Welcome to Play This Right Now, the site version of our weekly newsletter in which we celebrate a new game, update, or DLC that we think is well worth checking out. You can subscribe to the newsletter at the link if you want to get our thoughts about a new videogame happening direct to your inbox every Thursday.
If you're sick of parrying in videogames, then Onimusha: Way of the Sword might hit you, dear reader, the wrong way—especially since its roll is extremely slow. The game's introduction to its combat is a competent, though incredibly careful one. It establishes its full suite of defensive abilities with a glacial pace. Like you're a deer and it's afraid you'll bolt into the underbrush.
The problem with this is that it gives the wrong impression. Onimusha's combat is utter action game bliss when it really gets going—but it takes a minute to get there. Not only does it drip-feed you with mechanics, but it starts off with the most ubiquitous one: The parry, or timed block, or deflect—whatever you want to call it.
I will defend parries until the day I die, but Onimusha: Way of the Sword stands out because of the cool, funky stuff it's doing with the system, rather than a strict adherence to "parry is king". I do wish it'd get to the point sooner, but when it does? Hoho boy, I'm in paradise.
And listen, parry fatigue is widespread. In fact, one in four action game players has experienced it in the past five years alone. I get it. But if you find yourself afflicted, you should persevere.
The secret that Onimusha keeps, like a hidden oni gauntlet under its cloak, is that this parry with its forgiving timing (and admittedly sick-as-hell sound design) is just one of the many tools that protagonist Musashi has tucked away. A basic percussion drumbeat that's later joined by the other instruments of this rhythm game in disguise.
Though Musashi only starts with the aforementioned timed block, his kit unfolded like a beautiful lotus flower throughout my 30-something hour playthrough. You've got your deflect, a more involved parry that requires you to be holding down the block button first, and you've also got a timed dodge that's better against unarmed attacks. Then there's the Issen.
The Issen is by far my favourite tool of his defensive kit—a reversal that demands you hit an attack button at the last moment, leaving you completely open, with perfect timing. The risk matches the reward, as an Issen can one-shot most regular mooks and deal a hefty amount of stagger and damage both. It'll also give you souls that charge up a super state where you can do it even more.
All of this pairs nicely with the attacks enemies throw at you. There's the interplay between weapon and unarmed attacks—letting you swat aside sword-swipes or dance around fisticuffs. There are grabs, which force you to break rhythm and dodge at the right time to counter them. There's blade barrages, which ask you to remember what button you were just mashing, and blade locks, both of which can trigger randomly.
They might enter a countering stance, requiring you to smash them with your fists to knock them off-balance—or they might throw an un-avoidable attack, forcing you to parry or deflect. Onimusha at its peak never lets you rest for long, and enemies are always throwing out some new combo of threats for you to deal with in the world's deadliest game of rock paper scissors.
As someone very familiar with this genre, a Sekiro sicko with plenty of hours plugged in its imitators, like Lies of P and Nine Sols, I'm happy to say that Onimusha has one of the most textured, compelling combat systems of its ilk. It's really well-designed, which is why it's just a shame it takes so long to get there.
But get there it does. By around the midpoint of the game, Onimusha has shrugged off its unfortunate, hand-holdy AAA introduction and fully started baring its teeth. And it turns a weakness—a propensity for repeat boss and miniboss encounters—into opportunities to flex on old foes.
Once the combat starts clicking, these mandatory rematches start becoming a stage on which to demonstrate your mastery. Enemies that once gave you trouble can be dispatched deftly because you know their dance now, and you've acquired more than enough tools to deal with them. Meeting with these foes again felt like catching up with an old rival and showing off what I'd learned since.
If Onimusha feels unwieldy or over-familiar in the first few hours, I encourage you to stick with it—and if you're skeptical about the raft of parry-based games, I still think you should give this one a go. Slow start aside, it's a best-in-class action game that rewards your investment tenfold.
