Onimusha’s Parry System is a Masterpiece of Samurai Action September 9, 2025

Forget the slow, punishing cadence of a typical Soulslike. Onimusha wants you to feel like an absolute legend. You’re playing as Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history. He’s not some rookie learning the ropes; he’s a master, and the game’s mechanics reflect that.

The parry system is designed to make you feel cool, capable, and utterly in control, even when surrounded by grotesque Genma demons. It’s built on a simple premise: timing is everything. Press the block button just as an attack is about to land, and you don’t just negate damage—you turn your enemy’s aggression into your own advantage. The animations are slick, seamless, and incredibly satisfying. Musashi will twist his blade, deflecting blows from all angles, sometimes without even looking. It’s pure, unadulterated badassery.

The Different Flavors of Parry

What makes this system truly shine is its depth. This isn’t a one-trick pony. Capcom has given us a whole toolkit of defensive maneuvers that all feed into an aggressive, stylish offense.

• The Classic Parry: A perfectly timed tap of the block button deflects an attack, staggering your foe and leaving them wide open. This move also powers up your Blaze Gauge, which lets you enter a Blazing State for increased damage. It’s your bread-and-butter move for turning the tables.
• The Deflect: Feeling a bit more daring? You can hold block and press another button to not just stop an attack, but actively redirect it. This is incredible for crowd control, letting you send one demon careening into another and depleting their stamina for a brutal finishing blow.
• The Evade: When you’re swarmed, a perfect dodge can trigger a slow-motion effect, giving you a precious window to unleash a flurry of counter-attacks. It feels like something straight out of Bayonetta, adding a layer of cinematic flair to every encounter.
• The Issen (Critical Attack): This is the high-risk, high-reward move that separates the apprentices from the masters. By attacking just a millisecond before an enemy’s strike connects, you unleash an instant-kill move. The timing is brutally tight, but landing an Issen is one of the most satisfying feelings in gaming. You slice through enemies with a single, devastating flash of your blade. It’s the ultimate power fantasy.

A Symphony of Carnage

The real magic happens when you start weaving all these techniques together. An encounter isn’t just about survival; it’s an opportunity to create an improvised ballet of carnage. You might parry the first attacker, deflect the second into a wall, evade a lunging beast to trigger a slow-mo finisher, and then cap it all off with a risky Issen on the final foe.

It feels like a perfect blend of the rhythmic counters from the Batman: Arkham series and the combo-heavy intensity of modern Ninja Gaiden. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by a horde of demons, you get excited. More enemies just mean a bigger canvas on which to paint your masterpiece of destruction.

During a hands-on demo, the boss fight against Sasaki Ganryu, another legendary swordsman with his own Oni Gauntlet, was where the combat system truly sang. It was a thrilling duel, a high-speed clash of steel where every parry and dodge mattered. But even here, the game didn’t feel punishing. It felt like a perfectly choreographed cinematic sword fight, rewarding precise play while still being accessible.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is shaping up to be an incredible revival. By focusing on a deep, rewarding, and stylish parry system, Capcom is crafting an action game that feels both classic and refreshingly modern. Get ready to sharpen your blades—and your reflexes.

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