma Dokyo is concocting new demonic creations by splicing together Genma, humans, animals, and whatever else she/it can find. This entire stage plays like a classic Japanese ghost house, and I’ll be writing about that in a later feature, but in between the action, I had to pause and solve a puzzle unlike anything in any Onimusha game before.
In a large kabuki theater-like room, there were four masks adorning the wall before me. It was very clear I needed to interact with them, or use them, to advance forward through the stage, but as much as I circled around the room, I couldn’t find any way to do so – no switch, no lever, nothing. So, I left the room.
That’s when I noticed the way light was shining through decorative windows on a wall. Floating ornaments hung in each window, and the patterns of light shining through them matched the masks inside. Specifically, each ornament highlighted a number of holes in the matching mask – one hole to the first mask, two holes to the second mask, and so on. Looking at the ornaments from left to right yielded the solution I needed to interact with the masks inside the room.
I spent longer than I care to admit solving this puzzle. Shizuka, the mysterious woman who either is protagonist Miyamoto Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet, or at least living inside of it somehow, lightly nudged me in the right direction with helpful and polite tips, and I was able to solve it with her help. Don’t worry: Shizuka wasn’t annoying and I didn’t find her tips to be immersion-breaking or anything like that. It’s the kind of help you want a companion to give and hey – if you’re still worried about Shizuka’s help, just be smarter than me when you play the game!
Overall, this puzzle probably took me about five minutes to solve, and then boom, I was right back into the sword action that makes up 90% of Onimusha: Way of the Sword. I enjoy a good environmental puzzle, and this one was quite unique. It doubles as a small break from the combat, too, and that’s by design, according to the game’s director.
“Obviously action is a big focus of the game, but just having action is maybe not so exciting for people,” Nihei says. “So we’ve introduced these puzzle elements into each stage that can get people thinking in between those action sections.”
I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it.
In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:
25 years after we first crash-landed on that intriguing ringworld of Halo, Campaign Evolved has returned with a wealth of updates and changes to modernize the game while keeping the core experience intact. Early access has already started for the game, while other players will be able to dive in on July 28. It’s strange to say, but you can enjoy the game on either Xbox or PS5, so longtime Sony faithful may finally have a chance to experience the game. The game is also available on PC, but I’ll share that some of our staffers have had mixed experience with the technical experience on PC for this one. Regardless, the core game remains a ton of fun, offering the same chaos and relentless action that made Halo a household name all those years ago. Play it solo, co-op with a friend (or your kid) on the couch, or up to four-player co-op online; just don’t go in expecting competitive play, as that feature has been stripped out for this release.
Splatoon’s single-player content has always been an underrated component of the series. Splatoon Raiders does away with the competitive multiplayer the franchise is known for and draws inspiration from the looter-shooter genre, as well as its own wave-based Salmon Run mode, to create a satisfying gameplay loop whether you’re tackling the raids alone or with three other kid-squid hybrids. Thanks to deep customization systems, incredible gameplay feel, and a challenging post-game, Splatoon Raiders is a difficult game to put down.
We’ve had quite a few tie-in tag fighters hit the scene: League of Legends’ 2XKO, Invincible Vs., Avatar Legends, and now, Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, which has an open beta this weekend. Arc System Works is taking an almost-maximalist approach to tag fighting, opting for four-on-four combat and quite a few mechanics around utilizing those extra hands during the fight. Despite the potential for chaos, though, my early playtime with the open beta has shown it to be a surprisingly approachable game. Most strings and intense mechanics can be relegated to single button-presses or auto-combo strings, for the button-mashers. Still, there’s already some depth being found; Magik’s teleportation portals make it easy to show off, and I’m loving the reinterpretation of Marvel Vs. staples like Doom and Iron Man. Few multiplayer experiences can match the vibes of a fighting game night with pals, and Marvel Tokon’s open beta is a good excuse to host one this weekend.
