This is an early-impressions review of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the latest instalment in Capcom's samurai action series. The reviewer argues the game is at its strongest when it embraces comedy and physical slapstick, contrasting a chaotic, humorous opening sequence with the more sombre, tonally inconsistent hours that follow, and suggests the game would benefit from leaning further into its playful side rather than its open-world padding and cutscene-heavy pacing.

The review praises protagonist Musashi's expressive animation and English voice performance by Kenichiro Thomson, as well as the game's reactive, physical combat system, which allows players to parry enemies into one another or improvise weapons from objects such as planks, carts and barrels. However, the reviewer notes these comedic and inventive elements are only lightly scattered through the environments, with straight sword duels and frequent NPC dialogue diluting the pacing established in the game's stronger, sillier moments.