Onimusha Way of the Sword: Oni Refuge locked chest walkthrough

This puzzle appears in the Oni Refuge cave. Nothing insurmountable, but the path isn't exactly intuitive if you haven't yet gotten the right reflex with Oni Vision. Here's how to unlock the door and grab the chest without going around in circles for ten minutes.

Accessing the Oni Refuge cave

After the fight against Daidara, the beast ends up charging into a wall before dissolving into a dark mass. This is the moment that unlocks the power of the Oni Glyphs for Musashi, your new way of interacting with hidden elements of the environment.

• Activate Oni Vision right after the cutscene.
• Spot a golden, portal-shaped eye in the surroundings.
• Interact with it to open the way to the Oni Refuge.

You'll know you're in the right place when Musashi points out that the cracks in the rock are filled with gold. Move forward through the cave until you come across a temple built by the Genma, then interact with the Spirit Mirror placed in front of it.

Natural reflex: try to go straight in through the big door. Bad idea. It doesn't open from the outside, and you can hit it as much as you want, it won't budge. No regular key to look for either. The truth lies elsewhere...

Find the Oni Bow first

Before tackling the door, explore the surrounding area. A treasure chest lies not far off and contains the Oni Bow, an Oni weapon with infinite ammo. You'll need it for what comes next, so don't skip it.

Unlocking the locked door

Once you've got the Oni Bow in hand, head back to the temple and the closed room. The main door remains inaccessible from the front, so you'll need to go around the building.

• Walk around until you find a broken window on the back side of the room.
• Position Musashi to get a line of sight inside, through the opening.
• Equip the Oni Bow and aim at the door mechanism, visible from this angle.
• Fire an arrow: it triggers the mechanism and unlocks the door from the inside.

Then go back to the main entrance, the door opens normally this time. Go in, the chest is there, accessible with no further hassle.

After the chest: continuing the exploration

Once you've grabbed the loot, keep the Oni Bow equipped for a bit longer. A little further on, the path seems blocked by a massive wall. Same logic as with the door: fire an arrow at the wall to make it give way and open up the passage.

The Oni Bow thus becomes the key tool for this section of the game, both for the window and for this wall. Keep it handy as soon as you come across an obstacle that seems blocked for no apparent reason - that's often the sign that Capcom is expecting an arrow rather than a sword strike.