Final Fantasy X
Brian Shea
One of the greatest RPGs of all time just celebrated its 25th anniversary, making for a great excuse to revisit Spira. Or, if you’ve never played it before, it’s a perfect reason to finally experience the generational story of Tidus, Yuna, and the whole crew of Guardians on a mission to save the world from the seemingly never-ending cycle of death and destruction. The story and characters are always the main attraction to me, but the turn-based mechanics are among the best we’ve ever seen, the Sphere Grid is a fun twist on traditional skill trees, and the soundtrack is among the best we’ve ever heard. And to make it easy, Final Fantasy X is available on every major platform over the last decade-plus, packaged alongside its cult-classic direct sequel.
Poinpy
Charles Harte
Poinpy is one of my favorite mobile games ever. Originally released as a part of the Netflix games subscription, it was unavailabel for the last year, but this week, Devolver re-launched it for free. A platformer designed by the mind behind Downwell, your goal in Poinpy is to collect fruits and veggies to create juice to sate a hungry beast chasing you upwards. The catch is that you only complete the recipe if you collect each ingredient before touching the ground, so you have to chain together leaps and bounces to collect enough produce before it’s too late. Across a handful of biomes, you’ll jump off enemies heads, get blasted out of various cannons, and bounce your way as high as you can go. It’s got the precision of my favorite platforming games mixed with a Kirby-like charm, and now that I’ve redownloaded it, I realize how much I missed reaching its colorful flow state. While it’s the kind of game you can theoretically play forever, it’s worth noting that the game does have an ending, and it’s a very cool one at that. It’s out for free today on iOS and Android.
Tabletop Pick – EvenGlow
Matt Miller
This just-released light strategy project is just the ticket if you’re looking for a beautiful game to bring to the table that isn’t going to scare away newcomers or less experienced players. Players are alchemists who are simultaneously growing and maintaining two separate gardens using the strength of both moonlight and sunlight. Tactically, that means that when plants are placed on one side, you must simultaneously place plants in a mirror location on the other side, leading to an arresting focus on balance.
Visually, the game includes some beautiful watercolor art that helps the table pop during play. Give it a look if you want something lowkey but featuring some novel mechanics.
It’s a new week on The Game Informer Show, and we’ve got a new cover story! Eric and Wesley are back from Japan, where they played Capcom’s impending revival, Onimusha: Way of the Sword. They chat about the game itself, the insights they got from the team, and even the real-life historical locales they visited that are also present in Onimusha.
Then, Brian takes up the lead with some early impressions of Halo: Campaign Evolved and his review of Splatoon Raiders. Whether you’re a samurai, Spartan, or squid, there’s a little something for everyone on The Game Informer Show this week.
The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Support the show by subscribing to our physical video game magazine!
Far from describing a game with adventure in it (that would include a lot of games!), the adventure genre is loosely defined as one that emphasizes narrative and exploration over action, which may also rely on light puzzle mechanics. In other words, a game that doesn’t have enough simulation to be a sim, action to be an action title, puzzle-solving to be a puzzle game, and… you get the idea. Despite the nebulous classification, games in this genre are unambiguously incredible experiences, often exploring refreshing and fascinating concepts. Shooting for games that are rolling around in the zeitgeist right now, some of the genres’ towering giants are not listed here. However, for anyone looking to check out today’s great experiences, feel free to peruse our list of the best adventure games to play right now.
