Why did Capcom move up the release date of Onimusha: Way of the Sword?

The studio claims to be genuinely ready for this September 5th release. The preview session shows a confident team, with a well-mastered engine and solid gameplay, suggesting the move was motivated by real project progress rather than a commercial gamble.

How does the Oni vision work in gameplay?

Activated with both triggers, the Oni vision unlocks a bow that serves both to solve creative level design puzzles and to fight enemies. It completely transforms the way players explore and face challenges, including bosses like Rasho-Gan.

Were any difficulty issues detected?

Yes, some encounters forced IGN's testers to switch to easy mode due to lack of time to master Musashi's progression. This is a signal to watch for overall balancing, even though the tactical ambition of the combat system impresses.

Was the demo representative of the full game?

No, the preview session offered a much more open and dense portion than the public demo, including a small-town-style hub and complex encounters. Testers were able to explore more of the engine's and gameplay system's potential.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword - IGN France's hands-on impressions - Preview

Three hours. That's the time Capcom France gave IGN France journalists to take control of Musashi on PS5 Pro again, with an unfinished version of the game. Not much for such a dense title, but enough to sense where Capcom wants to take us. And the dominant feeling coming out of the session is that this team clearly knows exactly what it's doing.

What struck IGN first was access to a much more open section than the public demo. A hub in the style of a small open town, in an area where the RE Engine has long shown its limits with this type of environment (we're thinking in particular of the struggles of Dragon's Dogma 2 or Monster Hunter Wilds). Here, it holds up. The lighting, textures, and overall stability give the impression of an engine finally tamed for open-world settings.

On the gameplay side, the Oni vision - activated with both triggers - really changes the way you approach exploration. You unlock a bow that's used both to solve small level design puzzles and to wipe out groups of enemies by dropping a boulder on their heads. And that same bow becomes central during the boss fight against Rasho-Gan: he powers himself up through a cord that must be severed from a distance, or else he'll summon entire chunks of the scenery to hurl at you. That's solid boss level design, both demanding and readable.

That said, the difficulty raises questions, the journalist tells us:

Some fights forced us to switch back to easy mode, for lack of time to truly master Musashi's progression.

A signal to keep an eye on regarding overall balancing, even if the tactical ambition of the combat system is impressive.

After this session, Way of the Sword gives the impression of a studio moving up its release date because it's genuinely ready, not as a commercial gamble. It remains to be seen whether the exploration will hold up over the whole adventure, and whether the difficulty finds its sweet spot. It's off to a good start, and that's IGN France saying it! To be confirmed on September 5th.