{"id":18585,"date":"2026-07-24T22:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=18585"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:20:48","slug":"onimusha-way-of-the-sword-isnt-connected-to-previous-games-but-there-are-homages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=18585","title":{"rendered":"Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn\u2019t Connected To Previous Games, But There Are Homages"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Onimusha is finally back after a 20-year hiatus with\u00a0Way of the Sword<\/a>, which launches this September. In anticipation of its release, and for\u00a0Game Informer\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0latest cover story<\/a>, I traveled to Capcom\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tl;dr answer is no; there are no connections between Way of the Sword and other games in Capcom\u2019s samurai action series. However, as was abundantly clear while playing the game, there are homages everywhere with (demon) eyes to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\"Onimusha:<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s 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,\u201d director Satoru Nihei tells me. \u201cSo some of the enemies you\u2019ll see, for instance, are based on some older enemies; that\u2019s so fans of the series have something they can touch base with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 \u201ckill\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\"Reynaldo<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n

Reynaldo (left), Chijiko (right)<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

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\u2019t have the name, there\u2019s 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\u2019s also the soul-sucking Gyaran from Onimusha: Warlords; though its Way of the Sword counterpart doesn\u2019t seem to suck Musashi\u2019s souls, instead firing projectiles your way, it\u2019s hard to deny a visual similarity between the two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the enemies in this game are brand new, so while we do pay homage to some of the older games, we\u2019ve kind of taken elements from them and remixed them for the new Genma in this title,\u201d Nihei says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n