1000xResist
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC
When we say a game’s writing is good, we’re usually comparing it to other video games, but 1000xResist transcends even that categorization as an example of fantastic writing, full stop. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is a clone of the same person – the Allmother, whom they have an almost religious reverence for. You play as Watcher, one tasked with communing with your fellow sisters to learn about the world. In doing so, you live through the past, observing the Allmother’s teenage life, the events that led the world to fall apart, and the fractures within the surreal colony you live within. With complex, flawed characters, a rich, layered world, a plot that goes places you couldn’t expect, and gorgeous, poetic dialogue, it’s an easy game to recommend, and it’s one that’s raised the bar for the narrative games that follow. | Game Informer’s 1000xResist Review
And Roger
Switch, PC
And Roger is not a traditional adventure game, but it belongs in the genre thanks to the way the player interacts with the world and solves its puzzles. It recalls games like 2018’s Florence and even WarioWare, oddly, but without the rigid timers of Nintendo’s bizarre microgame collections. Over the span of three succinct chapters, And Roger tells the tumultuous tale of a girl scared and confused by the presence of a mysterious man in her home. Who is the person? Why does he seem to know her even though he’s a stranger? What happened to the girl’s father? The narrative is effective in that it’s an ordinary tale grounded in a tragically relatable core, but it is ultimately an affecting tale of love, patience, and forgiveness. | Game Informer’s And Roger Review
Dispatch
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, PC
Dispatch picks up the pieces of Telltale’s TV-series-like approach to video games and takes it a step further. The result is a game that’s basically a TV series with some light interaction, and it rules. It helps that the original conceit of Dispatch was an animated series, and that pedigree is on full display in the game, but dialogue choices, critical story-changing moments, and a fun superhero dispatching minigame make it an even better experience. Mecha Man suit user Robert Robertson is returned to a life of normalcy when his suit is trashed by villains and placed in control of a dispatch operation for this universe’s Suicide Squad equivalent. Across the game’s 6 to 10 hours, he begins to care for this group of misfits, and they care for him in turn, turning a charming workplace comedy into a high-stakes family drama in its final hours. With an all-star voice cast, which includes Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Erin Yvette, and more, Dispatch feels like a Hollywood-style adventure game that understands why this is one of gaming’s oldest (and best) genres. | Game Informer’s Dispatch Review
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Switch
Famicom Detective Club’s roots in the adventure genre run deep, back to 1988’s The Missing Heir. These adventures had players solving mysteries through basic text menus, inputs, and choices: look around an area, decide what to look at, and who to talk to. Emio – The Smiling Man picks up right where those games left off with its 2024 revival, as you investigate a string of deaths tied to the mysterious “Smiling Man” legend. It’s dark and tense, with moments of sheer tension and thrills you wouldn’t always expect in a Nintendo game. But Emio’s core, beneath the twisting mystery, is its town and setting. This is perfect for someone who wants a small-town tale with compelling characters and outstanding atmosphere.
Indika
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
There’s nothing worse than being a nun who wants to be devout to her faith only for Satan to come along, personally whisper in your ear, and cause you to embark on a surreal odyssey with a prisoner that will have you running from bloodthirsty wolves, operating heavy machinery in winter, and looking at your past in new and revealing ways; at least if your name is Indika. Set in 19th-century Russia, Indika is an outcast who just wants to feel like a normal nun, but the aforementioned Satan invades her mind, and while he’s not as mischievous as other versions of the fallen angel, he’s a powerful storytelling device that serves as a catalyst for the questions the game serves up about morality, sin, faith, and doggedness. The surrounding third-person adventure game will have you solving environmental puzzles, engaging with 16-bit platformer flashbacks, and navigating through hellacious hallucinations as you search for a remedy to your devilish ailment. The next moment is always surprising and weird in Indika, and the way it asks you to engage with its narrative and its mechanics is a reminder that there are stories that only video games can tell. | Game Informer’s Indika Review
Mixtape
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC
Mixtape is a coming-of-age story that follows counterculture music aficionado Stacey Rockford, everyone’s hometown stoner Van Slater, and the goody-two-shoes Cassandra Morino, who is ready to strike out on a path not created by her parents, as they spend their last night together. With high school graduation behind them, Stacey is ready to make her dream of becoming a music supervisor in the Big Apple happen, and there’s no convincing her she can’t do it. Though disappointment and frustration permeate this trio, so, too, do love, nostalgia, and a deep friendship, articulated through a genre-hopping mixtape of songs curated by Stacey. Each song represents a different chapter in the history of this trio and is backed by an often dream-like gameplay experience, whether that’s flying through sunset-kissed flower fields, headbanging in cars, orchestrating a magical fireworks display, or moving a couch. Though your mileage will vary depending on your own teenage history, it’s hard not to recognize the naive but heartfelt romanticism at the heart of Mixtape. That feeling, which every teenager who dreams of something bigger for themself has felt, is omnipresent in Mixtape’s Blue Moon Lagoon, and it makes Mixtape one of 2026’s best adventure games. | Game Informer’s Mixtape Review
Mouthwashing
PC
The premise of Mouthwashing is simple: your spaceship, the cargo carrier Tulpar, is stranded. An accident has left you adrift, with little hope for survival. What follows is a short, punchy, and dare-we-say visceral telling of the build-up and fallout of that fateful accident. Mouthwashing has garnered praise and acclaim for its tackling of heavy topics, as well as its gorgeous PSX-era art direction. It is also a game that wants to make use of the medium to impart something on you, to make you uncomfortable and then see what comes from that discomfort. As aptly said in Mouthwashing’s intro: I hope this hurts. This is easily one of the best examples of the indie horror space’s incredible output over the last few years, and a must-play if you’re interested in video games as an art form. | Game Informer’s Mouthwashing Review
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse
Switch, PC, iOS, Android
2023’s Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was a bit of a surprise: a horror-adventure led by mobile mystery maker Takanari Ishiyama that mixed gorgeous 360-degree dioramas with spine-chilling horror. Then, 2026 started off with a surprise anthological follow-up in The Mermaid’s Curse. While both are worth your time, The Mermaid’s Curse trades some of the scares for incredibly inventive use of its narrative structure, perspective-swapping, and lovely tactile puzzles. As the story winds through several different point-of-view leads – each wrapped up in the local legends of mermaids, curses, storms, and immortality – it’s all grounded in real-world history, folklore, legend, and places. There’s even an in-game encyclopedia to scour for more details, and yes, you are required to use it more than once to progress the plot. Paranormasight is a wonderful new series from Square Enix, one that keeps the adventure spirit alive while also pushing it forward onto new horizons. You won’t regret a few evenings squirreled away, seeing The Mermaid’s Curse all the way through to its ultimate conclusion. | Game Informer’s Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse review
Slay The Princess
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
The premise of Slay The Princess is exactly how it sounds. There’s a princess locked in a dungeon, and you’re supposed to kill her. The thing is, she looks pretty innocent; helpless, even. Surely she can’t be so bad, right? This highly-reactive game is molded based on your dialogue choices, and you’ll replay over and over (usually after dying) to see as many of its branching paths as possible. It’s all rendered in a pencil-sketch art style, ranging from cute and simple to horrifying and Lovecraftian. Oh, also, this is a bit of a horror game. You’re unlikely to make it out alive. Maybe that princess is worth slaying after all.
The Mermaid Mask
PlayStation 5, Switch, PC
The Mermaid Mask is SFB Games’ best (and most recent) entry in the Detective Grimoire series, and it’s a great time for fans of murder mysteries or Ace Attorney. You’ve been tasked with investigating the Mortuga Submarine, as its captain, Magnus Mortuga, has been mysteriously slain. The ensuing mystery is captivating, but the bells and whistles are what make The Mermaid Mask stand out. The soundtrack is orchestral and grand, but not distracting. The environments are detailed and a treat to explore. But most of all, the characters are charming and lovingly animated, with eccentric designs and personalities to match. Skilled voice performances seal the deal (a relief, as most of the game is dialogue), and it’s always fun to strike up another conversation with a suspicious suspect. Each Detective Grimoire game has been even greater than the last; here’s hoping SFB Games decides to make more. | Game Informer’s The Mermaid Mask review
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Onimusha is finally back after a 20-year hiatus with Way of the Sword, which launches this September. In anticipation of its release, and for Game Informer’s latest cover story, I traveled to Capcom’s Osaka, Japan, HQ to play the game for a few hours and interview the development leads working on it. As an avid fan of the series, I was keen to learn if Onimusha: Way of the Sword is connected to previous Onimusha games in any way, so I asked the team.
The tl;dr answer is no; there are no connections between Way of the Sword and other games in Capcom’s samurai action series. However, as was abundantly clear while playing the game, there are homages everywhere with (demon) eyes to see.
“So there’s no direct kind of connection to the old games in the game world [of Onimusha: Way of the Sword], but we have tried to pay homage to some of the elements from those older games,” director Satoru Nihei tells me. “So some of the enemies you’ll see, for instance, are based on some older enemies; that’s so fans of the series have something they can touch base with.”
Below, you can see the Reynaldo Genma from Onimusha: Warlords side-by-side with the Chijiko enemy from Way of the Sword. In the former, this tentacled demon can send its tentacles underground to attack from below, and they also split and mutate into multiple enemies when you “kill” one; the latter can do the same, using tentacles (and more) to attack you and splitting into two, unless you defeat them with a special move that prevents the split mutation from happening.
Reynaldo (left), Chijiko (right)
The Raynaldo/Chijiko is just one of the homages I spotted during my time playing Way of the Sword at Capcom. Another is the Bazuu, an enemy in various Onimusha games. In Onimusha: Warlords, for example, one of its primary attacks is a spinning roll towards you that hits over and over. Though I don’t have the name, there’s a similarly designed enemy in Way of the Sword who also attacks by rolling into you, and it features the same armadillo-esque look, too. There’s also the soul-sucking Gyaran from Onimusha: Warlords; though its Way of the Sword counterpart doesn’t seem to suck Musashi’s souls, instead firing projectiles your way, it’s hard to deny a visual similarity between the two.
“All of the enemies in this game are brand new, so while we do pay homage to some of the older games, we’ve kind of taken elements from them and remixed them for the new Genma in this title,” Nihei says.
I look forward to discovering more of these homages in the final game when Onimusha: Way of the Sword hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on September 4.
I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it.
In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:
The PlayStation Network (PSN) is down. That means all of its online services, such as account management, the PlayStation Store, and gaming and social content, are unavailable to players, leaving only offline services in effect. PSN has been down for more than six hours, interrupting online gaming for many, including the highly anticipated open beta for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, which was set to begin today.
With PSN down, PlayStation players are unable to check out the PlayStation 5 console-exclusive title. “We’re aware that some PlayStation players are experiencing login and network issues,” the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls X account posted this morning. “Our team is actively investigating the problem and working to identify the cause. We’ll share updates as soon as we have information.”
While PSN being down is never great, the timing couldn’t be worse – PlayStation just earlier this month announced that it is ceasing production of physical discs for new games in January 2028. During PSN outages such as this, a physical disc often ensured players could at least access offline-playable content stored on the disc, while some digital games, even single-player ones, require an online check to play, leaving players unable to access those games when PSN is down. This move by PlayStation to end physical disc manufacturing is just another way the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation has been a race to the bottom.
Game Informer will update this story when PSN comes back online.
Over the past few years, video game adaptations have gone from “almost always bad” to “sometimes pretty good,” so it’s no surprise that more and more of gaming’s biggest (and oldest) companies are looking to turn their digital properties into box office hits. According to Deadline, the latest instance of this comes from Atari (partnering with production company Entertainment 360), which just signed a deal with Universal Pictures to adapt ten of its most iconic games into film adaptations. Those games are:
Asteroids
Adventure
Beserk
Breakout
Centipede
Crystal Castles
Millipede
Missile Command
Pong
Yars’ Revenge
The first screenplay will come from a duo of writers, Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe, both of whom will also produce said picture. Reilly reportedly penned a spec script that kicked off the whole Atari/Universal negotiation process. Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady, who will also be a producer on the film, said, “The best Atari games dropped you into a world and let your imagination do the rest. Carl and Matt saw an opportunity to take that same spirit and build an original, large-scale adventure around it. From the moment we read the screenplay, we believed there was a great movie here.”
Reilly is best known as a studio executive, working in leadership roles at Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox, though he was most recently the executive vice president at Universal. According to LinkedIn, Reilly is currently president of production and creative at The Arena, a film-producing division of SNK, which Game Informer readers will most likely recognize as the company behind games like Fatal Fury and King of Fighters. SNK has also been scrutinized in recent years due to its acquisition by the Saudi government-owned Electronic Gaming Development Company. Meanwhile, Hampe is better known as a producer and production supervisor, working on films like 2019’s Hellboy, Jungle Cruise, and most recently, 65. Neither Reilly nor Hampe seem to have prominent writing credits.
While Atari has been out of the console game for quite a while now, it’s still around in the modern scene, publishing games like Bubsy 4D and co-publishing Total Chaos. Atari is perhaps best known through its subsidiary, Digital Eclipse, which we recently learned would be releasing retro collections of classic Barbie and Toy Story games.
We’re just weeks away from the release of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, but developer Arc System Works intends to support the game well past launch, and they demonstrated that yesterday by revealing the game’s first DLC character. Phoenix Cyclops is the first character in the game’s upcoming wave 1 DLC, and you can check him out in action below.
“Phoenix Cyclops” isn’t exactly the name of a superhero, to be clear; this is an iteration of X-Men’s Cyclops being inhabited by the Phoenix force, a powerful, fiery cosmic entity, and a nod to the character’s appearance as a member of the Phoenix Five in the Avengers vs. X-Men comics. The character is voiced in English by Ray Chase, who also plays Cyclops in Marvel Rivals and X-Men ’97.
“In addition to powerful Optic Blasts and exceptional hand-to-hand combat abilities that define the character, this Cyclops also possesses the Phoenix Force, so expect Scott Summers to bring the heat!” Takeshi Yamanaka, producer of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, wrote on the PlayStation blog. “We’ll have more to share about how these abilities are incorporated into his gameplay, so please stay tuned for future updates on his fighting style.”
Phoenix Cyclops is the first of four characters in the Year One DLC pack, which will also include a new stage and a set of result screen character poses. The Year One DLC is also included in the game’s ultimate edition, which also includes alternate chromatic colored skins for each character, one skin each for Spider-Man, Storm, Iron Man, Captain America, and Doctor Doom, and cosmetics to be worm in the game’s explorable lobby.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer, and after playing it for a few hours, experiencing never-before-seen parts of it, it’s one of the more titillating releases on the horizon for me. It helps that it’s the first Onimusha game in 20 years, reviving a franchise that many others and I considered abandoned by publisher-developer Capcom. It also features one of Japan’s most celebrated samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, as the protagonist – a bold but exciting decision in a series with some beloved leads.
While using Musashi, a legendary samurai in Japanese history, seems like an obvious choice for an Onimusha game, Capcom chose the historical figure because of his life (and the stories about it) and how it could connect to Way of the Sword mechanically.
“In terms of picking Musashi for the story, obviously we wanted to have a samurai as the lead, and when we were thinking about famous samurai and the masters of the sword, Musashi’s name came up,” director Satoru Nihei tells me. “But looking more into his background and the elements of his real history, where he would use any means necessary to claim victory or use the environment around him, these are things we thought would feed in very nicely to the gameplay to introduce new elements into it. And then also, Musashi is a hero that wants to rise to the top on his own strengths, so him being paired with the gauntlet, this power that he doesn’t want, we thought it would provide an interesting contrast to the previous heroes we’ve had in our Onimusha series.”
While he isn’t using his famous dual-sword stance in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, as he’s portrayed in his 20s here and hadn’t yet developed that combat style, Musashi’s real-life stories are already evident in their inspiration for Capcom’s action game. Speaking to environmental “help,” we’ll call it, Musashi has no problem picking up a pallet of wood, for example, to use it as a shield for incoming arrows. And of course he’s going to kick it toward surrounding Genma to gain an upper hand – there’s no honor when fighting a demon, right? He can also kick large wagons into a cohort of enemies for a surprisingly damaging entrance.
There are explosive barrels I utilized when fighting Genma in Dokyo’s underground lab in Kyoto, and though all of this was just a taste of using what’s around me in combat, I can already imagine the other boons in each stage I’ll use to defeat enemies.
Dokyo
When I ask Nihei how Musashi compares to other heroes of the Onimusha series, it’s his reticence to use the Oni Gauntlet. Onimusha: Warlords’ Samanosuke uses his gauntlet to rescue a princess; Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny’s Jubei uses his newfound demon powers to stop Nobunaga (again) and get the girl; Musashi just wants to get the dang thing off his wrist. It’s why he kills demons using it – he suspects the only way forward is through (hordes of Genma). Ultimately, using the gauntlet gets in the way of his quest to be the best swordsman in Japan, with Nihei likening it to an athlete using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs – Musashi wants to prove he’s the best on his own merits alone.
Musashi is based on deceased Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune’s likeness; Mifune famously portrayed the samurai in director Horishi Inagaki’s 1950s Samurai Trilogy, which consists of Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955), and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956). That tracks with the aforementioned Samanosuke and Jubei, with the former played by Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro and the latter modeled after late actor Yūsaku Matsuda.
All this said, I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s iteration of Musashi, including how it went about using Mifune’s likeness, in upcoming stories. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (as well as a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel too, so keep the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub bookmarked to ensure you don’t miss any of it.
In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:
